The Week - UK (2021-07-17)

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Europe at aglance NEWS 7

17 July 2021 THE WEEK

Amsterdam
Suspectheld:
PeterR.de
Vries,a
high-profile
Dutch
journalist,
remainedin
acritical
conditionin
hospitalafterbeingshotfivetimesona
busystreetincentralAmsterdamlast
week.Withinhoursoftheshooting,
DelanoGeerman,a21-year-oldrapper,
hadbeenarrested.Asecondsuspect,a
Polishnational,isalsoincustody.DeVries
(pictured)cametoprominenceinthe
1980 sforhiscoverageoftheabductionof
thebrewingmagnateFreddyHeineken.He
isknownforinvestigatingorganisedcrime,
andthereisspeculationthathisattempted
killingmaybelinkedtohisinvolvementin
ahigh-profileganglanddrugandmurder
case,knownastheMarengotrial.


Moscow
Hackerwarning:VladimirPutinhasbeen
warnedonceagainbyPresidentBidenthat
theUSwill“takeanynecessaryaction”
todefenditsinfrastructureagainst
ransomwarecyberattacksoriginating
fromRussia.ThewarninglastFriday–
followinganothermadeatarecentsummit
inGeneva–cameafteranothermassive
attack,bythehackinggroupREvil,which
isthoughttobebasedinRussia.REvil
struckupto1,500businessesintheUS,
EuropeandAsia,demanding$70mto
unlockthesystemsofthesoftware
companyKaseya.OnTuesday,ablogand
apaymentwebsiteforREvilsuddenly
wentoffline.Thedisappearancesparked
speculationthateithertheUSorRussian
officialsmayhavetakenaction.

Paris
Covidsurge:PresidentMacronhas
announcedplanstomakecoronavirus
vacci nationscompulsoryfor allhealthand
care-homeworkers.Francewillalsomake
Covidpassportsarequirementforaccess
totrains, shoppingcentresandrestaurants
fromnext month.InasombreTVaddress
tothenation,Macron announcedthat
health workers whoare notfullyjabbed
willhavetheirpaystoppedfrom 15
September.Hewarnedofthe threatfrom
theDelta variant, andsaidhecouldmake
jabs mandatoryforthewhole population
if the take-up ratedid notimprove (about
37%ofthe populationisfully vaccinated).
IntheNetherlands,thePMMarkRutte
apologisedfor his “errorofjudgement”in
scrappingCovidrestrictionstoosoon.The
country liftedmostmeasures threeweeks
ago,but hassinceseenasurgeincases
tothe highest levels sinceDecember.
Restrictions havenow beenreimposed.


Paris
19mphlimit:The wholeof Pariswillbe
subject toaroadspeedlimit of 30km/h –
slightlyless than 19mph–from next
month,its mayor hasannounced.Anne
Hidalgo,aSocialistwhowas re-electedas
thecapital’s mayoraspart ofaLeft-Green
alliance in 2020,said her election pledge
to expand the city’s low-speed zones
woul dbeimplementedby the endof
August. Theonly exceptionswillbet he
Champs-Élysées andafew otherarterial
routes,where the limitwillstay at 50km/h
(31mph).Theaim is to make the citysafer
forcyclists andpedestrians: thechances of
apedestriandyingifh it by avehicle are
nine times lower at 30km/h than they
areat50km/h (according totheParis
authorities).Thepolicy is also designedto
reduce pollutionand noise. About60%of
centralParis residents supportthelower
limit,butonly 36%ofresidentsin the
greater Paris areado.


Prague
Overfor “ova”:Afteryearsof fierce
debatein theCzech Republic, its
parliamenthaspassedabill scrappingthe
legal requirement for women’s surnames
to endin th efemininesuffix “ova”.The
Czechlanguage,in common with some
other Slaviclanguages, formsawoman’s
surnamebyaddingasuffix to the nameof
her father or husband. The Czechsturned
thislinguistic conventionintolaw in
1945, although today there are several
exceptions, forexample forwomen who
are foreign nationals or whoare married
to foreigners.Even so,many Czech
publications doaddthe suffi xtothe
namesof fo reignwomen, andforms such
as “AngelaMerkelova” are often seenin
print. Campaignershave longargued that
the “ova” suffix is demeaning,since it is
literallythe possessiveform of themale’s
surname. Opponents of the changesay
that “ova”simplyconnotes femininity.

Warsaw
Tusk returns:
Poland’s former
centre-right PM,
DonaldTusk,
hasreturnedto
domestic politics
in the hope of
oustinghis rival
Jarosław
Kaczynski, the
country’shard-
rightnationalist
leader.Tusk (pictured),whoserved as
presidentof the European Council from
2014-2019, becameafamiliarface to
Britons during Brexit,notabl efor his
rueful Anglophilia. Last Saturday,he
waselected leaderofCivic Platform, the
conservativeparty heco-founded 20 years
ago. Kaczynskiwas also re-elected as
leader of the LawandJustice (PiS) party,
whichheadsafragil ethree-partycoalition.

Örebro, Sweden
Skydivers killed:Aplanecarryingeight
members ofaskydivingclubcrashedat
Örebroairport, about100miles westof
Stockholm,last Thursday–killingalleight
passengersand thepilot.Thesmall
propeller aircraft,aDHC-2Beaver,
crashedshortly aftertake-offandburst
intoflameson impact.Thetragedywas
eerilysimilartoanother accidentin 20 19
innorthern Sweden,whichalsokillednine
peoplewhenaplanecarryingskydivers
crashedsoonafter take-off. Inthatcase,
the crashinvestigationshowedthe plane
had been improperly loaded.Thecause of
lastweek’s disasterisnotyet known.Hans
Kjäll,aSwedishflightsafetyexpert,said
thattheplane involved wasmanufactured
in 1966 .“It’sa55-year-old aircraft,still
operating,”he said.“Thatdoesnot
directlymeanthat the flight safetyis bad,
but the safetyrecordforthistypeof
plane hasbeenabitmixed.”

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