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Il y a quelques semaines, Vanessa Paradis

troquait sa longue chevelure contre une coupe courte permanentée. Une métamorphose qui a fait jaser sur la toile, mais qui semble être assumée par la chanteuse qui s’est exprimée sur le sujet.

Vanessa Paradis s'explique sur sa transformation capillaire.

Exit les cascades de boucles qui donnaient à la chanteuse un côté folk romantique, Vanessa Paradis est apparue à l’occasion des Victoires de la Musique en février dernier, avec un carré court frisé pour le moins surprenant.

Vanessa Paradis au Victoires de la musique le 14 février 2014 © SipaSi comme de nombreuses femmes après une rupture, la star de 41 ans s’est coupé les cheveux, le choix de la coupe nous avait grandement interloqué. Mais depuis cette apparition, l’ex de Johnny Depp s’est expliquée sur sa coiffure, au cours d’une interview accordée à l’Express Styles.La chanteuse a dû en effet se couper les cheveux pour les besoins du court-métrage, Rio, I love you, de John Turturro.

Vanessa Paradis à la Fashion Week parisienne en mars 2014 © SipaSi de notre côté, nous n’étions pas fan de cette nouvelle coiffure, c’est un style que Vanessa assume, qu’elle apprécie et qui selon elle, la rajeunit ! “On se sent vraiment différente mais alors, vraiment. Ça change beaucoup et ça m’a apporté une énergie très positive. Je me sens plus jeune !“expliquait-elle au Grazia Uk.Il faut dire que l’égérie Chanel a depuis, laissé tomber les frisettes pour un look lisse, coiffé-décoiffé, plus moderne.

Vanessa Paradis en avril 2014 à Los Angeles © SipaStéphanie MoyalClick Here: Putters

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Google reported Wednesday that it had tracked at least a dozen foreign government-backed groups attempting to use information around the COVID-19 pandemic to target cyberattacks at the health care sector and the public. 

Shane Huntley, a member of Google’s Threat Analysis Group, wrote in a blog post that his team had seen these threat groups “using COVID-19 themes as lure for phishing and malware attempts—trying to get their targets to click malicious links and download files.”

Major targets of these attempted attacks are international and national health care organizations and their staffers, with the threat groups in some cases sending emails with fake links to the login page of the World Health Organization (WHO). Google traced some of this activity to a cyber crime group known as Packrat, which is based out of South America. 

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Huntley wrote that while Google was adding additional security protections to higher-risk accounts as a result of its findings, it was clear that “health organizations, public health agencies, and the individuals who work there are becoming new targets as a result of COVID-19.”

But health care groups are not the only targets as hacker groups attempt to benefit from the COVID-19 crisis. 

“Our security systems have detected examples ranging from fake solicitations for charities and NGOs, to messages that try to mimic employer communications to employees working from home, to websites posing as official government pages and public health agencies,” Huntley warned. 

One cyber campaign watched by Google involved targeting U.S. government employees with coronavirus-themed emails from popular fast-food franchises, including offering coupons or even free meals. No Google accounts were successfully compromised as a result of this effort. 

Huntley noted that Google had seen a slight decrease in attempted email phishing attacks between January and March but attributed it not to government-backed cybercrime groups losing interest but rather to changing tactics and to dealing with delays caused by many countries effectively shutting down. 

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The company’s findings were made public a week after Google announced that it was seeing around 18 million coronavirus-related malware and phishing emails sent daily through its services in addition to around 240 million coronavirus-related spam emails sent every day. 

Cyber threats to health care groups and to the public have spiked as the COVID-19 pandemic has spread around the world. Groups including the WHO and the Department of Health and Human Services have been targeted, and hospitals in particular have been seen as an easy target for hackers to make money.

International police organization Interpol warned earlier this month that hospitals were likely to be targeted by ransomware attacks, in which hackers lock up systems and demand payment, putting lives at risk. 

Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock said during a webinar on Wednesday that the organization’s 194 member countries were reporting a “significant surge” in cyberattacks. 

“Several member countries are reporting an increase of 100 percent in cyber incidents,” Stock said. “This is not going away for a long time, I assume, and we will see more attacks in terms of numbers, and I think we will see more sophisticated attacks as the criminal side is getting experience.”

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Italy saw the fewest number of daily coronavirus deaths in a week on Sunday, according to news reports.

