A law student from European Humanities University (EHU) was detained along with a Belarusian blogger after Belarus forced their commercial flight to land in Minsk rather than Lithuania.  “As a result of a cover operation by the Belarusian authorities,” student Sofia Sapega “was detained by the administration of the Investigative Committee for the city of Minsk on groundless and made-up conditions,” according to the university website.  “Sapega is a Russian citizen studying International Law and European Union Law program at EHU,” the university wrote on its website. “While returning with boyfriend [Raman Pratasevich] from vacation, Sofia was getting prepared for the defense of her master’s thesis in Vilnius,” the FILE – Student Sofia Sapega poses for a picture in Gothenburg, Sweden, in this photo taken in 2019.Sapega “is well regarded due to her academic performance and reputation in EHU’s community” by groupmates and faculty members, the website states.  Pratasevich, 26, has been critical of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in his online blogs. The United States and European governments are accusing Belarus of engaging in an act of state terrorism. They have called on Lukashenko’s government to immediately release Pratasevich.US, EU Accuse Belarus of Terrorism After Plane Diverted to Arrest JournalistOpposition blogger Raman Pratasevich, 26, faces death penalty for criticizing Lukashenko government Pratasevich and Sapega were flying from Athens to Vilnius on Sunday when their Ryanair flight was diverted by the Belarusian regime because of an alleged bomb threat. European Humanities University was founded in Minsk in 1992 but forced by Belarusian authorities to relocate in 2004 to neighboring Lithuania, according to its website. Pratasevich was a key administrator of the Telegram channel NEXTA Live, which has been covering the protests that broke out in Belarus following the country’s disputed presidential election last August. Belarusian authorities in November 2020 launched investigations into Pratasevich and a colleague on suspicion of the organization of mass disorder, disruption of the social order, and inciting social hatred.Some information for this report came from RFE/RL. 
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European leaders are vowing to punish Belarus for illegally diverting to Minsk Sunday a Lithuanian-bound Ryanair flight carrying a fugitive critic of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. Their fury was fueled as more details emerged Monday of the dramatic events leading up to the diversion of the plane. The Ryanair Boeing 737 was carrying 171 passengers and crew had taken off from Athens and was flying over Belarus. It was just moments from leaving Belarusian air space when the captain was signaled by the pilot of a Belarus MiG-29 jet to land in the Belarus capital and not to proceed to the scheduled destination, Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital.   Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 1 MB480p | 2 MB540p | 3 MB720p | 4 MB1080p | 6 MBOriginal | 28 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioWhen the plane landed in Minsk, Belarusian security service officers detained 26-year-old opposition blogger Raman Pratasevich, who could face a death sentence on charges of helping to organize protests against President Lukashenko. Just before the aircraft landed, he gave his laptop and cell phone to a friend for safekeeping, passengers told reporters in Vilnius.    Pratasevich’s girlfriend, Sofia, was also detained. And reports emerged Monday of another detainee.    The plan to seize Pratasevich, who has lived in exile since 2019, also appears to have involved the participation of Belarusian KGB agents, who were present at the departure airport at Athens and boarded the jet, according to opposition activists. WATCH:  RFE/RL Interview with father of detained Belarus journalist The Greek Foreign Ministry released a statement Sunday describing the forced landing as a “state hijacking” which “put the lives of all the passengers on board in danger.” That view was echoed by US. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who dubbed the illegal diversion in a statement as “a shocking act.”    Blinken said the “regime endangered the lives of more than 120 passengers, including US citizens. Initial reports suggesting the involvement of the Belarusian security services and the use of Belarusian military aircraft to escort the plane are deeply concerning and require full investigation,” he added.   Fight onboard 
In an online post before leaving Athens, Pratasevich said he was being trailed by KGB agents. “This was some suspicious crap,” he wrote. “When the plane entered Belarus airspace KGB officers initiated a fight with the Ryanair crew, insisting that there was an improvised explosive device onboard,” Tadeusz Giczan, an editor at the activist Telegram site Nexta, tweeted.  “Eventually the crew was forced to send out an SOS, literally moments before the plane would have left Belarusian airspace. A MiG-29 took off and escorted it to Minsk,” he said. There were also local reports that an Mi-24 helicopter gunship was used in the operation. FILE – Opposition blogger and activist Raman Pratasevich, who is accused of participating in an unsanctioned protest at the Kuropaty preserve, arrives for a court hearing in Minsk, Belarus, Apr. 10, 2017.Ryanair said in a statement that the crew was also told by Belarus aviation authorities of a “potential security threat on board” and ordered the plane to Minsk, even though Vilnius was nearer.  On landing, all the passengers were searched and the flight was allowed to resume its journey five hours later. Rynair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, also said he believes that Belarus KGB agents were on board the flight. In an interview Monday with a British radio broadcaster, he said: “It appears the intent of the authorities was to remove a journalist and his traveling companion. We believe there were some KGB agents offloaded at the airport as well.” On Monday, it also emerged that along with Pratasevich and his girlfriend, a Russian citizen studying at the European Humanities University, EHU, in Lithuania, was forced off the flight, too. EHU has demanded her release, saying she was detained by the Minsk Investigative Committee on “groundless and made-up conditions.”  EU response 
EU leaders will discuss the case at a summit Monday, European Council President Charles Michel. “The incident will not remain without consequences,” he added in a statement.  “Possible sanctions” would be on the table, his spokesperson said. They could include barring Belarusian airlines from over-flying EU states or landing at the bloc’s airports and suspending all flights of EU airlines through Belarusian airspace. Ground transit from Belarus into the EU could also be prohibited, say EU officials. 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.Since the August 2020 presidential election in Belarus, which was officially won by Lukashenko but were widely condemned as rigged and sparked huge protests across Belarus, the EU has imposed a series of sanctions on the country.Lithuanian prosecutors say they are launching a criminal investigation into the hijacking and are considering filing terrorism charges. Lithuania’s prime minister told reporters that the prosecutors interviewed passengers and crew on their arrival in Vilnius. “The unprecedented situation will have to be investigated very thoroughly,” Ingrida Simonyte said. Belarus public broadcasters said security officials only discovered Pratasevich was on the flight after his girlfriend sent a photo of him to another activist blogger. Pratasevich, who used to work for the Telegram channel Nexta but switched to another opposition messaging app recently, was in Athens to cover a visit to Greece by Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.  FILE – Belarus exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya poses during an interview with AFP on the sideline of her visit to the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) in Geneva, Switzerland, March 7, 2021.“It is absolutely obvious that this is an operation by the special services to hijack an aircraft in order to detain activist and blogger Raman Pratasevich,” she said. “Not a single person who flies over Belarus can be sure of his safety,” she added in a statement. Of the 171 people who boarded in Athens, only 165 landed in Vilnius, according to Lithuanian authorities. Pratasevich, his girlfriend and the EHU students account for three of the six who did not proceed to Vilnius.   The other three are likely Belarus KGB agents, say Lithuanian officials, but there are also local reports that at least two were Russians, prompting speculation in the Belarus opposition media that they may have been Russian intelligence officers.   
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At least 14 people, including two children, were killed Sunday in northern Italy when a cable car popular among tourists fell 20 meters to the ground. A two-year-old child died instantly, and one nine-year-old died in the hospital after suffering two cardiac arrests. Another child, a five-year-old was seriously injured but conscious and speaking. He is being treated at the Regina Margherita children’s hospital in Turin.   Some passengers were stuck inside the cabin while others were thrown out during the crash. About half the passengers were foreign nationals, Italian authorities said. The Italian ANSA news agency has published the names of the victims.  The Stresa-Mottarone funicular travels between the resort town of Stresa on the shores of Lake Maggiore to the top of Mottarone mountain of Italy’s Piedmont region. The trip takes roughly 20 minutes.  Images from the scene showed a crumped cable car on a slope overlooking the lake. Stresa Mayor Marcella Severino called it a “terrible, terrible scene,” and said the accident may have been caused by a ruptured cable and the emergency brake failed. Severino said the car overturned two or three times after crashing to the ground before being stopped by some trees. Some passengers were stuck inside the cabin while others were thrown out during the crash. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi offered his condolences to the victims “with a particular thought about the seriously injured children and their families.” The Italian government announced later Sunday that it would begin an investigation into the accident. The Stresa-Mottarone cable car was closed for repairs between 2014 and 2016. It only recently began operating after a hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic. The cable car can typically carry about 40 passengers. 
