Member states of the European Union are trying to find a joint stance on how to treat travellers entering the borderless Schengen area from China, after Italy urged the rest of the economic bloc to bring back anti-Covid checks in response to Beijing’s rapid rollback of its previously stringent hygiene restrictions. In recent days more than 50% of passengers from China at Milan’s Malpensa airport have tested positive for the virus, and on Wednesday Italy brought back mandatory coronavirus tests for everyone arriving from China, after reports of rising infection…
Tag: Italy
China Covid: U.S. Testing Rule Meets a Collective Shrug
Some Chinese were disappointed by the Biden administration’s new testing requirement for travelers coming from their country. Others radiated contempt, calling it the latest Western effort to contain China’s rise. But many were simply indifferent. For many Chinese, the U.S. rule that they must present negative Covid tests to visit is a tangential development. China is grappling with severe outbreaks that have sickened countless people and overwhelmed hospitals and funeral parlors. Many are focused on trying to hold on to their jobs and homes as the economy sputters. And to…
Italy says arrivals from China must take Covid tests amid new variant concerns
Italy has become the first country in Europe to make it obligatory for people arriving from China to be tested for Covid-19 following Beijing moving to reopen its borders after lifting some of its toughest anti-Covid restrictions. The move, which sees Italy join a number of countries closer to China in changing its travel policy, comes amid concerns over the potential for new variants to emerge during fresh outbreaks of the virus in China and quickly spread overseas. Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and India are among the Asian states that…
Italy home to 11 of 100-plus unofficial Chinese ‘police stations’
Italy hosts the highest number of unofficial Chinese “police stations” out of a network of more than 100 around the world, a report by a Spanish civil rights group has claimed. The northern Italian city of Milan was allegedly used by two local Chinese public security authorities as a European testing ground for a policing strategy to monitor the Chinese population abroad and force dissidents to return home. The Madrid-based Safeguard Defenders reported in September that 54 such stations allegedly existed around the world, prompting police investigations in at least…
Leading economies sliding into recession as Ukraine war cuts growth, OECD finds
The world’s leading economies are sliding into recession as the global energy and inflation crises sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cut growth by more than previously forecast, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). A dependency on expensive gas for heavy industry and home heating will plunge Germany, Italy and the UK into a long period of recession after global growth was projected by the OECD to slow to 2.2% in 2023 from a forecast in June of 2.8%. With the global economy needing to grow…
Italian woman, 72, to walk Marco Polo’s path from Venice to Beijing
A 72-year-old Italian woman has embarked on an epic journey between Venice and Beijing by foot, following the path of the legendary merchant Marco Polo along the ancient Silk Road trade route. Vienna Cammarota left Venice, birthplace of Polo, on Tuesday, and will cover about 13,670 miles (22,000km) as she walks through 15 countries, with the aim of arriving in Beijing in December 2025. Cammarota has been an avid walker for more than 30 years and previously ventured across Tibet, Palestine, Israel, Patagonia and Madagascar on foot. Her most recent…