The country reported 433 deaths on Sunday, the lowest since last Sunday, when 431 deaths were recorded, according to Bloomberg News and Reuters. On Saturday, the death toll dropped to 482 from Friday’s 575. 

The number of new daily coronavirus cases hit a four-day low at 3,047 new cases Sunday, compared to 3,491 on Saturday. But more hospitalizations were reported for the first time in six days, according to Bloomberg News. 

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The lower daily death toll and number of new cases highlights a plateau that contrasts with the sharp rises that were occurring at the end of March. 

Some business leaders and regional chiefs are calling for a loosening of restrictions after the country has been on lockdown for six weeks. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is standing up to the pressure, saying on Saturday that the nation is not ready for reopening and counting out that some regions could open before others. 

Health experts are also urging the European nation to be cautious, saying it’s too early to begin the reopening process. The lockdown is scheduled to end May 3.

The northern region of Lombardy, which includes Milan, reported more than a third of the country’s deaths.

Italy has recorded a total of 178,972 cases of coronavirus and the second highest death toll in the world at 23,660, only behind the U.S. The U.S. has documented at least 41,379 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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Europe’s new industrial strategy won’t be a “wow” moment for anyone.

In a bid to hold its own as a global big hitter in the economic showdown with the U.S. and China, the European Commission is set to unveil the latest iteration of its industrial policy to a full fanfare on Tuesday.

But most of it will seem all too familiar.

In fact, Brussels is reheating a heap of left-overs from previous economic plans, and hoping that a generous dollop of political willpower will finally make them a roaring success on the sixth serving.

Tuesday’s document will be published alongside a strategy for small and medium-sized enterprises and an action plan on strengthening the bloc’s single market. It follows a 2005 paper, another in 2010, one in 2012, and two others in 2014 and in 2017.

The last was meant to make EU industry “stronger and more competitive” and “stay or become the world leader in innovation, digitization and decarbonisation,” in then-European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s own words.

Fast-forward three years and it is his successor Ursula von der Leyen who is trying to pull off the same trick by mapping out a three-pronged vision that is meant to make Europe digital, green and globally competitive.

Plans ranging from trade defense to greater leeway for subsidies are far from new in themselves. What has changed, however, is the level of political will that major countries such as France and Germany are now willing to invest in an industrial strategy, which was long dismissed as an outmoded idea that did not gel with free market economies. Europe now feels cornered and increasingly irrelevant faced with the erratic behavior of U.S. President Donald Trump in the trade war with Beijing and the rise of China Inc.

“We have to define a new industrial way for Europe in this rapidly changing world,” von der Leyen told businesspeople last week.

Mixed expectations

There are hopes that things will be different this time.

Markus Beyrer, director general of BusinessEurope, Europe’s business lobby, noted Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton and two of the Commission’s executive vice presidents, Valdis Dombrovskis and Margrethe Vestager were all putting an emphasis on the new plan.

“So I think there’s a good chance that there is more than we have seen in the past,” he said.

Peter Sweatman, chief executive of Climate Strategy & Partners, a strategic consultancy firm, also sensed greater momentum and said the Commission was sending a clear message that “this is the territory that we’re going to own and if you’re going to develop decarbonization technologies, 5G etc, Europe’s the place we want you to do it.”

Yet the schemes to be announced are not novel.

Trade defense measures such as an instrument to address reciprocity over big public tenders and a carbon border adjustment mechanism are both ideas we have seen before.

On digital, one of the Commission’s top priorities, the industrial strategy merely lists already-known initiatives. Drafts list the data strategy, which was presented by the Commission mid-February, the evaluation and review of EU competition rules for the digital age and the Digital Services Act, a future legal framework that will set rules on how platforms such as Google and Facebook police illegal content online. Cybersecurity and AI have been identified as an area of “strategic importance.”

On how the industrial strategy will incorporate the Green Deal, the Commission’s other top priority, expectations are low.

There will be a focus on so-called Important Projects of Common European Interest — so-called strategic value chains which will get Brussels’ blessing for public support — including hydrogen, low-carbon industries and batteries. But the strategy probably won’t give strong directions on what each of these should accomplish: “It drops right down on detail when it talks partnership on hydrogen, but it doesn’t mention which sectors or spaces does that fit to,” said Sweatman commenting on an early draft.