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The singer for Italy’s Eurovision Song Contest winning rockers Maneskin will take a voluntary drug test after denying speculation that he was snorting cocaine during the broadcast, organizers said Sunday. Red lederhosen-clad vocalist Damiano David will be tested after going back to Italy, following viral footage of him leaning over a table in the hospitality area of the competition in Rotterdam.  “We are aware of the speculation surrounding the video clip of the Italian winners of the Eurovision Song Contest in the Green Room last night,” the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in a statement.  “The band have strongly refuted the allegations of drug use and the singer in question will take a voluntary drug test after arriving home,” it added.  “This was requested by them last night but could not be immediately organized by the EBU.”  The Maneskin singer was asked about the footage during the winners’ press conference early on Sunday, and said he had been looking down because guitarist Thomas Raggi had broken a glass.  “I don’t use drugs. Please, guys. Don’t say that really, no cocaine. Please, don’t say that,” David said.  The band later said on their Instagram stories that they were “ready to get tested because we have nothing to hide.”   “We are really shocked about what some people are saying about Damiano doing drugs. We really are AGAINST drugs and we never used cocaine,” they said. The EBU said evidence at the scene backed up David’s account about the glass smashing.  “The band, their management and head of delegation have informed us that no drugs were present in the Green Room and explained that a glass was broken at their table and it was being cleared by the singer,” its statement said.  “The EBU can confirm broken glass was found after an on site check. We are still looking at footage carefully and will update with further information in due course.”  Maneskin fought off stiff competition from France and Switzerland, surging to victory on the back of the public vote to win with 524 points. 
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A Belarusian journalist wanted by the government of Alexander Lukashenko was arrested after the plane he was traveling on made an unscheduled landing in Minsk on May 23 after what appears to have been a false bomb threat.Raman Pratasevich was taken away by police shortly after the Ryanair flight, which was on a scheduled route from Athens to Vilnius, landed in the Belarusian capital.No bomb was found, according to Belarussian media reports. No further details were immediately available. It was unclear who had reported the bomb threat. The headquarters of Belarusian opposition leader Svaitlana Tsikhanouskaya reported that the Ryanair flight crew received a message about a bomb on board the plane and that a MiG-29 military fighter was dispatched to escort the passenger jet to the airport in Minsk.Tsikhanouskaya’s office said the flight was near the border with Lithuania when the message was received. It was closer to the airport in Vilnius but instead it headed to Minsk.Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said it was an “unprecedented event” that a civilian passenger plane flying to Vilnius was forced to land in Minsk.”Flag of Belarus regime is behind the abhorrent action. I demand to free Roman Protasevic urgently!” Nauseda said on Twitter.Pratasevich was a key administrator of the Telegram channel NEXTA Live, which has been covering the protests that broke out in Belarus following the country’s disputed presidential election last August.In November, Belarusian authorities announced that Pratasevich, along with Stsyapan Putsila — also a NEXTA Live administrator — were being investigated on suspicions of organizing mass disorder, disrupting the social order, and inciting social hatred.Belarus has been rocked by protests since Lukashenka, in power since 1994, was declared the landslide winner of the poll amid allegations of vote-rigging. Since then, more than 30,000 people have been detained, hundreds beaten or tortured, and journalists targeted in the crackdown by Lukashenka, whose government has been hit by Western sanctions.In October, a court in Minsk designated the NEXTA Live channel and its logo as extremist and instructed the Information Ministry to restrict access to information resources using the name and logo of the Telegram channel, as well as their distribution in the Belarusian segment of the Internet.NEXTA Live then changed its name and logo, switching from the Latin transliteration of its name to a Cyrillic one.Fearing prosecution, Pratasevich and Putsila fled the country and their whereabouts have not been known.In October, Putsila, along with several Belarusian activists, received the European Parliament’s 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.Media in Belarus have been targeted by the Lukashenka government in the ongoing crackdown. The watchdog Reporters Without Borders has designated Belarus as the most dangerous spot in Europe for journalists.On May 21, Belarusian security forces raided a Minsk studio used by a Polish-based TV station that has produced investigations critical of Lukashenka and his associates.Belsat said uniformed officers broke into a studio on May 21 used for producing a talk show, detaining six people, including four cameramen.In April, the channel published an investigation into the business dealings of Lukashenka’s daughter-in-law and others associated with him.Earlier this year, two journalists for Belsat were handed what their lawyers called an “absurd” sentence of two years in prison each for reporting live from a rally in Minsk in November.Earlier this week, police launched a probe of the country’s largest independent online media outlet, Tut.by, searching the homes of several of its editors and blocking its website.Meanwhile, a Minsk court on May 21 sentenced another reporter who covered the police raid on Tut.by to a 15-day prison sentence, a media advocacy group said.The Belarusian Association of Journalists said 27 media workers are currently behind bars, either awaiting trial or serving sentences. 
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Move over sequins, disco beats and power ballads. A four-piece band of Italian rockers won the Eurovision Song Contest in the early hours of Sunday.Maneskin’s win was only the third victory for Italy in the immensely popular contest and the first since Toto Cutugno took the honor in 1990.Italy, the bookmakers’ favorite, trailed Switzerland, France and Malta after the national juries delivered their votes but were propelled to victory by votes from the viewing public.Ahead of the show, crowds gathered outside the Ahoy arena in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. Drag queens mingled with families as a man in a gold suit waited to get into the venue.The hugely popular music festival that oozes flamboyance is seen as a significant step toward a post-pandemic return to live entertainment, but not everybody managed to avoid the virus.The popular Icelandic band Dadi og Gagnamagnid, known for its kitsch dance moves and green leisurewear costumes, is in the final, but can’t perform live because one member tested positive for the virus earlier in the week. Instead, viewers will see a recording of one of the band’s dress rehearsals.”The point was to go and actually experience how it was to compete in Eurovision, and that’s just really not happening,” lead singer Dadi Freyr said from isolation in Rotterdam.While the entertainment world has changed in the pandemic, the Eurovision final formula familiar to its worldwide legion of fans has not. The event is being hosted as usual by the last winner, the Netherlands, except that it won in 2019.After acts from 26 countries perform their songs Saturday night, they are awarded points by panels of music industry experts and by members of the public voting by phone, text message or via the contest’s app. The winner takes home a glass microphone trophy and a potential career boost.For the fans, there is still plenty of the over-the-top spectacle that has become Eurovision’s trademark.Norwegian singer Andreas Haukeland, whose stage name TIX is a reference to growing up with Tourette syndrome, sings his song “Fallen Angel” in a pair of giant white wings while chained to four prancing devils.Cyprus’ Elena Tsagrinou is flanked by four dancers in skintight red costumes as she performs “El Diablo,” a song that ignited protests among Orthodox Christians in the Mediterranean island nation who claim it glorifies satanic worship. Tsagrinou says it’s about an abusive relationship.San Marino has enlisted the help of U.S. rapper Flo Rida to join performer Senhit in her bid to win the title for the first time for the tiny city-state surrounded by Italy.
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Tony Hall, who was director of BBC news and current affairs at the time of the public broadcaster’s explosive 1995 interview with Princess Diana, resigned Saturday as board chairman of Britain’s National Gallery.Hall, who subsequently rose to the top job at the BBC, was heavily criticized in a report this week for a botched inquiry into how journalist Martin Bashir obtained the blockbuster interview.In a statement, the 70-year-old said his continued presence at the gallery would be a “distraction to an institution I care deeply about.”“As I said two days ago, I am very sorry for the events of 25 years ago and I believe leadership means taking responsibility,” said Hall, who served as the BBC’s director-general from 2013 until 2020.John Kingman, the deputy chair of the National Gallery’s board of trustees, will assume Hall’s role for the time being. He said the gallery is “extremely sorry” to lose Hall but that “we entirely understand and respect his decision.”The 126-page report by retired Judge John Dyson, published Thursday, found the internal BBC investigation had covered up “deceitful behavior” by Bashir, who was little-known as a journalist when he interviewed Diana.The BBC also has faced questions about why Bashir was rehired in 2016 as the broadcaster’s religious affairs correspondent.Diana’s sons, Princes William and Harry, have excoriated the BBC since the report’s publication, saying there was a direct link between the 1995 interview and their mother’s death in a traffic accident two years later as she and a companion were being pursued by paparazzi.The BBC commissioned the report after Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, complained that Bashir used false documents and other dishonest tactics to persuade Diana to grant the interview.In the interview, Diana said her marriage to Prince Charles had failed because he was still in love with former lover Camilla Parker Bowles, whom Charles would go on to marry a decade later.Diana, then 34, said she was devastated when she found out in 1986 — five years after her marriage — that Charles had renewed his relationship with Camilla. Diana said she was so depressed that she deliberately hurt herself in a desperate bid for help.“There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” Diana famously remarked.The fallout from the report has raised serious doubts about the BBC’s integrity, while the British government has said it would review the rules governing the oversight of the editorially independent national broadcaster.The BBC, which was founded in 1922, is funded by a license fee payable by everyone. The rules governing its operations are set out in a royal charter that requires the corporation to be impartial, act in the public interest and be open, transparent and accountable. A mid-term review of the BBC’s governance is scheduled to begin next year.
 
