Month: November 2021

Spain’s Ancient Practice of Resin Harvesting May Hold Key to Energy Future

Guillermo Arránz spends his days in a forest hacking into pine trees to extract what is to him, liquid gold. Some might see it as lonely and backbreaking work, but to Arránz it brings great satisfaction. He is his own boss and spends his days enjoying nature. Arranz is one of Spain’s resineros, or resin extractors, whose centuries-old practice involves bleeding trees of their milky sap. This simple practice has taken on fresh importance as Spain struggles to cope without any natural source of energy. Energy analysts say pine resin might be the new petroleum. Resin can be used to …

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Two Wounded During Protest of COVID-19 Restrictions in Netherlands

Crowds of rioters in the port city of Rotterdam torched cars and threw rocks at police, who responded with bullets and water cannons, as protests against COVID-19 measures turned violent Friday night.  “We fired warning shots and there were also direct shots fired because the situation was life-threatening,” police spokesperson Patricia Wessels told Reuters.  “We know that at least two people were wounded, probably as a result of the warning shots, but we need to investigate the exact causes further,” she said.  Some people on social media circulated images of someone they said had been shot by police. Police responded …

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Poland Accuses Belarus of Creating Border Crisis After Refugee Camps Cleared 

Poland accused Belarus on Friday of trucking hundreds of refugees to the two countries’ border and encouraging them to illegally cross into Polish territory to enter the European Union, an accusation that comes hours after Belarusian officials cleared the refugee camp where thousands had been hunkered down. Approximately 2,000 refugees, many of them Middle Eastern, were moved into a large warehouse on Thursday, enabling them to escape the freezing cold of the outdoor makeshift encampment. Several refugees had died while exposed to the cold temperatures. Poland’s accusation against Belarus suggests that the escalating East-West crisis, which has been developing over …

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NATO Chief Calls Situation at Belarus-Poland Border ‘Deeply Concerning’ 

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday the situation at the border between Poland and Belarus is “deeply concerning” and the alliance stands ready to help its allies involved.  Stoltenberg made the comments in Berlin, where he met with outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the issue and others facing NATO member nations.  Poland and the EU accuse the government of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of “weaponizing” migrants, largely from Africa, the Middle East and Afghanistan, by inviting them to enter Belarus and shepherding them to the Polish border, sometimes by force. Belarus denies the claim.  Polish troops have clashed several times with the migrants as they attempted to force their way …

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German Officials: Current COVID Surge Is ‘National Emergency’

German health officials said Friday the current COVID-19 situation in the country is a national emergency and called for immediate measures to be taken to mitigate the situation — including lockdowns, even for people who have been vaccinated. Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases (RKI) reported 52,970 new COVID-19 cases Friday, the third straight day new infections topped 50,000.  The infection incidence rate remains just more than 340 per 100,000. At a news conference Friday in Berlin, RKI President Lothar Wieler did not hold back his concern, saying, “All of Germany is one big outbreak. This is a nationwide …

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Austria Imposes COVID Lockdown as Cases Surge

Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced Friday the government will begin a nationwide lockdown Monday and mandate vaccinations for all, making it the first European nation to reimpose COVID-19 measures, as cases throughout the region surge. At a news conference Friday, Schallenberg said Monday’s lockdown will be reevaluated after 10 days, but they will run a maximum of 20 days, ending automatically December 13. He also announced COVID-19 vaccinations will become mandatory beginning February 1. The lockdown will include an all-day curfew for the entire country, though schools and kindergartens will remain open. People may leave their homes only for work, …

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Hungary Opposition Leader Vows to Restore Western Alliances

Hungary’s opposition leader wants to restore his country’s frayed ties with the West — and also has a message for American fans of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban. “Let me state very strongly for all Americans that to be a part of Putin’s fan club doesn’t make you a conservative,” said Peter Marki-Zay, a self-described conservative Christian running against Orban in next year’s elections, in an interview with The Associated Press. “Orban is betraying Europe, Orban is betraying NATO, Orban is betraying the United States,” he said. Marki-Zay, the 49-year-old mayor of the small city of Hodmezovasarhely, is leading a …

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Belarus Moves Refugees to Large Warehouse

Officials in Belarus have cleared a refugee camp on the Poland-Belarus border where thousands of refugees had hunkered down in the hope of entering the European Union via Poland. Approximately 2,000 refugees, many of them Middle Eastern, were moved Thursday into a large warehouse, enabling them to escape the freezing cold of the outdoor makeshift encampment. European Union countries have been watching the developments at the Poland-Belarus border, anxious about the prospect of several thousand migrants entering within their borders. Meanwhile, several hundred refugees decided Thursday to give up their hope of entering the EU and decided, instead, to take …

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Drug Regulator Says Europe Must Close Vaccination Gap to Stop COVID Surge

The European Union’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, said Thursday that unvaccinated individuals account for much of the “fourth wave” of COVID-19 infections in the region and encouraged EU member nations to close the vaccination gap. During its regular COVID-19 briefing at EMA headquarters in Amsterdam, EMA biological threats chief Marco Cavaleri told reporters that in EU states, unvaccinated people, particularly those over the age of 50, are most likely to be hospitalized with severe COVID-19, be placed in intensive care or die. Cavaleri urged member nations, especially those with “unacceptably low” vaccination rates, to “close this gap and make sure that as many people as possible will get vaccinated.” Cavaleri said the data they have collected continues to show, as expected,  vaccine booster shots restore protection against infection and disease. He said …

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