Johanna Lehne, from E3G, a nongovernmental organization, said: “We’re not expecting more than a high-level document heavy on political narrative and quite light on concrete policies.”

“All the meatiest issues are really to come,” she added.

Big on fluff

So far the Commission’s output has failed to impress, and most policymakers and businesspeople want to see more flesh on the bones.

“At the moment we still don’t know what the Green Deal means. All the concrete proposals will show it. For the moment it’s a promise,” said Henrike Hahn, an MEP from Germany who will be one of the coordinators on industrial topics for the Greens.

And while pushing to transform industry, the EU’s flagship research program, Horizon, is likely to be cut under the EU’s future budget compared to the Commission’s proposal, angering innovation advocates. “You cannot kowtow to the inertia and industries of the past if you intend to have a decent future,” said Sweatman.

The value of the industrial strategy probably won’t be determined by Tuesday’s initial plan, but by the Commission’s follow-up with concrete measures.

“Whatever comes out [of the Commission] is the starting point for further work, which should be paired with the political will to really make a difference this time,” said Beyrer.

Laura Kayali contributed reporting.

Want more analysis from POLITICO? POLITICO Pro is our premium intelligence service for professionals. From financial services to trade, technology, cybersecurity and more, Pro delivers real time intelligence, deep insight and breaking scoops you need to keep one step ahead. Email pro@politico.eu to request a complimentary trial.

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The coronavirus could push close to 500 million people into poverty worldwide unless wealthier countries take “urgent action” to help developing nations, according to a report from Oxfam released Thursday.

The charity group estimated that as many as 434 million more people could end up living in extreme poverty as a result of the deadly pandemic, which has infected nearly 1.5 million people.

“Those who have the least are being hit the hardest, and this worrying new research shows that the pandemic could force half a billion more people around the world into poverty,” said Oxfam chief Danny Sriskandarajah. “The choices being made now could have profound implications for our collective future. We must build back better; permanently changing our economies to create a fairer, more sustainable world.”

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The report found that between 6 percent and 8 percent of global populations could fall into poverty as countries shutter entire sectors of their economies to blunt the spread of the virus, leading to mass layoffs of low-income workers.

Oxfam argued that the global economic fallout from the outbreak could be curbed if world leaders come together to craft a rescue package to keep poor countries and poor communities above water. The group called on finance ministers from the Group of 20, which is meeting next week with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, to start hammering out an agreement.

Oxfam is recommending the “immediate cancellation” of $1 trillion worth of developing countries’ debt payments due this year, a $500 million increase in international aid and the creation of $1 trillion in “new international reserves” to increase IMF funds available to developing countries.

“Next week’s World Bank and G20 meetings are an important opportunity for world leaders to collaborate on a joint economic rescue package to protect the most vulnerable people. Immediate actions such as suspending debt repayments for developing countries would free up vital funds for healthcare and cash grants to those who have lost their income,” Sriskandarajah said in a statement.

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Le volume de médicaments opiacés distribués aux Etats-Unis a baissé de 17% en 2018 par rapport à l’année précédente, accélérant la réduction engagée depuis 2011 aux Etats-Unis, selon un rapport publié jeudi.

Le volume d'opiacés a été réduit au total de 43% par rapport au pic de 2011.

Le volume d’opiacés a été réduit au total de 43% par rapport au pic de 2011, selon un rapport de la société de services pharmaceutiques Iqvia. En 1992, la dose moyenne était de 22 comprimés par adulte américain. En 2011, au pic, la consommation était passée à 72 comprimés et elle est redescendue à 34 l’an dernier. Ce sont principalement les hautes doses quotidiennes (plus de 90 milligrammes d’équivalent morphine) qui ont vu les ordonnances baisser, indique le rapport.La baisse semble confirmer que le monde médical a changé ses pratiques face au scandale des overdoses par opiacés et à la pression politique et, plus récemment, judiciaire. Ces overdoses ont contribué à faire reculer l’espérance de vie aux Etats-Unis depuis 2014. En 2017, environ 70.000 Américains sont morts d’overdoses de drogues, soit 10% de plus qu’en 2016. Deux-tiers de ces overdoses étaient dues à des opiacés.Les opiacés incluent les “naturels” morphine et codéine, et les semi-synthétiques comme les antidouleurs oxycodone (marque OxyContin) et hydrocodone (Vicodin), distribués sur ordonnance mais également détournés sur le marché noir.Pour en savoir plus, découvrez notre article ”

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The Democratic chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Tuesday he still has confidence in Defense Secretary Mark EsperMark EsperOvernight Defense: Navy chief resigns over aircraft carrier controversy | Trump replaces Pentagon IG | Hospital ship crew member tests positive for coronavirus More than 200 sailors aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt test positive for coronavirus Navy chief resigns amid uproar over handling of aircraft carrier coronavirus crisis MORE amid fallout from the firestorm over a coronavirus outbreak aboard an aircraft carrier.

