13-Sep-21: 'Over 1.5 million students return to school for new pandemic-affected year'Your browser does not support the video element<p dir="ltr"><span>After three long months at home, children are back to school! Despite Covid-19, a certain sense of return to normality with fully in-person learning is what over 1.5 million students have experienced today.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>Staggered entrance times, social bubbles and face masks were again present in Catalan schools on the first day after the summer break. Yet, there is more optimism for a more normal academic year and far less uncertainty than 12 months ago. Self-isolations will be less common as it won’t be required for vaccinated pupils who are close contacts of positive cases.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>The Catalan and Spanish governments are meeting this week to begin a new era of dialogue over the independence issue. Yet, neither the date nor the agenda are clear yet – and whether the Spanish president will attend is also up in the air.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>The Catalan foreign minister Victòria Alsina has denounced the EU for having double standards. She says Brussels shows special treatment toward Scotland's independence campaign while remaining cold towards Catalonia.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>Microsoft will set up an R&D hub in Catalonia. It will be focused on AI technologies, and at least 30 engineers and data scientists will be hired. </span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>Rosalía continues to collect awards: the Catalan superstar </span>has won Best Latin MTV Video Music Award for ‘Lo vas a olvidar’, her long-awaited collaboration with the US pop sensation Billie Eilish.</p> / ACNshareACNFirst published: September 13, 2021 08:50 PM