The first cruise ship to resume sailing in the Caribbean since the coronavirus outbreak expanded in March, is idled again after five passengers tested positive for the coronavirus.SeaDream, a Norway-based luxury cruise liner, issued a statement Thursday that all crew members had tested negative for the coronavirus and that the ship’s medical staff was in the process of re-testing passengers.SeaDream says it began strict safety protocols following a Norwegian cruise this summer, although passengers were not immediately required to wear masks when boarding the SeaDream.The 53 passengers and 66 crew members are reportedly self-quarantining aboard the ship docked at the Port of Bridgetown in Barbados.The cruise ship industry has been hard hit by the pandemic, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issuing an order banning sailing in March, citing cruise ship travel would worsen the global spread of COVID-19.
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European and world leaders Thursday insisted that when COVID-19 vaccines are ready they should be made available to everyone, under an international project that still needs $28 billion. “We aren’t going to beat the virus if we abandon part of humanity,” French President Emmanuel Macron told the Paris Peace Forum, which seeks concrete solutions to global issues. The third edition of the forum is dedicated to finding ways to ease the pain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The three-day international conference aims to raise more than $500 million toward ensuring fair access to coronavirus tests, treatment and vaccines for all, including poor countries. European and world leaders attend The Paris Peace Forum at The Elysee Palace in Paris, Nov. 12, 2020.It takes place as the number of cases is increasing rapidly across Europe and beyond but with hopes rising for the rollout of a coronavirus vaccine, perhaps even before the end of the year, Top U.S. government scientist Anthony Fauci said Thursday the coronavirus vaccine “cavalry” was on its way, bringing fresh hope as the world registered more than 10,000 deaths in just 24 hours, a record. The world-leading expert on infectious diseases said that after this week’s much-trumpeted news that a vaccine developed by U.S. drug giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech was 90% effective, another is “literally on the threshold of being announced.” ‘Financing gap’  During the online Paris forum, several countries are expected to announce funding for the so-called ACT-Accelerator, a mechanism led by the World Health Organization that aims to ensure access to tests, treatments and vaccines for all. In September, the United Nations estimated that the ACT-Accelerator had received only about $3 billion of the $38 billion needed to meet the goal of producing and delivering 2 billion vaccine doses, 245 million treatments and 500 million diagnostic tests over the next year. On Thursday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that a “financing gap” of $28.5 billion remains and that $4.5 billion is urgently required “to maintain momentum.” “The international community must ensure that fair and equitable access to a vaccine is ensured for everyone,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. Chinese President Xi Jinping exhorted world leaders to “put human life above everything … and provide a targeted and concerted response” to the health crisis. Senegal’s President Macky Sall attends The Paris Peace Forum at The Elysee Palace in Paris, Nov. 12, 2020.Senegalese President Macky Sall asked for assurances that enough doses of a virus vaccine would be produced and would reach the poorest countries “which have the most need.” Senegal, a poor nation with a population of about 16 million people, has so far been spared a large coronavirus outbreak. Biggest public health effort in history Day one of the meeting saw France offer 100 million euros, with another 50 million euros pledged by Spain and 100 million euros from the European Commission. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $70 million, bringing its total donations to $226 million for the vaccine project. “We are talking about the largest public health effort in the history of the world and it won’t be unexpensive,” Melinda Gates said. The British government is also set to declare a contribution of one British pound for each $4 announced. Paris Forum members also promised the creation of a high-level expert panel that would curate all available science concerning the interactions between humans, animals and changes in the environment. “The pandemic showed us how much correlation there is between the health of humans, that of animals, and that of the planet,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the forum. At the finance part of the forum, a group of development banks pledged to refocus their investments to take into account climate and development targets set by the U.N. and the Paris accord of 2015. Public development banks invest $2.3 trillion every year, 10% of the world’s total investments. The banks also promised to promote projects that reduce inequalities, protect the environment and pursue “sustainable development” goals, without offering examples. 