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The United States formally blacklisted more than a dozen Russian ships involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, days after exempting the pipeline’s Russian operator and CEO.The widely expected move, announced late on May 21 by the U.S. Treasury Department, came amid vehement criticism from congressional Republicans about the White House’s earlier announcement that it would not include the pipeline’s Russian-owned operator in the new sanctions.Nearly complete, the Baltic Sea pipeline will bring Russian gas directly to Germany, bypassing land routes through Ukraine, Belarus, and other countries.Critics said it will increase German dependence on Russian energy supplies and make Berlin more susceptible to Russian politics. It will also deprive Ukraine and other countries of lucrative transit fees.However, the pipeline has been backed by the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Political observers said President Joe Biden appeared to not want to pick a fight with a U.S. ally over the issue.The State Department earlier this week announced the intention not to sanction the pipeline’s Russian-owned operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, or its CEO, Matthias Warnig, who is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.Republican senators say they will introduce legislation to reinstate the sanctions.”I don’t understand. Do they not want to make Putin mad? I don’t get that. Do they not want to get Germany mad?” Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters on May 20.Some information for this report came from Reuters.
 
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The sanctioning of Albania’s former leader for “significant corruption” is being cast as part of a drive by the new U.S. administration to fight corruption and promote democracy worldwide. But some analysts are questioning the wisdom of punishing a foreign politician for actions not directly affecting the United States. In announcing the sanctions on Sali Berisha and members of his family this week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Berisha “was involved in corrupt acts” during his term as prime minister of Albania, including “misappropriation of public funds and interfering with public processes.” FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, May 20, 2021.Blinken added that Berisha had used power “for his own benefit and to enrich his political allies and his family members at the expense of the Albanian public’s confidence in their government institutions and public officials.”   Under the sanctions, Berisha, his wife, Liri Berisha, his son, Shkëlzen Berisha, and his daughter, Argita Berisha Malltezi, are barred from travel to the United States.   Berisha, who resigned as leader of his conservative party but remained in Parliament after being defeated as prime minister in 2013, rejected the allegations during a press conference Thursday. “There is no one in Albania or the world that can say that I am implicated in any corrupt affair,” he said. Dominant figure  Berisha has been Albania’s dominant political figure since the end of more than four decades of Stalinist rule in 1991. He is the historical leader of the right-wing Democratic Party, which emerged from a popular revolt in Albania that brought the era of pluralism to the country.   Berisha served as president from 1992 to 1997, after the fall of communism in Albania, and as prime minister from 2005 to 2013. He was credited with taking Albania into NATO in 2009 and onto the first rung of EU membership.  Berisha’s opponents, however, accused him of undermining democracy and allowing graft and organized crime to flourish.   Differing opinions  The U.S. designation comes on the heels of the ruling left-wing Socialist Party’s third win in parliamentary elections and a time of reckoning for the Democratic Party. Berisha’s successor, Lulzim Basha, has been under pressure to resign from within the party, and some have called on him to cut ties with Berisha, who has retreated from leading roles since 2013.  Some American analysts are questioning the decision to act against Berisha eight years after he left high office. “The timing is not good,” said Janusz Bugajski of the Jamestown Foundation, a defense policy research group.   “I don’t understand why a former political leader who’s no longer in office is being singled out. I mean, this should be something that needs to be done domestically at home. If there’s hard evidence, they should push for some sort of trial for some sort of investigations and so on and so forth,” he told VOA Albanian.   FILE – Matthew Palmer, U.S. special representative for the Western Balkans, attends a press conference in Belgrade, Nov. 4, 2019.But Matthew Palmer, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, with responsibility for the Western Balkans, said one should not “read too much into the timing of this.”  “What I would do is, is underscore the seriousness with which the United States takes the issue of public corruption,” he told VOA. “This is a demonstration of our commitment to using those instruments that we have available, including sanctions, as appropriate, in order to reinforce the fight against public corruption and to ensure that there is accountability for those who abuse the public trust.” Thomas Countryman, a former senior State Department official who held Palmer’s position in 2010-2011, said the administration has used the authority given it by the U.S. Congress to deny entry visas “in hundreds of cases.”   FILE – Thomas Countryman, then-assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill, Dec. 17, 2015.”Certainly not just in southeast Europe, but from Ukraine, from Russia, from Latin America, from Africa,” he said.   The United States has barred three other top Albanian officials from entering the United States on the ground of corruption, but Berisha is the highest-profile one.  Countryman sees the move as reflecting new foreign policy priorities for the United States under President Joe Biden. “I think the Biden administration has made clear that fighting global corruption is going to be a priority and it has already made several designations similar to that affecting Mr. Berisha in other cases,” he said. He said the news did not surprise him.  “I don’t think that the audience in Albania is unaware of the degree of public corruption that has affected politicians from multiple parties, so there is a factual basis for the designation,” Countryman said.  Bugajski, however, worries that Washington will be seen as taking sides in Albania’s domestic politics. “Is this now going to include other political leaders? I mean, there’s been a lot of discussion actually about the current Albanian government, the prime minister, the president. What are their positions going to be? What about neighboring countries?” Bugajski asked.   But Countryman maintains that the action against Berisha “is not a partisan step” by the United States. “It should be seen as a clear signal that continued corruption by any party in Albania, by any party in other countries, has consequences that go beyond the immediate local consequences that affect the relationship with the United States as well,” he said.  A 2020 report on human rights by the U.S. State Department said corruption in Albania is “pervasive in all branches of government.” The latest Nations in Transit report issued last month by Freedom House ranks the country as a transitional or hybrid regime and registered declines in its overall democracy score.     Ilir Ikonomi and Milena Durdic contributed to this report.
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Desperate teenagers and jobless men from Morocco’s coastal towns, its mountainous east or even farther away converged on the border town of Fnideq this week, part of an extraordinary mass effort to swim or scale barbed-wire fences to get into Spain for a chance at a new life.More than 8,000 migrants made it into the city of Ceuta, an enclave in North Africa that is separated from the rest of Spain by the Mediterranean — but for most of them, it was a short-lived success.The extraordinary surge of migrants crossing from Morocco into Spain came amid the chaos of a diplomatic spat between the two countries.Spanish troops forced over half of them back to Fnideq, putting additional strain on the Moroccan town whose limited resources are overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic.”We will keep trying. We will find one way or another, even if the ocean turns into ice!” said  Badreddine, 27.He and his fellow Moroccans — Salah, 22, and  Hosam, 24 — all have diplomas but no jobs. Like most seeking to get into Spain, they spoke on condition their last names not be published for fear of their security because they are risking illegal migration.Being stuck in Morocco “is like being dead, so why not risk your life anyway? We’re currently living on streets, sleeping in the cold. Our parents know that we’re here, they pray for us. They told us, ‘Go, may Gold help you,’ ” Salah said.Sleeping outside, eating handoutsThey and others sleep in Fnideq’s parks, on benches and outside mosques. Some hang out near hotels and restaurants, begging for food and whatever people can spare. Volunteers hand out bread and sandwiches.Some have fled the impoverished countries of sub-Saharan Africa, but most are from Morocco, generally seen as one of the continent’s economic engines that has made strides in lowering poverty in recent years.Still, inequality is rife, the pandemic has worsened unemployment and average incomes are a small fraction of those in Europe, which sits tantalizingly close — just across the Fnideq-Ceuta fence.Minors who crossed into Spain take shelter inside an abandoned building in Ceuta, May 21, 2021.Amid tighter security by Spain in recent years, some would-be migrants have abandoned the effort, but others are determined to find a way around the security checkpoints or battle bad weather at sea.”We want to leave [Morocco] because there is nothing left for us in the country, nothing to do, no future. We go to school but don’t want to stay here,” said Khalid, 15.This week, many of them saw an opportunity as word spread quickly in Morocco about the tensions with Spain.When the government in Madrid gave medical treatment to a Western Saharan independence fighter that Morocco considers a terrorist, the decision led to chaos in Ceuta. The port city has always drawn those seeking to cross into Europe, but thousands were seen streaming toward Fnideq on highways and through forests and hills.On the march”Spain, here we come!” a group of Moroccans cried as they marched, singing soccer chants and hurling expletives at their native country. In central Fnideq, thousands lined the corniche that looks toward Ceuta, and they ended up swimming or taking small boats around breakwaters separating the countries.While Moroccan security forces normally are spread out on the beach and in nearby hills patrolling a wide perimeter, there seemed to be fewer guards earlier this week. As large groups of youths scaled the fence and wrapped clothes on their hands to get over the barbed wire, Associated Press reporters saw border police standing by idly.While Morocco has said little about the relaxed border controls, it was widely seen as retaliation for Madrid’s allowing militant leader Brahim Ghali to receive medical treatment inside Spain. Two Moroccan officials made that link in comments Wednesday.Mattresses and belongings of migrants sit atop a hill in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, near the border of Morocco and Spain, May 21, 2021.Spain eventually sent in military forces and pushed most of the migrants back to Morocco. The Red Cross says one young man died and dozens were treated for hypothermia.Khalid, 15, and Amin, 16, came to Fnideq on Sunday in a bus with about 40 others from Temara, a coastal town outside the capital, Rabat. They said they crossed into Spain three times, but were pushed back. The last time, they were forced to swim back along the shore back to Morocco.Back on dutyBy Thursday, Moroccan border guards seemed to be back in their positions, but hundreds of youths have remained, and the men and boys in Fnideq haven’t lost hope of crossing over.”I am the eldest of my brothers. My mother sells vegetables in the market” and can’t afford to support them, said Ayoub, in his early 20s, who arrived Thursday from the inland city of Meknes. “I had to try and help my mother.”While Morocco’s government has focused on the Western Sahara in its limited public statements this week, it hasn’t addressed the poverty and despair that is driving so many to want to leave the country.Fnideq, meanwhile, is suffering under the sudden influx of would-be migrants.The town relied heavily on trade with Ceuta before the pandemic, but Morocco’s strict border closure since March 2020 has deprived residents of livelihoods and access to Spain. Protests broke out earlier this year by residents demanding government aid or an open border.Human rights groups and opposition lawmakers accused the Moroccan government of using migrants as pawns instead of solving their problems. The opposition Istiqlal party urged “an economic alternative that guarantees the population their constitutional right to the necessities of a decent living.”Despite the scenes of tear gas and troops on the border this week, the dream of getting out of Morocco remains strong for many struggling youths, even in the relatively prosperous capital.”If you ask anyone in Rabat … that person will tell you that he wants to go to Europe,” said street vendor Mohammed Ouhaddou. “…Politicians are not doing anything. They are asleep and no one listens to us.”
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James E. Pepper bourbon is as old as America itself.”Originally founded during the American Revolution,” says its current owner, Amir Peay, who adds that since it was established in 1780, this distinct brand of bourbon made in Kentucky has passed the lips of many prominent Americans. “The favorite brand of Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and many, many others.”The distillery closed in the 1960s after the Pepper family left the business and sales tanked. But Peay saw an opportunity to relaunch the historic brand in 2008. Today, the spirit is as popular as ever, both at home and abroad.After spending millions of dollars getting some initial barrels to mature and renovating the distillery, which reopened in 2017, Peay set his sights on increasing the brand’s international market share.”While it only accounted for about 10% of our business in 2017, we saw a lot of opportunity to expand,” Peay told VOA. “In fact, we thought we could grow it to about 20% of our business in 2018 and 2019.”To do so, he invested even more, creating a 700-milliliter bottling line targeted for Europe, which the president of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, Eric Gregory, says was a lucrative export market at the time.”Our exports grew from 2010 to 2017 by 98%,” Gregory explained during a recent interview. “Most of that was going to the EU, which was our largest export market. We were averaging between 20% and 30% growth every year to the EU.”Peay says that no trade barriers were on his radar at the time, and he had no reason to think that would change. “In late 2017, there were no tariffs on American whiskey in Europe and most markets around the world.”But his dreams of continued expansion would be shattered by a trade war that erupted during the former Trump administration.”The United States put tariffs on steel and aluminum products from a number of countries, including (some in) the European Union, and the European Union decided to respond with tariffs on a number of products,” he said.Targeted U.S. products included bourbon, which since 2018 has been subject to a 25% tariff in Europe.”Crippling,” Gregory said. “This is something we never saw coming.”Tariff troublesAbout 95% of bourbon is made in Kentucky. The $8 billion industry in the state employs more than 20,000 people.Global sales dropped by 35% after the tariffs were imposed, sending a shockwave through the industry. And it was set to get worse. EU tariffs were scheduled to double from 25% to 50% June 1, but the increase is on pause as the Biden administration negotiates a broader trade agreement.”The problem we face right now is, all the whiskey imports coming into the United States are tariff-free for the next four months. Meanwhile, we are facing still 25% on our exports,” said Gregory, who hopes negotiations lead to a return to zero tariffs. “For us, it’s about getting back to free and fair trade. We just want people to sit down at a table and work this thing out.”Until then, Peay is trying to manage the uncertainty the trade war continues to create for his business, which relies on long-term planning.”Even during the challenging year with the pandemic, domestically we’ve had a very strong performance. Internationally, we’ve been decimated because of the trade war,” he told VOA. “The longer it goes on, the more damage it’s going to do.”Distilling whiskey, Peay explained, is a lengthy and costly process. Market certainty is critical.”You don’t want send over product — and this is especially true for a small business like mine — that sits in a warehouse and doesn’t sell, because that’s a lot of money we’ve tied up in producing that whiskey, and there’s no guarantee that’s going to sell,” he said. “How will we get it back here to the United States? We can’t sell it over here (once it’s returned), so it’s very risky to do that.”An end to the dispute with the EU over steel tariffs that led to the bourbon tariffs isn’t clear. Steel groups in the United States support the tariffs, which have helped rekindle a long-languishing industry.Trade cooperation will be on the agenda during President Joe Biden’s first foreign trip, a U.S.-EU summit slated for June in Brussels.
…

