By Michelle Rahimi
Italy update
Italy presses EU nations to open ports to rescued migrants – The Washington Post
Italy stepped up pressure Wednesday on fellow EU nations to open their ports to migrants rescued by humanitarian ships as political tension simmers in the Italian government’s coalition over a sharply rising number of arrivals this summer on the country’s southern shores.
In May and June, the number of migrants who reached Italian shores more than tripled compared to the previous year’s figure, according to the ministry’s count. In July, the year-to-year difference was less marked — 8,600 in 2021 compared to 7,000 in 2020. But so far August has seen charity boats carrying the flags of France and Germany rescue hundreds of migrants from unseaworthy boats launched by human traffickers.
France update
New Covid restrictions in France as virus cases rise (thesundaily.my)
Health officials in France on Tuesday activated an emergency plan on the Mediterranean island of Corsica as a fourth wave of Covid infections spread across the country.
More of France’s popular coastal areas reintroduced the compulsory wearing of masks in a bid to stem the incoming coronavirus tide.
Across France, the Delta variant of the virus is pushing up the number of hospital admissions, public health figures published Tuesday showed.
Patients in intensive care now number 1,331 compared with 978 a week ago, while the deaths of another 57 people over the last 24 hours pushed France’s toll past 112,000.
About the author:
Michelle Rahimi is a Diplomacy and International Relation’s Master’s candidate at the School for International Training, located in Brattleboro, Vermont, United States of America.
She obtains an extensive passion for international relations with first-hand knowledge from traveling across many countries and is experienced in working with different teams and individuals from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.
