What to Watch Out for This Week
The academic year inauguration ceremony will take place on Saturday 28th. This year’s guest will be European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
University News
Video-recordings of synchronous lessons will be available on the Bboard platform until the end of the February exam session. This decision was taken on the 17th of November at the Academic Council meeting. Initially, the plan was to delete them from the Bboard platform on the 3rd of December. However, following student protests, students’ representatives managed to change the Council’s decision. Curious to know more?, You should read our article on the matter – of course, if you have not done it yet 😉 !
Bocconi University has obtained the Biosafety Trust Certification, that is the first certification scheme created to provide a set of best practices to help minimize the risk of spreading epidemics in public and private gathering places, based on ISO standards’ systemic approach to management systems. Bocconi was certified by RINA, a multinational company with 200 offices in 70 countries.
The on-campus medical center will be operating starting from the 23rd of November. This clinic is based in the mezzanine floor of the Piazza Sraffa 11 building and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 6:00pm. It should not be intended as an emergency service: its main aim is to meet the needs of non-residents in Milan. The service can be requested upon prior reservation by calling the phone number +39 02 0300915.
European News
Poland and Hungary veto EU budget over new rules linking funding to rule of law. On Monday, Poland and Hungary vetoed the European Union’s next 7-year budget and a massive COVID-19 recovery plan due to a new mechanism that links the EU’s funding to the rule of law, which plunged the 27-bloc into a new political crisis. Warsaw and Budapest opposed a tool that would cause them to lose EU money if they continued with policies which are seen as eroding democratic standards. Because of the reservations expressed by the two states, the EU is currently unable to move forward with this recovery plan, and if this issue remains unresolved, the bloc’s leaders will have to attend a videoconference summit.
Maia Sandu becomes Moldova’s First Female President. Moldova has elected the country’s first-ever woman President, with Maia Sandu, the country’s former PM, overwhelmingly claiming 57.7% of the popular vote on Monday. By becoming the country’s first female President, she breaks the glass-ceiling that only few women could achieve in the post-soviet space, which gives “hope and courage to girls and young women in Moldova to pursue careers of their choice that otherwise seem unattainable”, as research fellow at the German Council on Foregin Relations Cristina Gherasimov stated.
Bulgaria moves to bar North Macedonia from joining the EU. Bulgaria has blocked North Macedonia from progressing towards EU membership, due to disputes over history and language. The next step in the process, which would have been an agreement on a negotiating framework, was stopped by Sofia. Bulgaria was one of North Macedonia’s most ardent champions when it emerged from the former Yugoslavia — the only state to do so without a violent struggle — and in 1991 became the first country to recognise its independence. Albania’s progress towards EU Membership was also stopped due to reforms judged as insufficient by several countries such as the Netherlands, France and Denmark.
World News
Moderna: Covid vaccine shows nearly 95% protection. A new vaccine that protects against Covid-19 is nearly 95% effective, early data from US company Moderna shows. The results come hot on the heels of similar results from Pfizer, and add to growing confidence that vaccines can help end the pandemic. In the meantime, the EU is already in talks to buy up to 160 million doses of this second announced vaccine.
China and 14 Asia-Pacific countries agree on a historic free trade deal. Chinese leaders and representatives of other 14 Asia-Pacific nations signed one of the biggest free-trade deals in history, covering 2.2 billion people and around 30% of the world’s economic output on Sunday, November 15th. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Plan (RCEP) was signed over a video link after 8 years of negotiations. Signatories include New Zealand, Australia, Japan and South Korea, with states announcing their efforts to form joint economic plans to recover from the economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Turkish Central Bank under new leadership delivers the largest rate hike in 2 years. After a shakeup in Turkey’s economy, Central Bank policymakers raise the key interest rate to 15% on Thursday, pledging to fight high inflation and bolster the nation’s troubled economy. The Turkish lira soared on expectations by as much as 2.5% against the US dollar after the appointment of the new economic team. This was based on hope that there would be more predictable monetary policies. The new team also moved towards ending a multitude of complex backdoors tightening measures, opting to provide all funding through the main policy rate to bring under control the skyrocketing inflation.
Conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region surges on. People face a hunger crisis in Ethiopia’s rebellious northern Tigray region, as roads are blocked, airports are closed and the federal government marches on its capital in a final push to end a two-week war. Trucks loaded with food and supplies have been halted outside the borders of the region since November 4th, which only heightens tensions in a nation whose PM was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Citizens have been denied access to humanitarian cash transfers, and neighboring Sudan has been burdened with fleeing Ethiopians.