German health officials said Friday the nation has broken the third wave of COVID-19 infections, but cautioned the pandemic is far from over.German Health Minster Jens Spahn, joined by Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases (RKI) President Lothar Wieler, said the nation as a whole — and most of Germany’s 400 cities and counties — had weekly infection rates below the threshold of 100 per 100,000 inhabitants that triggered strict lockdown measures.Spahn credited German citizens for minding social guidelines and suffering through recurring lockdowns for progress that has been made. “It was exactly this combination of confidence and caution, vaccination and taking care of each other, which was important to break the third wave. We did it together.”Spahn said Germany’s vaccination program was progressing well, with about 40% of the German population having received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and about 13% fully vaccinated. He said the decline in coronavirus cases and the steady rise in vaccination rates were encouraging signs.Wieler said a recent RKI survey showed 73% of the population wanted to be vaccinated, which shows “vaccination readiness is very high” in Germany.But he and Spahn both cautioned the pandemic is not over. Spahn urged people to use caution, as beer gardens, cafes and restaurants in Berlin and elsewhere were preparing to serve customers outdoors Friday for the first time in months, provided they prove they had a negative COVID-19 test or present a vaccination certificate.“The danger has not yet been averted,” Wieler said. “Let’s make the best use of the summer and continue to take good care of each other, with as few sick people as possible. If we continue to stick together, we will together overpower this virus.”
 
