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Climate change: Global sports ‘playing against the clock’

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News desk
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A new report warns that the sporting industry is “playing against the clock” and confronts major disruptions due to climate change.

Changing meteorological patterns have already affected the Summer and Winter Olympics, premier football divisions, tennis, athletics, golf, and cricket, according to a report from the Rapid Transition Alliance. However, the worst is yet to come, according to the report.

It warns that within the next three decades, one-fourth of English league football grounds will be at risk of flooding each season, one-third of British Open golf courses will be damaged by rising sea levels, and one-half of previous Winter Olympic host cities will no longer be able to reliably conduct winter sports.

It underscored the fact that climate change has already disrupted a number of prominent sporting events.

Some contests at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan were cancelled due to unprecedented pacific typhoons; the New York triathlon and multiple horse races were also cancelled in 2019 due to a heatwave in the Northern Hemisphere.

During the 2014 Australian Open, when four days of temperatures above 41C were recorded, over a thousand spectators were treated for heat exhaustion, Caroline Wozniacki’s plastic bottle dissolved, and Wilfred Tsonga’s shoes melted.

Earlier in the year, the tournament was interrupted by haze from devastating bushfires.

Five competitors retired from the 2018 US Open due to heat-related issues. Temperatures on the court reached 49 degrees Celsius, necessitating the first application of the tournament’s extreme heat policy, which calls for extended breaks between games.

Organizers of the 2010 Vancourter Winter Games commented that “the warmest weather on record… hampered our ability to prepare fields of play for athletes at the venues in Cypress Mountains,” whereas competitors in Sochi, in 2014, complained of a dearth of snow.

As for the Summer Games, Tokyo 2020 organizers had to relocate long-distance running events nearly 1,000 kilometres north of the capital due to the city’s humid summer climate.

“Sport is not merely a victim of change, but also a significant contributor,” the report states.

“The IOC’s [International Olympic Committee] carbon footprint is comparable to that of Barbados, while global football’s imprint is even larger. “Sporting events are responsible for massive amounts of aviation, carbon-heavy stadium construction, and mountains of non-recycled waste, all of which contribute significantly to the catastrophe we face today,” the report continues.

Andrew Simms, the coordinator of the Rapid Transition Alliance, emphasized that “sport offers some of the most influential role models in society.”

“More will follow if sport can alter its operations with the pace and scope required to halt the climate emergency. If its participants also state that they believe clean air and a stable climate are important, millions more will recognize the potential for change, he added.

The first step for the organization would be to stop accepting sponsorships from fossil fuel companies. It then urges all global sporting federations, professional sports leagues, and tours to sign the UN Sport for Climate Action Framework and demands the Framework to be more stringent.

It was proposed that by 2030, any global sporting events or excursions that are not carbon-neutral should be cancelled or postponed until they are and that carbon-neutral sports federation should be excluded from the Olympics.

In addition, fewer tournaments and competitions may be part of the solution, the report stated.

Bertrams Goes Bankrupt

By
Juan Sanchez Gil
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Bertrams Goes Bankrupt

The drawn-out saga of the potential sale of the Bertram Group, one of two major U.K. wholesalers, came to a conclusion today with the news that the business has gone into administration. A statement on behalf of administrators Turpin Barker Armstrong (TBA) was received by the U.K. publishing newsletter BookBrunch confirming the company had gone bankrupt.

“We can confirm that Bertram Trading Limited, the global book wholesaler, has entered administration along with Education Umbrella Limited, a supplier of textbooks and digital education resources and Dawson Books Limited, an academic and professional library supplier,” the statement reads. “Book wholesalers have suffered from falling demand in recent years due to changes in the distribution model for literature and the rising popularity of e-books. These factors, combined with the Covid-19 related closure of many public libraries and educational facilities, meant these businesses could no longer operate viably.”

According to TBA, it has reached agreements with two parties to sell “the tangible assets and unencumbered stock of Bertram Trading Limited and for the intangible assets of Education Umbrella Limited and it is hoped that these will be completed shortly.”

TBA said that with the bankruptcy and asset sales, the majority of Bertrams’ employees have been let go, “with a small number retained to manage the winding down of operations. We are liaising with all employees impacted regarding their statutory rights and to direct them to support from the relevant government agencies.”

There is no word yet on how much money will be repaid to creditors. Publishers are believed to be owed considerable sums, but they will come behind the taxman and staff.