Rep. Adam SmithDavid (Adam) Adam SmithOvernight Defense: Navy chief resigns over aircraft carrier controversy | Trump replaces Pentagon IG | Hospital ship crew member tests positive for coronavirus President tightens grip on federal watchdogs Navy chief resigns amid uproar over handling of aircraft carrier coronavirus crisis MORE (D-Wash.) praised both Esper and acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly as “competent, capable people,” but expressed concerns both are facing undue pressure from the “creeping influence of [President] Trump’s approach undermining the decision making process” at the Pentagon.

Smith called for Modly’s removal Monday night after the acting secretary gave an inflammatory speech on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt defending his decision to fire the commander of the ship.

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Modly has since apologized, but Smith said Modly still needs to be removed because he likely lost the confidence of Navy rank and file.

“When I listened to the speech that acting Sec. Modly gave, it was almost like he was trying to do sort of a half-assed imitation of how Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpCDC updates website to remove dosage guidance on drug touted by Trump Trump says he’d like economy to reopen ‘with a big bang’ but acknowledges it may be limited Graham backs Trump, vows no money for WHO in next funding bill MORE would have given a speech,” Smith said in a response to a question from The Hill.

“It wasn’t what I would have expected from the Thomas Modly that I know,” Smith said. “And so now he’s trying to figure out — forgive me for this line but I’ll throw it out there — what would the narcissist do?”

Modly relieved Capt. Brett Crozier of his command of the Roosevelt last week after a letter the captain wrote pleading for help with the coronavirus outbreak on the ship leaked in the media.

Smith said he would have liked Esper to push back more when Modly told him he was going to fire Crozier, but that he still has confidence in Esper’s ability to be Defense secretary.

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“It should have been obvious that if they relieved the commander of the Roosevelt at that moment that the public blowback that happened was absolutely going to happen,” Smith said. “So I guess what I would say is I was disappointed in the decision. I was disappointed that they didn’t see the larger implications of that decision. But overall, I still have confidence in Sec. Esper’s leadership.”

Modly traveled to the Roosevelt on Monday to defend his decision, and a transcript and audio of his address over the ship’s PA system leaked in the media.

In the speech, Modly said that if Crozier didn’t think the letter would leak, he was “too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this.”

Alternatively, Modly said, if Crozier leaked the letter on purpose, that would be a “serious violation” of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

He also called Crozier’s action a “betrayal” and warned sailors that there is “no situation” in which they should go to the media, alleging “the media has an agenda” that “depends on which side of the political aisle they sit.”

Modly at first said Monday afternoon he stands by “every word,” but by Monday night was apologizing.

“Let me be clear: I do not think Capt. Brett Crozier is naive or stupid,” Modly said in a statement. “I apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused.”

Smith said Tuesday the apology has not changed his mind about the need for Modly to lose his job because Modly is “going to have a heck of a time getting the confidence of the Navy back.”

“What really troubled me was, what on earth possessed the acting secretary to think that that speech was a good idea,” Smith said.

The “larger problem” causing that, Smith said, is Pentagon leaders “trying to figure out, how do I stay in the good graces of the tyrant across the river there who could potentially fire me tomorrow if I don’t.”

Smith added that he is still in touch with former Defense Secretary James MattisJames Norman MattisMattis defends Pentagon IG removed by Trump House Armed Services chairman expresses confidence in Esper amid aircraft carrier coronavirus crisis Is coronavirus the final Trump crisis? MORE and former acting Defense Secretary Patrick ShanahanPatrick Michael ShanahanHouse Armed Services chairman expresses confidence in Esper amid aircraft carrier coronavirus crisis Boeing pleads for bailout under weight of coronavirus, 737 fallout Esper’s chief of staff to depart at end of January MORE, both of whom he said “can go chapter and verse on what it’s like trying to work for this president.”

