In his first court appearance since ending a three-week hunger strike, Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “naked, thieving king.” Navalny appeared Thursday in a video link from prison to a Moscow courtroom where he was appealing a guilty verdict for defaming a World War 2 veteran. According to news reports, Navalny appeared thin, and his head was shaved. “I looked in the mirror. Of course, I’m just a dreadful skeleton,” he said. Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, is seen in a courtroom, in Moscow, Russia, April 29, 2021, in this still image taken from video. (Press Service of Babushkinsky District Court of Moscow/Handout via Reuters)Navalny began his hunger strike March 3 and ended it April 23. Later in Thursday’s hearing, he took the opportunity to attack Putin. “I want to tell the dear court that your king is naked,” he said of Putin. “Millions of people are already shouting about it, because it is obvious. … His crown is hanging and slipping.” He also reiterated his claim of innocence on the embezzlement allegations that ostensibly landed him in prison. “Your naked, thieving king wants to continue to rule until the end. … Another 10 years will come, a stolen decade will come,” Navalny said referring to Putin. Last week, authorities in Russia disbanded several regional offices of Navalny’s anti-corruption group, the Anti-Corruption Foundation. A Russian court is considering branding the group extremist. FILE – Demonstrators march during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, April 21, 2021.Last week, more than 1,900 Navalny supporters were detained during protests in cities across the country. From his Instagram account, he said he felt “pride and hope” after learning about the protests. Navalny survived a near-fatal poisoning last year and was arrested when he returned to Moscow in January following lifesaving treatment in Germany. The Kremlin denies any role in the poisoning. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison in February on an embezzlement charge and was being held at the Pokrov correctional colony, which he described as “a real concentration camp.” The United States and other countries have sanctioned Kremlin officials over the poisoning, and many are calling for Navalny’s release. 
 
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U.N. efforts to restart talks on reunifying the divided island of Cyprus have hit an impasse as Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders remain apart on the key issues. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres convened three days of informal meetings seeking a pathway to revive the dormant Cyprus reunification talks.  The Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders as well as the foreign ministers of Greece, Turkey and Britain shared their views. Despite great efforts, Guterres acknowledged not enough common ground was found to allow for the resumption of formal negotiations to resolve the Cyprus problem. “As you can imagine, this was not an easy meeting. And we conducted extensive consultations in a succession of bilateral meetings and plenary meetings in order to try to reach common ground,” he said. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded the Mediterranean island, following a Greek-backed military coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.  Three U.N.-mediated negotiations to reunite the island since 2004 have failed. Guterres says the positions of the Turkish and Greek Cypriots remain far apart. He says the Turkish Cypriots oppose reviving past efforts to set up a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation in Cyprus.  Instead, he says they want Cyprus to have two separate, equal states cooperating with each other. The Greek Cypriots, he says, remain steadfast in their demand for a federation. While these contrary positions pose obvious difficulties, Guterres says he is not giving up efforts to reconcile the two sides. “My agenda is strictly to fight for the security and well-being of the Cypriots, of the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots, that deserve to live in peace and prosperity together,” he said. The U.N. chief says he got the parties to agree to meet again in the near future. In the meantime, he says, the U.N. will consult with the parties, in hopes of creating a better environment for the next meeting. That process, he says, is likely to take two to three months. 
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Turkey on Thursday starts a strict new three-week lockdown as COVID-19 infections surge. Initially, Turkish authorities claimed success in curbing the pandemic, but the country could be paying the price for a premature easing of restrictions.
 
It is the country’s most severe lockdown since the onset of the COVID pandemic, with schools closing, alcohol sales banned, and only essential businesses like food shops being allowed to remain open.    
 
For this Istanbul shoe shop, owner who asked to remain anonymous, there is fear for the future.
 
He said he does not want to call the 18-day shutdown unjust but he really sees it as “the end.” He said Turks are in a state of complete hopelessness.  “We are finished,” he said, adding one can endure this “only up to a point.”  
 
Compounding the economic pain for Turks is that the government has not announced any financial assistance for those suffering losses.  
 
Already Turkish media report unofficial levels of unemployment exceed 25%, while aid groups report a surge in poverty and warn that large sections of society are struggling to find enough to eat.
 
Intercity travel will only be permitted with special permission.  Already there was chaos, as those in other parts of the country scrambled to return home this week before the restrictions came into force late Thursday.
 
The draconian measures are in response to an enormous surge in COVID infections. Turkey reported 40,000 on Wednesday – the highest daily count in Europe.  
 
Sebnem Korur Fincanci, chair of the Turkish Medical Association, says Turkey’s hospitals are struggling.
 
“The hospital beds are already full, particularly the intensive care units. They have to open new COVID clinics. And, also, the health professionals will burn out. They [are] already burned out and with this new situation this will overburden the health system,” Fincanci said.
 
The surge in infections comes after the government eased restrictions in March.
 
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan even toured the country, holding party rallies in packed indoor stadiums – actions that drew strong condemnation from opposition parties.    
 
Erdogan announced the new restrictions Monday, warning Turkey could pay a heavy price if they fail.
 
At a time when Europe is entering a phase of reopening, Erdogan said, Turkey must rapidly reduce the number of cases to fewer than 5,000 a day and is not, he said, to be left behind. Otherwise, the Erdogan said, Turkey will face consequences in every field, from tourism to trade and education.
 
