Czech Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček Monday pushed back on his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi’s assault over the Czech Senate delegation’s visit to Taipei — signs, observers say, that suggest the tide is turning against China in Europe. Relations between Prague and Beijing may take another plunge. While visiting in Slovenia, Petříček tweeted that Wang’s comments toward the delegation were “over the edge,” shortly after the Chinese official warned of “a heavy price” for Czech Senate President Milos Vystrčil to pay, now that he has defied China’s objection to the visit to Taiwan. Beijing considers Taiwan a renegade province.     “Minister Wang’s statements are over the edge. Such strong words do not belong in the relations between the two sovereign countries,” Petříček tweeted, calling on China to pursue “factual, practical cooperation without emotions that do not belong in diplomacy.”   Exchanges of protests   The Czech foreign minister said he had instructed his deputy to summon China’s ambassador in Prague and expressed the Czech ministry’s “fundamental disagreement” with China’s repeated negative words toward the delegation. Although the Czech government does not support the delegation’s visit to Taiwan, Petříček added that he has demanded an explanation from China and anticipated the delegation’s trip would have a negative impact on its relations with China. The Czech government, led by Czech President Miloš Zeman and Prime Minister Andrej Babis, still favors closer ties to China.   But while meeting U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo in the Czech Republic in mid-August, Babis complained that the Chinese have not invested in the Czech Republic in the way he would imagine they should.  Pompeo’s warm reception was considered a warning sign to the once-promising relationship between Prague and Beijing.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, front left, shakes hands with Czech Republic’s Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek, right, during a ceremony at the General Patton memorial in Pilsen near Prague, Czech Republic, Aug. 11, 2020.A heavy price to pay According to a statement released by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, Wang described Vystrčil’s trip to Taipei as “an unendurable provocation for which there will be retribution.”   He was quoted as saying “the Chinese government and Chinese people won’t take a laissez-faire attitude or sit idly by and will make him pay a heavy price for his short-sighted behavior and political opportunism,” the statement said. In return, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Qin Gang Monday also summoned the Czech Republic’s ambassador in Beijing to tell him that Vystrcil “violated China’s sovereignty by openly supporting Taiwan ‘independence’ and splittist forces.” Another outcry in Czech   Wang’s threats, part of China’s coercive diplomacy that backfired and failed to stop the Senate delegation’s visit to Taiwan, are expected to provoke another public outcry, said Karel Picha, a Czech who has lived in Taiwan for eight years and currently runs the only Czech cuisine restaurant in Taipei.   “I think most of the Czech people, they will respond negatively to these threats. They are probably not going to be polite,” Picha told VOA. He said that the wounds from 30 years of occupation by communist Soviet Union are too fresh to the Czech people, who hate it more than anything else when another communist country threatens them.   Doing the right thing Vystrčil also responded to Wang’s threat in Taipei by saying that “delegation members made the trip voluntarily, and we believe we are doing the right thing. In the short run, the outcome looks negative. But there will be long-term benefits.” He said the Czech people know how it feels to be controlled by a big brother who will never relent.   Two analysts who spoke to VOA said China’s repeated bashing of Vystrčil can only result in soured relations, while it is also likely for China to make good on its threat.   “China is too pushy. It turns even more aggressive when other countries or companies have been willing to go along (with its one-China policy),” DPP legislator Lo Chih-cheng told VOA. “But there comes a time when people say, ‘Enough is enough.’ “China has turned into such a bully because for a long time, Western countries have put up with it,” he added, referring to Wang’s threat to punish the Czech Republic. Worsening relations  Lo urges China to realize that any coercive move it plans to take will only backfire and worsen their relations.   Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a political science professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, agreed that China will make the Czech Republic pay. But it remains to be seen how damaging China’s sanctions will be, since the Czech economy isn’t heavily dependent upon China.   He said the Czechs are “courageous” to have made the trip to Taiwan regardless of the Chinese pressure.  “I think it kind of underscores a pushback from a number of countries in Europe which feel much more sympathy with Taiwan, a democratic country, as opposed to authoritarian China,” Cabestan told VOA by phone. China-Europe relations are on a rocky path, as more European countries have become vocal over the situation in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the potential flash point in Taiwan or the South China Sea, according to Cabestan. China’s popularity in Europe has fallen in recent years and will take some time to improve, he said. Cabestan said Wang was touring Europe because the country’s “wolfish” diplomacy has done harm to its relations with many European countries, and Wang was there to minimize the damage. 
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Czech Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček Monday pushed back on his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi’s assault over the Czech Senate delegation’s visit to Taipei — signs, observers say, that suggest the tide is turning against China in Europe. Relations between Prague and Beijing may take another plunge. While visiting in Slovenia, Petříček tweeted that Wang’s comments toward the delegation were “over the edge,” shortly after the Chinese official warned of “a heavy price” for Czech Senate President Milos Vystrčil to pay, now that he has defied China’s objection to the visit to Taiwan. Beijing considers Taiwan a renegade province.     “Minister Wang’s statements are over the edge. Such strong words do not belong in the relations between the two sovereign countries,” Petříček tweeted, calling on China to pursue “factual, practical cooperation without emotions that do not belong in diplomacy.”   