“I think it’s incredibly unfortunate that someone as capable as acting Sec. Modly wound up in this situation,” Smith said, “but after that speech on the carrier I just don’t see how he can lead the Navy.”

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Macron gives Albania and North Macedonia hope on EU talks

French president praises revamped enlargement plan.

MUNICH — French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday gave the clearest sign to date that he is ready to drop his objections to North Macedonia and Albania starting EU membership talks.

Macron said the European Commission “did a remarkable job” in coming up with a proposal to reform the bloc’s enlargement process, taking into account his own misgivings. The next step would be to look at the Commission’s assessment of the two countries’ progress in reports due to be released next month, he said.

“We must see what the Commission will say on the state of the advances we expect to take place in Albania and North Macedonia,” Macron said in a question-and-answer session at the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of politicians, military leaders and diplomats from around the world.

“If the results are positive and trust is established  we should be in a position to open, afterward, negotiations,” he added.

The Commission has already said on multiple occasions that the two countries have met the criteria to begin membership talks. But France and other EU members have previously taken issue with such assessments.

Without naming any countries, Macron also accused other EU governments of “great hypocrisy” in their attitude to would-be members from the Western Balkans. He said those governments publicly encouraged the start of membership talks while declaring privately that the prospective members would not meet EU standards for many years to come.

“I prefer realpolitik here. To anchor the Balkans [to the EU] we have to invest there… instead of saying we are opening negotiations, with a lot of hypocrisy because all those who say we need to open negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia then say, ‘But be careful, they’re not suitable for membership for another 10 or 15 years.’ We’re not reasonable,” Macron said.

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LIÈGE, Belgium — Welcome to the staging ground for Alibaba’s European surge.

Over the past year, the Chinese e-commerce giant has been quietly transforming this mid-sized Belgian city into an international transport hub and European logistics center — complete with an airport that operates 24/7 importing products from China and dispatching them around the bloc.

The investment is a key part of Alibaba’s strategy to compete against U.S. rival Amazon and others in one of the world’s richest markets. It’s already brought clear economic benefits to Belgium’s fifth-largest city — a once-thriving industrial center where many hope that Alibaba can help revive the economy.

Yet as the firm’s footprint expands, with plenty of help from the Belgian government, it’s also running into home-grown opposition. A local grassroots movement that calls itself “Watching Alibaba” argues that the costs of hosting the Chinese guest — which it says include more frequent flyovers, snarled traffic, growing air pollution and jammed postal centers — far outweigh the benefits.

“I don’t want to live in a city where everybody is unable to sleep properly because of thousands of planes flying over us every night,” said François Schreuer, a founding member of Watching Alibaba during a protest in January that gathered some 50 people in central Liège.

“At the very least, we demand a stop to the development of the airport,” added Schreuer, who’s also a member of the local green party, Vega.

The protesters — who say residents weren’t sufficiently consulted on the scale of plans before Liège was designated as the firm’s European hub — are unlikely to scare off the company with placards urging Alibaba to “go back to your cave.”

The investment is the result of years of fierce jockeying between countries during which Belgium managed to out-lobby other contenders for Alibaba’s favor, namely Germany and the Netherlands.

But the pushback is giving Alibaba a taste of the “techlash” that has been plaguing Silicon Valley companies for years in Europe.

In 2018, local protests brought Google’s plans for a vast Berlin campus to a halt, while Apple stores in France have been the site of “die in” protests by taxation activists furious over the firm’s optimization schemes.

Once mainly an issue for U.S. firms, that ire is now being directed at Chinese companies as well.

Alibaba insists it is working together with the locals, and has no plans to slow down or scale back its ambitions.

“Our investment at Liège airport is an opportunity for local businesses, and we look forward to partnering with them to market and sell Belgian and European products to China and other global markets,” said Derek Sun, the manager in charge of the project in Alibaba’s logistics arm Cainiao.

Alibaba vs. Amazon

For Alibaba, which had about a fifth of Amazon’s global revenue in 2018, the Liège investment will allow it to compete against the U.S. rival in the midst of a U.S.-China trade dispute and a wobbly economy back home.

So far in Europe, Alibaba has been able to challenge Amazon on price but not on delivery speed.

Liège is set to change that. By providing a portal into Western Europe’s most prosperous markets in France, Germany, the U.K. and the Netherlands, Alibaba hopes to be able to deliver products around the bloc in a matter of hours. To satisfy demand for ever-cheaper goods, Alibaba also pledges to ship anything over from China to Europe in just 72 hours.

