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Swiss get to choose whether to keep vaccine passports in place

Despite months of protests, Swiss citizens have overwhelmingly voted to keep the country’s system of Covid vaccination certificates in place. The deal was sweetened for voters by the promise of financial assistance. Some 62% of voters chose on Sunday to maintain the country’s coronavirus measures. These measures include a controversial system of Covid vaccination certificates, required […]

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Poland determined to get over €800bn in WWII reparations

Warsaw is setting up a special research institute tasked with studying the damage inflicted on Poland by Nazi Germany, and pushing for reparations from Berlin, the Polish premier revealed. The Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, made the announcement in an interview with Germany’s DPA news agency, parts of which were published on Friday. Morawiecki said […]

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States that do not play by EU rules do not get ‘benefits of Europe’, France tells Poland amid row over law primacy

Countries that do not respect Brussels’ rules cannot reap the “benefits of Europe,” according to French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune, referring to Poland’s heated spat with the EU on whose law takes supremacy. Speaking to French news outlet LCI on Thursday, Beaune lashed out at Poland for its ruling earlier this month that saw […]

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Lithuanian govt proposes paying pensioners to get Covid jabs in push to tackle vaccine hesitancy

The Lithuanian government has proposed dishing out €100 payments to vaccine-wary pensioners aged 75 and over in a bid to motivate the age group to get jabbed against Covid, as their inoculation rate remains low. Speaking in a televised government meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said that Vilnius is “unable to convince them […]

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Bring a friend and get a present! Switzerland incentivizes citizens to convince acquaintances to get Covid jab

The Swiss government announced on Friday that it’ll begin to offer gift certificates to people who bring a “friend, neighbor, work colleague or family member” to get vaccinated, in a bid to boost the nation’s inoculation rate. Switzerland has, so far, fully vaccinated over 58% of its population, giving it one of the lowest inoculation […]

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Canada’s Trudeau says he has clear mandate to get country through pandemic after opposition concedes election defeat

Incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has celebrated victory in Monday’s federal election, despite his Liberal Party falling short of his desired goal of clinching a majority in the parliament. “Thank you, Canada,” Trudeau, who won his third term as PM, wrote on Twitter. The Leftist leader said he was grateful to the Canadians “for putting […]

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France suspends 3,000 healthcare workers for failing to get jabbed against Covid – health minister

About 3,000 French healthcare workers have been temporarily dismissed on grounds they had not received Covid vaccinations before the mid-September deadline which made inoculation mandatory, Health Minister Olivier Veran announced. In an interview with RTL Radio on Thursday, Veran shared that on Wednesday “some 3,000 suspensions were served on staff in health and social care […]

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Philippines’ Duterte orders officials to get his consent before attending senate probes, accused of trying to ward off scrutiny

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered that members of his cabinet are required to get his consent to appear at Senate investigations, with some critics calling the move an attempt to avert scrutiny. Duterte issued the orders in a recorded televised address on Tuesday, declaring: “I will require every cabinet member to clear with me […]

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‘Get on the vaccines’ if you want to ‘get on the beers’: Victoria premier urges Australians to get AstraZeneca Covid jab

The premier of Australia’s state of Victoria has taken to social media to urge fellow citizens to leave behind their skepticism of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine if they want lockdowns to end. Daniel Andrews posted a cartoon diagram on Twitter urging citizens to get jabbed with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which some are unwilling to take […]