 
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The head of Germany’s infectious disease institute said Thursday that while the COVID-19 threat in the country remains high, and some hospitals are reaching capacity, he is cautiously optimistic. Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Lothar Wieler, president of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, said the nation as of early Thursday had recorded 21,866 new cases of coronavirus infections in the previous 24 hours. According to Johns Hopkins University, Germany has reported nearly 750,000 cases since the pandemic began and more than 12,000 deaths. Although infections continue to rise, he said, “what makes me cautiously optimistic is the fact that the number of cases has been increasing at a slightly slower rate for some days now. So, the curve is going up a little less steeply — it is flattening out.” FILE – A nurse treats a patient with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit of Bethel Hospital in Berlin, Germany, Nov. 11, 2020.Wieler said he did not know if that was a stable development that can continue. But he insisted it shows “we are not helplessly at the mercy of the virus,” and measures the government has taken do make a difference. On November 2, Germany implemented a four-week partial shutdown to bring the rate of new infections under control. Restaurants, bars, sports and leisure facilities have closed, but schools and nonessential shops remain open. Wieler noted that the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care has doubled in the past two weeks. He added that the situation is likely to worsen before it improves. “It is possible that patients may no longer be able to receive optimal care everywhere,” he said. “We must therefore prevent the situation from worsening further. That is my expectation, and we are doing everything we can to achieve this goal.” Wieler said that nearly half of hospitals responding to his institute are reporting limited availability of ventilator treatment, mostly because of staffing issues caused by infections or quarantine. Although Germany has enough beds and ventilators available nationwide, many German hospitals are currently “working at the limits of their capacity,” said Uwe Janssens, president of Germany’s Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine. Janssens described a shortage of medical personnel trained to provide anesthesia- and ventilation-based treatments as a “key problem.” “Where it is medically justified, procedures must be halted and postponed,” Janssens said, encouraging medical facilities’ need to conserve resources. 
 
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The European Union’s executive branch announced a strategy Thursday to provide protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, nonbinary, intersex, and queer people as discrimination against those groups increases in Europe. At a news conference in Brussels, European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova said it is becoming increasingly apparent the protections are needed. “Too many people cannot be themselves without fears of discrimination, exclusion or violence,” she said. Jourova cited attacks on pride marches and the adoption of anti-gay legislation in countries such as Hungary and Poland, where there has been an effort to create “LGBTIQ ideology-free zones.”  European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli said the strategy to fight such discrimination is based on four pillars: reducing discrimination against LGBT people, ensuring their safety, building inclusive societies and calling for equality around the world. The commission proposed tackling discrimination against LGBT people, in particular when it comes to employment and ensuring their safety, also protecting them from online hate speech by including homophobic hate crime and hate speech in a list of “Eurocrimes.” Jourova added that COVID-19 lockdowns made the situation for LGBT people worse. European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen called out Poland’s LGBT ideology-free zones in her state of the EU speech in September, saying “Being yourself is not your ideology, it’s your identity.” She said such zones have no place in the European Union. The commission cited a report from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, which found 43% of LGBT people last year declared that they felt discriminated against compared with 37% in 2012, even though EU acceptance of LGBT people is improving. 