Exchanges of protests   The Czech foreign minister said he had instructed his deputy to summon China’s ambassador in Prague and expressed the Czech ministry’s “fundamental disagreement” with China’s repeated negative words toward the delegation. Although the Czech government does not support the delegation’s visit to Taiwan, Petříček added that he has demanded an explanation from China and anticipated the delegation’s trip would have a negative impact on its relations with China. The Czech government, led by Czech President Miloš Zeman and Prime Minister Andrej Babis, still favors closer ties to China.   But while meeting U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo in the Czech Republic in mid-August, Babis complained that the Chinese have not invested in the Czech Republic in the way he would imagine they should.  Pompeo’s warm reception was considered a warning sign to the once-promising relationship between Prague and Beijing.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, front left, shakes hands with Czech Republic’s Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek, right, during a ceremony at the General Patton memorial in Pilsen near Prague, Czech Republic, Aug. 11, 2020.A heavy price to pay According to a statement released by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, Wang described Vystrčil’s trip to Taipei as “an unendurable provocation for which there will be retribution.”   He was quoted as saying “the Chinese government and Chinese people won’t take a laissez-faire attitude or sit idly by and will make him pay a heavy price for his short-sighted behavior and political opportunism,” the statement said. In return, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Qin Gang Monday also summoned the Czech Republic’s ambassador in Beijing to tell him that Vystrcil “violated China’s sovereignty by openly supporting Taiwan ‘independence’ and splittist forces.” Another outcry in Czech   Wang’s threats, part of China’s coercive diplomacy that backfired and failed to stop the Senate delegation’s visit to Taiwan, are expected to provoke another public outcry, said Karel Picha, a Czech who has lived in Taiwan for eight years and currently runs the only Czech cuisine restaurant in Taipei.   “I think most of the Czech people, they will respond negatively to these threats. They are probably not going to be polite,” Picha told VOA. He said that the wounds from 30 years of occupation by communist Soviet Union are too fresh to the Czech people, who hate it more than anything else when another communist country threatens them.   Doing the right thing Vystrčil also responded to Wang’s threat in Taipei by saying that “delegation members made the trip voluntarily, and we believe we are doing the right thing. In the short run, the outcome looks negative. But there will be long-term benefits.” He said the Czech people know how it feels to be controlled by a big brother who will never relent.   Two analysts who spoke to VOA said China’s repeated bashing of Vystrčil can only result in soured relations, while it is also likely for China to make good on its threat.   “China is too pushy. It turns even more aggressive when other countries or companies have been willing to go along (with its one-China policy),” DPP legislator Lo Chih-cheng told VOA. “But there comes a time when people say, ‘Enough is enough.’ “China has turned into such a bully because for a long time, Western countries have put up with it,” he added, referring to Wang’s threat to punish the Czech Republic. Worsening relations  Lo urges China to realize that any coercive move it plans to take will only backfire and worsen their relations.   Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a political science professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, agreed that China will make the Czech Republic pay. But it remains to be seen how damaging China’s sanctions will be, since the Czech economy isn’t heavily dependent upon China.   He said the Czechs are “courageous” to have made the trip to Taiwan regardless of the Chinese pressure.  “I think it kind of underscores a pushback from a number of countries in Europe which feel much more sympathy with Taiwan, a democratic country, as opposed to authoritarian China,” Cabestan told VOA by phone. China-Europe relations are on a rocky path, as more European countries have become vocal over the situation in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the potential flash point in Taiwan or the South China Sea, according to Cabestan. China’s popularity in Europe has fallen in recent years and will take some time to improve, he said. Cabestan said Wang was touring Europe because the country’s “wolfish” diplomacy has done harm to its relations with many European countries, and Wang was there to minimize the damage. 
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In an interview with VOA, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya appears to reject any idea of imminent Western intervention or help, saying, “The Belarusian people have a responsibility for what’s going on. We think that we have to solve this problem by ourselves.” Belarusians have protested nearly nonstop since the election Aug. 9, in which President Alexander Lukashenko won a disputed sixth term. Protesters claim the election was rigged, an accusation that Lukashenko has denied. Tsikhanouskaya fled to Lithuania with her children after the election.  Here is a transcript of her recent interview with VOA’s Henry Ridgwell. It has been edited for clarity and length. VOA: Do you believe that you have defeated Lukashenko and that most people in Belarus voted for you on Aug. 9? The Belarussian authorities claim that Lukashenko has won. What evidence do you have of your leadership? Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: All the people who are on the streets now, and the evidence that Mr. Lukashenko didn’t win, and all the people who came to their polling station for voting. VOA: How realistic is that, that Lukashenko will sit down at the negotiating table with you? Tsikhanouskaya: It is realistic because the authorities will not have a way out of this situation. The only way out of this political crisis is negotiations. VOA: Some say you don’t have any plan or strategy. If you do, what is it? Tsikhanouskaya: Our plan is absolutely clear. It’s organization of new elections, fair and transparent. VOA: Do you think Lukashenko should be allowed to participate in new presidential elections? Tsikhanouskaya: No. So, as our elections are absolutely free and clear and transparent, so every person is allowed to participate in these elections. And so, Mr. Lukashenko is a citizen of our country, so physically, he can. But if he has a moral right to participate is a big question. VOA: This weekend, we saw more and more women come out to protest. What’s your message to them? Tsikhanouskaya: I’m so proud that women are playing a great role in these demonstrations, in this so-called revolution. Because our women showed that women play a great role in everyday life. And maybe we inspired them for this movement is because we had to stand instead of our men. So, as they stand in front of their men and beside their men, and it’s wonderful. And I don’t think that the world had ever seen such a demonstration of women in white. VOA: Your countrymen are protesting on the streets of Belarus — cities. You’re in Vilnius, Lithuania. Why did you leave the country?  