The wholesaler was advertised for sale by its parent company, equity group Aurelius, in mid-May, with Middleton Barton Asset Valuation handling the disposal. It was described as ‘a leading B2B Books wholesaler’ with a 185,000 sq ft leasehold warehouse, 200,000 titles in stock and an annual turnover of £250 million.

In late May, the Bertline online sales system was bought out of the business by the Booksellers Association. Also in May, Elliott Advisors, owner of Waterstones and Barnes & Noble, bought Wordery, Bertrams’ online bookselling division. Wordery will be a separate business from Waterstones.

Bertram had escaped earlier brushes with closing. In March 2009 it was rescued in a deal with Smiths News, which paid £9 million for the business and agreed to settle publishers debts of £16 million, after Bertram was dragged down by the collapse of parent company Woolworths in the autumn of 2008. At that stage the wholesaler’s revenue was about £125 million. In 1999, Kip Bertram had sold the company he and his late mother, Elsie, had founded for between £35 million and £40 million.

Similar to what happened in the U.S. when Baker & Taylor’s decision to exit the trade wholesaling market left Ingram has the only national wholesaler, Bertram’s collapse leaves Gardners as remaining national wholesaler in the U.K.

A version of this story first appeared in BookBrunch.

The Impact Of The Health Care System In Europe On It People’s Lives

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Newsdesk
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The impact of the health care system in Europe on its people’s lives has been one of the major forces that have contributed to the success and prosperity of the continent. Healthcare is a right that every person has, but there are barriers in place that prevent people from being able to make use of this right. In order to allow everyone to receive the healthcare that they need, those barriers must be removed so that people can benefit from it.

There are many different systems in place that require different skills and abilities, and for those who live in countries such as Sweden, the differences in the systems lead to a lot of unnecessary suffering. However, by providing free healthcare, the European Union is allowing people to get the medical attention that they need without having to pay a fee.

The health care system in Europe has proven that the citizens of the countries have been able to overcome their insecurities and expectations. It has also shown that when people are not afraid to stand up and demand the right to quality healthcare that they deserve, they will be able to find it. Many people who have been denied this right before now realize that they too can receive healthcare, if only they try hard enough.

There are several ways in which the health care system in Europe can be improved upon. The first and most obvious is to help ensure that people who need treatment have the ability to receive it. In Sweden, for example, it is very difficult for patients to get to a doctor\’s clinic or hospital on time. As a result, a lot of individuals have to wait for days, weeks, and sometimes even months before they get any sort of treatment at all.

If people were able to go to a hospital or doctor\’s clinic that was close to their home, then they would be able to access the necessary healthcare. In this way, the people would not have to suffer from the waiting list that is an outcome of the lack of infrastructure that is in place. In addition, it would help to improve the quality of the healthcare that the people receive by making sure that they are receiving the care that they need.

The other aspect of the health care system in Europe that needs to be changed is the way that it is financed. While the governments of various countries in Europe have put in place different ways of funding their health care systems, the cost of such services has caused the costs to rise. The government systems are simply unable to afford the medical treatment that they are providing, leading to the fact that they are simply giving away a service for which they need to pay.

With the right kind of healthcare being provided by the European Union, people will be able to make the best of the service that they are receiving. Rather than simply taking advantage of the system and wasting money because of it, they will be able to understand what is happening with their medical treatments and will therefore be able to access the treatment that they need more easily. This will be especially true for the elderly.

By reducing the level of health issues that people face, the system in Europe is providing people with the opportunity to ensure that they are treated in the best possible way. This will reduce the burden that is put on the system by increasing the efficiency of the medical treatment that is received. People are becoming better able to manage their health because of the system that is available.

Syrian refugees resort to ever more desperate measures to resist pandemic impact

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Newsdesk
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Now into its tenth year, the Syrian conflict has created more than 5.5 million refugees seeking shelter in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

“The number of vulnerable refugees who lack the basic resources to survive in exile has dramatically surged as a result of the public health emergency,” said UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic.

Since pandemic lockdown measures have been implemented, Mr. Mahecic noted that in addition to families already identified as vulnerable, UNHCR had seen “another 200,000 refugees just in this period of three months who because of the impact needed emergency assistance”.