 
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US-Russian relations have been at a low ebb over the past four years — lasting damage from charges of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. But with Joe Biden’s projected victory in the 2020 race, debate in Russia now centers on what, if anything, will change. From Moscow, Charles Maynes reports.Producer: Jason Godman. Camera: Ricardo Marquina 
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This year’s edition of the Landmine Monitor finds civilian casualties are rising because of the new use of improvised landmines by rebel groups in conflict areas and from explosive remnants of war.Despite several setbacks, authors of the Landmine Monitor proclaim the 1999 landmine treaty an ongoing success. They note 164 countries, or 80 percent of the world’s nations, have signed on to the treaty, which bans the use, production, stockpiling and trade in this lethal weapon. And, they note, most of the 33 countries outside the treaty are in ad hoc compliance.The Monitor reports only one state, Myanmar, which is not party to the treaty, used antipersonnel landmines from mid-2019 through October 2020. During the same period, however, it reports the use of improvised landmines by rebel groups increased in a number of countries.  FILE – Britain’s Prince Harry walks through a minefield in Dirico, Angola, during a visit to see the work of landmine clearance charity the Halo Trust, on day five of the royal tour of Africa, Sept. 27, 2019.The report says improvised landmines account for over half of the more than 5,550 civilian casualties recorded last year in countries of conflict including Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Mali, Niger, Ukraine and Yemen. It says children represent nearly half of all civilian casualties.Of the estimated 5,500 casualties, Landmine Monitor research team leader Loren Persi tells VOA around 2,200 were killed and 3,357 injured.“This ratio of people killed to injured indicates very clearly to us that there were many, many more casualties and that people who were injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war are not being recorded adequately in many countries where there are conflicts,” said Persi.Since the treaty came into force, the Monitor reports parties have destroyed 55 million stockpiles of antipersonnel landmines, including 269,000 in the past year. It says progress is being made in clearing contaminated areas of landmines.The monitor lists 12 countries as producers of landmines but reports only a handful are actively producing them. The director of Human Rights Watch’s Arms Division, Stephen Goose, says a decision by the Trump administration to reverse the Obama administration’s policy on ending production of landmines was a major setback to achieving the goal of a mine-free world.“The U.S. as it stands now is declaring itself eligible to produce the weapon again as it pleases, to trade the weapon as it pleases, to use it anywhere in the world,” said Goose.  
When it announced the move in January, the Trump administration said the restrictions could place American forces “at a severe disadvantage during a conflict against our adversaries,” and that “the President is unwilling to accept this risk to our troops.”Goose says he is pleased to report that back in February, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden declared that he would reverse the Trump policy if elected. Goose says activists are looking forward to the U.S. once again joining those countries that are in favor of banning this weapon. 
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Greece and Turkey have long been at loggerheads over a host of issues – from a scattering of uninhabited islands in the Aegean Sea that divide them, to the origins of souvlaki.Now, they are trading jabs anew, this time trying to trump each other’s claims to Pfizer’s creation of what may be the world’s first demonstrably effective coronavirus vaccine.Since the company’s announcement earlier this week, media and medical experts from around the globe have hailed the drug’s pioneers, Dr. Ozlem Tureci and Dr. Ugur Sahin, as heroes.While both scientists are children of Turkish migrants who moved to Germany as part of the first guest worker generation in the late 1960s, the pair founded BioNTech in 2008 to develop new types of targeted cancer treatments.Two men wearing masks to help protect against the spread of coronavirus, watch their dogs playing in a public garden, in Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 12, 2020.As the coronavirus pandemic spread earlier this year, BioNTech, which employs 1,300 people, quickly moved to reallocate its resources, teaming up with the U.S. pharmacy industry giant Pfizer to develop 20 candidates for a vaccine.As the world this week breathed a sigh of relief at news that one of the experimental vaccines had shown results, Turkey, like perhaps no other state, went into a frenzy.Since the revelation, Turkish news media have splashed pictures and praise of the “Turkish dream team” on the fronts of newspapers, magazines and websites. Politicians have praised them for contributing to humanity. Even teachers across the nation are said to be aggressively lecturing students about what is being described as the great Turkish feat.On the other side of the Aegean divide, though, Greeks are giving scant coverage and little praise to the scientific duo, largely referring to them as Germans, rather than Turkish nationals.Pundits, press and politicians have instead taken to rejoicing their own national success: Albert Bourla, the Greek veterinarian at the helm of Pfizer and his strategy of striking a deal with BioNTech to produce and globally distribute the landmark drug.“A Greek yields hope of a breakthrough,” shouted the Athens-based Skai television network, featuring reports and special segments about Bourla and his rise from the humble origins in Thessaloniki, northern Greece.