…

International exports of bourbon, an American whiskey mostly made in the southern state of Kentucky, have dropped dramatically as a result of the trade war that began during former President Donald Trump’s administration. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, tariffs imposed by the EU on bourbon continue to hurt Kentucky’s $8 billion industry which employs more than 20,000 people.
Camera: Kane Farabaugh      Producer: Kane Farabaugh
…

James E. Pepper bourbon is as old as America itself.”Originally founded during the American Revolution,” says its current owner, Amir Peay, who adds that since it was established in 1780, this distinct brand of bourbon made in Kentucky has passed the lips of many prominent Americans. “The favorite brand of Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and many, many others.”The distillery closed in the 1960s after the Pepper family left the business and sales tanked. But Peay saw an opportunity to relaunch the historic brand in 2008. Today, the spirit is as popular as ever, both at home and abroad.After spending millions of dollars getting some initial barrels to mature and renovating the distillery, which reopened in 2017, Peay set his sights on increasing the brand’s international market share.”While it only accounted for about 10% of our business in 2017, we saw a lot of opportunity to expand,” Peay told VOA. “In fact, we thought we could grow it to about 20% of our business in 2018 and 2019.”To do so, he invested even more, creating a 700-milliliter bottling line targeted for Europe, which the president of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, Eric Gregory, says was a lucrative export market at the time.”Our exports grew from 2010 to 2017 by 98%,” Gregory explained during a recent interview. “Most of that was going to the EU, which was our largest export market. We were averaging between 20% and 30% growth every year to the EU.”Peay says that no trade barriers were on his radar at the time, and he had no reason to think that would change. “In late 2017, there were no tariffs on American whiskey in Europe and most markets around the world.”But his dreams of continued expansion would be shattered by a trade war that erupted during the former Trump administration.”The United States put tariffs on steel and aluminum products from a number of countries, including (some in) the European Union, and the European Union decided to respond with tariffs on a number of products,” he said.Targeted U.S. products included bourbon, which since 2018 has been subject to a 25% tariff in Europe.”Crippling,” Gregory said. “This is something we never saw coming.”Tariff troublesAbout 95% of bourbon is made in Kentucky. The $8 billion industry in the state employs more than 20,000 people.Global sales dropped by 35% after the tariffs were imposed, sending a shockwave through the industry. And it was set to get worse. EU tariffs were scheduled to double from 25% to 50% June 1, but the increase is on pause as the Biden administration negotiates a broader trade agreement.”The problem we face right now is, all the whiskey imports coming into the United States are tariff-free for the next four months. Meanwhile, we are facing still 25% on our exports,” said Gregory, who hopes negotiations lead to a return to zero tariffs. “For us, it’s about getting back to free and fair trade. We just want people to sit down at a table and work this thing out.”Until then, Peay is trying to manage the uncertainty the trade war continues to create for his business, which relies on long-term planning.”Even during the challenging year with the pandemic, domestically we’ve had a very strong performance. Internationally, we’ve been decimated because of the trade war,” he told VOA. “The longer it goes on, the more damage it’s going to do.”Distilling whiskey, Peay explained, is a lengthy and costly process. Market certainty is critical.”You don’t want send over product — and this is especially true for a small business like mine — that sits in a warehouse and doesn’t sell, because that’s a lot of money we’ve tied up in producing that whiskey, and there’s no guarantee that’s going to sell,” he said. “How will we get it back here to the United States? We can’t sell it over here (once it’s returned), so it’s very risky to do that.”An end to the dispute with the EU over steel tariffs that led to the bourbon tariffs isn’t clear. Steel groups in the United States support the tariffs, which have helped rekindle a long-languishing industry.Trade cooperation will be on the agenda during President Joe Biden’s first foreign trip, a U.S.-EU summit slated for June in Brussels.
…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced alarm at Russia’s military build up in the Arctic region, at a summit of the Arctic Council in Iceland late Thursday.  
 
“We’re committed to advancing a peaceful Arctic region where cooperation prevails on climate, the environment, science and safety and where sustainable economic development benefits the people of the region,” Blinken told delegates gathered in Reykjavik.
 
Moscow’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, questioned NATO’s motives in deploying bombers and submarines to the area. “Problems linked to the escalation of military-political tension remain, because of foreign troops in Norway and in the Baltic region,” Lavrov said at a press conference after the summit.
 
Russia is also pushing for Arctic states to resume high-level military meetings amid growing tension in the region, a move opposed by Washington.  
 
“It is important to extend the positive relations that we have within the Arctic Council to encompass the military sphere as well,” Lavrov said.  
Annual meetings between armed forces chiefs from Arctic states were halted in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.  
 
Russia assumed the rotating chairmanship of the Arctic Council from Iceland Thursday. The organization, founded in 1996, aims to facilitate dialogue over issues of common interest and has eight members with sovereignty over lands within the Arctic Circle:  Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. The council’s mandate explicitly excludes military matters. Other states, including China, are pushing for official observer status at the forum.
 Arctic expansion
 
Russia has significantly expanded its military bases in the Arctic region in recent years. The Nagurskoye base in Franz Josef Land, Moscow’s northernmost military base, lying just 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole, can handle nuclear-capable strategic bombers.  
 
NATO has also increased its military activity in the Arctic. U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers have been training with Norwegian Air Force F-35A jets in recent months, and the U.S. is building facilities at three Norwegian airfields and a naval base.FILE – A group of soldiers stand near the “Arctic Trefoil” on the Alexandra Land island near Nagurskoye, Russia, May 17, 2021. Once a desolate home mostly to polar bears, it now houses Russia’s northernmost military outpost.The military activity in the Arctic poses an increasing risk, says analyst Katarina Kertysova, a policy fellow at the London-based European Leadership Network.  
 
“In the absence of military-to-military dialogue or an appropriate forum where such concerns could be discussed, the likelihood of miscalculation or misreading of intentions and accidental escalation is growing,” said Kertysova.
 
And the warming climate has opened new shipping routes through the Arctic, alongside new fishing, drilling and mining opportunities. Secretary Blinken urged other council members to oppose Moscow’s plans set maritime rules in the Northern Sea Route, which runs from Norway to Alaska.
 Climate focus
 
Russia says it aims to use its two-year chairmanship to focus on sustainable development, protecting the indigenous communities in the Arctic, and on climate change.
 
Scientists say the Arctic is warming twice as fast as other regions, with dramatic effects. Fires ripped across Siberia amid a summer heatwave in 2020. Melting permafrost was blamed for a huge oil leak in the Russian Arctic. Some 20,000 tons of diesel leaked into lakes and rivers near the northern city of Norilsk in May last year, when a fuel reservoir collapsed at a power plant.
 
“Russia acknowledges that there is a problem,” said Kertysova. “But it really focuses its efforts on the adaptation side, you know, adapting to the physical impacts of climate change rather than mitigating strategies that would address their causes.”FILE – An officer stands near Bastion anti-ship missile systems on the Alexandra Land island near Nagurskoye, Russia, May 17, 2021.US-Russia ties
 
On the sidelines of the summit Wednesday, Secretary Blinken held a bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart, Lavrov. He said the United States seeks a predictable, stable relationship with Russia.
 
“It’s also no secret that we have our differences. And when it comes to those differences, as President Biden has also shared with President Putin, if Russia acts aggressively against us, our partners, our allies, we will respond. And President Biden has demonstrated that in both word and deed, not for purposes of escalation, not to seek conflict, but to defend our interests,” said Blinken.
 
“But having said that, there are many areas where our interests intersect and overlap and we believe that we can work together and indeed build on those interests, whether it is dealing with COVID-19 and the pandemic, combating climate change, dealing with the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, Afghanistan,” he added.
 
