“Now that bars are slowly reopening after they had to close for months, it’s time to return the favour,” the federation of Belgian cafes said to promote the campaign. 

Read more on this subject: Huge hangover as Europe's bars and breweries face battle for survival

The European Commission is calling on EU member states to lift all border checks within the bloc by the end of June, Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told Euronews.

National coronavirus lockdowns and travel bans have sowed confusion among travellers, cost the tourism industry billions of euros in revenue and undermined the idea of a united Europe.

EU governments are now trying to coordinate how and when to reopen their borders, and member states’ home affairs ministers will be discussing the topic during a meeting on Friday.

"I think we're coming very close to a situation where we should lift all the internal border restrictions and border checks," Johansson told Euronews in a TV interview.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

"Some students don't have a quiet place to study at home because mum and dad are at home, or brothers and sisters, all due to corona measures," Mathijs Goderis, the deputy mayor of Bruges explains. He says that since libraries closed, many students were looking for a place to study.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

The United Nations and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are urging that governments and others unite in developing a “people’s vaccine” to protect everyone against the coronavirus.

Their appeal came ahead of a vaccine summit in London organised by the Global Vaccine Alliance that is seeking to mobilise billions of dollars of funding for a COVID-19 vaccine.

The “people’s vaccine” should protect the affluent, the poor, the old and young, said a statement by the UN and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. That is a “moral imperative that brings us all together in our shared humanity,” it said.

It said the pandemic is also raising risks of other diseases as it disrupts childhood immunisation programs, leaving at least 80 million children under the age of one at risk of diseases like measles, diphtheria and polio.

India on Thursday reported yet another record number of new infections, at 9,304, with 260 deaths in the previous 24 hours.

India’s tally of COVID-19 fatalities surpassed 6,000 and its number of infections has risen to nearly 217,000, the Health Ministry said. That makes India the seventh worst hit by the pandemic.

Neighboring Pakistan reported over 4,000 new cases and said 82 more people had died, raising its death toll to 1,770. On Thursday, as many as 901 COVID-19 patients were listed in critical condition in Pakistan hospitals.

The spike in infections comes weeks after Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan overrode warnings from experts and eased a lockdown. Officials have blamed the public for not adhering to social distancing regulations.

Coronavirus strands merchant ship crews at sea for months

As countries across the world have imposed lockdowns to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, merchant ship crews have become unintended collateral damage.

About 150,000 seafarers are stranded at sea in need of crew changes, according to the International Chamber of Shipping. Roughly another 150,000 are stuck on shore, waiting to get back to work.

For nearly four months, Capt. Andrei Kogankov and his oil tanker crew haven’t set foot on dry land. With global travel at a virtual standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Russian captain was forced to extend his normal contract. He still doesn’t know when he’ll be able to go home.

“In some ways, they’ve been the forgotten army of people,” said Guy Platten, secretary general of the ICS. “They’re out of sight and out of mind, and yet they’re absolutely essential for moving the fuel, the food, the medical supplies and all the other vital goods to feed world trade.”

“It’s not a tenable position to keep on indefinitely. You can’t just keep extending people,” said Platten.

“When you are seven months on board, you are becoming physically and mentally exhausted,” Kogankov said. “We are working 24/7. We don’t have, let’s say, Friday night or Saturday night or weekends. Tthe vessel is running all the time.”

International shipping organizations, trade unions and shipping companies are urging countries to recognize merchant crews as essential workers and allow them to travel and carry out crew changes.

With more than 80% of global trade by volume transported by sea, the world’s more than 2 million merchant seafarers play a vital role.

Euronews with Associated Press

Austria opens borders to neighbours - except Italy

Germany agrees €130 billion recovery package