“The Greek who steers Pfizer,” blared the Capital.gr news site, as politicians across the divide posted pictures and praises for the leading Greek executive, fanning web chatter that the small and poor country, in the throes of a tragic COVID-19 comeback, would be the first to receive samples of the vaccine.5 Things to Know About Pfizer’s Coronavirus Vaccine Early results look great, but questions remain Having joined Pzifer’s animal-health division in 1993, Bourla became the company’s chief executive last year, striking a string of successful deals. In the first nine months of his tenure, he refocused the company toward patent-protected drugs and vaccines with the potential for significant sales growth.The drug maker’s announcement this week triggered a surge in BioNTech’s stock, pushing the company’s shares up by 23.4%, and rallying markets globally.BioNTech and Pfizer had been working together on a flu vaccine since 2018, but they agreed to collaborate on a coronavirus vaccine in March.Both sides left politics and age-old rivalries aside, bonding more over their shared backgrounds as scientists and immigrants.“We realized that he is from Greece, and I’m from Turkey,” Sahin said in a recent interview, avoiding mention of their native countries’ long-running antagonism. “It was very personal from the beginning.”While both NATO allies, Greece and Turkey have been at odds over air, sea and land rights for decades. They came to the brink of war in September before Washington waded into a standoff in the eastern Mediterranean, urging Ankara to recall a vessel exploring for energy off the coast of a Greek island.    EU and U.S. diplomats have long tried to bridge the Greek-Turkish divide and build trust between the two sides through business. A major thawing of relations in 1999 saw trade between the two countries soar while cultural barriers eroded dramatically.Whether the Pfizer and BioNTech cooperation on good science can serve as a catalyst for improved Greek-Turkish relations remains unclear, pundits and politicians quip on both sides.  For now, though, the rivalries seem to have no impact on Pfizer’s collaboration with BioNtech.“He’s a scientist and a man of principles,” Bourla said of Sahin, in a recent interview. “I trust him 100%.”
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the head of his office have been hospitalized after contracting the coronavirus earlier this week.
Zelenskiy and the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, are being treated at Kyiv’s Feofaniya Clinical Hospital, Yermak’s adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said in a November 12 interview with the online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda.
“A special office has been equipped there to enable the president to hold conferences. He has held a large number of conference calls today,” Podolyak said.
He said Yermak has a separate, isolated ward.
Zelenskiy “first went home but decided to move to Feofania [hospital] to accurately isolate and not expose anyone,” Reuters quoted a presidential spokeswoman as saying.
“There are better conditions for patients. Nothing serious,” she said, referring to the president’s condition.
On November 9, Zelenskiy’s office said he had tested positive for coronavirus, adding that the president “is feeling well and will continue to perform his duties remotely in self-isolation.”
Minutes later, Yermak also announced that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and that he was feeling “fine.”
Other top Ukrainian officials, including the finance and defense ministers, were also reported to be infected.
Health authorities said on November 12 that the country registered a record 11,057 new coronavirus cases over the previous 24 hours, with 198 new deaths.
The new infections took the total confirmed cases to 500,865, with 9,145 deaths.
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Police in Lima, Peru, on Wednesday confronted protesters demonstrating against the new president, Manuel Merino, following the impeachment of former President Martin Vizcarra.Merino, who was a member of Congress, was sworn in Tuesday after his colleagues on Monday voted overwhelmingly to remove Vizcarra from office following an impeachment trial on allegations of bribery.The legislators initially sought to impeach Vizcarra on an allegation he received more than $630,000 in kickbacks for construction projects while serving as governor in southern Peru from 2011 to 2014.So far, the corruption allegations under investigation have not been verified.Merino is expected to serve as interim president until July, even though elections are   already set for April 11.
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Guatemala on Wednesday requested that the United States allow Guatemalans in the country to remain on humanitarian grounds following the devastation caused by storm Eta last week.”The Guatemalan government reiterates the necessity that Guatemalans who are currently in the United States can remain, and will not be deported, under this temporary protection mechanism,” Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo wrote in a letter.Brolo handed U.S. Ambassador William Popp official correspondence in which President Alejandro Giammattei requested so-called temporary protected status (TPS) for its citizens, the statement said.TPS allows foreigners whose home countries experience a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event to remain in the United States and apply for work permits. The status must be renewed periodically by the secretary of Homeland Security, who can extend it for six- to 18-month intervals.In Guatemala, the confirmed death toll from Eta stood at 46, and there were 96 people missing, according to CONRED figures.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that his country would not cave to pressure from China over the case of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in Canada on a U.S. warrant almost two years ago. The case has caused a diplomatic chill between Canada and China, which soon after Meng’s arrest detained two Canadian citizens, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, on espionage charges. “We don’t believe in coercive diplomacy and … we actually deeply believe that if you start giving into that kind of pressure, you’ll leave yourself worse off for the long term,” Trudeau said Wednesday in an interview during an online conference hosted by the Financial Times. “China continues to think that they can just put enough pressure on us, and we will … give in. But that’s exactly the opposite of our position,” he said. Meng has denied charges brought against her in the United States and is fighting extradition from house arrest in Vancouver. 