Tsikhanouskaya: I had big reasons to make this step. I can’t talk about this now. Maybe somewhere in the future I will talk about all my story, but now, I can’t comment on it. VOA: Were you pressured or threatened? Tsikhanouskaya: Sorry, I can’t comment.  VOA: If you knew back in May, what you know now, would you have done it again? Tsikhanouskaya: You know, I have been thinking about this a lot, and of course I had great stress during all this election campaign. And a lot of times, I was ready to step away because I wasn’t sure that I had enough strength to continue. But I see now that it’s so important for Belarusian people. This year is extremely important for the history of Belarus, that we are, at last, woken up, and we are ready to fight for our rights. So now, I think that, yes, I would do this again. VOA: Should Russia or any other Western countries be involved in negotiations between you, the coordination council and Lukashenko? Tsikhanouskaya: “You know, I have to admit that this political crisis that takes place in our country is absolutely an internal affair. And we have — the Belarusian people — have a responsibility for what’s going on. And we think that we have to solve this problem by ourselves. But if it happens then we will need one day (the) help of other countries, help in organizing this — maybe in mediation of these negotiations. So of course, any country that would like to help us with this question is invited.”   
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Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has told VOA that the country’s political crisis is “absolutely an internal affair” as she appeared to reject any idea of imminent Western intervention or help. Speaking Monday from Vilnius, Lithuania, Tsikhanouskaya said, “The Belarusian people have a responsibility for what’s going on. We think that we have to solve this problem by ourselves. “But if it happens that we will need one day the help of other countries, help in organizing this, maybe mediation or negotiation, of course any country that would like to help us with this question is invited,” she added. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, candidate for the presidential elections, reacts during a news conference after the Belarusian presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 10, 2020.Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Belarusian cities in recent weeks to demand the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko, who refuses to step down. Lukashenko claimed victory in elections August 9. Opposition parties, along with the United States and the European Union, say the poll was heavily rigged.  Lukashenko has denied rigging the election, yet he has used riot police and special forces personnel in a crackdown on demonstrations. Hundreds of protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture has been reported. At least four people were reported to have died during the demonstrations. Tsikhanouskaya was briefly detained and fled to neighboring Lithuania following the election, fearing for her and her family’s safety. She refused to elaborate further on why she left Belarus.  “I had big reasons to make this step. I can’t talk about this now. Maybe some [time] in the future I will talk all about my story but now I can’t comment on it.” VOA Interview: Belarus Opposition Leader Tsikhanouskaya Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya tells VOA, ‘Our plan is absolutely clear. It’s organization of new elections, fair and transparent’ Tsikhanouskaya stood for the presidency after her husband, Sergei Tsikhanousky, a prominent YouTube blogger, was arrested in May and barred from taking part in the election. Several other opposition figures were also arrested, and their wives joined the political opposition movement.  Tsikhanouskaya praised the hundreds of women who have taken part in the protests in recent days, many wearing white and red, the traditional colors that have become emblematic of the political opposition to Lukashenko’s rule. “I’m so proud that women are playing a great role in these demonstrations in this so-called revolution,” Tsikhanouskaya told VOA. “Our women showed that [they] play a great role in everybody’s lives and maybe we inspired them for this move because we had to stand instead of our men. So, as they are standing in front of their men, and beside their men, it’s wonderful and I don’t think the world has ever seen such demonstrations of women [in white].” The 37-year-old former English teacher reiterated her stance that Belarus must hold fresh elections overseen by international observers.  “The only way out of this political crisis is negotiation,” she said.   VOA asked Tsikhanouskaya whether Lukashenko should be allowed to stand in any new elections.  “Mr. Lukashenko is a citizen of our country so physically he can. But whether he has the moral right to participate is a big question,” she said. Lukashenko has been in power for 26 years and shows little sign of any willingness to compromise with the opposition, despite the ongoing protests and mass strikes that have paralyzed parts of the country for the past three weeks. His government has recently canceled the visas of many foreign journalists reporting on the crisis. Russian President Vladimir Putin last week said that he had a police reserve force ready to intervene in Belarus if necessary. WATCH: Behind Russia’s Take on Mass Protests in Belarus Behind Russia’s Take on Mass Protests in Belarus Concerns within the Kremlin: The same could happen in RussiaOn Monday, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia placed travel restrictions on Lukashenko and nearly 30 other Belarusian officials. The Baltic countries are targeting officials they accuse of having played a role in vote-rigging and violence against Belarusian voters. Lukashenko responded Monday by threatening to cut off European transit routes through Belarus.  Many outside observers have compared the crisis in Belarus to the revolution in Ukraine in 2014, when Russia invaded the country following the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych. That revolution was marked by the presence of European Union flags among the anti-government protesters, and opposition calls for U.S. and other Western help. Observers also say the future of the Belarusian opposition movement, and Tsikhanouskaya’s role, remain highly uncertain.  
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With mass protests in Belarus showing no signs of letup following contested presidential elections August 9, the country’s longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko is turning to Russia for his political survival. But behind the Kremlin’s response lies a mix of geopolitical and domestic concerns, as Charles Maynes reports from Moscow.
Camera: Ricardo Marquina, Agencies   Produced by: Ricardo Marquina 
 
