Новости за 29.07.2021

US secretary of state Antony Blinken affirmed his country's support to conduct additional investigations into the origins of the Covid-19 after meeting with the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Wednesday, Reuters reported. "He stressed the need for the next phase to be timely, evidence-based, transparent, expert-led, and free from interference," a US state department spokesperson said in a statement.

The European Commission announced on Wednesday that it had signed a contract with the pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline for the supply of 220,000 treatments of investigational monoclonal antibody therapy. A total of 16 EU member states are participating in the purchase of this treatment, which can be used for coronavirus patients with mild symptoms who do not require supplemental oxygen. Its use could reduce hospitalisation or admission to intensive care units.

Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia are seeking to create a 'min-Schengen', reports the Financial Times newspaper. The proposal comes on the back of mounting frustration over the slow pace of EU enlargement. "We need to see what we can do for ourselves [instead], what we can do for our people, how we can expand our markets," Serbia's president Alexander Vucic told the paper, in an interview.

Lithuania said it detained 171 migrants trying to enter from Belarus on Tuesday, the highest number in a single day so far this year. The border service says the migrants come from Iraq and will be placed in a detention centre. The total number of migrant crossings from Belarus so far this year is 3,027.

The US remains closed to tourists from the EU and the UK - a situation that has prompted frustration and urgent calls for the reopening of international travel to vaccinated individuals by industry and countries.

Thousands of Polish judges, prosecutors and lawyers have rallied to support the primacy of EU law, amid demands for Poland to suspend a politically-charged disciplinary chamber for judges.

In a worst-case scenario, the EU's climate policies would exclude developing nations from international trade, forcing them to trade with each other, forming economic and environmental 'ghettos' while the wealthy West enjoys the benefits of free trade and clean energy.