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Bolivia’s new president, Luis Arce, has moved swiftly to restore ties with Iran and Venezuela, receiving the credentials of ambassadors from the two countries on Wednesday, just three days after his socialist party retook the reins of power.Bolivia’s government said in a statement it wanted to “reestablish diplomatic relations damaged by the previous de facto government” led by conservative interim President Jeanine Anez.Writing on Twitter, Arce said he was restoring bilateral relations with Venezuela “to strengthen strategic ties for the good of our peoples.”He said the same was being done with Iran and that “they are always welcome in Bolivia. We will continue to strengthen common projects.”Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif attended Arce’s swearing-in ceremony in La Paz on Sunday as part of a tour of leftist Latin American nations that included Venezuela and Cuba.Venezuela and Iran were key allies for former Bolivian President Evo Morales, an Arce ally who swept into office as the country’s first indigenous president in 2006 and resigned under pressure over disputed elections last year.Former Bolivian President Evo Morales attends a rally to welcome him to Chimore, Bolivia, Nov. 11, 2020, from where he flew into exile one year ago.Morales had planned to make Iran a partner in the exploitation of its bountiful lithium reserves, while he and longtime ally President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela frequently sympathized publicly over what they called U.S. “meddling” in the region.But days after Anez took power last November, Venezuelan diplomats and Cuban doctors were expelled amid accusations by the interim government that they had fomented unrest following Morales’ departure.Now, with the return to power of Morales’ socialist MAS Party — with Arce at the helm following elections in October — Bolivia is resetting its foreign policy again.On Monday, Morales returned to Bolivia from exile in Argentina and on Wednesday was feted in a ceremony in Chimore, a town in his native Chapare province, a central coca-growing region.In a speech, Morales urged Latin American nations to maintain their sovereignty over natural resources.”The West, that is the industrialized countries, only want us Latin Americans so that we can guarantee them raw material,” he said in a broadcast speech.Arce did not attend the event and has not yet referred publicly to the return of Morales, who he has said will play no role in his government.
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Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo, the first female athlete to deliver the Olympic oath, in 1956, and the first woman to win a Winter Games medal for Italy four years earlier, has died at the age of 88. The Italian was hailed by her country’s alpine skiing federation as “one of the greatest post-war champions.” Chenal-Minuzzo won downhill bronze in the 1952 Oslo Olympics, going on to claim a second bronze at the 1960 Squaw Valley Games, that time in the giant slalom. FILE – Italian Alpine skier Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo reads the Olympic oath, on behalf of all the athletes taking part, at the opening ceremony of the seventh Winter Olympic Games, at Cortina, Italy, Jan.26, 1956.At the intervening 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Games, she broke ground by delivering the Olympic oath. First pronounced by Belgian athlete Victor Boin (water polo, swimming and fencing) at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games, the Olympic oath of modern times was similar to that taken by the Olympic athletes of ancient times – but at the modern Olympic Games, the athletes swear on the Olympic flag, not on the entrails of a sacrificed animal. The modern Olympic oath, originally written by International Olympic Committee (IOC) president and founder Pierre de Coubertin, has been modified over time to reflect the changing nature of the sporting competition. The oath taker is from the host nation and takes the oath on behalf of all athletes participating at those Olympic Games. Oaths for officials and coaches were added in 1972 and 2010 respectively. 