Tourism is vital for the Turkish economy, providing an essential source of foreign income and providing millions of urgently needed jobs.  
 
With hospitals filling up and the peak tourism period fast approaching, analysts see the latest lockdown as a sign that Ankara is aware time is running out. 
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For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, crowds are expected to return on Sunday to Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, the spiritual home of this controversial spectacle. Six matadors will do battle with bulls in front of 6,000 cheering aficionados amid tight health restrictions that included limiting ticket sales to 25% of capacity.  However, for lovers of what is known in Spain as the fiesta nacional it will be a huge emotional boost after a year in which rings across the country have remained closed. The charity bullfight will raise money for matadors and some of the 200,000 people who work in this sector who have been hard-hit by the coronavirus. In normal times, the bloody spectacle generates $4.8 billion for the economy annually, almost 1% of GDP, according to the National Association of Organizers of Bullfights. Regarded as an art by admirers in Spain, bullfighting has met with increasing criticism in recent years from a growing animal rights lobby which has been supported by left-wing parties. Fighting back Now, after the pandemic has pushed the industry onto the ropes financially, the men who wear the colorful “suit of lights” are staging a fight back. “For bullfighting this will be hugely symbolic. It will be the first time we return to Las Ventas, the world home of bullfighting, since before the start of the pandemic,” Antonio Lorca, bullfighting critic of El País, one of Spain’s major newspapers, told VOA. “The hope is that this will be the start of many more fights. It will be in aid of those who work in the industry. They have all struggled to get through the past year.” Victorino Martín, president of the Foundation of Fighting Bulls that represents breeders, believes this weekend’s contest will mark the start of a recovery for an industry which, he says, has cultural as well as economic importance for Spain. “This bullfight will be strategically important as it will mark the start of a series of similar fights in Madrid next month,” he told VOA. “This industry has suffered economically but it is also a part of Spanish culture, a little like theatre.” Tradition and politics The pandemic has accelerated the decline of a spectacle which in the past has inspired artists including Francisco de Goya, Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso. In 2012, there were 1,997 fights but this fell to 1,425 by 2019, according to Spain’s ministry of culture which deals with bullfighting as it is considered an art form. After the financial crisis of 2008, many local councils, which traditionally pay for bullfights, cut their budgets. A younger generation are attracted as much to Tik Tok or YouTube as a paying to see a spectacle which is seen by some as old fashioned. Bullfighting has recently become an increasing political issue. Rocio Monasterio, the candidate for the far-right Vox party in regional elections in Madrid on May 4, took on a bull in the ring – with the aid of a real matador – to kick off her campaign. Vox, which is the third largest party in the Spanish parliament with 52 deputies, supports countryside pursuits. “I wasn’t scared at all. In fact, I enjoyed it a lot. It was great in spite of the nonsense of the totalitarians who oppose bullfighting,” she told VOA afterwards. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the current conservative president of Madrid who polls suggest will win, has promised to organize 18 bullfights in small towns in coming months and pledged $3.63 million in subsidies. Spaniards have been split over the issue of bullfighting in recent years with some considering it an art, while others see it as cruelty. FILE – People hold banners reading in Spanish: “92% of Spain, don’t attend the bullfights” during a protest against bullfighting in downtown Madrid, Spain, Sunday, July 12, 2020.A 2019 poll for the online newspaper El Español found 56.4% of Spaniards opposed bullfighting while 24.7 per cent supported it and 18% were indifferent. José Zaldivar has been campaigning to ban bullfighting but holds out little hope of success – at least in the short term. He works from an office that contains an arsenal of the weapons which matadors use to battle with the bull, from the sword which ends the animal’s life to the banderillas which are punctured into its back to weaken it during the duel. “What the animal goes through in terms of stress and pain cannot be anything else but torture,” said Zaldivar, who is president of the Association of Veterinarians for the Abolition of Bullfighting. He believes as long as bullfighting is protected as part of Spain’s cultural heritage it will be impossible to deal the estocada – the sword thrust in which the matador kills the bull. In 2013, the then conservative government passed a law which established the “indisputable” cultural character of bullfighting. This meant that in 2016 the Constitutional Court was able to annul a ban on bullfighting by regional authorities in Catalonia and in the Balearic Islands. 
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The United States and the European Union are urging Albania’s leaders to set aside their differences and move forward toward establishing a stable democracy after elections Sunday that gave the ruling Socialist Party a third consecutive mandate.   Prime Minister Edi Rama’s party is the first to achieve the feat since the collapse of communism more than three decades ago. It secured 74 out of 140 seats in Parliament, more than enough to govern without coalition partners, if it chooses to do so.  However, the main opposition Democratic Party has not yet accepted the results, which follow a heated and occasionally violent campaign. What comes next may determine whether Albania can move forward toward becoming a full-fledged democracy and integrate in the European Union.   The United States — an ally and strong supporter of reforms in the country — recognized Rama’s win and called for the results to be respected.    “The U.S. congratulates the people of Albania on their recent elections. We look forward to continuing our close partnership with Prime Minister Rama and commend the opposition’s strong campaign. Respect for the results of legitimate elections strengthens Albania’s democracy,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price tweeted on Wednesday.Damon Wilson, executive vice president at the Atlantic Council in Washington, said the United States and the EU seem to be on the same page.  “I think the message that you’re hearing from Washington, Brussels, is let’s accept these results as they are confirmed by the Central Election Commission. Let’s play your democratic roles and parts expected in a modern European, a parliamentary democracy,” he told VOA. Rama declared victory and thanked party supporters at a rally in the capital, Tirana, on Tuesday, saying, “This was the most difficult, greatest and the most beautiful victory of the Socialist Party of Albania.”Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama speaks to his supporters during a rally in Tirana, Albania, April 27, 2021.He campaigned on promises to boost tourism, energy and infrastructure projects, among other things, and waved off criticism on a weak scorecard, saying back-to-back crises of a deadly earthquake in November 2019 and the coronavirus pandemic had hampered his program.  While Lulzim Basha, head of the right-wing opposition Democrats, conceded that his party had received fewer votes than the Socialist rivals, he has so far stopped short of acknowledging the results as legitimate.   “The election had nothing to do with democracy. We entered this battle not with a political opponent but with a regime that did the utmost to destroy a fair electoral race,” he said.  He is now under pressure from prominent members of his party to step down.   Improved elections, but problems remain  Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe noted improvements over past electoral contests, but with qualifications. “The Albanian parliamentary elections were characterized by a lively and inclusive campaign, thanks to a legal framework that helped ensure respect of fundamental freedoms,” said an OSCE preliminary report. “At the same time, the campaign saw authorities taking advantage of public office and allegations of pervasive vote-buying.” Daniel Serwer of Johns Hopkins University said this election seemed “better than some in Albania’s past.”  He said he is concerned about the allegations of vote-buying but added that is a “common problem in transitional democracies.” “The abuse of incumbency seems to me to be a much more profound criticism,” he added. “And we must somehow avoid capture of the state by political forces. And especially when you elect the same prime minister three times in a row, there’s a tendency for state capture to solidify a little bit.”   There were some serious issues in the days leading up to the election. A news site broke the news that a database with the personal data of over 900,000 Albanians might be in the hands of party officials. The database reportedly could have come only from a government agency. And a bitter political fight turned deadly when a Socialist Party activist was shot by someone whom police identified as a member of the Democratic Party.   Political tensions were amplified when President Ilir Meta accused Rama of usurping all powers and running a “kleptocratic regime.”   Meta’s former party, the Socialist Movement for Integration, which is run by his wife, Monika Kryemadhi, was a DP ally in the election but ran alone and lost seats. Meta said on Wednesday he plans to go back to the party when his term as prime minister expires next year.   Incomplete democracy  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 on Wednesday by Freedom House ranks the country as a transitional or hybrid regime and registered declines in the overall democracy score.   “It’s quite clear that in Albania, you need stronger institutions to consolidate democracy. And first and foremost among those institutions is an independent judiciary,” Serwer of Johns Hopkins said. While the Socialist Party sees its third mandate as validation, Wilson of the Atlantic Council said the government is being sent a signal “that it really needs to move on some of the key issues like rule of law and anticorruption measures to really get the EU accession process moving.”  But he said a signal is also being sent to Basha, who is blamed for his party and allies boycotting Parliament in 2017 and not participating in local elections two years later.   “People want to see democracy work, want to see the opposition participate in Albania’s parliamentary democracy and be that active opposition within the Parliament, supportive of the interests of the country and moving towards the EU but working through its democratic institutions,” he said. 
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The decision by global media giants to comply with demands by the Turkish government to open offices in Turkey is prompting concerns about media freedoms. Press freedom advocates say because the companies will now be subject to Turkish laws, that could mean Turkey’s people will no longer have a venue to freely express their views. For VOA, Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. 
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China may have sabotaged its own prospects for securing a sought-after investment agreement with the European Union when it penalized a long list of politicians, researchers and institutions – including a key member of Germany’s Green Party – in response to recent EU sanctions.The Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, or CAI, was agreed to in principle at the end of last year but remains as much as a year from final ratification by the European Parliament, where support from Germany is seen as crucial to its approval.Recent polling shows the Greens – who are considered much tougher on China than the current administration in Berlin – as well positioned to participate in or even lead the next German government after elections expected in late September.And that could leave the investment deal as “dead as a doornail,” according to Green Party lawmaker Reinhard Buetikofer, who heads the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with China and appeared at the top of a list of EU individuals and institutions targeted for sanctions by Beijing last month.Speaking at a recent FILE – A Chinese officer stands outside the British Embassy in Beijing, March 26, 2021. Days earlier, China sanctioned British entities following the U.K.’s joining the EU and others in sanctioning Chinese officials over alleged rights abuses.But EU-Chinese relations soured dramatically on March 22 after the European bloc announced travel bans and asset freezes for four Chinese officials over their roles in the mistreatment of their nation’s Uyghur minority.China immediately retaliated with a much larger set of sanctions targeting a number of EU lawmakers, researchers and institutions, including Buetikofer.“Europe is heading into an intense political season, and China has made itself a much higher political priority for many with the sanctions,” Brussels-based political economist Jacob F. Kirkegaard told VOA in a written interview. “This bodes very badly for CAI in the near term.”Kirkegaard continued: “It all depends frankly on the German elections – if for instance the Greens actually win and supply the next chancellor, the CAI is surely dead. It may even be dead if the Greens [which seems highly likely] enter the government.”The analyst predicted that when Merkel steps down, and “more importantly [when] a new coalition comes to power, things will change; the only question is how much.”FILE – Reinhard Buetikofer attends a congress of the German Green party in Bielefeld, western Germany, Nov. 16, 2019.Theresa Fallon, the founder and director of the Center for Russia Europe Asia Studies in Brussels, cautioned in a telephone interview against considering the EU-China investment deal completely dead.While its current prospects appear dim, “a lot can happen in a year,” said Fallon, a former member of the Strategic Advisers Group for the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe. She added that the debate over the investment deal reflects a larger discussion taking place within the EU on the appropriate response toward China.While commercial interests are a factor in the eagerness of Germany and some of its European partners to do business with China, Fallon said that until recently some in Europe had looked at closer relations with China as a potential check on hegemonic U.S. power.Chinese actions lately, however, have compelled the Europeans to “see China as it is, not as what they imagined it to be,” she said. “What are we really doing? Is this the type of world order we want, with China at the top? We talk about strategic autonomy, but autonomy from what?”Nabila Massrali, EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, told VOA the bloc continues to regard trade with China as important and sees the CAI as “part of our toolbox” to rebalance its economic relationship with Beijing.However, “economic interests will not prevent us from standing up for global values, including where necessary, through sanctions,” she said. Massrali pointed out that the EU moved before the U.S., Britain and Canada in imposing its sanctions last month.