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Rail officials say thousands of passengers were trapped overnight on high-speed TGV trains that were halted by electrical problems in southwestern France. SNCF, the national rail authority, apologized Monday for what it called “a series of electrical supply incidents” that started Sunday afternoon and disrupted service to Paris.  SNCF officials said a train from Hendaye, a popular tourist destination on the border with Spain, was carrying about 1,000 vacationers back to Paris when electrical issues halted it in the remote Landes region. Officials say those passengers were transferred to another train bound for Bordeaux in the middle of the night. Four high-speed trains connecting Bordeaux with other cities in the region were also stuck on tracks into the night, resulting in delays on other routes.  Frustrated travelers posted images on social media of children sleeping on floors, and described the challenges of wearing face masks for as long as 20 straight hours.  French media reported that several people were evacuated for medical reasons. SNCF Strategic Crisis Director Jérôme Attou told reporters in Bordeaux that authorities were still inspecting the tracks and the catenaries — power lines that deliver electricity to the trains — and getting the network back in working order. Attou said he expected trains to be running normally by Tuesday. France’s junior minister for transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, said all passengers will be reimbursed three times the cost of their tickets.    
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High-profile COVID-19 vaccines developed in Russia and China share a potential shortcoming: They are based on a common cold virus that many people have been exposed to, potentially limiting their effectiveness, some experts say. CanSino Biologics’ vaccine, approved for military use in China, is a modified form of adenovirus type 5, or Ad5. The company is in talks to get emergency approval in several countries before completing large-scale trials, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. A vaccine developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, approved in Russia earlier this month despite limited testing, is based on Ad5 and a second less common adenovirus. A scientist works inside a laboratory of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology during the testing of a coronavirus vaccine, in Moscow, Russia, Aug. 6, 2020. (Russian Direct Investment Fund/Handout via Reuters)”The Ad5 concerns me just because a lot of people have immunity,” said Anna Durbin, a vaccine researcher at Johns Hopkins University. “I’m not sure what their strategy is … maybe it won’t have 70% efficacy. It might have 40% efficacy, and that’s better than nothing, until something else comes along.” Vaccines are seen as essential to ending the pandemic that has claimed over 845,000 lives worldwide. Gamaleya has said its two-virus approach will address Ad5 immunity issues. Both developers have years of experience and approved Ebola vaccines based on Ad5. Neither CanSino nor Gamaleya responded to requests for comment. Researchers have experimented with Ad5-based vaccines against a variety of infections for decades, but none are widely used. They employ harmless viruses as “vectors” to ferry genes from the target virus — in this case the novel coronavirus — into human cells, prompting an immune response to fight the actual virus. But many people already have antibodies against Ad5, which could cause the immune system to attack the vector instead of responding to the coronavirus, making these vaccines less effective. FILE – Screen grab taken from video issued by Britain’s Oxford University, showing a person being injected as part of the first human trials in the UK to test a potential coronavirus vaccine, untaken by Oxford University in England, Apr. 23, 2020.Several researchers have chosen alternative adenoviruses or delivery mechanisms. Oxford University and AstraZeneca based their COVID-19 vaccine on a chimpanzee adenovirus, avoiding the Ad5 issue. Johnson & Johnson’s candidate uses Ad26, a comparatively rare strain. Dr. Zhou Xing, from Canada’s McMaster University, worked with CanSino on its first Ad5-based vaccine, for tuberculosis, in 2011. His team is developing an inhaled Ad5 COVID-19 vaccine, theorizing it could circumvent pre-existing immunity issues. “The Oxford vaccine candidate has quite an advantage” over the injected CanSino vaccine, he said. Xing also worries that high doses of the Ad5 vector in the CanSino vaccine could induce fever, fueling vaccine skepticism. “I think they will get good immunity in people that don’t have antibodies to the vaccine, but a lot of people do,” said Dr. Hildegund Ertl, director of the Wistar Institute Vaccine Center in Philadelphia. In China and the United States, about 40% of people have high levels of antibodies from prior Ad5 exposure. In Africa, it could be has high as 80%, experts said. HIV risk  Some scientists also worry an Ad5-based vaccine could increase chances of contracting HIV. In a 2004 trial of a Merck & Co Ad5-based HIV vaccine, people with pre-existing immunity became more, not less, susceptible to the virus that causes AIDS. FILE – Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 30, 2020.Researchers, including top U.S. infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a 2015 paper, said the side effect was likely unique to HIV vaccines. But they cautioned that HIV incidence should be monitored during and after trials of all Ad5-based vaccines in at-risk populations. 
“I would be worried about the use of those vaccines in any country or any population that was at risk of HIV, and I put our country as one of them,” said Dr. Larry Corey, co-leader of the U.S. Coronavirus Vaccine Prevention Network, who was a lead researcher on the Merck trial. Gamaleya’s vaccine will be administered in two doses: The first based on Ad26, similar to J&J’s candidate, and the second on Ad5. Alexander Gintsburg, Gamaleya’s director, has said the two-vector approach addresses the immunity issue. Ertl said it might work well enough in individuals who have been exposed to one of the two adenoviruses. Many experts expressed skepticism about the Russian vaccine after the government declared its intention to give it to high-risk groups in October without data from large pivotal trials. “Demonstrating safety and efficacy of a vaccine is very important,” said Dr. Dan Barouch, a Harvard vaccine researcher who helped design J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine. Often, he noted, large-scale trials “do not give the result that is expected or required.”  
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Italian Police say at least three migrants were killed, six were injured and one is missing after their boat caught fire in the Ionian Sea, off the coast of Italy Sunday. Coast Guard video shows the boat in flames and sailors frantically yelling instructions as they try to rescue the migrants in the water. Police say the ship’s engine reportedly caught fire and exploded, as it was being navigated into port. It is unclear exactly how many migrants were originally on the boat. Media reports about 21 migrants were on board the boat when it arrived but 13 of them had already been escorted on shore by the Italian police before the fire.  ANSA news agency reported that the police were escorting the boat with the remaining migrants to the port of Crotone in Calabria when the fire occurred. Several migrants suffered serious burns and were taken to the hospital in Crotone. Meanwhile, the recent increase in migrant arrivals in Italy has sparked protests on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, which bears the brunt of the landings. Mayor Toto Martello called for a “general strike” demanding more assistance from the Italian government on Sunday after a rusty fishing boat landed during the night allowing 450 migrants to disembark on the island. Italian officials have responded by sending three more COVID-19 quarantine ferries to the island, with one due to arrive on Monday and two more on Wednesday. 
