EXCLUSIVE Google Paying More Than 300 EU Publishers For News, More To Come

 Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit Google has signed deals to pay more than 300 publishers in Germany, France and four other EU countries for their news and will roll out a tool to make it easier for others to sign up too, the company told Reuters.

The move to be announced publicly later on Wednesday followed the adoption of landmark EU copyright rules three years ago that require Google and other online platforms to pay musicians, performers, authors, news publishers and journalists for using their work.

News publishers, among Google’s fiercest critics, have long urged governments to ensure online platforms pay fair remuneration for their content. Australia last year made such payments mandatory while Canada introduced similar legislation last month. read more

“So far, we have agreements which cover more than 300 national, local and specialist news publications in Germany, Hungary, France, Austria, the Netherlands and Ireland, with many more discussions ongoing,” Sulina Connal, director for news and publishing partnerships, said in blogpost seen by Reuters and expected to be published later on Wednesday. The blog did not say how much publishers were being paid.

Two-thirds of this group are German publishers including Der Spiegel, Die Zeit and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

“We are now announcing the launch of a new tool to make offers to thousands more news publishers, starting in Germany and Hungary, and rolling out to other EU countries over the coming months,” Connal said in the blogpost.

The tool offers publishers an extended news preview agreement that allows Google to show snippets and thumbnails for a licensing fee.

Coups undermining Sahel anti-jihadist force: UN chief

 Military coups in Mali and Burkina Faso — two members of the G5-Sahel anti-jihadist force — are undermining the mission’s operational capacity, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a Wednesday report.

“I am deeply concerned by the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the Sahel, as well as by the potentially debilitating effect the uncertain political situation in Mali, Burkina Faso and beyond will have on efforts to further operationalize the G5-Sahel Joint Force,” Guterres’ report to the UN Security Council said.

Mali was hit by coups in August 2020 and May 2021, while another took place in Burkina Faso in January 2022. In addition to those countries, the 5,000 strong Sahel force is composed of personnel from Mauritania, Chad and Niger.

“The highly volatile political and security situation in the Sahel impacted the operationalization of the Joint Force… Among other issues uncertainty over the transition timelines in Mali and the 23 January coup d’etat in Burkina Faso significantly slowed down the Joint Force’s operational tempo,” said the UN chief’s report, obtained by AFP.

Guterres also highlighted reports of human rights abuses by both security forces and militants.

“I am also seriously disturbed by the deteriorating human rights situation, amid reports of gruesome violations committed against civilians, both by terrorist armed groups but also reportedly by armed and security forces in the region,” he said.

Command and control problems are posing challenges for the G5-Sahel force.

In Mali, there are issues determining whether security forces are operating under the Joint Force or national command, “particularly when investigating alleged human rights violations,” Guterres said.

And the Sahel force’s leadership reported “conflicting chains of command as a major impediment to the Force’s full operationalization.”

The force is also fighting against militants who are able to infiltrate and move within the civilian population, Guterres said.

“The infiltration and increased mobility of terrorist armed elements within local communities continues to present a major challenge for the G5 Joint Force, both in terms of identifying suitable informants and protecting civilians during operations.”

Finland wants to join NATO ‘without delay’ in major policy shift

 Finland has announced it is in favour of joining NATO, a major policy shift sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Its neighbour, Sweden, is expected to decide on joining the military alliance in the coming days.

“Finland must apply for Nato membership without delay,” President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a joint statement on Thursday.

A special committee will announce Finland’s formal decision on applying for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on Sunday.

“NATO membership would strengthen Finland’s security. As a member of Nato, Finland would strengthen the entire defence alliance,” Niinisto and Marin said, marking a foreign policy shift, away from military non-alignment.

Finland, which shares a 1,300km border with Russia, had refrained from joining NATO during the Cold War in order to avoid provoking the Soviet Union, with which it has a troubled past.

The Soviet Union invaded Finland in 1939 – the so-called Winter War – and acquired 10 percent of its territory in the subsequent peace agreement.

As recently as January, Marin said a NATO bid would be “very unlikely” during her mandate, which ends in April 2023.

But after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, Finland’s political and public opinion swung dramatically in favour of membership.

Neighbouring Sweden is also expected to switch policy and support an application. The ruling Social Democrats are still debating, and the party is due to make a decision on Sunday.

Russia has warned of “military and political repercussions” if Finland and Sweden decide to join NATO.

Baltic countries, which were once ruled from Moscow and are now members of NATO, welcomed Finland’s announcement.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said the military alliance would welcome Finland and Sweden, and said it would be possible to allow them to join “quite quickly”.

The next step for Finland is for a ministerial-level security policy meeting to meet Sunday and make the formal decision to submit an application, to be presented to the parliament.

After an official bid is submitted, lawmakers in all 30 NATO member states would need to ratify its application – a process that can take months.

Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said Tuesday he believed Finland could become a NATO member “at the earliest” on 1st October

………………………………………………………………

France lifts Covid restrictions, no longer requiring masks on planes,trains

France will no longer require passengers on trains, metros, busses and domestic flights to wear masks starting Monday, 16 May, lifting one of the last remaining Covid measure in the country. And the European air safety authority will no longer recommend masks be worn on flights within the EU.

While wearing masks “remains recommended” on public transportation, requiring them is “no longer appropriate” given the recent drop in Covid cases, Health Minister Olivier Veran said Wednesday.

Soon after the announcement, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said it will no longer recommend medical masks be worn at airports and on planes starting on Monday.

The new guideline “takes account of the latest developments in the pandemic, in particular the levels of vaccination and naturally acquired immunity, and the accompanying lifting of restrictions in a growing number of European countries,” EASA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in a joint statement.

Mask rules may still vary by airline on flights to or from destinations where the rules are different.

For example, Germany’s Health Ministry said it will continue to require all passengers over the age of 6 to wear masks on flights to, from or within the country.

EASA Executive Director Patrick Ky urged passengers to “behave responsibly and respect the choices of others around them” and to “strongly consider wearing a face mask” if they are coughing and sneezing, to reassure those nearby.

France, which ditched most Covid mask rules in March, still requires them and a health pass proving Covid vaccination or inoculation, to enter hospitals and nursing homes.

People who test positive for Covid must still isolate for at least seven days.

On Tuesday, 56,449 new cases were reported over the previous 24 hours, mainly the Omicron variant, according to health ministry data. The numbers of patients in hospitals have also been steadily decreasing in recent weeks.

In March authorities began offering a fourth coronavirus vaccine dose to people aged 80 and over, and Veran said a new booster campaign for the general population could be necessary in the autumn if new variants emerge.

………………………………………………………………