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During a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a return to discussions on human rights, saying such consultations in the past have improved relations between their two nations.
The comments came during wide-ranging governmental consultations between Merkel and Li — held virtually due to the pandemic — on issues like the fight against the spread of the coronavirus, economic cooperation and other issues.
Merkel, who is not running for re-election, noted the regular consultations between the two countries during her nearly 16 years in power improved cooperation on issues from climate change to business. She said those talks at times covered areas of disagreement such as human rights and Hong Kong.
Merkel said, “Part of our partnership includes addressing difficult topics and putting everything on the table. Traditionally, the issue of human rights repeatedly plays a role and here, differences of opinion exist.” She said in the past, they always succeeded in addressing those issues and, “I would wish that we can soon reinstall the human rights dialogue.”
A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement acknowledged Beijing and Berlin have different views on some issues but did not mention a human rights dialogue. It called for mutual respect of core interests and communication on the basis of non-interference.
In the statement, Li said China and Germany should demonstrate “cooperation and unity” in their push for global economic recovery.” 
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European Union countries introducing their own COVID vaccination certificates would have to grapple with a myriad of disjointed systems if the bloc fails to build a shared one, a senior official said on Wednesday.  
The EU is pushing to have a shared digital health pass to allow tourists to travel freely this summer. But discussions are not yet settled on costs, data and privacy issues, as well as technical and medical aspects of the new system.  
“If we can deliver politically, the technical solution will be ready in time. If we don’t, we risk fragmentation across Europe, with a multitude of possibly incompatible national solutions,” EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said.  
“We would risk having a variety of documents that cannot be read and verified in other member states. And we risk the spread of forged documents, and with it, the spread of both the virus and the mistrust of citizens,” he told the European Parliament.  
Tourism-reliant southern EU countries like Spain and Italy are keen to launch the new tool as soon as possible to help economies that have been mauled by the pandemic. But they face a more reluctant north, as well as complex EU decision procedures.  
With no central gateway to ensure interoperability yet in place, countries including Estonia, Lithuania, Greece, Spain, Germany and France, are introducing their own solutions to record vaccinations.  Dry run  
Commission officials told a separate briefing that the gateway – which would allow officials in one EU country to check the health pass of a visitor from elsewhere in the bloc – would enter testing next month.  
Twenty member states will be ready to join the trial phase with a view to making it possible to go fully live by mid-June.  
The technology for the digital passes is secure and no sensitive personal data would be shared, the officials said.  
Disputes between EU countries over supplies of medical equipment, drugs and vaccines have already complicated the bloc’s joint response earlier in the pandemic.  
As it now faces a third wave of infections, sceptics say discussions about restarting free travel are premature given low vaccination levels.  
The rushed implementation of the joint system raises questions over how visitors from overseas will be handled.  
Questions also remain over which vaccines they would honour, with a distinction between those approved for the EU by the European Medicines Agency and those like the Russian or Chinese jabs that might only be allowed by some countries.  
Another issue is whether antibody tests provide adequate proof that a person who has recovered from COVID-19 is immune. EU countries including Belgium also worry about discriminating against those who would not get the jab.
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The European Parliament has ratified a post-Brexit trade deal with Britain. Results announced Wednesday showed EU lawmakers supporting the pact with a vote of 660 votes in favor and five against, with 32 members abstaining. The vote was the final step in a years-long process of defining trade terms between Britain and the remaining 27 members of the European Union.Members of European Parliament, David McAllister, Andreas Schieder, Christophe Hansen and Bernd Lange participate in a media conference after a debate on the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement at the EU Parliament in Brussels, April 27, 2021.European Council President Charles Michel welcomed the vote Wednesday, saying it “marks a major step forward in EU-UK relations and opens a new era.” The two sides had been operating under the terms of the trade agreement on a conditional basis since late December while awaiting the European Parliament’s approval. The Brexit process began with a 2016 referendum in which British voters chose to  leave the EU. Britain had been a member since 1973, and after several delays, officially exited the EU in January 2020. 
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The UK government on Wednesday became the first country to announce it will regulate the use of self-driving vehicles at slow speeds on motorways, with the first such cars possibly appearing on public roads as soon as this year. Britain’s transport ministry said it was working on specific wording to update the country’s highway code for the safe use of self-driving vehicle systems, starting with Automated Lane Keeping Systems (ALKS) — which use sensors and software to keep cars within a lane, allowing them to accelerate and brake without driver input. The government said the use of ALKS would be restricted to motorways, at speeds under 37 miles (60 km) per hour. The UK government wants to be at the forefront of rolling out autonomous driving technology and the transport ministry forecasts by 2035 around 40% of new UK cars could have self-driving capabilities, creating up to 38,000 new skilled jobs. “The automotive industry welcomes this vital step to permit the use of automated vehicles on UK roads, which will put Britain in the vanguard of road safety and automotive technology,” Mike Hawes, CEO of car industry lobby group the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said in a statement. Limits of technologyBut insurance companies warn that Britain’s goal of being a leader in adopting self-driving cars could backfire unless automakers and regulators spell out the current limitations of the technology available today. They say calling ALKS “automated,” or using the synonymous term “self-driving,” will confuse British drivers into thinking the cars can drive themselves, causing accidents and risking a public backlash against the technology. “Aside from the lack of technical capabilities, by calling ALKS automated our concern also is that the UK Government is contributing to the confusion and frequent misuse of assisted driving systems that have unfortunately already led to many tragic deaths,” said Matthew Avery, research director at Thatcham Research, which has tested ALKS systems. The dangers of drivers apparently misunderstanding the limits of technology has been an issue in the United States, where regulators are reviewing about 20 crashes involving Tesla’s driver assistance tools, such as its “Autopilot” system. 
 