Cutting back on food, medicine

Clear signs of distress among vulnerable individuals who have lost their jobs include coping measures “that would allow them to somehow make ends meet”, he added. “We have evidence of people trying to skip meals in order to spread out the food so it can last longer, they may skip taking medication, anything that is considered right now something where they can cut costs.”

Calling for additional support to sustain humanitarian initiatives, Mr Mahecic explained that in Jordan, only 17,000 out of 49,000 newly identified families in need had received help, “as UNHCR is lacking the funds to extend its programmes”.

Prior to the pandemic, the majority of Syrian refugees in the region were living below the poverty line, according to the UN agency, while a recent survey in Jordan showed that only 35 per cent of refugees said they had a secure job to return to after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

More than six million internally displaced Syrians and other vulnerable groups remain inside Syria, according to UNHCR.

Before the onset of the virus, the agency’s $5.5 billion Syria Refugee Response and Resilience Plan 2020 appeal was only 20 per cent funded across the region. It is now updating its requirements to cope with additional needs and has appealed for strong international support to countries sheltering those in need.

“Host communities have shown great solidarity, but they have also suffered loss of livelihoods as a result the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mr Mahecic, adding that nine in 10 Syrian refugees in the region live in towns or villages, not in camps.

If refugees are safe, so are host communities

Beyond the immediate emergency, the UNHCR spokesperson highlighted the need to ensure that refugees were included in countries’ national public health responses to COVID-19, in addition to other basis services, including education.

“It is a very important point that the refugees, internally displaced, stateless people are included in the national public health responses,” he said. “Only if everybody’s being looked after and everybody’s safe, we can all be safe.”

Pandemic deprives refugees in Greece, of vital link to food and locals

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Newsdesk
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Pandemic deprives refugees in Greece, of vital link to food and locals

by Magdalena Rojo at Religion News Service

MORIA REFUGEE CAMP, Lesbos, Greece (RNS) — Like many restaurants around the world, Nikos Katsouris has seen his 16-year-old eatery here close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And while he, too, has adapted to the local lockdown by starting a vibrant delivery service, Katsouris and his partner, Katerina Koveou, have been providing their former customers not their accustomed fish platters but toothpaste, diapers and imperishable groceries. 

Since the migration crisis began in Europe in 2014, Katsouris and Koveou have been offering hospitality to the thousands of refugees and migrants marooned on this island in the eastern Aegean Sea, the majority of them after fleeing war in Afghanistan and Syria — mostly by feeding them. The couple’s restaurant, Home for All, just a few kilometers outside of the Moria camp, has been serving fresh fish — like nearly everyone on Lesbos, Katsouris is a fisherman — and other delicacies, not on the ground in a tent but with dignity, at the table.

Free meals are prepared for Moria Camp refugees at the Home for All restaurant in Lesbos, Greece. Photo courtesy of Home for All

With COVID-19 spreading in the camp, however, authorities ordered all restaurants to close in mid-March, abruptly ending Home for All’s daily production of up to 1,000 meals. Moria went into lockdown at about the same time. Most of the eight refugees who volunteered at Home for All had to be sent home.

“Only a few days ago, people were sharing food there,” said Katsouris in late March. “And all of a sudden, everybody was stuck in the camp, many of them hungry, in the need of help that I wanted to offer, but I could not, as I wanted to follow the rules.”

Since then, Greece has slowly started to reopen, and a few refugees have gone back to work in the olive groves the couple owns, processing and bottling olive oil.

The work, Katsouris said, is as much a lifeline as the food. “Many people have been in the camp for two, three years. Offering them clothes or food helps, but it’s not as important anymore,” Katsouris said. “We have a lot of olive trees, and if we provide employment for refugees and migrants, they can start a new life.” 

Volunteers have also continued delivering meals to families in the camp, a sort of pro-bono takeout while Home for All is closed. Safar Hakimi, a 21-year-old Afghani resident of Moria, said making deliveries fills a need but also relieves the boredom of the lockdown. “There is nothing to do, nothing to study,” Hakimi said.

The restaurant also gave the refugees more than just somewhere to be. “They were giving us exactly what we need. Freedom. When we were going to the restaurant, for a moment we felt like at home,” said Hakimi.

