European investment tool worth 26.2b euros adopted in Greece
A 26.2 billion euro (27.26 billion dollars) investment tool has been adopted by the European Commission (EC), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF) this week.
The InvestEU program was signed in Athens. "InvestEU is one of the main tools we have in Europe to stimulate investment, but not simply investments to disperse money to the market, but investments focused on specific priorities that also define the new development model of the European Union," European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas said in Athens.
The program aims to unlock investments of over 372 billion euros across Europe, to support the EU's strategic priorities. These include the European Green Deal and the digital transition.
Within the context of the InvestEU launch, EIB Vice-President Christian Kettel Thomsen co-signed with the Greek government an agreement for the provision of 119 million euros in the form of a 25-year loan for the expansion and modernization of six research centers in Greece.
China has ordered six million people into lockdown in a city where violent protests broke out at an iPhone factory over Covid isolation policies and working conditions.
Hundreds of workers took to the streets around the vast iPhone factory in Zhengzhou on Wednesday, confronting hazmat-clad personnel wielding batons in a rare display of public anger in China. In the wake of the unrest, Zhengzhou authorities ordered mass testing and an effective lockdown for several districts in the central Chinese city starting Friday.
City centre residents cannot leave the area unless they have a negative Covid test and permission from local authorities, and are advised not to leave their homes "unless necessary".
The restrictions will affect more than six million people but do not cover the iPhone factory, where workers have already been under Covid restrictions for weeks.
One worker told AFP the protests had begun over a dispute over promised bonuses at the locked-down factory, run by Taiwanese tech-giant Foxconn. Many workers were also incensed by "chaotic" living conditions, the worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
Foxconn issued an apology, blaming a "technical error" in its payment systems for the salary issues and saying it "fully understands" the concerns of employees.
"The company will also try its best to actively solve the concerns and reasonable demands of employees," the Taiwanese tech giant said. The curbs in Zhengzhou are part of China's national zero-tolerance approach to Covid, which involves gruelling lockdowns, travel restrictions and mass testing.
However, nearly three years into the pandemic, Covid cases are now higher than they have ever been in China There were 31,444 domestic cases on Wednesday, the National Health Bureau reported, the highest since the pandemic began.
The numbers are relatively small when compared with China's vast population of 1.4 billion or global caseloads at the height of the pandemic.
But under the zero-Covid policy, even small outbreaks can shut down entire cities and place contacts of infected patients into strict quarantine.
The unrelenting zero-Covid push has caused fatigue and resentment among swathes of the population, sparking sporadic protests and hitting productivity in the world's secondlargest economy. The Foxconn protests have been among the highest-profile bouts of unrest.
Several cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing have tightened Covid restrictions as cases have climbed.