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Thousands rallied in Slovenia on Tuesday against the government of right-wing Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whom opponents accuse of curbing democratic freedoms in the traditionally moderate nation. The peaceful protest was held on Slovenia’s Resistance Day, which marks the start of the World War II struggle by partisan groups against Nazi German and fascist Italian occupiers. Protest organizers said they were fighting “for freedom, democracy and the rule of law.” Jansa’s government was formed last year after the resignation of a previous, liberal premier. A close ally of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Jansa has faced accusations of fueling hate speech, tightening his grip on power and pressuring the media. He has rejected these accusations. Jansa drew international attention when he congratulated former U.S. President Donald Trump while the vote count was still under way during the November election.  Tuesday’s protest in the capital Ljubljana was the first big rally in months, defying pandemic restrictions on public gatherings. Protesters carried banners reading “People have the power,” or “The young care.” Some wore protective face masks, but not all. Previously, protests against Jansa’s government were held every week, drawing thousands. 
 
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World powers resumed talks Tuesday in Vienna about revitalizing the 2015 international pact to restrain Iran’s nuclear development program and bring the United States back into the accord that former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018.Current U.S. President Joe Biden wants to rejoin the pact aimed at keeping Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, although Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.The U.S. does not have a seat at the table for the negotiations, but diplomats from the other countries in the agreement — Russia, China, Britain, Germany and France — are representing its interests at the talks.Trump, believing the agreement approved by former U.S. President Barack Obama was too weak to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, instead stiffened U.S. economic sanctions against Tehran in hopes it would agree to tougher restrictions on its nuclear program. But no new agreement was reached before Trump left office in January.Tehran, with the country’s economy reeling, instead has steadily increased the purity of uranium it enriches and its stockpiles in a so-far unsuccessful effort to get the other countries in the pact to provide economic relief.Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks on the second day of the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Feb. 15, 2020.The new talks are occurring days after comments surfaced from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif alleging that Russia at one point tried to undermine the pact, presumably in hopes that continued U.S.-Iranian hostility would deflect American pressure on Moscow.The Russian Foreign Ministry has yet to address Zarif’s comments, made in a seven-hour interview with a research group associated with the Iranian presidency.Before the talks began, Russian representative Mikhail Ulyanov said he had met with officials from Iran and China but did not say anything about Zarif’s comments.”We compared notes and exchanged views on the way ahead towards full restoration of the nuclear deal,” he tweeted. “It was a very fruitful meeting.”Ulyanov later said the main negotiations were “guided by the unity of purpose.”The focus of the new talks is on the extent to which the U.S. would ease its economic sanctions and how Iran would again comply with the terms of the 2015 deal. 
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With this week marking 100 days of Joe Biden’s U.S. presidency, European allies are noting the change in the key relationship with Washington.  Henry Ridgwell reports from London on how the new administration is being viewed from across the Atlantic. Camera:  Henry Ridgwell, Ricardo Marquina Montañana Produced by:  Barry Unger 
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Monday he was likely to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine, adding that all sides were at the “finish line” of agreeing a new cease-fire.
 
“It seems to me that everything is going toward the fact that this meeting will take place,” he said.
 
Zelenskiy has sought a meeting with Putin after the two countries traded blame over a spike in clashes in the Donbass conflict and a build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine’s eastern border and in annexed Crimea.
 