 
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An extremely rare, purple-pink diamond mined in Russia, which Sotheby’s described as “a true wonder of nature,” sold for $26.6 million on Wednesday, the auction house said.Sotheby’s had estimated that the flawless oval gem, “The Spirit of the Rose,” could fetch from $23 million to $38 million at the Geneva sale.The hammer price was 21 million Swiss francs. With commission, the final price was 24.4 million Swiss francs, or US $26.6 million. It was bought by a telephone bidder who chose to remain anonymous, Sotheby’s said.Jewelry expert Benoit Repellin, who led the sale, said it set a record for a diamond graded fancy vivid purple-pink sold at auction. The stone weighed 14.83 carats and was the largest pink diamond with that color grading to go on the block.The diamond was named after a ballet performed by the Ballets Russes and its legendary dancer Vaslav Nijinsky in 1911.Mined by Russian diamond producer Alrosa in July 2017, it was cut from the largest pink crystal ever found in the country, Sotheby’s said.The diamond was shown in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei.Colored stones have been greatly valued as an asset class by the super-rich in recent years, with top-quality pink diamonds especially prized.The Argyle mine in western Australia, which produced the world’s largest supply of pink diamonds, halted production last week because of depletion.”The lucky buyer could well profit from prices soaring for pink diamonds in the coming years thanks to increased rarity,” Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds, Europe’s largest online diamond jeweler, said in a statement.Naturally colored diamonds occur because they possess a particular lattice structure that refracts light to produce colored, rather than white, stones.
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Greece and Egypt, which angered Turkey by reaching an agreement on natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean, will welcome more decisive U.S. involvement in the region under President-elect Joe Biden, the Greek prime minister said Wednesday.”Both Greece and Egypt will receive positively a more decisive role of the United States in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at a news conference with visiting Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.Cairo and Athens sealed an accord for the partial demarcation of maritime boundaries in August, giving them rights over natural resources in the Mediterranean.Mitsotakis said the accord showed that countries that respect international law and neighborly relations can achieve results to the benefit of their people. He said both Greece and Egypt were willing to expand the accord.Turkey’s positionTurkey, which is at odds with Greece over overlapping claims to energy resources in the Mediterranean, says the pact infringes on its own continental shelf.The agreement also overlaps maritime zones Turkey agreed to with Libya last year, which were declared illegal by Athens.Tensions between the two NATO allies flared following the accord, after Turkey sent its Oruc Reis seismic survey vessel into disputed Mediterranean waters.Ankara pulled out the vessel in September to allow for diplomacy with Greece but then sent it back to the area.On Wednesday, Greece said Turkey’s new naval advisory, engaging an area for seismic activities from Wednesday through November 23, was provocative and urged Ankara to revoke it immediately.”We agreed to continue our solidarity, alongside all friendly countries, in order to confront anyone who threatens regional stability and security, and in a way that prevents any party from imposing its hostile positions,” el-Sissi said.
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Three months after disputed elections in Belarus, protesters and journalists continue to be arrested, beaten and harassed. On Sunday, police detained over 1,000 people at protests in cities across the Eastern European nation.The arrests were the highest number since protests calling for President Alexander Lukashenko to step down began in August.FILE – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko takes his oath of office during his inauguration ceremony at the Palace of the Independence in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 23, 2020.Weekly rallies have been held since the presidential elections on Aug. 9 in which long-term leader Lukashenko retained power in a vote seen by international observers as not fair or transparent and in which key opposition were detained or forced to flee.”Since the end of August, the situation has worsened again, and journalists have been disappearing again,” Andrei Bastunets, chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), told VOA.In that period, the association has documented at least 60 cases of journalists being arrested, including 16 who are still in custody, and several who say they were beaten. In addition, the government has revoked accreditation to international journalists, and fined or filed legal action against local and foreign media, and access to internet has been blocked.Charges against the media include unlawful disobedience or taking part in an “unsanctioned event.”The international community has called on Belarus to hold new elections and a report by the international Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which in September invoked the “Moscow Mechanism” allowing it to send in experts,  said it found evidence of “massive and systematic” rights abuses.The Belarus Foreign Ministry has dismissed international criticism and the OSCE decision to invoke the Moscow Mechanism. An official was cited in news reports as having told the OSCE in Vienna, “Authorities are simply forced to take tough steps, that are often ambiguously perceived, to maintain the social, economic and political stability in the country and ensure national security.”Journalists, including