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17/05/2020

Europe Coronavirus Updates: Italy sees fewer COVID-19 patients, Spanish PM seeks final extension of State of Alarm

A pedestrian waits to cross a street in Brussels, Belgium, May 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

— New single-day COVID-19 deaths continue to drop in France

— Italy sees fewer COVID-19 patients, number of active infections falls to 70,187

— New deaths from COVID-19 keep falling in Spain as PM seeks final extension of State of Alarm

— Deaths from coronavirus top 9,000 in Belgium

BRUSSELS, May 16 (Xinhua) — The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

A man makes a phone call near the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero Palace, Paris, France, May 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

PARIS — France had registered 96 new deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, fewer than the previous two 24-hour periods, while the balance of the coronavirus-related hospitalization remains negative, France’s Health Ministry said on Saturday.

According to the ministry, the 96 new single-day deaths were lower than 104 registered on Friday and 351 on Thursday. So far, 27,625 people have succumbed to the coronavirus-caused disease across France.

Meanwhile, France is now the world’s fourth worst-hit country in terms of human loss caused by COVID-19 after the United States, Britain and Italy.

As of Saturday, the country had recorded 142,291 confirmed cases, a single-day increase of 372, slower than Friday’s 563. A total of 61,066 patients had recovered and returned home since early March.

People wait in line outside a cocktail bar in Rome, Italy, May 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Cheng Tingting)

ROME — The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and intensive care (ICU) patients dropped in Italy over the past 24 hours, according to the latest tally posted by the Civil Protection Department on Saturday.

Recoveries rose by 2,605 from a day earlier, bringing the total to 122,810.

Nationwide, the number of active infections fell to 70,187, down from 72,070 on Friday.

Of those who tested positive for the new coronavirus, 775 are in intensive care, down by 33 from Friday, and 10,400 are hospitalized with symptoms, down by 392.

The death toll on Saturday was 153, bringing the total to 31,763 since the outbreak was first recorded in Italy’s northern Lombardy region in February.

The total number of COVID-19 cases combining infections, fatalities and recoveries has risen to 224,760, up from 223,885 on Friday.

A security guard offers disinfectant gel to a woman at the entrance of a building in Barcelona, Spain, on May 11, 2020. (Photo by Sergi Camara/Xinhua)

MADRID — The Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare confirmed on Saturday falls in the number of new deaths from COVID-19 as well as new cases.

The total number of deaths in Spain rose to 27,563 after 102 people lost their lives to COVID-19 in the 24-hour period until 21:00 hours local time on Friday.

This was the lowest number of deaths in a 24-hour period since March 16, with 50 of the deaths in the regions of Madrid and Catalonia.

The same period also saw a slight fall in the number of new cases. The Health Ministry reported 539 new infections, down from 549 reported 24 hours earlier, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 230,698.

Also on Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he will seek a fifth and final extension of the State of Alarm, which was imposed on March 15 to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Speaking in a televised speech, Sanchez said the upcoming final State of Alarm, which will come into effect on May 24 if approved, will be “different” from others.

“It is expected to be the last State of Alarm. We are going to request in the Congress of Deputies that it should last for a month,” he said. All the previous four extensions have been 15 days.

Few people are seen at the Saint-Hubert Royal Galleries shopping street in Brussels, Belgium, May 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

BRUSSELS — With an increase of 47 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the novel coronavirus had caused a total of 9,005 deaths in Belgium since the beginning of the epidemic, said the public health institute Sciensano on Saturday.

Of the 9,005 deaths, 48 percent took place in hospitals, 51 percent in nursing homes, and about 0.6 percent elsewhere, according to Sciensano. Deaths in hospitals were all confirmed COVID-19 cases. Of the fatalities in nursing homes, 23 percent were confirmed by test while the other were presumed by symptoms.

Also in the past 24 hours, 345 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, raising the cumulative cases to 54,989 in Belgium.

Source: Xinhua

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08/05/2020

China ‘copycat’ buildings: Government clamps down on foreign imitations

A replica of Paris in Tianducheng, Hangzhou, Zhejiang — Image caption – Paris? Actually a replica in Tianducheng, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province

From English towns, to Alpine villages, to the Eiffel Tower – copies of foreign architecture can be seen across China.

But now the government is clamping down, in order to promote local design.

A government statement says “plagiarising, imitating, and copycatting” designs is prohibited in new public facilities.

The statement says buildings “reveal a city’s culture” – and that “large, foreign, and weird” designs should be limited.

The guidelines also clamp down on new skyscrapers – limiting them, in general, to a maximum of 500 metres.

New European-style buildings in Dalian, China — Image caption New European-style buildings by tower blocks in Dalian, China

According to the Global Times, the “fake, shoddy versions” of foreign buildings appear in “many third and fourth-tier Chinese cities”.

The government did not say what will happen to existing “foreign” buildings, but does say there will be “city inspections” to check for problems.

The statement, issued on 27 April but only reported this week, singles out stadiums, exhibition centres, museums and theatres as public facilities where it’s especially important to ban plagiarism.

“City constructions are the combination of a city’s external image and internal spirit, revealing a city’s culture,” the government statement says.

It calls for a “new era” of architecture to “strengthen cultural confidence, show the city’s features, exhibit the contemporary spirit, and display the Chinese characteristics”.

Image caption – Not the Arc de Triomphe, but a college gate in Wuhan

The guidelines on “foreign” architecture were mostly welcomed on Chinese social media.

“The ban is great,” wrote a Weibo user, according to state media the Global Times. “It’s much better to protect our historical architectures than build fake copycat ones.”

Another recalled seeing an imitation White House in Jiangsu province. “It burned my eyes,” she said.

Image caption Thames Town, an English-themed town near Shanghai, pictured in 2008

In 2013, the BBC visited “Thames Town”, an imitation English town in Songjiang in Shanghai.

The town features cobbled streets, a medieval meeting hall – even a statue of Winston Churchill – and was a popular spot for wedding photos.

“Usually if you want to see foreign buildings, you have to go abroad,” said one person. “But if we import them to China, people can save money while experiencing foreign-style architecture.”

Raffles City, Chongqing, in 2019 - mimicking the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore — Image caption – Raffles City, Chongqing, in 2019 – mimicking the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore

China, of course, is not the only country to borrow – or copy – other countries’ designs.

Las Vegas in the US revels in its imitations of iconic foreign architecture including the Eiffel Tower and Venetian canals.

Thailand also has developments that mimic the Italian countryside and charming English villages, mainly aimed at domestic tourists.

Source: The BBC

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