Russia began a troop pullback last week and Putin said he was willing to meet Zelenskiy in Moscow. Zelenskiy said he had instructed his chief of staff to contact the Kremlin to discuss when and where the two leaders could meet.
 
Ukrainian troops have battled Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people since 2014. More than 30 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed this year after ceasefire agreed last July collapsed.
 
Asked if a new cease-fire could be in place for the Orthodox Easter this weekend, Zelenskiy said, “I believe that we are already at the finish line for this agreement.”
 
Speaking at an event to mark the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Zelenskiy said in a speech he did not want the Donbass conflict area to turn into another no-go zone like the contaminated land around the atomic plant.
 
“We cannot go back in time and prevent the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant,” Zelenskiy said. “But we can definitely do everything today to prevent a future tragedy… which may occur in the occupied Donbass.”
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Three days of U.N.-mediated talks are under way to try and reunify the island of Cyprus, which has been divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriots since 1974. That was when Turkey invaded Northern Cyprus in response to a Greek-backed military coup on the island.The Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders, as well as foreign ministers of three guarantor States – Greece, Turkey and Britain, the former colonial ruler of Cyprus — will be holding so-called informal talks over the coming days.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres convened this meeting to test the waters, so to speak. His spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said the aim of the meeting is to determine whether there is enough common ground for the parties to negotiate a lasting solution to the Cyprus issue within a foreseeable horizon.“The secretary-general will move forward based on the outcomes of the informal talks. The parties are welcome to be creative and the secretary-general will be encouraging them to move—to use diplomatic language—in a sincere and frank manner,” he said.U.N Peacekeepers stand on a guard post in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, April 24, 2021.The spokesman said Guterres will hold separate bilateral meetings Tuesday afternoon with the leaders of the two communities. In the evening, he will host a reception for the heads of delegations.On Wednesday morning, Guterres will host a plenary meeting with all five parties, to be followed by bilateral meetings in the afternoon.There have been three attempts to reunify Cyprus since 2004. All have failed. The last attempt occurred in July 2017, six months after Guterres took office. Guterres took a hands-on approach to resolving this intractable issue, energized at the prospect of achieving a diplomatic win so soon after becoming the U.N. chief.Ten days of negotiations in the Swiss Alpine town of Crans Montana also ended in failure.Dujarric said the secretary-general is unwilling to pre-judge the outcome of the talks. He said this is an issue that Guterres knows well as he has participated in discussions before. Dujarric said the secretary-general is neither cautiously optimistic nor pessimistic, but realistic. 
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Britain froze assets, imposed sanctions and enacted travel bans on nearly two dozen people accused of bribery, kickbacks and fraud on Monday, marking the first time the nation employed its own sanctioning powers to combat international corruption. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told lawmakers that the sanctions would prevent the United Kingdom from being used as “a haven for dirty money,” according to The Associated Press. “Corruption has a corrosive effect as it slows development, drains the wealth of poorer nations and keeps their people trapped in poverty. It poisons the well of democracy,” Raab said, according to Reuters. The list includes 14 Russians implicated in a $230 million tax fraud case, as well as Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta, members of the Gupta business family at the center of a South African corruption scandal. The Guptas deny wrongdoing.  Sanctions were also imposed on businessman Ashraf Seed Ahmed Al-Cardinal, who is accused of stealing state assets in impoverished South Sudan, as well as individuals from Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press briefing in Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2021.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he welcomed the sanctions, adding that they strengthened efforts to counter corruption globally. Britain previously imposed sanctions as part of the European Union or United Nations. It has created its own sanctions laws since leaving the EU at the end of 2020. Those laws give the British government the power to penalize those credibly involved in serious violation of human rights and corruption. Sanctioned individuals may not enter Britain, channel money through British banks or profit from the British economy.   The so-called Magnitsky sanctions, which the U.S. and several other countries have enacted, are named for Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who was arrested and later died in prison in Russia after accusing Russian officials of a massive tax fraud. Those officials were among those sanctioned Monday. Opposition politicians said Monday’s sanctions are welcomed but aren’t enough because they don’t target corruption in British overseas territories and dependencies.  Labour Party foreign affairs spokeswoman Lisa Nandy said Britain remains a haven for “dark money” and urged Raab to increase the powers for financial crime investigators.  “The current rate of prosecutions for economic crime is … woefully low, as he knows, and to put it bluntly if he’s serious about what he’s saying today he needs to put his money where his mouth is,” Nandy said, according to the Associated Press. 
 
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Last week’s killing of a police worker outside Paris offers a chilling reminder that terrorism has become a grim feature of life in France. Now the country, which has weathered some of Europe’s most horrific terrorist attacks, joins just a handful of nations that are building concrete reminders. The French memorial-museum will be the first devoted not to one specific terrorism incident but to a broader arc of horror over a half-century. For VOA, Lisa Bryant reports from Paris.Camera: Lisa Bryant 
 
