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Brexit negotiations hit a new low this week as the European Union’s top leaders in Brussels reacted angrily to British prime minister Boris Johnson’s plans to override a key part of Britain’s withdrawal agreement from the EU, which was struck only last year.They say any repudiation of the divorce deal will ruin the chances of a free-trade agreement being struck between Britain and the EU and will poison relations between London and Brussels for years to come.The British government’s plan included in draft legislation published Wednesday, to in effect repudiate parts of the exit deal, prompted European leaders to complain of an “unprecedented breach of trust” and to warn the move could wreck current fraught negotiations dealing with Britain’s future trade relationship with the bloc.Johnson Says UK Will Quit Brexit Talks if No Deal by Oct 15Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britain is prepared to walk away and insists a no-deal exit would be a ‘good outcome for the UK’ Under the new legislation if passed, ministers would be able to pick and choose what customs checks, if any, are applied to goods transported between Northern Ireland and the British mainland. They would be able to ignore EU limitations on state aid to businesses in the British-ruled province. Northern Ireland was treated differently under the withdrawal agreement so as to avoid the necessity of a so-called hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, which many feel could undermine peace on the island of Ireland.EU warningsMicheál Martin, the Irish prime minister, said midweek the negotiations on Britain’s future relationship would go nowhere until Johnson’s ruling Conservative government withdraws the bill. Irish lawmakers were stunned when they heard news of the proposed legislation. “Any negotiation process can only proceed on the basis of trust,” he warned. British PM Defends New Brexit Bill to Protect UK’s ‘Internal Market’ EU officials demand emergency meeting with London over proposed legislation The EU’s top leaders chorused identical warnings. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said it showed the government’s “intentions to breach the withdrawal agreement.” In the wake of the publication of the controversial legislation, EU officials considered instructing Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, to walk out of talks that are under way in London to hammer out an agreement on Britain’s future trade relationship with the 27-member bloc. In the event they decided to keep the talks going, but the discussions are reportedly tense and tough with mounting expectations that a no-deal result will be the eventual outcome.British officials say the proposed legislation would clarify ambiguity in the withdrawal agreement, but on Tuesday Britain’s Northern Ireland minister admitted that technically the legislation would break international law. That view is shared generally by Britain’s legal establishment. In a letter to The Times newspaper, Edward Garnier, a former Conservative solicitor-general, said, the “admission by the Northern Ireland secretary that the government is prepared to break the law is shocking.”Future trade relationsThe move has provoked a sharp political response from senior U.S. lawmakers, mainly Democrats, who are largely fretful that the move might undermine peace on the island of Ireland. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, warned a free trade deal between Britain and America would be jeopardized, saying a British violation would mean “there will be absolutely no chance of a U.S.-UK trade agreement passing the Congress.”Johnson defended the move in the House of Commons, saying, “We need a legal safety net to protect our country against extreme or irrational interpretations of the protocol which could lead to a border down the Irish Sea in a way.” His officials have suggested the withdrawal agreement, which Johnson concluded with the EU but was mainly the work of his predecessor, Theresa May, was negotiated at pace and maybe signed in haste. Theater, Brinkmanship Mark Brexit TalksNegotiators on both sides of English Channel say this week is ‘moment of reckoning’ for post-Brexit trade deal between European Union and BritainJohnson’s defense is not, so far, assuaging some senior Conservative lawmakers, including a few on the Brexit wing of the party. “Put simply, I will not vote to break the law,” said the pro-Brexit Roger Gale . “Why would any country want to strike a deal with Britain knowing that any agreement might not be worth the paper that it was written on?” he added.Johnson’s Conservative predecessors in Downing Street have also expressed disapproval of the government’s plan to repudiate the withdrawal agreement using domestic legislation to do so. “For generations our signature on any treaty or agreement has been sacrosanct,” said John Major. “Over the last century as our military strength has dwindled, our word has retained its power. If we lose our reputation for honoring the promises we make, we will have lost something beyond price.”Theresa May also condemned the mover and her aides say she is ready to lead a Conservative rebellion in the British parliament to defeat the proposed legislation. Some lawmakers and commentators are suggesting that the legislation may be part of a Johnson strategy to shock the EU into agreeing a free-trade deal more favorable to Britain than it would otherwise secure. A Trump approach?They point to comments Johnson made in 2018, before he was prime minister, in which he reportedly said Britain should be negotiating with the EU like U.S. President Donald Trump would. “I am increasingly admiring of Donald Trump,” Johnson is reported to have told a private gathering of Conservative lawmakers. “Imagine Trump doing Brexit,” Johnson continued. “There’d be all sorts of breakdowns, all sorts of chaos. Everyone would think he’d gone mad. But actually you might get somewhere. It’s a very, very good thought.”Conversely, some uncompromising Brexiters in Johnson’s ruling Conservative party, who want a clean break from the EU, fear Johnson might be game-playing  and laying the ground to offer significant concessions to the EU to get a last-minute free-trade deal that he will advertise as a great win for Britain. They worry he’s engaging in a piece of theater. Brexiters point to what happened last year when he repudiated the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by his predecessor in Downing Street, Theresa May, only to sign an almost identical divorce deal after he was elected her successor. 
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The third phase of human trials for a vaccine against the coronavirus is underway in Peru.On Wednesday, Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm began testing about two dozen people, with the long-term goal of vaccinating a total of 6,000 people between the ages of 18 and 75.The participants will receive one of three injections, consisting of a virus strain from Wuhan, China; a Beijing strain; or a saline water placebo.The Associated Press reports the Peruvian government is in talks with six laboratories to determine the best course to buy the vaccine.Peru is one of the hardest-hit countries by the coronavirus in Latin America, with more than 696,000 COVID-19 infections and more than 30,000 deaths.So far, Sinopharm has given 30,000 doses to volunteers and another 10,000 participants have received double doses in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Additional testing is planned for Morocco and Argentina.