The starting signal for this expansion was given in 2018, when Belgium became the first European country to sign up for Alibaba’s trade initiative, the Electronic World Trade Platform (“eWTP”).

The deal allows small and medium-sized Belgian businesses to trade on Alibaba’s global platform. In return, Alibaba’s logistics arm, Cainiao, pledged to invest €75 million-€100 million to build a warehouse on a 220,000 square-meter area in Liège airport by 2021 that is expected to create 900 direct jobs.

In addition, plans are underway to transform the area around Liège airport into a bigger logistics and warehouse hub. But first, the airport needs to demolish government-subsidized roads and water, drainage and electricity infrastructure to make way for Alibaba’s warehouses.

But the Alibaba deal was many years in the making. In an effort to attract Chinese investment, the Belgian government pulled out all the stops, sending no fewer than 600 delegates to China last November for a visit to Alibaba’s Shanghai offices.

Princess Astrid, the Belgian king’s sister, and then-Foreign Minister Didier Reynders were among the attendees. Even King Philippe, who visited China in 2015, was last year photographed shaking hands with Alibaba’s former CEO Jack Ma at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Both sides are touting the Liège deal as an example of the benefits of China-EU ties.

When the expansion is completed in 2021, it’s expected to create potentially thousands of jobs thanks to increased economic activity, in addition to the 900 jobs at the airport.

That’s a major boon for a region that has been struggling to recover from the collapse of heavy industry starting in the 1960s, and where the unemployment rate — which hit 23.4 percent in 2019, according to the Forem job center — is higher than in other parts of French-speaking Belgium.

Michel Kempeneers of Awex, the Walloon export and foreign investment agency, estimates that the deal with Alibaba will bring in around €300 million in the long term.

Bigger than Frankfurt?

But the Watching Alibaba contingent still isn’t satisfied. On one hand, protesters are concerned about the quality of jobs that Alibaba is bringing in, wary of reports about tough working conditions at Amazon fulfillment centers.

On the other, they warn in particular about the environmental impact of Alibaba’s arrival in Liège — echoing calls across Europe and among EU lawmakers to give much greater scrutiny to the environmental impact of home-delivery services.

“We don’t want Alibaba, Amazon or any other e-commerce here. They are incompatible with the fight against global warming,” added Schreuer said.

There is no doubt that Alibaba is about to have a powerful transformative effect on Liège.

In 2019, the city’s airport transported 902,480 tons of goods. This figure will grow exponentially after Alibaba’s logistics hub is up and running, partly thanks to the fact that Liège is one of the few airports in Europe that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is only a matter of time until it will surpass Europe’s largest cargo airports; in 2018, Frankfurt airport processed over 2 million tons of cargo, and Paris’ Charles de Gaulle 1.98 million tons.

To deal with the increased activity, the airport is going on a hiring spree. Customs have already hired 50 more staff to deal with the influx of packages in Liège, and they plan to hire 50 more for a total of 300 staff.

But even with more manpower, the sheer volume of packages is overwhelming for customs to deal with. In 2018, Belgian customs processed 9 million packages. After the country signed the deal with Alibaba, that number rose to 360 million packages. Customs are looking at how technology, such as artificial intelligence, could help recognize dangerous items such as poisonous toys or counterfeit medicines, according to Kristian Vanderwaeren, the administrator general of Belgian customs.

But the locals say the problem lies at the core of a business model that relies on carbon-belching trucks and planes to deliver cheap goods in record time to fickle consumers.

Currently, they point out that most of the planes and trains coming in from China return empty, while most of the packages being dispatched are low value.

Under the terms of the deal agreed in 2018 with Alibaba, Belgium hopes to fill those planes with local goods. The idea is that high-quality Belgian foods, pharmaceuticals and baby products that have gone through European quality controls will be snapped up by a growing Chinese middle class.

Yet that vision of reciprocal trade has yet to materialize. And Europeans are increasingly concerned about the risk of counterfeit and dangerous items coming in from China, with a 2018 study showing that more than half of unsafe products in Europe came from the Middle Kingdom.

In response to such criticism, an executive in Alibaba’s logistics arm said the firm is committed to sustainability and following EU environmental rules.

