Lisbon’s City Hall has been fined €1.25 million ($1.4 million, £1 million) for handing on demonstrators’ contact information to foreign embassies where they were picketing.

According to Portugal’s data commissioner, the mayor’s administration violated demonstrators’ personal data 225 times between 2018 and 2021. Former Socialist Mayor Fernando Medina’s administration shared their information with numerous embassies, including Russia’s. He has apologised for the violations.

According to the data commissioner, several of the violations occurred mere months before the incident became public, when several of the demonstrators expressed their concerns with the city council. The mayor’s office is claimed to have given information about the organisers of 52 protests to embassies across the world, including Russia’s, Cuba’s, and Israel’s.

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Following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s appeal for France to send back refugees who crossed the Channel, France’s interior minister has canceled discussions with UK Home Secretary Priti Patel. Gérald Darmanin, in an escalation of the political situation following the deaths of 27 people in the Channel, claimed the letter had disappointed France.

“Making it public exacerbated the problem.” In a letter to President Emmanuel Macron, Mr. Johnson outlined five ways to avoid a repeat of Wednesday’s tragedy. Mr. Darmanin said in a statement that the British prime minister’s public letter was “inappropriate” and “contrary to our partner negotiations.”

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The European Union is proposing a 9-month validity limit for Covid-19 immunizations for travel into and within the bloc, as well as prioritizing vaccinated travelers.

According to a document reviewed by Bloomberg, the European Commission is proposing that member states continue to welcome all tourists who have been inoculated with EU-approved vaccines. It also asked for countries to reopen as of Jan. 10 to all people who had used World Health Organization-approved vaccines. On Thursday, EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders unveiled a new internal EU travel framework based on individuals’ immunization or recovery status rather than caseloads in the countries from which they are traveling.

On Thursday, a second notification will be made about the external travel rules. The proposed changes establish a new time restriction for the validity of Covid inoculations, indicating that boosters will be required after the 9-month term has passed. The EU, on the other hand, stated that it was not prepared to propose a validity period for certifications given as a result of booster shots.

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