Last week the Italian parliament passed a bill aimed at boosting the country’s low birth rate by supporting parents. “We have approved the Family Act to support parenting, combat the falling birth rate, encourage the growth of children and young people, and the help parents reconcile of family life with work, especially for women,” Premier Giuseppe Conte […]
While events in America matter to Ireland, at least at the periphery, they’re objectively less important than events in Europe, which impact us directly. Which is why it’s odd that so much attention is being given to the riots in American Cities while no media outlet, except the one you are presently reading, bothered to […]
Up to 70 Italian cities have seen protests demanding that the current government step down over their handling of the coronavirus, and calling for an Italian exit from the EU. Protesters – including many orange vest demonstrators – called for a new government and a return to the Italian lira in place of the euro, it […]
In my last post I looked at the end of the coronavirus and how the world will react in the light of China’s lies, threats and risky behaviour which has left so many people dead around the world and so much of the world’s economy in free-fall. Today I want to briefly discuss another impact […]
An interesting little addendum to the story this morning about Ireland being the tenth worst country in the world for Coronavirus deaths per million people: All of the ten countries that head that list, Ireland, and the nine worse than us, are in the European Union. You have to get to 11th on the list, […]
The health situation in Italy is dire. Tragically, over 11,600 people have died and over 101,000 people have caught coronavirus, giving it some of the highest numbers of cases outside of China. The question is, what caused this to be the case? While the reasons are clearly complex and multi-faceted, the well-meaning—but ultimately misguided—advice from […]
If you’ve only been reading the Irish media, there’s a very good chance you won’t be aware of the mounting row in Brussels over whether or not the EU should issue so-called “Eurobonds” to help countries like Italy (and Ireland, indeed) get through the Covid-19 crisis. There has been some coverage, but not a vast […]
Italians are sharing the good news story of a 101-year-old who has been discharged from hospital after recovering from the coronavirus COVID-19. The Local.it reports that the man, from Rimini “is back at home with his family on Friday after beating the infection”. The man, identified only as “Mr. P” by authorities, was born during […]
Italy isn’t singing on the balconies anymore. As time in quarantine goes slowly on, marked by the ticking of our family clock, we are receiving fewer and fewer coronavirus jokes, funny videos, invitations to sing or clap our hands or whatever our fellow countrymen’s fantasy suggested in the first quarantine days. There is very little […]
Amidst the news of lockdowns, rising numbers of deaths, and panic buying, comes some reassurances from an expert in – what might be some good news from a leading expert who has examined the data and predicts a less gloomy outcome than most. The Los Angeles Times reports that Michael Levitt, a Stanford biophysicist, who […]
Wednesday was the last day of comparative normality for a little while for us here in New Zealand. At midnight the “Level four” lockdown commenced. Those not working in essential services (healthcare, food supply chain etc) are meant to stay home for the next four weeks and only venture out into their local area to exercise and […]
Dr. Gal Peleg, an Israeli doctor working in Italy’s coronavirus epicentre, has warned that many hospitals will no longer be giving respirators to anyone aged over sixty. Dr. Peleg who works in Parma, Italy, told Israeli Channel 12 news that respirator machines are in such limited supply that healthcare professionals need to strictly prioritise how […]