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In Montenegro, pollster CEMI forecast that the pro-Western Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) of President Milo Djukanovic is narrowly ahead of the pro-Serbian and pro-Russian alliance For the Future of Montenegro after Sunday’s parliamentary election.As neither of the two main political parties will secure the necessary simple majority of 41 deputies in the 81-seat parliament to govern alone, they each will need to seek the support of smaller parties in hopes of forming a coalition government.Speaking to supporters, Djukanovic said the DPS remains the strongest party in the parliament.“Such a result means that the Democratic Party of Socialists is the strongest party in Montenegro and in these elections (supporters cheering and applauding) – not only in terms of votes, but also in terms of the mandates,” he said.Djukanovic said the DPS is waiting for the official results and will “unconditionally comply” with the outcome.Meanwhile, the leader of For the Future of Montenegro alliance, Zdravko Krivokapic, claimed victory.“People of Montenegro, freedom has happened!” Krivokapic said. “Good things come to those who wait. After 31 years of an absolute power, this had to happen.The state election commission is expected to announce the results of Sunday’s parliamentary elections in the coming days.Montenegro, under the DPS and Djukanovic, broke with Serbia and Russia to join NATO in 2017 after declaring independence from Serbia in 2006.Internally, DPS and Djukanovic, have faced accusations of an autocratic rule, as well as of widespread graft and criminal links.  
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The pro-Western Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) of President Milo Djukanovic was narrowly ahead of Montenegro’s pro-Serbian and pro-Russian alliance in parliamentary elections Sunday, pollster CEMI said in a preliminary forecast.On the basis of 89% of ballots from a sample of polling stations, CEMI forecast the DPS secured 34.8% of votes, while the alliance of mainly Serb nationalist parties, For the Future of Montenegro, which wants closer ties with Serbia and Russia, was just behind with 32.7%.As neither of the two largest contenders will secure the 41 deputies in the 81-seat parliament needed to rule alone, they would need to seek coalition partners.The Peace is Our Nation, an alliance of centrist parties also opposed to the DPS, came third with 12.5% of the votes, CEMI said. Another alliance led by the green United Reform Action (URA) party received 5.7% of the votes.The result was a major setback for the DPS, which has been in power for three decades, and Djukanovic, who led the country through the violent collapse of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the dissolution of a state union with Serbia in 2006 and steered it into NATO in 2017.A pro-Serb government might move the country closer to Serbia and Russia, but it is not expected to lead it out of NATO and to abandon its EU membership bid.Nela Savkovic, a DPS official, told reporters that the party had secured enough votes to form a coalition with “traditional partners” that include national minorities and some smaller parties.At the headquarters of the Democratic Front, which is the mainstay of For the Future of Montenegro, the leader of the pro-Serb alliance, Zdravko Krivokapic, claimed victory.”Dear citizens, we are expressing our gratitude for your perseverance and dignity … the regime has fallen,” Krivokapic, a university professor, told his jubilant backers.Krivokapic’s alliance and the DF are backed by the powerful Serbian Orthodox Church, which holds daily protests against a law adopted last December that allows the state to seize religious assets whose historical ownership cannot be proven.Politicians from the DF were also implicated in a failed 2016 election day plot staged by Russian agents and a group of Serb nationalists aiming to topple the government, assassinate Djukanovic, who then served as the prime minister, and halt the country’s accession to NATO.Opposition leaders and democracy and rights watchdogs have long accused Djukanovic and his party of running Montenegro for three decades as their own corrupt fiefdom with links to organized crime.The DPS denies this. Djukanovic, who faces re-election as the country’s president in 2023, and his top associates have in turn accused Serbia and Russia of using the Church and the pro-Serb opposition to undermine the independence of the mountainous coastal republic, its NATO membership and its EU membership bid.Any future government must tackle an economic downturn that started in 2019 and was aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic, which gutted revenues from tourism that is a key driver of the economy.According to the International Monetary Fund, Montenegro’s economy is forecast to contract by nearly 9% this year and recover in 2021. 
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The Vatican has announced that the faithful will be readmitted to the general audiences Pope Francis holds on Wednesday as the Holy See slowly begins easing restrictions imposed by COVID-19. Francis has spoken about the pandemic on various occasions including the past week when he said it has both “exposed and aggravated” social inequalities. Sabina Castelfranco has more for VOA.For more than six months, due to COVID-19, Pope Francis has been holding his customary Wednesday general audiences in his private library inside the Vatican and the faithful all over the world were able to receive his message streamed online, but no one was present.   The Vatican announced that as it begins easing restrictions imposed by the coronavirus, a limited number of faithful would start to be readmitted to the papal audiences starting Wednesday. The audiences will not be held in Saint Peter’s Square as in the past, but in a closed courtyard of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. There will be a maximum number of 500 seats available in the courtyard and entry to the area will open two hours ahead of the scheduled start of the audience. FILE – A bar employee wears a protective face mask while standing at St. Mark’s Square amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Venice, Italy July 9, 2020.Italy was the first country in Europe to be hard hit by COVID-19, which killed more than 35,000 people on its territory. The situation improved significantly over the summer but the number of infected people over the past week has started to grow again with more than 1,000 daily cases being reported.  This has led authorities to warn there could be new closures and new measures implemented if the numbers cannot be contained.  FILE – Pope Francis reads his “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the City and the World”) message in St. Peter’s Basilica with no public participation due to an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Easter Sunday at the Vatican.Due to the virus crisis, Pope Francis was forced to celebrate Easter this year in solitude, in front of an empty Saint Peter’s Square. The Pope has spoken on numerous occasions about the sorrow and hardship caused by the pandemic during these months and the consequent economic difficulties faced by many. Pope Francis has said that the pandemic has both “exposed and aggravated” social inequalities. He added that not everyone can work from home and that school was “abruptly interrupted” for some children. He added that while “some powerful nations can issue money to deal with the crisis,” that would mean “mortgaging the future for others.” He said, “these symptoms of inequality reveal a social illness; it is a virus that comes from a sick economy.” FILE – Pope Francis poses with a baby as her mother (L) takes a picture, during a visit to parish San Gregorio Magno in Rome, April 6, 2014.Pope Francis has always been fond of direct contact with people and shook the hands of many and hugged children and kissed babies in his audiences before the pandemic. He was fond of travelling both in Italy and abroad. It remains unclear if and when the 83-year-old pontiff will be able to return to those habits.  
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Tens of thousands protested in the Belarusian capital of Minsk Sunday, the president’s birthday, demanding he resign. Alexander Lukashenko, who turned 66 Sunday, was declared the winner of an August 9 election, amid widespread allegations of voter fraud. Lukashenko, in power for 26 years, denies any election irregularities. The main opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said she would never accept the elections results before fleeing to Lithuania for what she said was her children’s safety.    Protesters rally against elections results they say were rigged, in Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 27, 2020.Protests have rocked the country since the election results were announced. On Sunday, protesters convened around Lukashenko’s residence, facing security forces carrying shields and backed by prisoner vans and water cannons. At least 125 people were detained Sunday, Russia’s RIA news agency quoted the Interior Ministry as saying. Russian President Vladimir Putin called Lukashenko Sunday to wish him a happy birthday and invite him to Moscow. Putin has repeatedly offered support to Lukashenko as Belarus faces sanctions from the West. 
 