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The Mexican National Guard said Wednesday that two people had died in a gunfight with military police near a protest at a dam that diverts water away from an area hit by drought to the United States.Mexican officials said farmers were upset over water from La Boquilla dam being transferred across the border of Chihuahua state and initially threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at officers Tuesday night.The National Guard said officers were shot at when suspects allegedly possessing tear gas and gun ammunition were being arrested and taken in for processing.The statement said the National Guard “repelled the aggression” and one person died at the scene and a second person died at the hospital.During a news conference Wednesday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called in the incident “regrettable,” saying he would ask the Attorney General’s Office to investigate the case.Farmer Irma Gandara said the water transfer will create a significant economic problem for the state.Gandara said they are not going to allow the biggest dam in Chihuahua, Boquilla, to be emptied.The protest comes amid plans to divert more to the United States due to a “water debt” Mexico has accrued under a 1944 water-sharing treaty between the countries.Lopez Obrador also said, he is asking the attorney general to investigate his country’s responsibilities but warned that Mexico could face sanctions if it did not divert water, after accumulating a deficit by receiving more water than it has provided.
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European Council President Charles Michel has called for faster consideration of sanctions against officials in Belarus after the detention of multiple opposition leaders.“Political persecution in Belarus including detentions on political grounds and forced exile must stop,” Michel tweeted Wednesday. “Belarusian authorities must free political prisoners and let citizens exercise their right to freedom of speech and assembly.”Unidentified Belarusian authorities on Wednesday detained one of the two remaining free leaders of an opposition council amid continuing protests against longtime President Alexander Lukashenko following a disputed election.Attorney Maxim Znak was taken out of the Coordination Council’s office by unknown people wearing ski masks, according to his associate, Gleb German.Znak’s detention came as Lukashenko tried to end protests against him. German said Znak managed to text “masks” before his phone was seized.Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature, is now the only council executive to remain free in Belarus, even after unidentified people tried to enter her apartment on Wednesday.Several European Union diplomats and journalists arrived at her apartment in Minsk to prevent her detention. Alexievich told reporters she does not plan to leave Belarus.”What is happening is terror against the people,” Alexievich said. “We have to unite and not give up our intentions. There is a danger we will lose the country.”Thousands of people have taken part in five weeks of protests following the August 9 election in which Lukashenko was declared the winner. Opposition parties, the United States and the European Union allege the election was rigged.Lukashenko denies the voting was fraudulent and blamed the unrest on meddling by Western countries. Russian news agencies quoted him this week saying he has nothing to discuss with the opposition, and that he would be open to constitutional reforms and a potential new presidential election.Lukashenko’s election opponent, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has left the country.More than 7,000 protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture has been reported. At least four people are reported to have died during the demonstrations.During a meeting in Estonia on Wednesday, the foreign ministers of the Nordic Baltic nations called on Belarusian authorities to end the crackdown and the prosecution of activists.Alexievich was questioned last month by Belarusian investigators, who have launched a criminal investigation into the Coordination Council members who investigators say are undermining national security by demanding a transfer of power.Several council members have been arrested, and others were forcibly expelled from the country.On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States is deeply concerned about the Belarusian government’s attempts to forcibly expel opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova. Pompeo said the United States and other countries are considering bringing sanctions in response to recent events in Belarus.“We commend the courage of Ms. Kolesnikova and of the Belarusian people in peacefully asserting their right to pick their leaders in free and fair elections in the face of unjustified violence and repression by the Belarusian authorities, which included brazen beatings of peaceful marchers in broad daylight and hundreds of detentions (on) September 6, as well as increasing reports of abductions,” Pompeo said in a statement.Pompeo said the potential sanctions would be aimed at promoting “accountability for those involved in human rights abuses and repression in Belarus.”Kolesnikova was detained Monday, along with opposition movement members Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov. They were driven to the border between Belarus and Ukraine on Tuesday where Kolesnikova tore up her passport and was held on the Belarusian side.Rodnenkov and Kravtsov did cross into Ukraine.“She was shouting that she won’t go anywhere,” Rodnenkov said at a news conference in Kyiv. “Sitting in the car, she saw her passport on a front seat and tore it into many small fragments, crumpled them and threw them out of the window. After that, she opened the back door and walked back to the Belarusian border.”A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement expressing his concern about “the repeated use of force against peaceful protesters, as well as reported pressures on opposition civil society activists.”
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Unidentified Belarusian authorities have detained one of the two remaining free leaders of an opposition council amid continuing protests against longtime President Alexander Lukashenko following a disputed election.Attorney Maxim Znak was taken out of the Coordination Council’s office on Wednesday by unknown people wearing ski masks, according to his associate, Gleb German.  Znak’s detention came as Lukashenko tries to end protests against him. German said Znak managed to text “masks” before his phone was seized.The 2015 Nobel literature laureate Svetlana Alexievich speaks to reporters at her apartment in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 9, 2020.Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature, is now the only council executive to remain free in Belarus, even after unidentified people tried to enter her apartment on Wednesday. Several European Union diplomats and journalists arrived at her apartment in Minsk to prevent her detention.Thousands of people have taken part in five weeks of protests following the Aug. 9 election in which Lukashenko was declared the winner. Opposition parties, the United States and the European Union allege the election was rigged.Lukashenko’s opponent, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has since left the country.Exiled Belarus Opposition Leader Pleads for ‘Help Now’ Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya urged international pressure, including sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko and his government following a disputed election More than 7,000 protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture has been reported. At least four people are reported to have died during the demonstrations.During a meeting in Estonia Wednesday, the foreign ministers of the Nordic Baltic nations called on Belarusian authorities to end the crackdown and the prosecution of activists. Alexievich was questioned last month by Belarusian investigators, who have launched a criminal investigation into the Coordination Council members who investigators say are undermining national security by demanding a transfer of power.Several council members have been arrested, and others were forcibly expelled from the country.US Considering Sanctions Against Belarus After ‘Unjustified Violence and Repression’ Pompeo Says Pompeo says US deeply concerned about “attempted forced expulsion” of opposition activist On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States is deeply concerned about the Belarusian government’s attempts to forcibly expel opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova. Pompeo said the United States and other countries are considering bringing sanctions in response to recent events in Belarus.“We commend the courage of Ms. Kolesnikova and of the Belarusian people in peacefully asserting their right to pick their leaders in free and fair elections in the face of unjustified violence and repression by the Belarusian authorities, which included brazen beatings of peaceful marchers in broad daylight and hundreds of detentions (on) September 6, as well as increasing reports of abductions,” Pompeo said in a statement.Pompeo said the potential sanctions would be aimed at promoting “accountability for those involved in human rights abuses and repression in Belarus.”Kolesnikova was detained Monday, along with opposition movement members Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov. They were driven to the border between Belarus and Ukraine Tuesday where Kolesnikova tore up her passport and was held on the Belarusian side.Rodnenkov and Kravtsov did cross into Ukraine.“She was shouting that she won’t go anywhere,” Rodnenkov said at a news conference in Kyiv. “Sitting in the car, she saw her passport on a front seat and tore it into many small fragments, crumpled them and threw them out of the window. After that, she opened the back door and walked back to the Belarusian border.”A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement expressing his concern about “the repeated use of force against peaceful protesters, as well as reported pressures on opposition civil society activists.”