“People stay all day in the camp and they need to feel useful,” Katsouris explained. “It is simply human to have something to do,” ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Pandemic deprives refugees in Greece, of vital link to food and locals

Nikos Katsouris, left, and Katerina Koveou in Lesbos, Greece. Video screengrab

Founded as a profit-making concern, Home for All began feeding refugees for free in 2014. Three years later, the Greek government ordered them to choose whether they were a charitable organization or a business. Katsouris and Koveou have always put everything they have into supporting refugees and migrants, and everything they do is funded from their own pockets or from individual donors. Rather than give up feeding the refugees, they filed to be formally recognized as a nonprofit.

“It is our passion, and a calling. Working with refugees brought us closer to God because we try to help as God says,” said Katsouris, who also delivers food to the local Greek Orthodox church, where, though he rarely attends worship, he still counts himself a member. 

Instead, he said, he gives his heart to the people and in exchange, they make him a better person. In his eyes, a relationship with God is about love.ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Pandemic deprives refugees in Greece, of vital link to food and locals

Before the pandemic, males learn how to make pizza dough at the Home for All restaurant in Lesbos, Greece. Photo courtesy of Home for All

Besides feeding both refugees and locals, the restaurant served to bring together the camp’s largely Muslim population and Katsouris’ fellow Christians. Zakira Hakimi, a 24-year-old university graduate from Afghanistan (no relation to Safar), arrived in Lesbos nearly two years ago with her mother. Katsouris and Koveou invited the two women to eat at Home for All and later offered them free housing. Soon Hakimi was volunteering as a translator for people from the camp while helping in the kitchen and making deliveries to the church.

“When the Greek people meet refugees, it changes their mind (about the refugees), because they see that they just came to find a better future,” Katsouris said.

The Moria Camp — designed to accommodate 3,000 people, but now holding some 20,000 — is still closed until June 21, even as Greece begins to open up. Few refugees and migrants are allowed to leave, and no visitors or members of international agencies can enter.ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Pandemic deprives refugees in Greece, of vital link to food and locals

Workers load food donations into a truck at the Home for All restaurant in Lesbos, Greece, to be distributed at the nearby Moria refugee camp. Photo courtesy of Home for All

“The hardest was that we did not have enough water to even wash our faces,” said Safar Hakimi. “There is never enough water, but during this time it is tougher because we cannot take care of ourselves, we cannot wash our hands,” 

According to Doctors Without Borders, there is one water station for 1,300 people in some parts of Moria. The idea of social distancing also sounds like one from a utopic movie, as people are sharing tents built one next to another. An outbreak of COVID-19 in such conditions would be a catastrophe that nobody wants to witness.

The camp is still a place of unprecedented risk. “The situation is very fragile,” Katsouris said, as is the country itself: Greece has just recently recovered from an extended economic crisis, and is almost sure to enter another one due to the pandemic.

The pandemic, Katsouris believes, should not divide Greeks and their refugee population but bring them together. “Coronavirus is a common problem,” he said. “It is not of refugees or of the locals only.”ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Pandemic deprives refugees in Greece, of vital link to food and locals

Katerina Koveou prepares pasta at her Home for All restaurant in Lesbos, Greece. Photo courtesy of Home for All

(This was produced with the support of the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, the John Templeton Foundation and Templeton Religion Trust. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.)

Scientology ‘Stay Well’ Initiative Backs Up Denmark’s New Normal

By
Newsdesk
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Denmark was the first country in Europe to ease coronavirus restrictions. But the pandemic left many concerned. Scientology Volunteer Ministers help their communities understand the basics of prevention and how they can keep themselves and others well.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 13, 2020 (Newswire.com) –

Denmark’s rapid response with prevention protocols to curb the COVID-19 pandemic is credited with quickly bringing the outbreak under control. To ensure the success of the country’s reopening, Scientology Volunteer Ministers launched an initiative to educate their communities on how to stay well.

Guided by the principle that an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure, Volunteer Ministers suited up in protective gear for the safety of all. They visited stores, restaurants and other businesses with sets of three booklets: How to Keep Yourself & Others Well, How to Protect Yourself & Others with a Mask & Gloves and How to Prevent the Spread of Illness with Isolation.

“People told us these booklets eased any fear or worries about what might happen, now that there are fewer restrictions,” said one volunteer. Store managers took boxes of the booklets and placed them on counters where customers could take them. “This is such a positive initiative, bringing help in these difficult times,” said the manager of one of the shops.

“As we walked down the street, we were surrounded by people asking for their own copies of the booklets,” said one of the Volunteer Ministers.