 
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German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday condemned an attempt by protesters to break-in to storm the Reichstag, Germany’s parliament building, as an “unacceptable attack on the heart of our democracy.”    “We will never accept this,” Steinmeier said in an Instagram message. The incident took place on Saturday evening after some 38,000 protesters gathered in Berlin during the day to protest against the country’s coronavirus  restrictive measures. After about two hours, police dispersed the protesters, citing disregard of social distancing rules. The German president called the protesters a “right-wing extremist rabble,” while praised the security forces who “acted extremely prudently in a difficult situation.” “The Reichstag building is the seat of our Parliament and thus the symbolic center of our democracy,” German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag. “The fact that sowers of chaos and extremists are abusing it for their own purposes is unacceptable,” Seehofer added. 
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Montenegrins vote Sunday in parliamentary elections, choosing between the path toward EU membership, led by the long-ruling pro-Western party, or closer ties with Serbia and Russia advocated by a coalition of opposition groups.The elections are being held as a dispute over a religious property law opposed by the influential Serbian Orthodox Church brews.The church argues the law permits Montenegro to confiscate its property in efforts to create a separate Montenegrin church, the government has denied the claim.The main pro-Serb and -Russian opposition alliance, For the Future of Montenegro, backs the church.Polls predict the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, a strong Western ally, in power for about 30 years, will finish first but may not have the votes to form a government alone.Montenegro under the DPS and Djukanovic, broke with Serbia and Russia to join NATO in 2017, after declaring independence from Serbia in 2006.Internally, DPS and Djukanovic, have faced accusations of an autocratic rule, as well as of widespread graft and criminal links.Some 540,000 Montenegrins are eligible to vote in the Balkan country for the 81-seat Skupstina, or Assembly.
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India reported 78,761 new coronavirus infections in 24 hours on Sunday, the highest single day rise in the world since the pandemic began, while the county is continuing to open its economy.It was the fourth consecutive day that India has registered more than 75,000 infections.With a population of 1.4 billion people, India is the third most infected nation in the world, behind the United States and Brazil, with 3.5 million cases and more than 63,000 deaths, according to official statistics provided by the country’s health ministry.In several European cities Saturday demonstrators rallied against restrictions that have been imposed since the COVID-19 outbreak began.Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Berlin to march against mask-wearing and social distancing rules. Police say they arrested about 300 protesters. In London, demonstrators in Trafalgar Square rallied against what they said is the “medical tyranny” that has been placed on them by masks and distancing.A man with a placard reading in German: ‘Watch out! Covidiot’ takes part in a protest against the increasing coronavirus preventative measures in Zurich, Switzerland, Aug. 29, 2020.A few hundred protesters in Paris demonstrated against the capital’s mandatory mask-wearing mandate.In Zurich, about 1,000 demonstrators skeptical of COVID-19 rules called for a “return to freedom.”U.S. President Donald Trump said in a statement Saturday night that he is extending the federal cost-sharing for the deployment of the National Guard in Louisiana to help with the state’s response to COVID-19 and to help facilitate the Southern state’s economic recovery.Public health departments throughout the United States are calling on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reverse changes the federal agency recently made to its public coronavirus testing guidelines.The Big Cities Health Coalition and the National Association of County and City Health Officials, which represent thousands of local departments, sent a letter Friday to the heads of the CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requesting that the agencies reverse a decision to stop testing people who have been exposed to the virus but are asymptomatic.The organizations called on the government agencies to reinstate recommendations that people who have been exposed to the virus be tested even if they are asymptomatic.At least 33 states are not following the new CDC guidelines and continue to recommend testing for all people who have been exposed to COVID-19 regardless of symptoms, according to an analysis by Reuters news agency.Johns Hopkins University reports there are more than 25 million COVID-19 cases worldwide. The United States has almost 6 million infections, followed by Brazil with 3.8 million and India with 3.5 million.   
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Demonstrators in several European cities Saturday rallied against restrictions that have been imposed since the COVID-19 outbreak.Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Berlin to march against mask-wearing and social distancing rules. Police say they arrested about 300 protesters.In London, demonstrators in Trafalgar Square rallied against what they said is the “medical tyranny” that has been placed on them by masks and distancing.A few hundred protesters in Paris demonstrated against the capital’s mandatory mask-wearing mandate.In Zurich, about 1,000 demonstrators skeptical of COVID-19 rules called for a “return to freedom.”U.S. President Donald Trump said in a statement Saturday night that he is extending the federal cost-sharing for the deployment of the National Guard in Louisiana to help with the state’s response to COVID-19 and to help facilitate the Southern state’s economic recovery.Public health departments throughout the United States are calling on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reverse changes the federal agency recently made to its public coronavirus testing guidelines.The Big Cities Health Coalition and the National Association of County and City Health Officials, which represent thousands of local departments, sent a letter Friday to the heads of the CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requesting that the agencies reverse a decision to stop testing people who have been exposed to the virus but are asymptomatic.The organizations called on the government agencies to reinstate recommendations that people who have been exposed to the virus be tested even if they are asymptomatic. At least 33 states are not following the new CDC guidelines and continue to recommend testing for all people who have been exposed to COVID-19 regardless of symptoms, according to an analysis by Reuters news agency. Johns Hopkins University reports there are nearly 25 million COVID-19 cases worldwide. The United States has almost 6 million infections, followed by Brazil with 3.8 million and India with 3.4 million.