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An Istanbul court on Wednesday handed multiple prison sentences to five reporters convicted of violating the law on coverage of Turkey’s spy agency but ordered their release pending appeals.Six journalists faced up to 20 years in prison on charges of exposing state secrets and violating the Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) law.The closely watched trial concerned a news report alleging that a Turkish intelligence officer was killed in Libya in February.All six journalists were acquitted of the state secrets charge.But the court sentenced Aydin Keser, Ferhat Celik and Murat Agirel, who work for the pro-Kurdish Yeni Yasam daily, to four years and eight months in jail on the MIT law charges.It sentenced OdaTV editor-in-chief Baris Pehlivan and reporter Hulya Kilinc to three years and nine months on the same charges, while acquitting OdaTV news director Baris Terkoglu.They were all released pending appeals, one of the defense lawyers, Serkan Gunel, told AFP.Pehlivan, Kilinc and Agirel had been in jail since March.”What I have done is only journalism,” Kilinc told the judge earlier in her defense. “I have been a journalist for 20 years. I have no intention to commit a crime.”OdaTV reported in March that the intelligence officer had been quietly buried in his hometown of Manisa in western Turkey.The report also featured photos from the funeral and identified the officer by his first name and the initial of the last name.Turkey, whose government is under fire from rights groups for clamping down on press freedom, is ranked 154th out of 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders press freedom list.
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Amid busy construction crews racing to build an airport in Mexico, scientists are unearthing more and more mammoth skeletons in what has quickly become one of the world’s biggest concentrations of the now-extinct relative of modern elephants.More than 100 mammoth skeletons have been identified spread across nearly 200 excavation sites, along with a mix of other Ice Age mammals, in the area destined to become the Mexican capital’s new commercial airport.Lead archeologist Ruben Manzanilla explained on Tuesday that around 24,000 years ago mammoth herds reached this spot where sprawling grasslands and lakes would have enticed them to reside.”This place was like a paradise,” he told Reuters, noting that as the last glaciers melted a wide range of mammals — including ancient species of camels, horses and buffalo — lived along what would have been an extremely muddy shoreline.”Then over many years the same story repeated itself: The animals ventured too far, got trapped and couldn’t get their legs out of the muck,” said Manzanilla.Ruben Manzanilla Lopez of the National Anthropology Institute shows the skeleton of a mammoth that was discovered in the construction site of Mexico City’s new airport, Sept. 3, 2020.He speculates that most of the mammoths died this way, though he adds that there is some evidence that around 10,000 years ago early humans may have also hunted the 20-ton beasts with flint arrows and spears, or dug rudimentary shallow water pits to snare them.But the sheer amount of bones, including long, curling tusks — technically the animal’s front two teeth — have come as a shock.”We had the idea that we’d find mammoth remains, but not this many,” he said.Once the excavations are finished, Manzanilla said the site, located about 30 miles (50km) north of downtown Mexico City, could rival others in the United States and Siberia as the planet’s biggest deposit of mammoth skeletons.He noted that a museum-style mammoth exhibit is being planned for the airport’s main terminal.The series of inter-connected lakes that once covered the Valley of Mexico were deliberately drained by Spanish colonial masters beginning in the 1600s in an effort to tame annual flooding.Today, the mostly dry landscape is dominated by the working-class neighborhoods and highways that spill out from Mexico City.
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Unidentified Belarusian authorities have detained one of the two remaining free leaders of an opposition council amid continuing protests against longtime President Alexander Lukashenko following a disputed election.Attorney Maxim Znak was taken out of the Coordination Council’s office on Wednesday by unknown people wearing ski masks, according to his associate, Gleb German.  Znak’s detention came as Lukashenko tries to end protests against him. German said Znak managed to text “masks” before his phone was seized.The 2015 Nobel literature laureate Svetlana Alexievich speaks to reporters at her apartment in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 9, 2020.Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature, is now the only council executive to remain free in Belarus, even after unidentified people tried to enter her apartment on Wednesday. Several European Union diplomats and journalists arrived at her apartment in Minsk to prevent her detention.Thousands of people have taken part in five weeks of protests following the Aug. 9 election in which Lukashenko was declared the winner. Opposition parties, the United States and the European Union allege the election was rigged.Lukashenko’s opponent, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has since left the country.Exiled Belarus Opposition Leader Pleads for ‘Help Now’ Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya urged international pressure, including sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko and his government following a disputed election More than 7,000 protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture has been reported. At least four people are reported to have died during the demonstrations.During a meeting in Estonia Wednesday, the foreign ministers of the Nordic Baltic nations called on Belarusian authorities to end the crackdown and the prosecution of activists. Alexievich was questioned last month by Belarusian investigators, who have launched a criminal investigation into the Coordination Council members who investigators say are undermining national security by demanding a transfer of power.Several council members have been arrested, and others were forcibly expelled from the country.US Considering Sanctions Against Belarus After ‘Unjustified Violence and Repression’ Pompeo Says Pompeo says US deeply concerned about “attempted forced expulsion” of opposition activist On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States is deeply concerned about the Belarusian government’s attempts to forcibly expel opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova. Pompeo said the United States and other countries are considering bringing sanctions in response to recent events in Belarus.“We commend the courage of Ms. Kolesnikova and of the Belarusian people in peacefully asserting their right to pick their leaders in free and fair elections in the face of unjustified violence and repression by the Belarusian authorities, which included brazen beatings of peaceful marchers in broad daylight and hundreds of detentions (on) September 6, as well as increasing reports of abductions,” Pompeo said in a statement.Pompeo said the potential sanctions would be aimed at promoting “accountability for those involved in human rights abuses and repression in Belarus.”Kolesnikova was detained Monday, along with opposition movement members Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov. They were driven to the border between Belarus and Ukraine Tuesday where Kolesnikova tore up her passport and was held on the Belarusian side.Rodnenkov and Kravtsov did cross into Ukraine.“She was shouting that she won’t go anywhere,” Rodnenkov said at a news conference in Kyiv. “Sitting in the car, she saw her passport on a front seat and tore it into many small fragments, crumpled them and threw them out of the window. After that, she opened the back door and walked back to the Belarusian border.”A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement expressing his concern about “the repeated use of force against peaceful protesters, as well as reported pressures on opposition civil society activists.”