from the Associated Press and BBC, have said they were detained and beaten while covering the protests. Belarus Blocks Scores of News Sites Amid Protest, International OutcryMinsk-based journalists’ trade association calls virtual news blackout ‘indirect censorship,’ constitutional violation”In the first days of the protests, the police didn’t really look at whether you were a journalist or not. Our colleagues were treated very harshly, and many of them were taken to a temporary detention center, where they went through the same torture as civil activists and protesters,” Bastunets said.At first, he added, news outlets were still able to call the Interior Ministry press service or city officials to request that detained colleagues be freed. Bastunets says he believes that may have been thanks to statements by then Interior Minister Yuri Karayev, who said journalists should not be detained because, like police, they are performing their duties.”Afterwards, Karaev was removed from his post, though not for these words,” said Bastunets, citing several cases where journalists, clearly identified as press, had gathered to cover protests, only to be detained.“They stood aside from the protesters,” Bastunets said. “But police buses rolled in, the journalists were crammed into them. They were taken, supposedly, to check documents, but from police stations they were sent to detention centers. And lately it started to happen at every rally.”More Than 500 Protesters Detained in Belarus Demonstrators demand resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko, call for new electionsThe Belarusian response to protests has been shocking, Aleksandr Klaskovsky, head of analytical projects at the independent news agency BelaPAN, said.“Terrible things were happening, I mean the brutality of the security forces, which beat people caught in the streets,” Klaskovsky told VOA. “We learned many shocking details later.”Klaskovsky said that immediately after the Aug. 9 vote, internet access was shut off for three days. Access is also cut during protests and authorities have threatened to block or suspend several popular news websites including Tut.by, which is often described as one of Belarus’s leading news sites.As authorities worked to prevent access, Belarusians found ways to bypass the blocks.“Many Belarusians have mastered different ways of bypassing blocks,” Bastunets from the journalist association said, adding that Telegram channels, “have become the main source of information and communication.”Irina Khalip, Belarus correspondent for Novaya Gazeta, the independent Russian outlet known for its investigative reporting, agreed. “Without question, Telegram channels and independent sites” are the main source of information, she said.“Even social networks have largely taken on the function of mass information,” Khalip said, adding that through these platforms Belarusians can clarify what happened or get information on who has been arrested or released.Credentials RevokedInternational journalists have also been restricted, after the Foreign Ministry in August revoked accreditations under what it described as a “change in rules.”“The new accreditations are carefully parceled out, and, as far as I can tell, ahead of anyone else they go to the Russian media reporters. They are now more loyal, obviously, given the political situation and the fact that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin supported Alexander Lukashenko,” said Klaskovsky.”The authorities push journalists into an illegal space, and now it is better to go to the action just in a column of demonstrators than to go out with a badge and a vest stenciled ‘Press’,” Klaskovsky said, adding that it lessened the risk of jail.Khalip of Novaya Gazeta said accreditation has never been a guarantee of safety.“I never understood the point of hunting for accreditation in the sincere conviction that this piece of paper will help you in some way,” she said. “In fact, these papers have not saved anyone from arrests, beatings, or fines.” Belarus Media Arrests Are Sign of Election Crackdown, Experts SayBelarus arrests at least 20 journalists, along with opposition leader and protesters, ahead of presidential vote next month Even state-run media has publicly objected to the crackdown. In August, around 300 Belarusian state TV channel employees went on strike over what they called an official ban on reporting harsh crackdowns on protesters.They were replaced by employees sent to Belarus by the Russian-funded channel RT.No guarantee of safetyKlaskovsky, from BelaPan, likened the challenges for media in the past three months to being “on the front line.”“We can say that the authorities have started a war against the part of society that demands changes, against the non-government press,” Klaskovsky said. “For them, journalists are enemies, because the purpose of the authorities is to suppress the civil resistance, and since journalists honestly do their job, cover everything that is happening, all the facets of the current deep political crisis in Belarus, [the media] get in the middle of it.”Khalip agreed, saying said that in today’s Belarus, journalists are forced to work “in a situation of war” where nothing guarantees safety.”I always knew that among the journalists I knew there were many brave, fearless and heroic people,” Khalip said. “And now they are demonstrating all this every day, when they get into the heat of action, go to the marches, lock hands shoulder-to-shoulder with the protesters. It’s beautiful, and this is how it should be.”Klaskovsky also praised the media’s refusal to be silenced.“Journalists have brought the truth about the first terrible days after the elections to their readers and to the world community. And so, I believe, have fulfilled their historical task,” said Klaskovsky. “Today there is no question as to whether independent journalism exists in Belarus.”This story originated in VOA’s Russia service.