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The Italian coast guard sent help Saturday to a rescue boat funded by British street artist Banksy after the vessel issued urgent calls for assistance, saying it was stranded in the Mediterranean and overloaded with migrants. The coast guard said a patrol boat dispatched from the southern Italian island of Lampedusa had taken on board 49 of “those considered most vulnerable” among the 219 migrants picked up by the ship since Thursday off the coast of Libya. Named after a French feminist anarchist, the Louise Michel started operating last week. Despite the help from Italy, it has still not found a safe port for the rest of the mainly African migrants on board. In this undated handout photo, people pose after being rescued by the Louise Michel, a migrant search-and-rescue ship operating in the Mediterranean and financed by British street artist Banksy, at sea. (MV Louise Michel/Handout via Reuters)The 49 people who were transferred off the ship included 32 women and 13 children, the Italian coast guard said. The Louise Michel, a German boat manned by a crew of 10, issued a series of tweets overnight and Saturday saying its situation was worsening and appealing for help from authorities in Italy, Malta and Germany. “We are reaching a state of emergency. We need immediate assistance,” said one tweet, adding that it was also carrying a body bag containing one migrant who had died. Another tweet said the boat was unable to move and “no longer the master of her own destiny” because of her overcrowded deck and a life raft deployed at her side, “but above all due to Europe ignoring our emergency calls for immediate assistance.” Before Italy’s coast guard intervened, an Italian charity ship, the Mare Jonio, said it was leaving the Sicilian port of Augusta, much farther away than Lampedusa, to offer assistance. Two U.N. agencies called for the “urgent disembarkation” of the Louise Michel and two other ships carrying a total of more than 400 migrants in the Mediterranean. About 200 are on the Sea Watch 4, a German charity ship, while 27 have been on board the commercial tanker Maersk Etienne since their rescue on August 5. The International Organization for Migration and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in a joint statement they were “deeply concerned about the continued absence of dedicated EU-led search-and-rescue capacity in the Central Mediterranean.” “The humanitarian imperative of saving lives should not be penalized or stigmatized, especially in the absence of dedicated state-led efforts,” they said. In this still image taken from video, a Banksy graffiti in seen on the Louise Michel, a migrant search-and-rescue ship operating in the Mediterranean, Aug. 17, 2020. (MV Louise Michel/Reuters)Italy is the destination of most migrants who have departed from Libya across the Mediterranean in recent years. The influx has created political tensions in Rome and fueled the success of Matteo Salvini’s right-wing League party. The 30-meter long (98-foot) Louise Michel, a former French Navy boat painted in pink and white, was bought with proceeds from the sale of Banksy artwork. The side of the vessel’s cabin features a picture of a girl holding a heart-shaped life buoy in Banksy’s familiar stenciled style. Bristol-born Banksy, who keeps his identity a secret, is known for his political or social-commentary graffiti that has popped up in cities around the world.
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Far-right extremists tried to storm the German parliament building Saturday following a protest against the country’s pandemic restrictions but were intercepted by police and forcibly removed.The incident occurred after a daylong demonstration by tens of thousands of people opposed to the wearing of masks and other government measures intended to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. Police ordered the protesters to disband halfway through their march around Berlin after participants refused to observe social distancing rules, but a rally near the capital’s iconic Brandenburg Gate took place as planned.Footage of the incident showed hundreds of people, some waving the flag of the German Reich of 1871-1918 and other far-right banners, running toward the Reichstag building and up the stairs.Police confirmed on Twitter that several people had broken through a cordon in front of Parliament and “entered the staircase of the Reichstag building, but not the building itself.””Stones and bottles were thrown at our colleagues,” police said. “Force had to be used to push them back.”Germany’s top security official condemned the incident.”The Reichstag building is the workplace of our Parliament and therefore the symbolic center of our liberal democracy,” Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said in a statement.”It’s unbearable that vandals and extremists should misuse it,” he said, calling on authorities to show “zero tolerance.”People gather at the Victory Column as they attend a protest rally in Berlin, Germany, Aug. 29, 2020 against new coronavirus restrictions in Germany. Police in Berlin requested thousands of reinforcements from other parts of Germany.Earlier, thousands of far-right extremists had thrown bottles and stones at police outside the Russian Embassy. Police detained about 300 people throughout the day.Berlin’s regional government had tried to ban the protests, warning that extremists could use them as a platform and citing anti-mask rallies earlier this month where rules intended to stop the virus from being spread further weren’t respected.Protest organizers successfully appealed the decision Friday, though a court ordered them to ensure social distancing. Failure to enforce that measure prompted Berlin police to dissolve the march while it was still in progress.During the march, which authorities said drew about 38,000 people, participants expressed their opposition to a wide range of issues, including vaccinations, face masks and the German government in general. Some wore T-shirts promoting the “QAnon” conspiracy theory while others displayed white nationalist slogans and neo-Nazi insignia, though most participants denied having far-right views.Uwe Bachmann, 57, said he had come from southwestern Germany to protest for free speech and his right not to wear a mask.”I respect those who are afraid of the virus,” said Bachmann, who was wearing a costume and a wig that tried to evoke stereotypical Native American attire. He suggested, without elaborating, that “something else” was behind the pandemic.Another protester said he wanted Germany’s current political system abolished and a return to the constitution of 1871 on the grounds that the country’s postwar political system was illegal. Providing only his first name, Karl-Heinz, he had traveled with his sister from their home near the Dutch border to attend the protest and believed that the coronavirus cases being reported in Germany now were “false positives.”Germany has seen an upswing in new cases in recent weeks. The country’s disease control agency reported Saturday that Germany had almost 1,500 new infections over the past day.A protester is held by German riot policemen in front of the Reichstag building, which houses the Bundestag lower house of parliament, at the end of a Berlin demonstration called by far-right and COVID-19 deniers on Aug. 29, 2020.Germany has been praised for the way it has handled the pandemic, and the country’s death toll of some 9,300 people is less than one-fourth the amount of people who have died of COVID-19 in Britain. Opinion polls show overwhelming support for the prevention measures imposed by authorities, such as the requirement to wear masks on public transport, in stores and some public buildings such as libraries and schools.Along the route were several smaller counter-protests where participants shouted slogans against the far-right’s presence at the anti-mask rally.”I think there’s a line and if someone takes to the streets with neo-Nazis then they’ve crossed that line,” said Verena, a counter-protester from Berlin who declined to provide her surname.Meanwhile, a few hundred people rallied Saturday in eastern Paris to protest new mask rules and other restrictions prompted by rising virus infections around France. Police watched closely but did not intervene.The protesters had no central organizer but included people in yellow vests who formerly protested economic injustice, others promoting conspiracy theories and those who call themselves “Anti-Masks.”France has not seen an anti-mask movement like some other countries. Masks are now required everywhere in public in Paris as authorities warn that infections are growing exponentially just as schools are set to resume classes.France registered more than 7,000 new virus infections in a single day Friday, up from several hundred a day in May and June, in part thanks to ramped-up testing. It has the third-highest coronavirus death toll in Europe after Britain and Italy, with over 30,600 dead.In London, hundreds of people crowded into Trafalgar Square for a “Unite for Freedom” protest against government lockdown restrictions and the wearing of face masks. The Metropolitan Police warned demonstrators that anyone attending a gathering of more than 30 people may be at risk of committing a criminal offense.
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Belarusian authorities stripped accreditation from at least 17 journalists from major foreign news organizations who have been covering the country’s turmoil following the disputed presidential election.
 
