5 Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

[rpannier]

1. Albania sends 30 doctors and nurses to Italy to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic

Albania has sent 30 doctors and nurses to Italy, the worst-hit country in Europe amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Albanian Prime minister announced on Saturday.

The Albanian medical team was escorted to theTirana aiport by Albania's PM Edi Rama, the leader announced on his Facebook page.

The Albanian doctors, Rama said, will go to Italy's Lombardy region "to help their Italian colleagues".

"Today we are all Italian", Rama said during a brief speech at the airport. "Italy will win this battle."

https://www.euronews.com/2020/03/28/albania-sends-30-doctors-and-nurses-to-italy-to-help-fight-the-covid-19-pandemic


2. Kosovo's Parliament Topples Government In No-Confidence Vote

PRISTINA -- Kosovo’s parliament has ousted the country's government in a no-confidence vote, throwing the Western Balkan nation into political turmoil even as it struggles along with the rest of the world to battle the coronavirus epidemic.

The parliament late on March 25 voted 82 in favor of the no-confidence motion, 32 against, with one abstention.

The motion was called by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) -- a partner in Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s government.

Even though a member of Kosovo’s ruling coalition, the LDK has opposed many of the prime minister's polices, including matters regarding the fight against the coronavirus and the imposition of 100 percent tariffs on goods from neighboring Serbia.

https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo-parliament-dismisses-government-noconfidence-kurti/30509600.html


3. Utrecht rooftops to be ‘greened’ with plants and mosses in new plan

Every roof in the city district of Utrecht is to be “greened” with plants and mosses or have solar panels installed under plans driven by the success of a similar scheme for the municipality’s bus stops.

The “no roofs unused” policy is part of an attempt to reinvigorate biodiversity in the city and create a less stressful and happier environment, of which the construction of a so-called “vertical forest tower with 10,000 plants on its facade is set to become a leading example.

That building alone, close to Utrecht railway station, will host 360 trees and 9,640 shrubs and flowers, equal to 1 hectare (2.47 acres) of woods, once it is completed in 2022.

snip

Alderman Kees Diepeveen said: “In this city district every roof will be either used for green or for solar panels. It will be that when you look at the different heights, the lower rooftops will be mainly green and the higher ones will be mainly solar panels. And now again a combination of the two because solar panels need some cooling.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/27/utrecht-rooftops-greened-plants-mosses-vertical-forest


4. Hague court orders Dutch state to pay out over colonial massacres

An Indonesian man forced to watch his father’s summary execution by a Dutch soldier when he was 10 years old has spoken of his gratitude after a court in The Hague ordered the Dutch state to pay compensation to victims of colonial massacres in the 1940s.

Andi Monji, 83, who travelled to the Netherlands to tell his story to the court, was awarded €10,000 (£9,000) while eight widows and three children of other executed men, mainly farmers, were awarded compensation of between €123.48 and €3,634 for loss of income.

The cases concerned men killed by soldiers in the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi between December 1946 and April 1947 during so-called “cleansing actions” as the Dutch sought to repress moves towards independence.
Advertisement

The court found that 11 men had been killed as a result of misbehaviour by Dutch soldiers, mostly by summary executions. One man was randomly shot.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/27/hague-court-orders-dutch-state-to-pay-out-over-colonial-massacres


5. Putin's Pretext? COVID-19 Crisis Tapped To Tax Rich Russians' Offshore Wealth

With COVID-19 cases rising in Russia, President Vladimir Putin went on TV to announce measures he said were aimed at lending young families, workers, and small business owners financial support as the coronavirus upends daily life on a mass scale.

And toward the end of his surprise 17-minute speech on March 25, announced just a few hours beforehand, Putin laid out how this support would be financed, in whole or in part: taxes on the well-to-do.

Despite having access to hundreds of billions of dollars meticulously stored away for just such an economic crisis, Putin unexpectedly called for long-term changes to the nation's Tax Code to target its richest individuals – as well as, to a much lesser extent, the middle class.

Putin said he would hike taxes on dividend and interest payments that Russian companies make to their owners' offshore bank accounts. He also said he would tax interest on Russian bank deposits and bonds exceeding 1 million rubles ($12,500).

https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-s-pretext-covid-19-crisis-tapped-to-tax-rich-russians-offshore-wealth/30513483.html

[msongs]

1. as the wealthiest man in russia will he be taxing himself? hmmm nt

[littlemissmartypants]

2. Thanks for sharing this, rpannier. I always enjoy reading them. ❤ nt