The Week - UK (2020-09-12)

Europe at aglance NEWS 7

12 September 2020 THE WEEK

Amsterdam
Sinkingcity:
A5 0 ftsection
ofquayside
ononeof
Amsterdam’s
canals–the
Grimburgwal

• collapsedand
  fellintothe
  waterlast
  week,highlightingthescaleofthe
  structuralchallengesfacingthecity.
  Amsterdam’shistoriccentrewasbuilt
  onswampylandaroundtheRiverAmstel.
  Itscanalsweredugoutofsoftearth,and
  timberpilesweredrivenintotheunstable
  groundtoprovidefoundationsforbridges
  andwalls.Now, thankstothetollof
  trafficandrisingsealevels,thecityis
  slowlysinking,anditsbuildingsare
  crumbling.Inthenextthreeyears,
  27 bridgesandthreemilesofcanalwalls
  willhavetoberebuilt,atacostofmore
  thans 45 0m.

Lesbos,Greece

Campdestroyed:TheovercrowdedMoria

campontheislandofLesboswasgutted

byfireonTuesdaynight,leaving13,0 00

refugeeswithoutshelter.Asfireswerestill

smoulderingonWednesdaymorning,TV

newsfootageshowedmen,womenand

childrenforagingfortheirbelongings,and

thousandsofpeoplelineduponalocal

roadunderpoliceguard.Althoughthere

werenoreportsofanyonebeingseriously

injuredintheinferno,thecamp,which

washoldingfourtimesmore peoplethan

itsofficialcapacity,was“completely

destroyed”,localofficials said.Thecause

ofthefirewasunclear.Althoughwildfires

areburningonLesbos,thefirewassaidto

havestartedinseveralplaces,andreports

ofarsonwerebeinginvestigated.

Madrid
Second wave ebbs:Spain hasbecomethe
firstWestern European countrytorecord
more thanhalfamillion Covid-19cases.
Accordingto its healthministry, ithad
more than50,000 newcases inthe week
toTuesday,bringingitstotalnumberto
534, 513 .Therewere also 261deaths.
Around athird ofthe newcases have been
in Madrid, whereCovidcases now make
up almost20% ofhospital admissions.
However,the dailyinfectionrateappears
tobe tailing off,and itmaybe falling: in
lateAugust,10,000newcaseswere being
recorded eachday.Thedeathrateremains
farbelowthepeakofthecrisisinthe
spring,when 800 people were dyingaday;
andoutside Madrid, therearesignsthat
hospitaladmissions–whichreached 300 a
dayinlateAugust –arestartingtofalltoo.
InFrance, theweeklyhospitalisation rate is
climbing,butit isstillonlyaroundtwoper
100, 000 ,downfromapeak of35.

Rome

Airporttests:HealthofficialsinItalyhave

announcedplanstoconductCovid-19tests

oneverypassengerdepartingfromRome’s

airports–andtodenyboardingtoanyone

whotestspositive.“Beforeflying,people

willstopoffatourairportdrive-intest

centreandgetaresultin 30 minutes,”

aLazioregionhealthofficialtoldThe

Times.Thosewhotestnegativewilltravel

on,withacleanbillofhealth.Therest

willberequiredtoquarantineinRome,

instate-providedaccommodation.Italy

introducedairporttestinginmid-August

forarrivalsfromSpain,Malta,Greece

andCroatia.Thetestingofdeparting

passengerswillstartthismonthwith

passengersondomesticflightsfromRome

toMilan.Lastweek,Italy’sformerPM

SilvioBerlusconi,83,testedpositivefor

Covid-19andwasadmittedtohospital

withearly-stagedoublepneumonia.

Hisdoctorssaidthattheywere

optimisticforaspeedyrecovery.

Catchup with daily news at theweek.co.uk

Minsk

Oppositionleaderseized:Oneofthe last

opposition leaders in Belarusnot to have fled

abroador been arrestedwas abducted by

maskedmen onthestreetsof the capitalMinsk

on Monday, andbundledintoaminivan. At

4amthefollowingday, MariaKolesnikova and

two male colleagues were takentothe border

with Ukraine. Butthough themen were forced

across,Kolesnikovareportedlyrippedupher

passport andrefused to leave.Ukraine’sdeputyinteriorministersaid the plan had

beento“forcibly” expelher, but thatit had failed, “because this brave womantook

action topreventher movementacross theborder. She remainedonthe territoryof

the Republic of Belarus.” The Belarusianauthorities later confirmedthat Kolesnikova

was in custody,having previously deniedhaving anything to dowith herdetention.

The attempted ejectionfolloweda100,000-strongprotest onSunday,andhas

shed light on what seems to beashiftintacticsby President Lukashenko’s regime.

The governmenthasfacedawaveofpopular angersincehisdisputedre-election on

9August.But whereas thesecurityforces initially pursuedastrategyofsuppressing

protests with sometimesbrutal violence,they now appear tobe picking off

opposition leaders oneby oneandsending themoutofthe country.

Istanbul, Turkey

Nightclubattackersentenced:Acitizen

of Uzbekistanhas beensentenced to life

without paroleforcarryingout agrenade

and gun attackonanIstanbul nightclub

that killed 39people just after midnight

on NewYear’s Dayin 2017. Islamic State

claimedto havebeenbehindthe atrocity.

At the closeofatrial which has lasted

threeyears andattracted intenseinterestin

Turkey, Abdulkadir Masharipovwasalso

sentencedtoasymbolic1,368yearsforthe

attempted murder of the 79 peopleinjured.

Anaccomplicewassentenced to morethan

1,400yearsforhelpingplanthe attack,

andafurther 48defendantswerejailed for

beingmembers ofaterroristgroup.The

attackonthe Reina nightclubwas oneof

astring of IsisattacksinTurkey. Athis

trial,Masharipov repudiated hisprevious

confessiontopolice, saying it hadbeen

extracted by torture;heisexpectedto

appeal hisconviction.