Hurricane Iota reaches Nicaragua and Honduras after Eta floods. The devastation caused by Hurricane Iota is becoming clear as communications are restored after the second Category 4 hurricane in just 2 weeks to blast Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast. Images show piles of wind-tossed lumber that used to be homes and concrete walls that were pounded into pieces by hurricane Iota, which caused a death toll of 16 people across the country. Iota was the 30th named storm of this year’s busy Atlantic season and took place later in the hurricane season than any other category 5 storm.
President-Elect Joe Biden wants to rejoin the US-Iran Nuclear Deal. President-elect Joe Biden promised to move quickly to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal so long as the other party also comes back into compliance, which is easier said than done. Returning to the way things were seems highly unlikely, given how complicated US-Iran politics have grown to be especially under the Trump Administration. Mr. Biden would find it hard to reverse the newly imposed US sanctions and the selling of advanced weapons to regional enemies overnight, but the optimistic sentiment to rejoin the deal that would bring some much-needed balance to the Middle East has been warmly welcomed by the Iranian side, as stated by Mr. Khamenei.
Peru’s third president in a week sworn in. Last week, President Martin Vizcarra was impeached over bribery allegations, which he denies. After President Vizcarra’s impeachment, the former speaker of Congress – Manuel Merino – became interim president. Vizcarra’s denial of the bribery accusations led to the uprising of many protests. After less than a week as president, Merino called his resignation following a violent crackdown on demonstrations against him. On Wednesday, November 18th, Francisco Sagasti was sworn in as Peru’s new interim president until the presidential elections next year. He belongs to the only political party that voted against the impeachment of Mr. Vizcarra.
Notizie italiane
Bilancio di casi e decessi da Covid-19. I contagi sono passati dai 27.354 di lunedì ai 28.337 di domenica; i decessi da 504 a 562. Dall’inizio della pandemia, almeno 1.408.868 persone hanno contratto il virus, per 49.823 delle quali è stato fatale.
La legge di bilancio passa all’esame della Camera. Tra le misure previste nei 200 articoli, l’assegno unico per i figli, i congedi di paternità, il rinnovo della cassa integrazione Covid e la decontribuzione per le assunzioni di donne.
Fibrillazioni nel centrodestra. Il voto contrario della Lega a un emendamento “salva Mediaset” scatena le ire di Berlusconi, tre deputati forzisti lasciano per il Carroccio e Salvini accusa FI di volere un “inciucio” con la maggioranza. Secondo l’ex Cavaliere, il centrodestra è in pezzi. Ma il leader leghista cerca di ricucire lo strappo, proponendo una nuova forma federata per l’alleanza.
Nasce gruppo parlamentare comune Più Europa-Azione. Una nota pubblicata da senatori e deputati del neonato gruppo parlamentare rivendica l’opposizione al governo Conte bis “muovendo da posizioni europeiste e liberaldemocratiche”.
Crollo dei consumi, -8% a ottobre. Confcommercio stima un calo di 8,1 punti percentuali in ottobre rispetto allo stesso mese dell’anno precedente. Le dinamiche osservate nei due mesi precedenti portano a stimare un rimbalzo del Pil superiore al 4% nel quarto trimestre.
Milano, scarpe Lidl in vendita e subito esauriti. Online si trovano a 200 euro. È stata la settimana del fenomeno “scarpe Lidl”, che hanno spopolato tanto nei supermercati quanto sui social.
Eugenio Gaudio si è già dimesso da commissario della Sanità in Calabria. Il neo-commissario ha addotto come giustificazione il desiderio della moglie di non trasferirsi in Calabria. Intanto, il presidente pro-tempore della regione, Antonio Spirlì, rifiuta le ipotesi di aiuto di Emergency, rivendicando che “siamo la terza regione d’Italia in ordine alfabetico”.
Milano, in un supermercato arriva la spesa sospesa. Iniziative simili si stanno diffondendo in tutta Italia, in seguito all’impossibilità di svolgere di persona le consuete “collette alimentari”.
A Pompei sono stati trovati dei nuovi resti umani. Appartengono a due uomini – un patrizio e il suo schiavo – e sono sorprendentemente ben conservati.
Solo 165 medici rispondono all’appello in Campania. La regione ne cercava 450, per affrontare una situazione pandemica che pare ora stabilizzarsi.