Lavrov said Russia was ready to build relations with Washington.  “We have serious differences in the assessment of the international situation, we have serious differences in the approaches to the tasks which have to be solved for its normalization. Our position is very simple: We are ready to discuss all the issues without exception, but under perception that the discussion will be honest, with the facts on the table, and of course on the basis of mutual respect,” Lavrov told reporters.
 
‘We need to cooperate in the areas where our interests match and where we can achieve positive results on either conflict situations or most important on the issues of strategic stability,” he added.
 
A summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, first proposed by Washington, could take place in coming weeks. There has yet to be an official confirmation.
 
…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced alarm at Russia’s military build up in the Arctic region, at a summit of the Arctic Council in Iceland late Thursday.  
 
“We’re committed to advancing a peaceful Arctic region where cooperation prevails on climate, the environment, science and safety and where sustainable economic development benefits the people of the region,” Blinken told delegates gathered in Reykjavik.
 
Moscow’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, questioned NATO’s motives in deploying bombers and submarines to the area. “Problems linked to the escalation of military-political tension remain, because of foreign troops in Norway and in the Baltic region,” Lavrov said at a press conference after the summit.
 
Russia is also pushing for Arctic states to resume high-level military meetings amid growing tension in the region, a move opposed by Washington.  
 
“It is important to extend the positive relations that we have within the Arctic Council to encompass the military sphere as well,” Lavrov said.  
Annual meetings between armed forces chiefs from Arctic states were halted in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.  
 
Russia assumed the rotating chairmanship of the Arctic Council from Iceland Thursday. The organization, founded in 1996, aims to facilitate dialogue over issues of common interest and has eight members with sovereignty over lands within the Arctic Circle:  Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. The council’s mandate explicitly excludes military matters. Other states, including China, are pushing for official observer status at the forum.
 Arctic expansion
 
Russia has significantly expanded its military bases in the Arctic region in recent years. The Nagurskoye base in Franz Josef Land, Moscow’s northernmost military base, lying just 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole, can handle nuclear-capable strategic bombers.  
 
NATO has also increased its military activity in the Arctic. U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers have been training with Norwegian Air Force F-35A jets in recent months, and the U.S. is building facilities at three Norwegian airfields and a naval base.FILE – A group of soldiers stand near the “Arctic Trefoil” on the Alexandra Land island near Nagurskoye, Russia, May 17, 2021. Once a desolate home mostly to polar bears, it now houses Russia’s northernmost military outpost.The military activity in the Arctic poses an increasing risk, says analyst Katarina Kertysova, a policy fellow at the London-based European Leadership Network.  
 
“In the absence of military-to-military dialogue or an appropriate forum where such concerns could be discussed, the likelihood of miscalculation or misreading of intentions and accidental escalation is growing,” said Kertysova.
 
And the warming climate has opened new shipping routes through the Arctic, alongside new fishing, drilling and mining opportunities. Secretary Blinken urged other council members to oppose Moscow’s plans set maritime rules in the Northern Sea Route, which runs from Norway to Alaska.
 Climate focus
 
Russia says it aims to use its two-year chairmanship to focus on sustainable development, protecting the indigenous communities in the Arctic, and on climate change.
 
Scientists say the Arctic is warming twice as fast as other regions, with dramatic effects. Fires ripped across Siberia amid a summer heatwave in 2020. Melting permafrost was blamed for a huge oil leak in the Russian Arctic. Some 20,000 tons of diesel leaked into lakes and rivers near the northern city of Norilsk in May last year, when a fuel reservoir collapsed at a power plant.
 
“Russia acknowledges that there is a problem,” said Kertysova. “But it really focuses its efforts on the adaptation side, you know, adapting to the physical impacts of climate change rather than mitigating strategies that would address their causes.”FILE – An officer stands near Bastion anti-ship missile systems on the Alexandra Land island near Nagurskoye, Russia, May 17, 2021.US-Russia ties
 
On the sidelines of the summit Wednesday, Secretary Blinken held a bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart, Lavrov. He said the United States seeks a predictable, stable relationship with Russia.
 
“It’s also no secret that we have our differences. And when it comes to those differences, as President Biden has also shared with President Putin, if Russia acts aggressively against us, our partners, our allies, we will respond. And President Biden has demonstrated that in both word and deed, not for purposes of escalation, not to seek conflict, but to defend our interests,” said Blinken.
 
“But having said that, there are many areas where our interests intersect and overlap and we believe that we can work together and indeed build on those interests, whether it is dealing with COVID-19 and the pandemic, combating climate change, dealing with the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, Afghanistan,” he added.
 
Lavrov said Russia was ready to build relations with Washington.  “We have serious differences in the assessment of the international situation, we have serious differences in the approaches to the tasks which have to be solved for its normalization. Our position is very simple: We are ready to discuss all the issues without exception, but under perception that the discussion will be honest, with the facts on the table, and of course on the basis of mutual respect,” Lavrov told reporters.
 
‘We need to cooperate in the areas where our interests match and where we can achieve positive results on either conflict situations or most important on the issues of strategic stability,” he added.
 
A summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, first proposed by Washington, could take place in coming weeks. There has yet to be an official confirmation.
 
…

Spain, one of the early epicenters the COVID pandemic, has been rushing to get its population vaccinated.  Thirty-three percent now have received at least a first dose.  But aid agencies and advocates estimate many of the country’s one million undocumented migrants are not getting vaccinated because of fear. Jonathan Spier narrates this report from Alfonso Beato in Barcelona.Camera: Alfonso Beato
Video editor: Jonathan Spier
 
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An inquiry into how the BBC secured the 1995 interview with Britain’s Princess Diana in which she disclosed intimate details of her failed marriage concluded on Thursday that the journalist involved had acted deceitfully. The BBC set up the investigation, headed by former senior Court judge John Dyson, in November following allegations from Diana’s brother Charles Spencer that forged documents and “other deceit” were used to trick him to introduce Diana to journalist Martin Bashir. FILE – Martin Bashir, then one of the anchors of the ABC news program ‘Nightline’, taking part in a panel discussion at the ABC television network Summer press tour for television critics in Beverly Hills, California, July 26, 2007. ​Dyson’s report found that Bashir, then a little known reporter, had shown Spencer fake bank statements to induce him to arrange a meeting with Diana. “Mr Bashir acted inappropriately and in serious breach of the 1993 edition of the Producers’ Guidelines on straight dealing,” the report said. He also concluded the BBC had fallen short of “the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark” in its response to allegations of impropriety. During the explosive interview, watched by more than 20 million viewers in Britain, Diana shocked the nation by admitting to an affair and sharing details of her marriage to the heir to the throne, Prince Charles. It came at a nadir for the royal family and was the first time Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997, had made public comments about her doomed marriage. Her remark that “there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded” — a reference to Charles rekindling his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, now his second wife — was particularly damaging to the Windsors. Last week, the BBC announced that Bashir was leaving his current job as the publicly-funded broadcaster’s religious affairs editor because of ill health. Bashir apologized but said he did not believe the faked statements had prompted Diana to give the interview, PA Media reported. Spencer says Bashir had persuaded him to get his sister to agree to the interview by telling him Diana was being bugged by the security services and that two senior aides were being paid to provide information about her. Both Diana’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, have welcomed the investigation as a chance to find out the truth of what had happened. “While the BBC cannot turn back the clock after a quarter of a century, we can make a full and unconditional apology. The BBC offers that today,” BBC director-general, Tim Davie, said in a statement. 
…

Bulgaria’s caretaker government appears poised to approve a series of freedom-of-information requests from the country’s media which are likely to fuel explosive allegations of corruption against former prime minister Boyko Borissov and a group of his business associates, say local journalists.
 
And the caretaker prime minister, Stefan Yanev, who has been in power for just over a week has been quick to shake up the country’s bureaucracy, making key political appointees in ministries, state agencies and public companies long dominated by people with close ties to Borissov, who was in office for all but two years since 2009.
 
“The dismantling of Borissov’s State has begun,” proclaimed this week Kapital, an investigative news site credited with major corruption exposes including of the state-owned Bulgarian Development Bank, which restricted loans in recent years to just eight private companies, all of which are tied to business oligarchs connected to Borissov.  
 
