Новости за 14.07.2020

The Guardian and El País revealed on Tuesday that the president of the Catalan parliament, Roger Torrent, was targeted in a "possible case of domestic political espionage". The spyware could have taken advantage of a previous vulnerability in WhatsApp software that gives access to everything on the target's phone. Torrent, who was warned about the targeting by researchers working for WhatsApp, accused the "Spanish state" of the alleged attack.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday that the European Union is preparing a "coordinated" package of EU-wide and national measures in response to China's new security law on Hong Kong.

The chief administrators of the Council, representing member states, have issued draft guidelines on corporate sponsorships of EU presidencies. The guidelines do not ban sponsorships - despite the risks they pose to the EU's reputation as a whole.

The 27 EU foreign affairs ministers clashed with Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at a meeting on Monday over "illegal Turkish drilling activities in the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus", over Turkey's role in the Libyan conflict and over the decision to turn the Hagia Sophia into a mosque, a common statement of the EU-27 said. Josep Borrell was tasked to explore ways to lower the tensions.

An analysis on Tuesday by the consultancy Climate & Company and think tank Agora Energiewende found that the EU's long-term budget and recovery fund risks falling short on "green" investment, Reuters reported. Researchers warned that the lack of enforcement measures created a "huge political risk" for investing in stranded assets - despite the commitment of spending 25 percent of EU expenditure on climate objectives.

There have now been more than 13 million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide, with 573,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. As the pandemic gets worse, with cases rising notably in the Americas, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Monday "there will be no return to normal for the foreseeable future", adding that "too many countries" were heading "in the wrong direction".

In a speech on Monday, French president Emmanuel Macron said he wants a stronger EU in the Mediterranean in order to resist other powers like Turkey and Russia, Le Monde reports. "The Mediterranean zone will be the challenge of the coming years," he said, adding "many crisis factors are coming together there: maritime disputes, destabilisation of Libya, migration, trafficking of arms and people, access to resources."

When airlines ignore refund claims, reject them or are only willing to offer vouchers or rebooking, they act against EU regulations. "In each of these cases airlines use their customers as lenders," warns one legal expert.

Following the first round of negotiations for the Energy Charter Treaty reform, green groups renew their call to the EU and member states to jointly withdraw from the agreement - claiming it is cannot be aligned with the Green Deal.

As the EU struggles to stop breaches of rule-of-law, and democratic backsliding, in some member states, the European Parliament plans to propose one single overarching tool to effectively monitor rogue capitals.

Little wonder the leaders of Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden are unwilling to sign off: they're not going to give money so the Italians can fund a tax cut in the middle of an economic crisis.