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Fire destroyed much of Greece’s largest refugee camp early Wednesday, displacing thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers amid a camp-wide outbreak of COVID-19. The Moria Reception and Identification Center on the island of Lesbos was 80% destroyed in the blaze, Refugees and migrants gather water next to destroyed shelters following a fire at the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece, Sept. 9, 2020.”There was not just one, but many fires in the camp. Migrants threw stones at firefighters trying to put out the fires. The cause is under investigation,” Constantine Theophilopoulos, fire brigade chief for the northern Aegean, told ERT TV. The fire began in several locations after authorities tried to isolate some migrants who tested positive for COVID-19, Refugees and migrants sleep next to a road following a fire at the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece, Sept. 9, 2020.Some asylum-seekers were trying to reach Mytilini, a nearby town. Mytilini Mayor Stratis Kytelis said some migrants would need to be moved to ships to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but government spokesman Stelios Petsas said camp residents would not be allowed to leave Lesbos due to the pandemic, according to Reuters. European Union Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson announced the EU would fund the immediate transfer of the 400 unaccompanied children, as well as provide accommodations. 2/2 …I have already agreed to finance the immediate transfer and accommodation on the mainland of the remaining 400 unaccompanied children and teenagers. The safety and shelter of all people in Moria is the priority.— Ylva Johansson (@YlvaJohansson) September 9, 2020For refugee advocates, Moria has become a symbol of Europe’s increasingly strict approach to migrants. In 2016, the EU began blocking the flow of travel to Western European countries like Germany. Overcrowding, alongside overall living conditions, worsened at refugee camps in European border countries like Greece. “This fire was expected,” Eva Cossé, who researches Greece for nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch, told The New York Times. “It’s not surprising. It’s a testament to the European Union’s negligence and Greece’s negligence.”Greece’s deputy migration minister, George Koumoutsakos, said about 3,000 migrants and refugees would be temporarily housed in tents as the government struggles to find them alternative shelter, Reuters reported. 
 
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday the United States is deeply concerned about attempts by the government of Belarus to forcibly expel opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova. The top U.S. diplomat said the United States and other countries are considering bringing sanctions in response to recent events in Belarus. “We commend the courage of Ms. Kalesnikava and of the Belarusian people in peacefully asserting their right to pick their leaders in free and fair elections in the face of unjustified violence and repression by the Belarusian authorities, which included brazen beatings of peaceful marchers in broad daylight and hundreds of detentions (on) September 6, as well as increasing reports of abductions,” Pompeo said in a statement. He said the potential sanctions would be aimed at promoting “accountability for those involved in human rights abuses and repression in Belarus.” Kolesnikova was detained Monday along with two other opposition movement members, Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov, and on Tuesday they were driven to the border between Belarus and Ukraine where Kolesnikova tore up her passport and was held on the Belarusian side.FILE – Maria Kolesnikova, one of Belarus’ opposition leaders, gestures during a rally in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 30, 2020.Rodnenkov and Kravtsov did cross into Ukraine. “She was shouting that she won’t go anywhere,” Rodnenkov said at a news conference in Kyiv. “Sitting in the car, she saw her passport on a front seat and tore it into many small fragments, crumpled them and threw them out of the window. After that, she opened the back door and walked back to the Belarusian border.” A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement expressing his concern about “the repeated use of force against peaceful protesters, as well as reported pressures on opposition civil society activists.” Thousands of people have taken part in five weeks of protests following the August 9 election in which longtime President Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner, but opposition parties, the United States and European Union allege was rigged. More than 7,000 protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture has been reported in the month of protests. At least four people are reported to have died during the demonstrations. 
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In his second public — though limited — weekly general audience, Pope Francis Wednesday appealed to people to look out for the health of others as well as themselves during the coronavirus pandemic. The pope removed his face mask as he arrived at the Vatican’s San Damaso courtyard before an audience of about 500 people, compared to the tens of thousands who usually gather at St. Peter’s Square.  While chairs were spaced out in the courtyard, the limited crowd massed along the barriers as Pope Francis passed by, and some lowered their masks to call out to him. He urged the faithful to remain socially distant and not crowd themselves “to avoid the contagion.” During his remarks, Francis said the pandemic is affecting everyone and “we will emerge from it better people if we all seek the common good together.” He lamented, however, what he sees as “the emergence of partisan interests.”  “For example, there are those who want to appropriate possible solutions for themselves, such as [developing] vaccines, and then selling them to others,” the pope remarked.  He said some are taking advantage of the situation to foment divisions and seek economic or political divisions. The pope last week resumed his weekly public audiences after a nearly six-month COVID-19 shutdown, during which he gave his remarks virtually. Elsewhere in Rome Wednesday, several thousand right wing activists gathered from across Italy to protest measures to taken by the Italian government to fight the coronavirus pandemic, such as wearing masks and mandatory vaccination.  The protesters see such measures as violations of their personal liberty.  At least one protester was seen carrying a banner in support of U.S. President Donald Trump. More than 280,000 people have been confirmed to have had COVID-19 in Italy so far, and more than 35,500 people have died, according Johns Hopkins University data.     
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday the United States is deeply concerned about attempts by the government of Belarus to forcibly expel opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova. The top U.S. diplomat said the United States and other countries are considering bringing sanctions in response to recent events in Belarus. “We commend the courage of Ms. Kalesnikava and of the Belarusian people in peacefully asserting their right to pick their leaders in free and fair elections in the face of unjustified violence and repression by the Belarusian authorities, which included brazen beatings of peaceful marchers in broad daylight and hundreds of detentions (on) September 6, as well as increasing reports of abductions,” Pompeo said in a statement. He said the potential sanctions would be aimed at promoting “accountability for those involved in human rights abuses and repression in Belarus.” Kolesnikova was detained Monday along with two other opposition movement members, Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov, and on Tuesday they were driven to the border between Belarus and Ukraine where Kolesnikova tore up her passport and was held on the Belarusian side.FILE – Maria Kolesnikova, one of Belarus’ opposition leaders, gestures during a rally in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 30, 2020.Rodnenkov and Kravtsov did cross into Ukraine. “She was shouting that she won’t go anywhere,” Rodnenkov said at a news conference in Kyiv. “Sitting in the car, she saw her passport on a front seat and tore it into many small fragments, crumpled them and threw them out of the window. After that, she opened the back door and walked back to the Belarusian border.” A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement expressing his concern about “the repeated use of force against peaceful protesters, as well as reported pressures on opposition civil society activists.” Thousands of people have taken part in five weeks of protests following the August 9 election in which longtime President Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner, but opposition parties, the United States and European Union allege was rigged. More than 7,000 protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture has been reported in the month of protests. At least four people are reported to have died during the demonstrations. 
