Page 45 - Europe

No e-visa facility for UK travellers likely to hit business: Goa tourism

Goa tourism industry stakeholders have said their business is likely to get affected this tourist season due to the withdrawal of e-visa facility for visitors from the United Kingdom. The chartered flights which were supposed to arrive from the UK in October, when the new tourist season commences in Goa, have been postponed to November, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) president Nilesh Shah said on Tuesday. TTAG is an apex tourism body in the coastal state. The UK no longer falls within the over 150 countries that can access the online tourist e-visa option when travelling to India, which has caused a considerable strain for tourists. Shah said the issuance of e-visas for travellers from the UK had stopped during COVID-19 pandemic. The UK and Russia are two important destinations from where visitors arrive in Goa during the tourist season. As per figures of the Goa tourism department, before the outbreak of COVID-19, around 40,000 tourists used to arrive from the UK .

Travelling to Europe? Now make hassle-free payments using UPI on your phone

Those visiting Europe will be able to make payments through UPI as the NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) has entered into a partnership with European payment services facilitator Worldline. NIPL is the global arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The partnership between NIPL and Worldline is aimed at expanding acceptance of Indian payment means across Europe, according to a joint release issued on Tuesday. Under the partnership, Worldline's QR code-based mechanism will allow merchants' Point-of-Sale (PoS) systems in Europe to accept UPI payments from Indians using their mobile phones. Later on, the Indian customers will also be able to use their RuPay debit or credit cards to make payments in Europe. This will result in a multitude of customer-related merchant benefits due to an increase in footfall and spending from Indian tourists, NPCI and Worldline said in the release. Currently, Indian customers pay through international card networks when they trav

Startup funding drops by 80% YoY to $3 bn in Q3 of Calendar 2022: Tracxn

Average ticket size also dips across all funding stages, late-stage sees biggest fall of 70%, indicating that investors aren't willing to make large investments until economic conditions improve

Amazon to invest over 1 bn Euros to electrify delivery fleet in Europe

E-commerce giant Amazon has announced that it will invest more than one billion euros to further electrify its transportation fleet across Europe over the next five years

Amid energy crisis, desperate Europeans return to firewood for warmth

Not far from Berlin's Nazi-era Tempelhof airport, Peter Engelke is putting up a new security gate at his warehouse because of concerns about desperate people pilfering his stock

Zelenskyy, NATO Secretary-General discuss Ukraine Euro-Atlantic integration

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he held a phone conversation with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration

Europe faces 'unprecedented risk' of gas shortage after Russian cuts: IEA

Europe faces unprecedented risks to its natural gas supplies this winter after Russia cut off most pipeline shipments and could wind up competing with Asia for already scarce and expensive liquid gas that comes by ship, the International Energy Agency said. The Paris-based IEA said in its quarterly gas report released Monday that European Union countries would need to reduce use by 13% over the winter in case of a complete Russian cutoff amid the war in Ukraine. Much of that cutback would have to come from consumer behavior such as turning down thermostats by 1 degree and adjusting boiler temperatures as well as industrial and utility conservation, the group said. The EU on Friday agreed to mandate a reduction in electricity consumption by at least 5% during peak price hours. Just a trickle of Russian gas is still arriving in pipelines through Ukraine to Slovakia and across the Black Sea through Turkey to Bulgaria. Two other routes, under the Baltic Sea to Germany and through Belaru

Palestine urges Europe to put pressure on Israel against West Bank conflict

Palestine has urged the European countries to tie their relations with Israel to its adherence to international law, UN resolutions, and human rights principles

Russia accused of 'kidnapping' head of Europe's largest nuclear plant

Ukraine's nuclear power provider accused Russia on Saturday of kidnapping the head of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, a facility now occupied by Russian troops and located in a region of Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin has moved to annex illegally. Russian forces seized the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ihor Murashov, around 4 p.m. Friday, Ukrainian state nuclear company Energoatom said. That was just hours after Putin, in a sharp escalation of his war, signed treaties to absorb Moscow-controlled Ukrainian territory into Russia. Energoatom said Russian troops stopped Murashov's car, blindfolded him and then took him to an undisclosed location. His detention by (Russia) jeopardizes the safety of Ukraine and Europe's largest nuclear power plant, said Energoatom President Petro Kotin said. Kotin demanded that Russia immediately release Murashov. Russia did not immediately acknowledge seizing the plant director. The International Atomic

Mass fish deaths in Europe's Oder river blamed on brackish water algae

The recent mass fish deaths in the Oder river that runs through Poland and Germany were caused by the proliferation of brackish water algae

