BNS: Highlights of Monday 15min.lt

Coronavirus situation:

* Coronavirus is confirmed in 70 Lithuanians per day in Lithuania. The number of chimney-related cases has increased at Radviliškis hospital, Vilnius dance studio “City dance”, capital sports club “Gym Plius”, Mažeikiai district municipality. The coronavirus treats 83 people in hospitals. In Latvia, one new case was detected per day, in Estonia – 18, in Poland – 748 new cases and five deaths.

* Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis announced that as of October 1, mass gathering events such as city or harvest festivals will no longer be allowed, the government also promises to expand testing of doctors and patients in hospitals, to toughen the rules for patient care

* In and around the Spanish capital Madrid, the spread of the coronavirus has restricted the movement of more than a million people since Monday. People living in the areas most affected by the virus can only leave their homes on the way to work, in hospitals or when transporting children to school, with the movement controlled by the police.

* Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtech resigned due to a rapidly spreading coronavirus infection and has been replaced by chief epidemiologist Roman Prymula. The Czech Republic has recently detected several thousand new cases of coronavirus every day, and the spread of the virus is the second fastest in the European Union after Spain. 10 million In the Czech Republic, which has a population of more than 500, more than 500 people have died from COVID-19.

* The German city of Munich has introduced the mandatory wearing of masks in some popular parts of the city and has gatherings limited to two families or a maximum of five people.

Situation in Belarus:

* European Union Foreign Ministers met with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Cichanouskaya in Brussels, but have not yet agreed on sanctions against Aliaksandr Lukashenko’s regime. Cyprus is blocking the sanctions, which requires Europe to impose sanctions on Turkey at the same time for disputed gas exploration in the Mediterranean. Sanctions can be decided by EU leaders meeting in the European Council on Thursday.

* Belarus announced that more than 400 people participated in Sunday’s protests.

* The presidents of Lithuania, Poland and Romania issued a joint declaration proposing an economic aid plan for a democratic Belarus. The presidents propose that Belarusians be offered freer trade, a visa-free regime and support for economic transformation in the event of a change of government.

* At the request of BNS, the Vilmorus research company clarified the attitude of the Lithuanian population to the government’s actions in the face of the crisis in Belarus. 38.5 percent 25% of the respondents said they supported the reaction of the Lithuanian authorities to the events in Belarus. 5.8 percent of those surveyed said that the reaction of the Lithuanian authorities is too harsh towards Aliaksandr Lukashenko. he thought the reaction was too mild. 30.7 percent. He said they had no opinion.

* Taking advantage of a special humanitarian exception, 69 Belarusian citizens have already arrived in Lithuania, several hundred more have received such permission, but have not yet crossed the border. 18 Belarusians applied for political asylum in Lithuania.

IPO “Ignite”. State-owned energy company Ignitis grupė has launched an initial public offering (IPO). During it, investors are offered to buy up to 27.8 percent. Social capital. The IPO price range is from 22.5 to 28 euros per share, the total value of the shares sold is 470.3 million. up to 585.2 million The market capitalization of the Ignitis Group is 1,692 million euros. up to 2,105 billion euros. The final bid price for the IPO will be announced after demand formation is complete on October 1. The listing of the securities offered on the Nasdaq Vilnius and London stock exchanges is expected to take place on October 7.

Criticism of Poland. The Lithuanian Council of Judges has announced its disengagement from Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis’s support for the judicial reform carried out by the Polish authorities. “The pragmatic search for close cooperation between states cannot be a reason to deny the fundamental values ​​of democracy,” the Council of Judges said in a statement.

Television Oscars. The prestigious Emmy Television Awards were announced at a virtual ceremony in Los Angeles. They succeeded with the groundbreaking comic Watchmen, a series about the influential family’s infighting to control the Succession media empire, and the Canadian television comedy Schitt’s Creek about a wealthy family tricked by a con man forced to live in a motel.

Conviction in Bulgaria. A Bulgarian court sentenced two men to life imprisonment for a bloody attack on Israeli tourists in 2012 at the country’s Burgas airport. The Bulgarian and Israeli authorities have blamed the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah for the attack. The prisoners were identified as Meliad Farah, a Lebanese and Australian citizen, and Hassan El Hajj Hassan, a Lebanese and Canadian citizen. They left Bulgaria shortly after the terrorist attack.

Dispute in the United States. US President Donald Trump has said he will announce a candidate to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg later this week. He ensures that the Senate should vote on this before the elections. Democratic opponents of the president say the judge should be appointed for the winners of the November 3 presidential election. They worry that the Trump candidate will establish a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for decades.