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Five years ago, a Belarusian teenager studying film in Poland set up a YouTube channel to show videos that he made and poke fun at his country’s longtime leader, Alexander Lukashenko.   After tangling with YouTube copyright laws, the student, Stsyapan Putsila, shifted his Nexta channel and his tactics in 2018 to Telegram, the messaging app. Its encryption technologies have made it wildly popular in Russia, Iran and other countries whose governments have suppressed independent media and communications.   Fast forward two years, and Putsila’s Nexta – taken from the Belarusian word for “someone” and pronounced “nekhta” — has grown in popularity, first and foremost among Belarusians seeking uncensored information in a country whose state-run media usually serve only as a mouthpiece for the government. A mix of user-submitted photos and videos, forwarded news items, biting opinion, and instructions for street protesters, the channel’s Telegram subscribers now total more than 2 million, making it one of the biggest information sources for Belarusians.   And with protests against Lukashenko showing no sign of relenting a month after a deeply disputed election in which he claimed to have won a sixth term, Nexta is at the vanguard – both in documenting the demonstrations and in encouraging them.   ‘A bit like revolutionaries’ “Even before the start of the Belarusian revolution, we were a nontraditional media [outlet],” Putsila, 22, said in a telephone interview with RFE/RL’s Russian Service Thursday. “We did not have a centralized website on the internet — we are a modern information channel, mainly for young people.” Since the protests began, “we have changed a little and become a bit like revolutionaries, because people want that from us,” he said. “We are asked to publish plans describing what to do, because there are simply no clear leaders in Belarus, especially ones with such an audience,” Putsila said. “If there had been, it is clear that they would have been immediately detained. Now we not only inform, but to some extent also coordinate people.”   With a team of six working out of a community center Warsaw, Putsila, who also uses the pseudonym Stepan Svetlov, pushes out dozens of items on the Telegram channel. On Monday, one day after tens of thousands of Belarusians surged into Minsk’s streets for the 29th day of protests, Nexta published — in Russian, which is spoken by nearly everyone in Belarus — a statement of support from European Union leaders and news items about the disappearance of one of the country’s leading opposition figures. Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke via videolink to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Tuesday.Belusus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya takes part in an U.N. General Assembly online debate from Vilnius, Lithuania, Sept. 4, 2020.Mixed in were videos of the Sunday protest in Minsk, whose numbers Belarusian authorities said totaled just 30,000 — an estimate that Nexta and Belarusian opposition groups said was laughably low — as well as an aerial photo with a diagram showing which streets protesters could use to get around riot police blocking a key boulevard.   “We do not force anyone to protest,” Putsila said. “We tell people that they can go out, defend their rights. Belarusians come out on their own.”   A native of Minsk, Putsila went to the Polish city of Katowice to study film, and then moved to Warsaw, the Polish capital, after graduating. He has not been in his homeland since 2018, when Belarusian authorities opened a criminal investigation accusing him of “insulting the president” on YouTube. YouTube eventually pulled down Putsila’s channel after Belarusian authorities complained of copyright violations, prompting the move to Telegram. “We’ve received dozens of threats against us; we’ve even received threats that our office would be blown up,” he said. His parents and his younger brother have fled to Poland, fearing for their safety.   News reports say Polish police now guard the building where he has his offices; Putsila would not comment. In 2019, Nexta began publishing classified and confidential documents that purported to come from within Belarus; the channel gained new popularity after revealing that a traffic police officer whom authorities said had committed suicide was in fact the victim of a killing. “People have always been unhappy, especially in recent years, when they really became tired of him,” Putsila said of Lukashenko, who came to power in 1994 and has extended his rule though elections and other votes that international observers have called undemocratic.   ‘Great example’After the August 9 election, which opponents say was falsified to give Lukashenko more than 80% of the vote, “people managed to unite, and now they feel they are the masters of their own land,” Putsila said. “Nevertheless, there are also the ‘enforcers’ — this is how we call police and security officials, who are the foundation of Lukashenko’s regime. However, he no longer has support among many officials; they don’t support him, but only themselves,” he said.   Putsila said that Belarusians had genuine hopes in Lukashenko, but that his actions over 26 years in office have worn on them. And that the official election result and the harsh police crackdown — the violent arrest of hundreds of people and evidence that some have been tortured — was the last straw.   “Belarusians have set a great example for the rest of the world. During the protests, people even were taking off their shoes when they climbed onto benches, they brought each other water, food, flowers. This shows a high level of self-organization,” he said. “Lukashenko tells Belarusians that the state has raised them and made people out of them, and they are ungrateful,” he said. “However, it is the people themselves who are teaching children in schools, who are creating jobs, and the state, as represented by Lukashenko, does not respect these people.”   Written by RFE/RL senior correspondent Mike Eckel based on reporting by Daria Yurieva, a contributor to RFE/RL’s Russian Service. 
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British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was summoned by an Iranian Revolutionary Court on Tuesday and informed about a new charge, state television reported. “Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court summoned Nazanin Zaghari and her designated lawyer this morning and informed her of a new indictment,” state television cited an unnamed official as saying on its website. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested in April 2016 at a Tehran airport as she headed back to Britain with her daughter after a family visit. She was sentenced to five years in jail after being convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran’s clerical establishment. Her family and the foundation, a charity that operates independently of media firm Thomson Reuters and its news subsidiary Reuters, deny the charge. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was temporarily released from jail in March amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus in Iran’s prisons but is barred from leaving the country. The Thomson Reuters Foundation urged British Prime Minister Boris Johnson “to intervene promptly” to secure Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s permanent release. “The Thomson Reuters Foundation utterly condemns the latest move by the Iranian authorities to prolong Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s inhumane and unjust ordeal,” said Antonio Zappulla, Thomson Reuters Foundation CEO, in a statement. Britain’s Foreign Office said Iran’s action was unacceptable. “Iran bringing new charges against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is indefensible and unacceptable. We have been consistently clear that she must not be returned to prison,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. 