Kapital and other news organizations have inundated the caretaker government with freedom-of-information requests and their editors say they are hopeful of approval.   
 ‘Armani-clad tough guy’Borissov has been dogged by allegations of corruption and ties to organized crime since first emerging in politics in the early 2000s, when then U.S. ambassador John Beyrle warned in a diplomatic cable, which was subsequently leaked, that the bodyguard-turned-politician was “implicated in serious criminal activity.”
 
His predecessor as American envoy to Sofia, James Pardew, dubbed Borissov an “Armani-clad tough guy” in another leaked diplomatic cable.FILE – Bulgaria’s then-prime minister Boyko Borissov puts on a protective face mask as he arrives for the fourth day of an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, July 20, 2020.His three stints as prime minister were roiled by scandals and he was forced from office earlier this month when his conservative GERB party failed to win a majority in parliamentary elections in April and found none of the other parties willing to form a government coalition with him.  
 
His electoral setback is largely put down to the avalanche of corruption allegations that started last year, prompting the rise of major streets protests and the emergence of anti-establishment and anti-corruption parties wanting him gone. Protesters were infuriated when a photograph surfaced showing Borissov in bed with a pistol handy and a stash of 500 euro notes overflowing from a bedside drawer.
 
Earlier this month the Bulgarian parliament heard testimony from an agri-businessman, Svetoslav Ilchovsky, who claimed sectors of the economy are ruled over by businessmen associated with Borissov and they have turned Bulgaria into a ‘captured state.’  
 
Ilchovsky said he was forced to sell grain and other agricultural products at half-price to those close to GERB, helping to boost their profits. Ilchovsky alleged also that the Borissov associates have been busy embezzling European Union funds. “There is not a single EU-funded project in the agricultural sector where some fraud has not happened,” he told the panel.  
 
“I paid money willingly, I lost money, I did everything so I could buy some time and wait until their time [in office] is over,” Ilchovsky added. He told an investigative commission that ministers had personally threatened to damage his business unless he complied. Other businessmen have stepped forward to add to the allegations.
Bulgaria’s president, Rumen Radev, appointed a caretaker government led by Stefan Yanev, a political ally, ahead of rerun parliamentary elections called for July 11. Radev has warned that another inconclusive vote in July risks seeing Bulgaria fall into a “political and constitutional crisis.”Newly-appointed caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev, left, shakes hands with Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev during an official ceremony in Sofia, Bulgaria, May 12, 2021.Borissov has said he won’t run to try to lead the next government, saying he doesn’t want to “divide”the nation, although he has hinted he may be a candidate for the presidency in elections slated for later on the year.  
 Borissov’s defense
 
Borissov last Thursday dismissed allegations that GERB has extorted money from businesses using threats during its time in power. “They have paid people to stand up and say certain things,” Borissov told a press conference. He denies knowing any of the businessmen who accuse him and his party of extortion and fraud, describing the charges as part of a bigger scheme initiated to discredit his party.
 
“I know every step they’ll take and I am preparing to respond with even greater force,” Borissov said. He added: “Every single person who has ever attacked me has lost.”  
 
EU officials are taking note of the claims of widespread defrauding of agricultural projects funded by Brussels. How the dismantling of so-called ‘Borissov’s State’ fares could well have repercussions for what conditions they place on the 18.3 billion dollars Bulgaria is scheduled to get the country from COVID recovery funds, an official told VOA.
 
In March, when congratulating Bulgarians on their National Day, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed that Bulgaria was an enduring friend but emphasized in his remarks the importance of a “commitment to freedom, human rights, democratic and accountable institutions.” In recent weeks the U.S. State Department has focused on the security aspects of its relationship with Bulgaria, a NATO member.  Veronica Anghel of the European University Institute says the Biden administration is likely to seek “to balance security interests and the rule of law in Central and Eastern Europe.”
 
…

Climate change and cooperation among Arctic states are among the topics of discussion Thursday in Reykjavik, Iceland, as the Arctic Council holds a ministerial meeting.“We value our strong international cooperation through the Council to address the climate crisis and keep the Arctic region peaceful,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ahead of Thursday’s talks.Earlier in the week, Blinken urged the global community to avoid militarizing the Arctic, and said Russia has advanced “unlawful maritime claims” in the region.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this week that Western countries should not claim rights to the Arctic, and that Russia is responsible for ensuring its Arctic coast is safe.The Arctic dispute is over the so-called Northern Sea Route, a shipping lane that runs through Russia’s northern coast in the Arctic. Russia considers the Northern Sea Route vital to its economic and military interests and requires foreign vessels to obtain permission from Moscow to navigate it. The United States has dismissed Russia’s claims of jurisdiction over parts of the route as illegitimate.Russia is taking over the chairmanship of the Arctic Council, and has set goals for highlighting sustainable economic development and promoting Indigenous cultures and languages.On the sidelines of the Arctic Council gathering, the big focus Wednesday was on a meeting between Blinken and Lavrov.Blinken said the United States is ready to work with Russia to advance areas where the two nations have “intersecting interests,” while continuing to defend U.S. interests and respond if Moscow acts aggressively against Washington and its allies.”There are many areas where our interests intersect and overlap, and we believe that we can work together and indeed build on those interests — whether it is dealing with COVID-19 and the pandemic, combating climate change, dealing with the nuclear programs” in Iran and North Korea, as well as the peace process in Afghanistan, Blinken said Wednesday.”Our position is clear: We are prepared to discuss all issues on the table with an understanding that our discussions would be honest, factual and with mutual respect,” Lavrov said, adding he is ready to discuss “the Russian (diplomatic) missions in the U.S. and the U.S. missions in Russia.”It was the first face-to-face meeting for the top U.S. and Russian diplomats and comes at a time of heightened tension between their countries. The meeting also set the stage for a planned summit next month between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, holds a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, not pictured, at the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, May 19, 2021.The meeting between Blinken and Lavrov lasted about an hour and 45 minutes, said to be longer than expected.“The Secretary made clear that Russia should release American citizens Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed so they can return home to their families,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement, adding that Blinken also raised “deep concerns” over Russia’s continued military deployments in and near Ukraine, and the health of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and the repression of opposition organizations.European energy security is at the top of the U.S. agenda as Russia’s controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which connects Russia and Germany, nears completion.Wednesday, the State Department announced its plan to sanction Russian vessels and entities involved in the building of Nord Stream 2.But the U.S. is waiving sanctions on the company in charge of the project, Nord Stream 2 AG, and CEO Matthias Warnig, a German national, citing U.S. national interest.The move is seen as a bid to improve relations with Germany. The Biden administration has been seeking to strengthen U.S.-German bonds and the transatlantic relationship.”I think our actions today have demonstrated that we continue to oppose the pipeline projects but that we also are cognizant of the president’s commitment to rebuild relations with our European allies and partners,” a senior U.S. official said.German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas praised the decision.”We see this as a constructive step which we are happy to further discuss with our partners in Washington,” he said Wednesday during a press conference.Russia has previously defended the project as economically feasible.The U.S. has been warning about the security risks of Russian energy export pipelines, in particular Nord Stream 2.  U.S. officials said if they were completed, those projects would undermine European security and strengthen Russia’s ability to use its energy resources to coerce the United States’ European partners and allies.Russian officials said Wednesday the latest U.S. decision to waive sanctions would normalize ties between Moscow and Washington.Donald Jensen, director for Russia and strategic stability at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said he does not believe the State Department’s announcement to waive sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO “was taken primarily with an eye toward improving the atmosphere around the Blinken-Lavrov meeting.”“I expect that the U.S. administration still intends to take a tough line on Russia’s threatening behavior toward Ukraine, interference in our elections and other areas,” Jensen said. “Nevertheless, the favorable reaction in Moscow to the decision suggests the Kremlin sees the pipeline decision as a concession which it will hope to repeat in other areas.”
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The United States says it is ready to work with Russia to advance areas where the two nations have “intersecting interests,” while continuing to defend U.S. interests and respond if Moscow acts aggressively against Washington and its allies.”There are many areas where our interests intersect and overlap, and we believe that we can work together and indeed build on those interests — whether it is dealing with COVID-19 and the pandemic, climate change, the nuclear programs” in Iran and North Korea, or the peace process in Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met on the sidelines of the Arctic Council Ministerial session in Reykjavik, Iceland.”Our position is clear: We are prepared to discuss all issues on the table with an understanding that our discussions would be honest, factual and with mutual respect,” Lavrov said, adding he is ready to discuss “the Russian [diplomatic] missions in the U.S. and the U.S. missions in Russia.”It was the first face-to-face meeting for the top U.S. and Russian diplomats and came at a time of heightened tension between their countries. The meeting also set the stage for a planned summit next month between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.The meeting between Blinken and Lavrov lasted about one hour and 45 minutes, said to be longer than expected.“The Secretary made clear that Russia should release American citizens Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed so they can return home to their families,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement, adding that Blinken also raised “deep concerns” over Russia’s continued military deployments in and near Ukraine, the health of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and the repression of opposition organizations.Role of sanctionsEuropean energy security was at the top of the U.S. agenda as Russia’s controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which connects Russia and Germany, nears completion.Wednesday, the State Department announced its plan to sanction Russian vessels and entities involved in the building of Nord Stream 2.But the U.S. is waiving sanctions on the company in charge of the project, Nord Stream 2 AG, and CEO Matthias Warnig, a German national, citing U.S. national interest.The move is seen as a bid to improve relations with Germany. The Biden administration has been seeking to strengthen U.S.-German bonds and the transatlantic relationship.”I think our actions today have demonstrated that we continue to oppose the pipeline projects but that we also are cognizant of the president’s commitment to rebuild relations with our European allies and partners,” a senior U.S. official said.German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas praised the decision.”We see this as a constructive step which we are happy to further discuss with our partners in Washington,” he said Wednesday during a press conference.Russia has previously defended the project as economically feasible.The U.S. has been warning about the security risks of Russian energy export pipelines, in particular Nord Stream 2.  U.S. officials said if they were completed, those projects would undermine European security and strengthen Russia’s ability to use its energy resources to coerce the United States’ European partners and allies.Russian officials said Wednesday that the latest U.S. decision to waive sanctions would normalize ties between Moscow and Washington.Donald Jensen, director for Russia and strategic stability at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said he did not believe the State Department’s announcement to waive sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO “was taken primarily with an eye toward improving the atmosphere around the Blinken-Lavrov meeting.”“I expect that the U.S. administration still intends to take a tough line on Russia’s threatening behavior toward Ukraine, interference in our elections and other areas,” Jensen said. “Nevertheless, the favorable reaction in Moscow to the decision suggests the Kremlin sees the pipeline decision as a concession which it will hope to repeat in other areas.”
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The U.S. will waive sanctions against the German company leading construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, according to a State Department report sent to Congress on Wednesday. The report noted that while the German firm Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO had violated U.S. law in their work with Russia to build the natural gas pipeline linking the two countries, it was in U.S. national interest to waive the sanctions. The report noted that sanctions would be imposed on several Russian ships and companies for their work on the project. Russia and some U.S. lawmakers reacted to the decision before it was officially announced. FILE – The Nord Stream 2 gas line landfall facility is seen in Lubmin, Germany, Sept. 7, 2020.Nord Stream 2 is a multibillion-dollar underwater gas pipeline project linking Russia to Germany. Work on the pipeline was suspended in December 2019 after it became a source of contention between Russia and the West. Nord Stream officials said Russia resumed construction on the gas pipeline in December. The United States has opposed the joint international project because of possible threats to Europe’s energy security. Nord Stream 2 is intended to double the annual gas capacity of an existing Nord Stream pipeline.   In a statement Wednesday, U.S. Senator Jim Risch, a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the decision wrong and contradictory.  “The administration seems to be suggesting it is somehow in the United States’ best interest to allow this Russian malign influence project to be completed,” the statement said. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in his confirmation hearing earlier this year that he was “determined to do whatever we can to prevent that completion.” The Biden administration has placed increased sanctions on many Russian officials, particularly after the arrest of opposition leader Alexey Navalny. But when asked about the pipeline last month, Biden called it a “complicated” issue that was “still in play.”US Further Punishes Russia for Cyberattacks, Election Meddling   Action taken by the Biden administration includes expelling 10 Russian suspected spies   The Kremlin responded to the Axios report before the official announcement, calling it a “positive signal.” “The appearance of such publications is quite positive in itself,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call. “It’s much better than reading that new sanctions are on their way.” 
 