The How to Stay Well Prevention Center on the Scientology website makes these materials broadly available in Danish and 19 other languages. The booklets can be read on the website or downloaded. More than a dozen brief videos illustrate the key information, making it easy to understand what a virus is, how it spreads, and the actions anyone can take to protect themselves and their families.

Worldwide distribution of these booklets began in May and is ongoing in communities around every Scientology Church and Mission across the globe. The Church of Scientology International Dissemination and Distribution Center made this possible by printing 5 million copies of Stay Well booklets.

The Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. It constitutes one of the largest and most visible international independent relief forces. The Volunteer Minister’s mandate is to be “a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.”

​The Scientology religion was founded by author and philosopher L. Ron Hubbard. The first Church of Scientology was formed in Los Angeles in 1954 and the religion has expanded to more than 11,000 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups, with millions of members in 167 countries.

State aid: EU Commission approves prolongation of Irish credit union resolution scheme

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Newsdesk
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0

The European Commission has found the prolongation of an Irish scheme for the orderly winding-up of credit unions to be in line with EU state aid rules, in particular with the 2013 Banking Communication. The objective of the scheme is to safeguard financial stability when a credit union becomes unable to meet regulatory requirements. It allows Ireland to provide aid for transferring the assets and liabilities of a failing credit union to an acquirer through a competitive process. This will help to achieve the maximum value for the assets and liabilities, ensuring that the aid is limited to the minimum necessary for an orderly winding-up, and that no buyer gains an undue economic advantage through the acquisition of under-priced assets and liabilities.

Credit Unions are small financial institutions that are not covered by the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD). Ireland has chosen to make a special sector-funded resolution scheme available to those credit unions, which has been used only three times since its set-up. The scheme is prolonged until 31 May 2021. The Commission initially approved the scheme in December 2011. It has been prolonged fifteen times since then, the last time in June 2019. More information will be available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the reference SA.57378.

Poetry almanac ‘Voices of Friends’ looks for support

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Newsdesk
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0

by ECG

The Eurasian Creative Guild together with the Hertfordshire Press is happy to present its new project -the poetry almanac ‘Voices of Friends’! The project is aimed at supporting the poetry of classics and spreading the poetic heritage of the Eurasian peoples.

We all have been experiencing difficult times over at least the past few months. But no matter what humanity went through, there was always something that supported people in difficult times and helped them not to give up. This ray of light was and remains poetry.

The almanac ‘Voices of Friends’ is a special project that will allow you not only to present your work to the world in English, but also to preserve memories of people close to you, significant historical dates or your homeland as a part of world history and literature. The idea for this kind of collection appeared in 1960, when Soviet writer Konstantin Simonov published a collection of translations of the Voices of Friends, which included poems from poets of Uzbekistan. 60 years on, we decided to revive this wonderful idea and to give it a new sound.

The uniqueness of the almanac (diary – calendar) arises from the fact that it will be divided into 365 calendar days, where 1 page is allocated to each day. For example, you have the opportunity to put your work on Independence Day, or the anniversary of Abay Kunanbayev, etc. The collection will be a great gift for an unforgettable celebration, anniversary, birthday and perfectly fits personal social circles as well as events at the public and state level.

Each author can choose up to 6 calendar days (6 pages). The almanac will be published in the UK by Hertfordshire Press as part of the ECG book series. Mandatory copies will be sent to both the British Library and the world’s largest repository of copyrighted copies – Legal Deposit.

If you would like to participate in this project and to place your poetry in the almanac, you have to be an active member of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London) and to fill this form. The deadline is August 1st!

If you just want to support this project – you are more than welcome to do so! How to support this creative project? Here is a step-by-step instruction:

  1. Follow this link;
  2. Read about the project;
  3. Be interested;
  4. Click on the “Back it” button;
  5. Enter the amount of money or choose one of the benefits (Perk);
  6. Go to the payment page;
  7. Enter your card number;
  8. Transfer the amount;
  9. Be proud of yourself!

You have provided help and support to the Great Poets!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/poetry-almanac-voices-of-friends–3/x/7707228#/

We express our incredible gratitude in advance for your support!

If you become a sponsor of one of the poems of the eminent classic (exclusively of your choice), your name will be mentioned next to the great poet in history! We also highly encourage you to share it with your friends and relatives. Let’s support the poetry classics together!

Less cash for footballers, empty stadiums and piped-in cheering: La Liga returns

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News desk
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EURONEWS – In times of crisis, some communities resort to barter. Now Spanish football teams might too – La Liga.