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A group of migrants being held at a dockside camp on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria chanted “freedom” on Tuesday as they tried to force open a police fence and the coast guard brought in more people rescued from boats on the Atlantic sea.Although sea-borne migration to Spain is down nearly 19% this year, arrivals to the Canary Islands have surged 573% to 3,933 migrants, data from Spain’s interior ministry shows.A coast guard spokeswoman said 81 North African men were rescued from three small boats and taken to the port of Arguineguin on Gran Canaria, while another 29 reached the island on their own by boat.A Spanish Red Cross spokesman said another boat with around 10 migrants had also arrived.At the crammed makeshift camp in Arguineguin, police with batons rushed to the area after a group of migrants moved a fence that encircles the camp, and made the protesters retreat without force. Some jumped the fence but were quickly told by police to go back into the camp.Migrant reception centers across the Canary Islands are stretched to capacity and around 420 people are being held at the camp, the Red Cross said. Some of them have been there for several days enduring hot temperatures, sleeping on blankets on the concrete floor, amid increasing despair.Analysts have suggested that beefed-up security in the Mediterranean is pushing more people to risk the perilous crossing to the Canaries, located around 60 miles west of Morocco.Following local politicians’ request for more help, the Spanish government said it plans to open more migrant centers on the island as the camp is meant to house migrants only for the first days, an immigration department spokeswoman said.An interior ministry source said the government had not been transferring migrants from the archipelago to mainland Spain for several years, and their deportation processes were mostly handled locally.
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Deirdre Carney suspected she might have COVID-19 when her temperature began to fluctuate above the normal 37 degrees Celsius.  “It was a bit of a shock when I was diagnosed. I could not believe that I had got it. I had not mixed with that many people,” Carney, an English teacher from California living in Madrid, told VOA. In the Spanish capital, which now has about a third of Spain’s coronavirus cases, authorities have been forced to impose several restrictions to try to halt the surge in infections. Since imposing one of the most draconian lockdowns in Europe, Spain became the first Western European country to report more than 500,000 cases, health authorities said Monday. With the number of infections reaching 525,000 Tuesday, Spain has 255.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 35.2 in Britain, 125.2 in France and 30.6 in Italy, once one of the worst-affected European countries at the start of the pandemic. Spanish Civil Guards on a checkpoint for all residents of the small village of Alfaro, La Rioja Province, northern Spain, which has been placed in lockdown due to a coronavirus outbreak, Sept. 8, 2020.Fighting the disease in isolation, Carney said she was not contacted by case tracers — a key deficiency that experts say is part of the reason for the surge in infections. “The only people who carried out the tracing was my employer,” she said. New restrictions Madrid, a city of 6.6 million people who often live in densely populated neigborhoods, will limit social gatherings to 10 people inside or outdoors.  Many outbreaks have been linked to family gatherings or when young people get together for outdoor drinking sessions, known as botellones. Bars, restaurants, weddings and funerals will also face curbs on capacity.  A new wave of contagion has been less deadly than at the start of the pandemic, and the number of infections seems to have slowed from the daily peak of over 10,000 more than a week ago. The death rate also remains well below the peak in April when over 900 people died in one day. Nevertheless, many are asking why Spain has once again become the “Sick man of Europe.”  FILE – People wearing face masks walk along a boulevard in Barcelona, Spain, Aug. 30, 2020.Experts suggest a complex mixture of factors have conspired to bring the country back almost to square one just as 8 million children return to school and Spaniards head back to work. “We had a very strict lockdown then relaxed this too quickly in a country with a high propensity to socialize and for family networks to stay very close,” Ildefonso Hernández, a professor of public health at the University Miguel Hernández near Alicante in southeast Spain, told VOA in an interview. “The picture is not homogeneous, but some regions also failed to employ enough case tracers when outbreaks started. It also has to be said that the number of tests being carried out has increased dramatically since March and April, so we are seeing more positive diagnoses,” he said.  Hernández also said part of the blame lay with regional authorities’ responses to migrant fruit pickers who travel around the country getting work where there are harvests. Many are forced to live in cramped conditions in which social distancing is difficult, if not impossible. “Some authorities, in Catalonia and Aragon, failed to provide adequate accommodation for these people,” Hernandez said. FILE – Francisco Espana, 60, faces the Mediterranean from a promenade next to a hospital in Barcelona, Spain, Sept. 4, 2020. He spent 52 days in intensive care at the hospital, but was allowed by his doctors to spend 10 minutes outdoors for recovery.Worrying situation In Madrid, the number of hospital beds occupied with COVID-19 cases is approximately 18%, compared with the national average of 7%. “The situation in Madrid is worrying. The number of COVID-19 cases is putting pressure on the ability of some hospitals to carry out other operations,” Hernández said. Analysts also point to weaknesses in Spain’s system of governance as a factor. Spain is one of the most decentralized states in Europe, with responsibility for health care and education farmed out to the 17 regional governments. “At the start of the pandemic, the central government took control over the management of the crisis from the regions. Apart from ideological differences with the central government, some regional pride was peaked,” Miguel Otero-Iglesias, an economist at the Elcano Royal Institute, a think tank in Madrid, told VOA. “At the same time, the regions look to the center for leadership. Spain does not have a proper central government, and it does not have a federal state.” In order to improve infection tracing, Spain has called in the army, deploying 2,000 specialized soldiers to help regional authorities. Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa sought to calm fears. “The situation now is nothing like it was in March or April in terms of pressure on hospital beds or intensive care units,” he told reporters at a press conference. 