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After protests against police violence in France, tens of thousands of officers and their supporters staged their own rally Wednesday in Paris, demanding tougher measures against violence and insecurity that have targeted their ranks.Police, politicians and ordinary Parisians braved a mix of sun and pelting rain to protest outside France’s National Assembly.Loren Bazan, 29, whose parents are in the military, said he wanted to show solidarity with the police — who have died just doing their daily jobs, because they were police.Earlier this month, an officer was killed during an anti-drug operation in Nice. Another worker was killed as she entered the police station outside Paris in a suspected Islamist terrorist attack — one of several such attacks targeting French police in recent years.Police aren’t the only ones raising alarm about growing insecurity in France. Members of France’s military community – active and retired – have published a pair of open letters recently, warning of what they allege could be a brewing civil war fueled by growing Islamism.One officer who agreed to be interviewed but declined to give his name, said France’s police force is committed to protecting citizens but isn’t treated the way it deserves. He worries peace is unraveling in France.Police keep order at Worker Day demonstrations in Paris, where they were booed, May 1, 2021. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)The demonstration offered a counterpoint to allegations of police violence and racial profiling that have surged with the Black Lives Matter movement.Politicians from a rainbow of parties were out in force — ahead of regional elections next month and presidential and legislative ones next year. But the welcome wasn’t always warm. Some booed French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin as he arrived.Darmanin said he was simply there to support the officers during a difficult time. There’s nothing more normal, he added, than supporting officers in a republic.A supporter of the May 19, 2021, police protest holds a sign in Paris. Translated, it reads, “Illegitimate violence of delinquents forces the legitimate force of police.” (Lisa Bryant/VOA)Not everyone agreed with that sentiment. Some French experts said it was highly unusual for him to be present.But one demonstrator, Ludovic, said he believed Darmanin came as an ordinary citizen. He said police needed more political support.Members of France’s main opposition party, the far-right National Rally, were also present, along with leftist politicians. But the far left France Unbowed party refused to attend, saying it did not share the police demands.
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Nicola Sturgeon took the oath of office Wednesday to return as Scotland’s first minister following an election earlier this month that saw her Scottish National Party (SNP) win a resounding election victory, allowing her to push ahead with plans for a second independence referendum. The SNP won 64 seats in the Scottish parliament, just one short of an overall majority. But the Green Party, which also supports independence, won eight seats, more than enough to allow Sturgeon and her party to control the political agenda in Scotland. In a statement issued following her swearing in and the announcement of her Cabinet, Sturgeon called the coming parliamentary term “unquestionably the most important one the nation has faced since devolution, (when Scotland was allowed to form its own parliament) more than 20 years ago.”  She said recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, the “ongoing tests posed by Brexit,” and climate change are among her top priorities. But, she added, “As I have made clear, when the crisis is over and the time is right, Scotland must and will have the chance to choose its future in line with the unquestionable democratic mandate for that choice.”   Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the weekly question time debate in Parliament in London, Britain, May 19, 2021, in this screen grab taken from video. (Reuters TV via Reuters)British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his ruling Conservative Party, which is in the minority in Scotland, strongly oppose a referendum, saying the issue was settled in 2014 when Scots voted against independence, by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent. But issues such as Brexit, which a majority in Scotland opposes, and Johnson’s overall unpopularity in Scotland have brought the topic back in recent years. Sturgeon believes the recent elections give her a mandate to pursue it.  Under the 1998 Scotland Act — which created the Scottish parliament and devolved some powers to Edinburgh from London — all matters relating to the “Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England” are reserved for the U.K. parliament. Under the act, the U.K. parliament can grant the Scottish government authority to hold a referendum, a process that was used to allow the 2014 plebiscite to go ahead and which Sturgeon said should unfold again for a new referendum. A poll conducted for the Scotsman newspaper shows 49 percent of those surveyed would not support Scottish Independence, with 42 percent saying they would. Eight percent were undecided. 
 
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