La Liga President Javier Tebas says he expects the country’s clubs to consider more direct swaps of players instead of big transfer payments, as they try to cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis.

“The transfer market will be subdued. It is clear that there will be fewer direct cash transactions. There will be more player swaps,” Tebas told reporters in a videoconference on Thursday.

He said he did not expect the Spanish league’s transfer market to move more than €800 million, compared to €3 billion last summer.

And he ruled out blockbuster moves such as the world record €222 million Paris Saint-Germain spent to pry Neymar from Barcelona in 2017.

La Liga resumes on Thursday – Sevilla meet Real Betis in a much anticipated local derby – after it was suspended for three months due to the coronavirus pandemic. But things will be looking very different on the pitch.

So what is it going to be like for fans?

All football games in Spain will be played without fans, and authorities will try to stop supporters from gathering outside stadiums. Only a few journalists will be allowed inside to cover the matches.

Joris Evers, Chief Communications Officer at La Liga, explained to Euronews how canned cheering will be used to give the games more oomph.

“On the international broadcast, anybody who’s watching La Liga outside of Spain, you will have a virtual stand. (…) There’ll be an audio a soundtrack that is actually based on the EA Sports FIFA product, which uses real sound from real fans from real matches,” he said in a TV interview.

In Spain, viewers will be able to choose whether they prefer to listen to the original sound from the empty stadium, or watch the virtual experience with virtual supporters.

What about for players?

Players will continue to undergo regular tests and maintain strict safety and hygiene measures.

La Liga has been taking care of all of the travel arrangements for the different clubs, to try to limit the risk of infection.

“During normal circumstances, all the clubs arrange their own travel when they go from one city to another to play another team,” Evers explained.

“Now we’re really trying to get them into kind of a safety bubble, and La Liga is taking care of all of the travel for all the clubs – chartering planes, booking trains, buses, and also housing them in hotels, which is difficult because in many places in Spain, hotels aren’t yet open.”

With so many things up in the air – how will players perform after months without playing? How will they react to having no fans in the stadium? – he argues these unprecedented times are actually making it a “really exciting season.”

Watch highlights of the interview with Joris Evers in the video player above.

Schengen key to recovery: interview with civil liberties committee chair

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Newsdesk
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“EU Borders should reopen as soon as possible,” according to Juan Fernando López Aguilar, chair of Parliament’s civil liberties committee . Learn more in our interview.

After months of free movement in the Schengen area being suspended, Parliament is calling for a swift and coordinated return to normal. Ahead of a vote on the Schengen area situation in the June plenary, Spanish S&D member Juan Fernando López Aguilar , chair of Parliament’s civil liberties committee, discussed how to restore the borderless zone and the lessons learned from the Covid-19 crisis.

When will the internal borders in the Schengen zone reopen?

They should reopen as soon as possible, that’s my message. But apparently it’s not going to happen in full before early July. Our committee has been reminding member states that they are bound by European law, the Schengen borders code. The law says that all restrictions should be time-framed and that the grounds for suspension should be reasonable and proportional.

Now the important thing is that the [European] Commission oversee the restoration of free movement in a phased timeframe. Interior ministers need to coordinate all extensions of restrictions with the Commission. It is obvious that without Schengen there will be no recovery [from the pandemic]. In my view, without Schengen, there would be no European Union.

Read more on what the EU can do about the reopening of Schengen borders

Does the Schengen zone need better coordination and governance?

There has been a deplorable lack of coordination. Member state governments have not lived up to their obligations, which are binding. They should have communicated before [suspending Schengen] with each other and the Commission so that the latter could ensure the suspensions are time-limited and not discriminatory to some citizens. In the process of restoring the normal functioning of Schegen, we will ensure that these mistakes become lessons learned.

If there is a second wave of infections, what should we do differently in Europe? Is closing borders the best way of preventing the spread of the virus?

Let’s face it, the pandemic took us by surprise. Unprecedented measures were taken. It challenged the liberties that we took for granted for many years. Free movement has been suspended and that’s damaging. But, precisely because the situation was unprecedented, we have to show some understanding with the errors of governments in their efforts to secure public health, which is their number one priority.

Watch the full interview, which also delved into Schengen enlargement, migration, asylum and the use of personal data in the fight against Covid-19, on our Facebook page.

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