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Exiled Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has called the situation in her country “absolutely unacceptable” and pleaded for international pressure to dislodge embattled President Alexander Lukashenko who she said no longer represents Belarus.In a virtual appearance before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on September 8, Tsikhanouskaya urged international pressure including sanctions on Lukashenko and his government.”My country, my nation, my people now need help,” she said. “We need international pressure on this regime, on this one individual desperately clinging on to power. We need sanctions on individuals who issue and execute criminal orders that violate international norms and human rights. We need an immediate release of all political prisoners and to start a civilized dialogue in order to find ways for our country to move forward.”Law enforcement officers scuffle with demonstrators during a rally in support of detained Belarusian opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 8, 2020.She added an appeal on behalf of Belarusians currently being victimized by the mass detentions, beatings at the hands of security forces, and apparent forced disappearances.”I refuse — as millions of Belarusians — to accept that this is the fate of my country,” she said. “I refuse, as do millions of Belarusians, to accept that the world will simply stand and watch these countless abuses of human rights, this blatant disregard for human dignity, this complete annihilation of any basic respect for human decency. I refuse, like millions of Belarusians, to stand down and give up.” Tsikhanouskaya told the PACE representatives that “countries and parties that make deals with Mr. Lukashenko do so at their own risk” and should not expect a subsequent, democratically elected government to uphold treaties “made against [Belarusians’] will by an illegitimate regime.” Tsikhanouskaya ran against Lukashenko in an August 9 election that the opposition says was rigged. She fled to Lithuanian days later amid massive protests and rumors she had been slated for arrest. Unprecedented daily protests have continued, calling for Lukashenko to resign and a new election to be held. Her PACE appearance comes just hours after Belarusian authorities said they had detained a Tsikhanouskaya ally after she and two other opposition organizers mysteriously appeared at a checkpoint on the Ukrainian border amid fears they had been abducted in Minsk a day earlier. FILE – Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko gestures as he delivers a speech during a rally held to support him in central Minsk, Aug. 16, 2020.Tsikhanouskaya was quoted by Reuters as saying that the apparent abductions of opposition Coordination Council members on September 7 looked like authorities were trying to stamp out protest momentum and intimidate the opposition. Tsikhanouskaya is scheduled to visit Warsaw later this week to hold meetings with top Polish officials.Lukashenko is doing his own travel, with plans to visit Russia “within days,” a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said on September 7. Dmitry Peskov reportedly told TASS that “preparations are in full swing.” 
 
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Prince Harry has repaid 2.4 million pounds ($3.2 million) in British taxpayers’ money that was used to renovate the home in Windsor intended for him and his wife Meghan before they gave up royal duties and moved to California.A spokesman for the couple said Monday that Harry had made a contribution to the Sovereign Grant, the public money that goes to the royal family. He said the contribution “fully covered the necessary renovation costs of Frogmore Cottage,” near Queen Elizabeth II’s Windsor Castle home, west of London.He said Frogmore Cottage will remain the home of Harry and Meghan, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, when they visit the U.K.Royal accounts for 2019 show that 2.4 million pounds was spent renovating the house, including structural work, rewiring and new flooring. Harry and Meghan agreed to pay back the money and start paying rent as part of the plans drawn up when they quit as senior working royals in March.They recently bought a house in Santa Barbara, California, and last week announced a deal with Netflix to produce a range of films and series for the streaming service.
 
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Negotiators on both sides of the English Channel say this week is the “moment of reckoning” for a post-Brexit trade deal between the European Union and Britain. But after six months of toxic wrangling the odds are mounting an agreement will not be struck, both British and European officials concede.That result that could poison relations between Britain and its near neighbors for years to come with far-reaching consequences, not only economic but impacted security and intelligence cooperation, too, say analysts.In the run-up to an eighth round of formal discussions that were to start Tuesday in London both sides were locked in an accelerating cycle of furious recriminations, accusing each other of negotiating in bad faith in talks about Britain’s future relationship with the bloc of 27 European countries.  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, said there needs to be “more realism” from Brussels about Britain’s “status as an independent country.”  Patience wears thinAides of the EU’s top negotiator, Michael Barnier, warned patience is wearing thin and that European officials are ready to abandon the meetings this week in the light of plans by Johnson to unveil new legislation that would override key parts of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, a framework treaty struck last year that set the terms of Britain’s departure from the EU.European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier speaks during a media conference after Brexit trade talks between the EU and the UK, in Brussels, Aug. 21, 2020.Johnson has said that unless there is an agreement by October 15, he will walk away from talks. “There is no sense in thinking about timelines that go beyond that point. If we can’t agree by then, then I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept that and move on,” Johnson said in a statement last week. His threat worries many sectors of British business, whose bosses say Britain will be worse of without a trade deal.    Northern IrelandThe eve of the talks has been dominated by fallout from the proposed publication of the new legislation, which could result in aspects of the withdrawal deal being negated. They mainly concern Northern Ireland, which will remain within the EU’s internal market under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, avoiding the necessity of a so-called hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, but requiring customs checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain and for EU rules limiting state aid to businesses in the province to be observed.   Johnson’s plans to pick and choose about customs checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain and he is keen to water down state aid rules. The disclosure about the proposed legislation, which is due to be published Wednesday, have added a new source of friction to the talks.  FILE – People wave the British Union Jack and England flags as they celebrate in Parliament Square on Brexit day in London, Britain, Jan, 31, 2020.But mistrusts runs deep in the British parliament, too. Some uncompromising Brexiters in Johnson ruling Conservative party, who want a clean break from the EU, fear Johnson might be laying the ground to offer significant concessions to the EU to get a last-minute deal that he will trumpet as a great win. They worry he is engaging in a piece of highly staged theater that he can parade as diplomatic triumph.Brexiters point to what happened last year when he repudiated the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by his predecessor in Downing Street, Theresa May, only to sign an almost identical divorce deal after he was elected as her successor. Some observers, though, hazard that Johnson may not have made up his own mind about whether Britain should go it alone without a trade deal or compromise. “My guess is that the really big decision government Brexiteers must take — between scary clean break and safety-first compromise — remains entirely unresolved because the prime minister’s mind cannot be read,” wrote commentator Matthew Parris, a former Conservative lawmaker, last week.
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Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido is urging military leaders to support a boycott of the country’s December 6 legislative elections.
 
In an address Monday on social media, Guaido said he values each sector of society and invited the Armed Forces to a “unity pact” of opposition forces to block the upcoming poll and escalate international pressure on President Nicolas Maduro.  
 
He said his team is willing to sit down once again with those who are needed to achieve a transition.
 
Since Guaido declared himself interim president last year, accusing Maduro of rigging the vote to win the 2018 election, he has been unable to muster enough support inside the country to remove the president from office.  
 
Additionally, some well-known opposition figures, including Henrique Capriles, a two-time presidential candidate, have rejected Guadio’s boycott of the December election.