Sweden finds fourth leak on Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea

A fourth leak on the Nord Stream pipelines has been reported off southern Sweden, the Swedish news agency said on Thursday. Sweden's coast guards told news agency TT that they have a vessel on the site of the leak, off Sweden. All four detected leaks are in international waters, two near Sweden and two near Denmark. The Nord Stream pipelines run through the Baltic to transport gas from Russia to Germany. Neither pipeline was operating, but both were filled with gas. The Danish and Swedish governments believe that the leaks off their countries were deliberate actions. Before the leaks were reported, explosions were recorded. A first explosion was recorded by seismologists early on Monday southeast of the Danish island of Bornholm. A second, stronger blast northeast of the island that night was equivalent to a magnitude-2.3 earthquake. Seismic stations in Denmark, Norway and Finland also registered the explosions. Some European officials and energy experts have said Russia is likel

World Bank President Malpass warns of stagflation, recession in Europe

In a speech at Stanford University, Malpass said there was an increased likelihood of recession in Europe, while China's growth was slowing sharply and U.S. economic output had contracted

Europe ramps up energy security after suspected pipelines sabotage

European companies are ramping up security around pipelines and energy prices are climbing again as the suspected sabotage of two pipelines that deliver natural gas from Russia underscored the vulnerability of Europe's energy infrastructure and prompted the EU to warn of possible retaliation. Some European officials and energy experts have said Russia is likely to blame for any sabotage it directly benefits from higher energy prices and economic anxiety across Europe although others cautioned against pointing fingers until investigators are able to determine what happened. Russia has sharply curtailed natural gas shipments to Europe in retaliation for sanctions that the West put in place after its invasion of Ukraine. On Wednesday, Russian energy giant Gazprom increased the pressure, threatening on Twitter to cease dealing with a Ukrainian company that controls one of the two remaining pipelines that ship Russian gas to Europe. Coming on top of the apparent sabotage to the Nord ..

EU vows retaliation if energy network attacked after gas pipeline damage

The European Union suspects that damage to two underwater natural gas pipelines was sabotage and is warning of retaliation for any attack on Europe's energy networks, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday. All available information indicates those leaks are the result of a deliberate act, Borrell said in a statement on behalf of the 27 EU member countries. Any deliberate disruption of European energy infrastructure is utterly unacceptable and will be met with a robust and united response. Seismologists reported on Tuesday that explosions rattled the Baltic Sea before unusual leaks were discovered on two underwater natural gas pipelines running from Russia to Germany. Some European leaders and experts pointed to possible sabotage given the energy standoff with Russia provoked by the war in Ukraine. The three leaks were reported on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which are filled with natural gas but are not delivering the fuel to Europe. The damage means that

Europe considers making 'Big Tech' pay for building the internet

Matt Brittin, Google's President of EMEA, said at an event in Brussels that it'll be customers who pay "either with price or pay in worse services," if Europe adds a streaming fee.

Gas leaks from Russian pipelines to Europe raise sabotage fears: Report

But it remained far from clear who might be behind any foul play, if proven, on the Nord Stream pipelines that Russia with European partners spent billions of dollars building.

Meta disables sprawling Russian propaganda network targeting Europe

A sprawling disinformation network originating in Russia sought to use hundreds of fake social media accounts and dozens of sham news websites to spread Kremlin talking points about the invasion of Ukraine, Meta revealed Tuesday. The company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it identified and disabled the operation before it was able to gain a large audience. Nonetheless, Facebook said it was the largest and most complex Russian propaganda effort that it has found since the invasion began. The operation involved more than 60 websites created to mimic legitimate news sites including The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom and Germany's Der Spiegel. Instead of the actual news reported by those outlets, however, the fake sites contained links to Russian propaganda and disinformation about Ukraine. More than 1,600 fake Facebook accounts were used to spread the propaganda to audiences in Germany, Italy, France, the U.K. and Ukraine. The findings highlighted both the promis

Europe suspects sabotage as mystery gas leaks hit Russian pipelines

Poland's PM said the leaks were caused by sabotage, while Denmark's prime minister and Russia, which slashed its gas deliveries to Europe after Western sanctions, said it could not be ruled out

EU buys additional vaccine doses against monkeypox despite declining cases

The European Commission said it had secured over 10,000 tecovirimat vaccines against monkeypox, despite the declining number of cases in the European Union (EU)

ECB expects slow economic activity as interest rates continue to rise

ECB expects economic activity in Europe to slow down substantially in coming months, due to skyrocketing prices, decreased spending power and overall uncertainty, ECB President Christine Lagarde said.