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The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is appealing for $22 million to help 75,000 people worst affected by Hurricane Eta which tore through Central America with devastating force, ravaging seven countries in its path.  Hurricane Eta is emerging as a major humanitarian crisis in Central America.  More than 2.5 million people from Panama to Belize are affected.  The most severe impacts are being felt in Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala.The International Red Cross Federation says Honduras is hardest hit of all with 1.7 million people or 20 percent of its population severely affected.  IFRC spokesman, Matthew Cochrane, says women, children and members of indigenous and African communities who have lost everything are among the most vulnerable.“These are areas that were already hit very hard by COVID and its economic repercussions,” said Cochrane. “And, obviously these are areas that were homes of pre-existing vulnerabilities.  Some of the countries affected are home to some of the largest economic inequalities in the world as well as high rates of crime and violence.” WATCH: Hurricane Eta’s devastation in Nicaragua Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 7 MB480p | 10 MB540p | 15 MB720p | 39 MB1080p | 63 MBOriginal | 157 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioCochrane says assessment missions to know the full extent of needs are still underway in Nicaragua and Honduras.   He tells VOA one of the biggest challenges following a disaster such as this is accessing affected areas cut off by flooding and mudslides.“We know that roads and infrastructure have been damaged and destroyed,” said Cochrane. “We know that water systems have been washed away or completely inundated.  We know that health systems have also taken a real blow…We have not yet had reports of disease outbreaks.  That is not to say there have not been localized disease outbreaks in many of the areas we have not reached.” Tropical Storm Eta Hits Florida Keys Storm has spread devastating rains from Nicaragua to Cuba Cochrane says measures must be taken to prevent an outbreak of water-borne diseases from stagnant water.   Over the next 18 months, the Red Cross says its multi-country operation will focus on rebuilding and repairing damaged shelters, improving access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation and addressing health care needs.  Other critical areas include COVID-19 prevention and providing mental health support to the many traumatized victims of this disaster.
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One week after the devastation caused by Hurricane Eta in the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, hundreds of families are struggling to get back on their feet. Donaldo Hernandez in Nicaragua has this report for VOA, narrated by Cristina Smit.   
Camera: Houston Castillo  
 
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A Canadian man charged with killing 10 people and the attempted murder of 16 in a 2018 van attack in Toronto told a court he should not be held “criminally responsible” as the five-week trial kicked off on Tuesday. Alek Minassian, 28, rented a van and drove it onto the sidewalk along Yonge Street in North York, a suburb just north of Toronto, striking passersby. He later told police detectives he was motivated by a desire to punish society for his perceived status as an “incel” — short for involuntary celibate — because he believed women would not have sex with him. Minassian has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. He has not denied his role but told the court via Zoom that he was entering a plea of “not criminally responsible” on all counts. “On a warm spring afternoon … numerous pedestrians were out along Yonge Street enjoying the sun when their worlds were shattered by the actions of Mr. Minassian,” prosecutor Joe Callaghan told the court. “Mr. Minassian will be admitting that he intended to kill the 10 people who died, the murders were planned and deliberate, and that he in fact did cause the death of those people.” Callaghan added that psychological and psychiatric experts will be called to present evidence. The trial began with a reading of the agreed statement of facts — a chronological timeline of the events, including Minassian’s conversations with police detectives after he admitted his guilt. The hearings are scheduled to finish on December 18. The trial is being livestreamed in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the public to attend, with social distancing and mask requirements in place. 
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