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U.S. officials are not yet convinced Russia is making good on its word to de-escalate in Crimea and along its border with Ukraine following a weekslong military buildup, insisting it is “too soon to tell.” The Pentagon on Monday said it appears some Russian troops have pulled back, though the danger remains. “We have seen some departure of some forces away from Ukraine,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters, adding that the U.S. military is “going to keep watching this very, very closely.” “It’s too soon to tell and to take at face value Russian claims that what they said was an exercise is now over in there and they’re pulling everybody back,” he added. US, West Wary of Russian Claims That Military Buildup Near Ukraine Is OverPentagon says ‘it’s too soon to tell’ whether Moscow’s assurance can be taken at face value U.S. and Western officials have repeatedly raised concern over what they have described as the largest massing of Russian forces since Moscow gave the order to invade and seize the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. European officials last week said that at the height of the latest buildup, more than 100,000 Russian forces had positioned themselves within striking distance of Ukrainian territory. Bigger Than 2014: US Calls Out Russian Military Buildup Along Ukraine BorderThe Pentagon’s assertion that Moscow is massing more forces than it did when it invaded and annexed Crimea follows EU assessment that 150,000 Russian troops are now in the regionIn contrast to U.S. and Western concerns, Russian officials have continually accused Ukraine of being the cause of trouble in the region. On Monday, Russian’s foreign ministry said Russian President Vladimir Putin used a call with French President Emmanuel Macron to highlight Kyiv’s “provocative actions” in eastern Ukraine. ????? Состоялся телефонный разговор Владимира Путина с Президентом Франции Эммануэлем Макроном. Особое внимание уделено внутриукраинскому конфликту. Выражена обеспокоенность в связи с эскалацией напряжённости на Юго-Востоке Украины.? https://t.co/vf8ezliI9Apic.twitter.com/6cI5UhrwDm— МИД России ?? (@MID_RF) April 26, 2021Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced this past Thursday that military exercises involving troops along the border with Ukraine were over and that they would return to their permanent bases by May 1. Later that day, a NATO official told VOA the alliance had taken note of the Russian announcement, adding, “Any steps towards de-escalation by Russia would be important and well overdue.” VOA’s Nike Ching contributed to this report.
 