“We will continue to drive environmental sustainability by innovating and improving our technologies and processes,” said Alibaba’s Derek Sun.

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The Trump administration is struggling to work out the kinks of a coronavirus small-business loan program after a chaotic start Friday. 

Some banks say they are unable to access Small Business Administration (SBA) platforms, while industry leaders say there are unanswered questions about applying for loans and how to take advantage of them.

On Monday, the SBA loan processing platform crashed and was down for hours, preventing lenders from processing any loans, Bloomberg News reported. The system was back up Monday afternoon.

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Restaurants and startups are among those who have had trouble navigating the program.

“We told our restaurant owners when the bill was passed to begin setting up their files and putting the calls in to their personal banks so they can hit the ground running. Banks are still identifying if this government program makes sense for them to participate or they still have unanswered questions before they will jump in,” Sean Kennedy, National Restaurant Association executive vice president of public affairs, told The Hill.

The restaurant industry has been one of the hardest hit, as tens of millions of Americans are told to stay home.

The Treasury Department and SBA last week rolled out applications for the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), designed to provide loans for small businesses to meet payroll and other basic expenses during the coronavirus pandemic.

Bank and credit union employees are vetting, approving and processing the applications, which totaled 78,000 loan requests for $22 billion as of Sunday morning.

“SBA officials emphasized that they have been balancing security and speed in providing access to the systems that allow banks to make PPP loans,” the American Bankers Association said after a meeting with Treasury Secretary Steven MnuchinSteven Terner MnuchinOn The Money: Trump officials struggle to get relief loans out the door | Dow soars more than 1600 points | Kudlow says officials ‘looking at’ offering coronavirus bonds Trump officials struggle to get coronavirus-relief loans out the door Kudlow says administration ‘looking at’ offering coronavirus bonds MORE and other Treasury and SBA officials Sunday.

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A day earlier, the restaurant association had a call with Treasury officials and received a commitment that they will do everything they can to work with the industry to provide solutions to the loan program issues.

“As we look at the SBA loan programs coming out right now, what’s clear to us is that it’s a Band-Aid that’s getting smaller against a wound that’s getting bigger,” Kennedy said. “There are still a lot of unanswered questions on how certain small restaurant chains can take advantage of these given the way they’re organized.” 

He added that restaurants are having issues with the rules on when the loan has to be taken out, when the money has to be used by and details about the percentage of the loan that can be spent on non-payroll costs.

For restaurant franchises, it’s a mixed bag. 

“If you’re a smaller franchisee, and your brand is on the SBA Franchise registry, and you can find a bank who is participating in PPP, you are getting money and the program is working as intended,” said Matt Haller, International Franchise Association senior vice president of government relations and public affairs.

Other franchises have already been denied loans.

“If you’re a franchisee and your brand isn’t on the franchise registry, government bureaucrats are rejecting you even if your bank accepts the loan application. It’s clear discrimination purely on the basis of operating under a brand rather than as an independent business,” Haller said.

The Treasury Department and SBA did not respond to requests for comment.

Startups backed by venture capital (VC) firms are having trouble, particularly about whether they are eligible for loans and if the number of their employees has to include employees of its venture capital investor.

“Big problems early on were bank participation — mostly resolved — and limiting loans to existing customers — in progress. Still open questions about eligibility for VC-backed startups due to affiliation rules,” said John Lettieri, CEO of the Economic Innovation Group, in an email to The Hill.

Wells Fargo began taking loan applications on Monday and the bank said it will focus on small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The program is for firms with fewer than 500 workers on payroll.

“We are committed to helping our customers during these unprecedented and challenging times, but are restricted in our ability to serve as many customers as we would like under the PPP. While all businesses have been impacted by this crisis, small businesses with fewer than 50 employees and nonprofits often have fewer resources. Therefore, we are focusing our efforts under the Paycheck Protection Program on these groups,” Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said in a statement Sunday.

Mnuchin on Friday touted Bank of America’s approval of loans in an attempt to quell concerns about the program’s launch. The bank said Monday it had received more than 178,000 applications worth almost $33 billion, which is about 9.4 percent of the total available in the program. 

Hundreds of thousands of small businesses are expected to compete for the loan pool and the administration has stressed they are working to get the loans to businesses as quickly as possible.

“All indications confirm the money is being allocated very quickly, but many businesses are unclear as to when they’ll actually receive it,” Lettieri said.