 
So far, international sanctions against Maduro’s government, including U.S. sanctions against 150 Venezuelans or persons linked to Venezuela, have not produced any discernible impact on the socialist leader’s standing.
 
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Authorities in southern California have identified the bodies found in a well in northern Mexico as American tourists Ian Hirschsohn and Kathy Harvey.In a statement, the Baja California state prosecutor’s office said the retirees were reported missing last Wednesday. Local media reports say both are from nearby San Diego, California.The remains of the victims were recovered over the weekend after searchers covering an area south of the port city of Ensenada spotted human remains at the bottom of the well.Authorities have not released any details of the circumstances surrounding their deaths.Separately, the Associated Press reports 65-year-old Craig Harrison was found stabbed to death on the beach in Cabo Pulmo over the weekend.Harrison, a longtime resident of Cabo San Lucas, held dual citizenship in South Africa and Canada.Harrison had been missing since August 29.
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Belarus border officials say Maria Kolesnikova, a leading member of Belarus’ opposition, was detained early Tuesday while trying to cross into neighboring Ukraine. The officials said Kolesnikova was traveling with two other opposition movement members, Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov, who both successfully entered Ukraine. The circumstances of how the group ended up at the border was not immediately clear. Monday brought calls from Germany and Britain demanding Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko disclose Kolesnikova’s location after reports she was seized by unidentified men in Minsk. Kolesnikova was the last of three women left inside Belarus who came together in the opposition coordination council to try to defeat Lukashenko in an August 9 election. He was declared winner, but opposition parties, along with the United States and the European Union, say the poll was rigged.Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, then presidential candidate (C), Veronika Tsepkalo, wife of opposition figure Valery Tsepkalo (L), and Maria Kolesnikova, campaign representative of another opposition candidate, gesture in Minsk, Belarus, July 30, 2020.Kolesnikova’s ally Olga Kovalkova went to Poland Saturday, saying authorities forced her out of the country, while Belarus’ main opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has been in Lithuania with her children since the election for what she says is her own safety.     German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas tweeted that the European Union is “working flat out on a sanctions package. If #Lukashenko does not change course, we will respond.”     The EU is considering sanctions on 31 senior Belarus officials, Reuters reported Monday, citing three EU diplomats.     “The EU expects the Belarusian authorities to ensure the immediate release of all detained on political grounds before and after the falsified 9 August presidential elections,” its diplomatic head, Josep Borrell, said.    Further, the EU called Monday on Belarus to release the more than 600 people it said it arrested over the weekend for protesting what thousands of Belarusians believe was a rigged election.  “The EU will impose sanctions on individuals responsible for violence, repression and falsification of election results,” Borrell added.A man waves a flag during an opposition demonstration to protest against presidential election results at the Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus August 24, 2020.The demonstrations against Lukashenko entered their fifth straight week Sunday, again drawing tens of thousands of people into the streets, shouting slogans and waving red and white opposition flags.   More than 7,000 protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture has been reported in the month of protests. At least four people are reported to have died during the demonstrations.    In an interview with VOA, Tsikhanouskaya said she is working to organize new elections despite Lukashenko’s refusal to do so.    “Our plan is absolutely clear. It’s organization of new elections, fair and transparent,” she said.      Lukashenko has been in power since 1994. 
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Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced new measures aimed at containing the spread of the novel coronavirus on the island nation. In an address Monday inaugurating his second term in office, Holness announced new curfew hours of 8:00 pm to 5:00 beginning September 8 through September 23. He said Jamaica is also reducing the permitted number of people in public gatherings from 20 people to 15. Senior citizens 70 and older are now only permitted to leave home just once a day for critical necessities. The government will continue to permit religious groups to conduct normal services as long as they follow protocols.  Funerals are still not permitted, and burials are allowed with no more than 15 people, including mourners. Prime Minister Holness’ administration also urges business owners to allow their staff to work from home if possible.  
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Amnesty International condemned Malta on Tuesday for using what it described as “illegal tactics” in the Mediterranean against immigrants making the dangerous crossing from North Africa. The approach taken by the Maltese government might have led to avoidable deaths, it argued, in a report that alleged a string of human rights abuses against illegal immigrants. Amnesty’s report was released hours after U.N. rights agencies on Monday called on Malta and the European Union to end the latest humanitarian crisis on board a cargo ship off the Maltese coast. “The Maltese government has resorted to dangerous and illegal measures for dealing with the arrivals of refugees and migrants at sea,” Amnesty said. “This escalation of tactics included arranging unlawful pushbacks to Libya, diverting boats towards Italy rather than rescuing people in distress and illegally detaining hundreds of people in ill-equipped ferries off Malta’s waters,” Amnesty said. MaltaThe signing of an agreement between Valletta and Tripoli in late May “to prevent people from reaching Malta” further exposed them to brutal treatment upon return to Libyan refugee camps, Amnesty said in the 34-page report. “Some of the actions taken by the Maltese authorities may have involved criminal acts being committed, resulting in avoidable deaths, prolonged arbitrary detention and illegal returns to war-torn Libya,” it said.   Malta PM rejects responsibility Malta and Italy in April closed their ports to migrants as the coronavirus pandemic closed its grip on the two countries, with Malta saying it needed all its resources to fight the disease. Since the start of the year Malta has received 2,161 illegal immigrants “and the resources and efforts necessary to ensure reception, access to protection and protection from COVID-19 are undoubtedly considerable for such a small country,” said Amnesty. That did not however “relieve Malta of the responsibility to indicate a place of safety for the people rescued under its coordination,” Amnesty said. The Amnesty report came as yet another cargo ship carrying rescued migrants was being denied permission to dock, its shipping company said this week. The Maersk Etienne on August 4 rescued the 27 migrants at the request of the Maltese authorities, which has since declined to let it into port. The U.N.’s refugee agency (UNCHR) as well as International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Chamber of Shipping “called for the immediate disembarkation … of the people trapped on board the ship.” The Maltese government did not immediately comment on the Amnesty report, but Prime Minister Robert Abela said Sunday the situation on the Maersk Etienne “was not Malta’s responsibility,” as the ship was sailing under a Danish flag. “While I understand the humanitarian aspect of migration, I have to understand the interests of the Maltese,” Abela told the Malta Today online newspaper. Amnesty’s report is titled “Waves of impunity: Malta’s violations of the rights of refugees and migrants in the Central Mediterranean.” 
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