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One hundred and eight prominent members of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP went on trial in the capital, Ankara, Monday in connection with violent nationwide protests in 2014 that left 37 people dead.The protests were against the government’s failure to militarily intervene as the Islamic State was poised to overrun the predominantly Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane, on Turkey’s border.Speaking outside the courthouse Monday, HDP co-chair Mithat Sancar said the trial is politically motivated.”The party official called this a case of revenge which he said is the product of the defeats that the HDP has made the government suffer,” Sancar said.Ankara accuses the YPG Syrian Kurdish fighters defending Kobane of being terrorists no different from Islamic State militants.The government is vigorously defending the prosecution, claiming the defendants have to be held to account for the deaths in the 2014 unrest.But Emma Sinclair Webb of the New York-based Human Rights Watch said the case is part of an alarming trend.This is an entirely political trial as so many trials in Turkey are these days. This is part of a contentious effort to deplete the HDP to criminalize it,” Sinclair Webb said. “Basically evidence is based on political speeches and there is just no compelling credible evidence to pursue this case.”The defendants face life sentences on charges of murder, insurrection and inciting terrorism. Among those on trial is the HDP’s two former leaders, who are already in jail.The ruling AK Party accuses the HDP of being linked to the Kurdish rebel group the PKK, which is fighting the Turkish state, a charge the party denies. Columnist Sezin Oney of the Duvar news portal said the future of the party is now in doubt.”Probably the beginning of the end of the HDP, AK party officials have on various instances have mentioned their intention is to wipe out the HDP for good so it can’t make a comeback,” Oney said.Dozens of elected HDP mayors are already in jail, and advocates fear that prosecutors could be preparing what is designed to be a fatal blow to Turkey’s second-largest opposition party. 
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Thirty-seven percent of surveyed countries are still experiencing disruptions in vaccinating children against deadly diseases like measles compared to 2020 levels, according to a press release from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
The disruptions stem from the COVID-19 pandemic, the groups say.
They also say 60 lifesaving campaigns are currently “postponed in 50 countries, putting around 228 million people — mostly children — at risk for measles, yellow fever and polio.”  
As the world marks World Immunization Week 2021, which takes place in the last week of April, the groups are calling for countries to increase investments in vaccines.
The groups say investment could save 50 million lives by 2030.
“If we’re to avoid multiple outbreaks of life-threatening diseases like measles, yellow fever and diphtheria, we must ensure routine vaccination services are protected in every country in the world,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
Measles outbreaks have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and Yemen, according to the groups. They added that further outbreaks were likely as children are not vaccinated.
“As COVID-19 vaccines are at the forefront of everyone’s minds, it is more critical than ever that children maintain access to other lifesaving vaccines to prevent devastating outbreaks of preventable diseases that have started to spread alongside the pandemic,” said David Morley, president and CEO of UNICEF Canada. “We must sustain this energy on vaccine rollout to also help children catch up on their measles, polio and other vaccines. Lost ground means lost lives.”
UNICEF said it delivered 2.01 billion vaccines in 2020 compared to 2.29 billion in 2019.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could be finding himself cornered over opposition claims that his government $128 billion squandered in defending Turkey’s currency, the lira.Throughout Turkey, giant banners emblazoned with the words “where is the $128 billion?” hang from party offices of the main opposition, People’s Republican Party, CHP.  Advertising trucks and vans carry images asking the same question, along with posters on billboards across the country, some with just the words “$128 billion Where?”In Istanbul, the governor ordered the banners taken down, claiming they violated COVID restrictions. Video of the police taking down the huge posters in the middle of the night went viral on social media, only fueling more interest.The CHP has countered by simply using the number 128, which has become synonymous with demands for accounting of the lost billions of dollars.Meral Aksener, the firebrand leader of the opposition Good Party, iyi, joined in the assault on the government, “Turkey has become the land of disappearance under the great illusionist Erdoğan,” quipped Aksener in an address to her parliamentary party deputies this month.”Vaccines are missing,” and “128 Billion USD and the Minister of Powerpoint (referring to former Finance Minister Berat Albayrak) who lost the money is also missing,” she said, referring to opposition claims that more than one million imported COVID vaccines are unaccounted for – a claim the government denies. Albayrak, Erdogan’s son-in-law, has not been seen public since reports said he was forced to quit in November.Under the finance minister’s two-year stewardship, billions of Turkey’s foreign currency reserves were used to prop up the currency, as he confounded economic orthodoxy of keeping interest rates low, despite rising inflation.A man is reflected at a foreign currency board in a currency exchange shop, in Istanbul, Turkey, March 22, 2021.Albayrak followed Erdogan’s unorthodox view that low-interest rates reduce inflation rather than the widely held belief that high rates are needed to tame rising prices.Analysts warn the growing controversy over the opposition’s slogan, “What happened to $128 billion,” is threatening to engulf Erdogan.”The question drives Mr. Erdogan furious because it is essentially an assault on the integrity of his son-in-law Mr. Berat Albayrak,” said political consultant Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners. “It also implies AKP cronies might have absconded with part of Central Bank F/X sales.”Economic hardship caused by the COVID pandemic, with rising unemployment and inflation, mean that questions over missing billions of dollars are striking a chord in the country. In recent weeks, the question “What happened to 128 billion” has been among the top three search questions on Google in Turkey.  Erdogan on Wednesday accused the opposition of carrying out a campaign of “lies.””This money was not gifted to anyone or wasted,” Erdogan told members of his ruling parliamentary. “It simply changed hands and went to economic actors… and a large part of it has returned to the central bank,” he added.Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during his ruling party’s congress in Ankara, March 24, 2021. (Credit: Turkish Presidency)But the president caused alarm in the financial markets when he said 165 rather than 128 billion had been used defending the currency and that he would support such a policy again if needed. The Turkish lira plummeted after the comments.”Erdogan is now saying $165 billion (were) used in two years to defend the lira. That is a huge sum spent on a failed FX intervention strategy,” tweeted Timothy Ash, a senior Emerging Market Analyst of Blue Ray Investments. “I cannot think of another country that wasted such huge sums on a failed defense of the lira. Disastrous,” he added.Falling approval ratingMany analysts see Turkey’s economic woes as the main factor behind Erdogan and his AKP Party’s slide in opinion polls. For the first time, the party’s support, according to polls, has fallen below 30%.Observers say Erdogan’s struggle to contain the 128 campaign indicates a far broader problem facing the president. Having dominated Turkish politics for nearly two decades, they say he now appears to be heading into enemy territory.”For the first time, the AK Party is obliged to a defensive strategy, and because it does not know how to play, it responds with kick and slap to every attack,” said veteran pollster Bekir Agirdir of the Konda polling company.The 128 campaign, using both traditional and modern means of communication and its slick presentation, is also a sign that Erdogan is facing a galvanized and effective opposition that appears to have a finger on the nation’s pulse.”The economic conditions in the country are getting harder, the government seems to be losing the grip of the pandemic, and to be honest, the opposition is playing tough,” wrote political columnist Murat Yetkin for the website Yetkin Report. 
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Russia is considering using convicts to expand a railway line in the far east, a government document showed, as Moscow faces migrant labor shortages due to COVID-19.Restrictions linked to the pandemic have prompted many migrant workers to leave Russia and authorities have warned construction projects could be slowed down.Russia has already brought in soldiers to build a segment of its Baikal-Amur Mainline railway (BAM) in the far east to transport more coal and metal to ports for export to Asia.It is now also considering convict laborers to work on the line which is being expanded as part of a more than 6 trillion rouble ($79 billion) plan to upgrade and construct infrastructure.A document drawn up by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin’s office ordered the transport ministry, the Federal Penitentiary Service and Russian Railways, the state company that runs the vast national rail network, to assess the feasibility of using convicts to build railways.The document, first reported by Kommersant newspaper and reviewed by Reuters on Monday, ordered the three bodies to assess the possibility of using convicts to work on the construction of railway infrastructure on the Baikal-Amur Mainline and the Trans-Siberian railways by May 14.Russian Railways and the transport ministry declined to comment.A spokesman for Khusnullin did not immediately comment. The government and prison service did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Prisoners from the Soviet Union’s vast GULAG labor camp system were used in the 1930s to build portions of BAM and develop large swathes of Siberia.
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A top European Union official said Sunday that Americans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 should be able to travel to Europe by summer, easing existing travel restrictions.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told The New York Times that the union’s 27 members would accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by the European Medicines Agency. The agency has approved the three vaccines used in the United States.”The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines,” von der Leyen said. “This will enable free movement and travel to the European Union.”She did not say when travel could resume. The EU largely shut down nonessential travel more than a year ago.European Union countries agreed this month to launch COVID-19 travel passes that would permit people who have been vaccinated against the disease, recovered from an infection or have tested negative to travel more easily.
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