NUNZIUM

News That Matters

09/09/2022 ---- 10/09/2022

New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a disaster emergency on Friday in a bid to accelerate efforts to vaccinate residents against polio after the virus was detected in wastewater samples taken in four counties. In early August a health official in New York State had already announced that there could be hundreds or even thousands of undiagnosed cases of polio. The vaccination is the only weapon against this virus. In the state of New York polio vaccination rate is only 79% - some counties having even lower rates. The position of the World Health organisation is clear and states that "All children worldwide should be fully vaccinated against polio, and every country should seek to achieve and maintain high levels of coverage with polio vaccines in support of the global commitment to eradicate polio." In some areas of US the access to health care and therefore vaccination are limited due to the high cost of health insurance.

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Yesterday the European Central Bank raised three key interest rates by 75 basis points each: such drastic measure was implemented to fight the high inflation across the continent, mostly due to the ongoing energy crisis. With this premise, today September 9 the energy ministers of EU countries met in Bruxelles to discuss a series of exceptional measures to curb soaring electricity bills. The focus was on five points: (1) introduction of mandatory savings during peak hours, (2) a revenue cap for new producers, (3) capturing excess profits from fossil fuel companies, (4) liquidity aids to utility businesses, (5) a price cap on Russian gas imports. The outcome of this meeting gives to the European Commission a clearer political mandate on how to proceed: there is agreement on necessity to introduce energy saving measures, guarantee liquidity to utility businesses, capping revenues for new producers, and to take a solidarity contribution from fossil fuel companies. The ministers also “expect the Commission to propose emergency and temporary intervention including the gas price cap” said Jozef Síkela - EU minster of Industry and Trade - at the press conference after the meeting. In conclusion, in his words: “When Putin started his energy war he expected to divide us and damage our democratic societies and economies. Hi will not succeed, Europe is united against his aggression”. Concrete legislative proposals on these aspects are expected by the Commission within days.

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