The move, taken on August 29 by a commission of the national Security Council, was a major escalation by President Alexander Lukashenko’s government as it continues to face popular protest and international condemnation for the August 9 election, and for the harsh police crackdown on opposition protesters.
 
The journalists targeted include employees of major Western news organizations including RFE/RL, the BBC, the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence-France Presse, Germany’s ARD television, Deutsche Welle, and Radio France. Without accreditations, journalists are not legally permitted to gather news within the country.
 
No reason for the government’s decision was provided.
 
It was not immediately clear if journalists from Russian state-run and state-funded news media, such as the TASS news agency, Vesti TV, or the RT channel, faced a similar loss of accreditation.
 ‘Desperate, ominous move’
 
At least 17 journalists had their accreditations canceled, the Belarus Association of Journalists reported.
 
“Stripping our journalists of accreditation on grounds of ‘extremism’ is a desperate and ominous move by an authoritarian government to stifle the independent media and ruthlessly control the availability of credible information inside Belarus,” acting RFE/RL President Daisy Sindelar said in a statement. “It’s a violation of international standards and an assault on the Belarusian people who rely on us.”
 
Four journalists from RFE/RL’s Belarus Service were hit by the move, and one from Current Time, the Russian-language TV network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
 
Others include two from the BBC, two from AP, two from AFP, two from ARD, and two from Reuters.
 
Many of those affected are Belarusian citizens.
 
Reuters journalist Tatyana Melnichuk told RFE/RL that she had been informed that her accreditation had been revoked via a telephone call from the Foreign Ministry.
 
“They told us that our accreditation, like the accreditations of the BBC journalists, had been revoked and that we had to return them today or on Monday,” Melnichuk said. “They didn’t give any reason.”Detained Journalists in Belarus Face Charges for Covering Post-Election ProtestsAt least 35 journalists, and more than 260 people overall were detained during Aug. 27 protests in Minsk, according to a list compiled by the human rights center Vyasna US calls for ‘restraint’
 
The U.S. Embassy in Minsk called on Belarusian authorities to “demonstrate restraint.”
 
“We stand by our long-term commitment to support Belarus’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the aspirations of the Belarusian people to choose their leaders and to choose their own path, free from external intervention,” the statement said.
 
Two days earlier, around 50 journalists were detained while covering postelection protests in Minsk; the group included employees from Belarusian outlets such as TUT.BY, BelaPAN, and Belsat.
 
In all, more than 260 people were detained during at the time, according to the human rights center Vyasna.
 
The Belarusian Association of Journalists said most of the journalists detained at the time were released after police checked their documents.
 
Four journalists who refused to hand over their smartphones for police to check were charged with participating in an unauthorized protest, the association said. A Swedish journalist will also be deported, it added.
 
The detentions came after nearly three weeks of protests against the official results of the election, which gave Lukashenko a landslide victory.
 
Demonstrators and opposition leaders are contesting those results, charging that the vote was rigged in Lukashenko’s favor.
 
During their detention on August 27, RFE/RL journalists were searched by police, who appeared to be looking for recording equipment. Their laptops and cameras were seized, and they were ordered to open the photo galleries and other information on their mobile phones. In at least one case, a journalist was told to delete images of riot police.
 
One RFE/RL photographer was threatened with misdemeanor charges if he refused to comply with police orders.
 
Meanwhile, many websites of news organizations have seen curtailed access within Belarus amid reports that of sporadic Internet access.
 
Several bloggers also remain in prison, including a consultant for RFE/RL’s Belarus Service on digital strategy. His detention in Zhodzina prison outside of Minsk has been extended to October 25.
 
Protesters, who are planning another demonstration in Minsk on August 30, have been largely defiant despite a brutal police crackdown, and widespread evidence of beatings and torture of detained protesters.
 
The leading opposition candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, told the European Parliament this week that at least six people have been killed in the crackdown and dozens of protesters have gone missing after being detained by authorities.
 With reporting by Current Time. 
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A close ally of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says authorities in Moscow are reluctant to investigate Navalny’s alleged poisoning, because the Kremlin was behind it, despite its denials.
 
Lyubov Sobol, a lawyer at Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation and a prominent opposition activist, said in an interview that all the existing evidence points to the Kremlin.
 
“For me, it’s absolutely obvious, I’m not afraid to speak it out loud, that behind the poisoning is exactly the Kremlin,” said Sobol. Simply, nobody else could do it. Again, the method of the poisoning is the sign of that. Neuroparalytic poison is something that you can’t buy at a pharmacy. It’s a combat substance. And because of that, they will not investigate it,” Sobol said.FILE – Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, center, his wife Yulia, right of him, and opposition activist Lyubov Sobol, second from left, take part in a march in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 29, 2020.Navalny’s associates made a request to Russia’s Investigative Committee for authorities to launch a criminal investigation that could lead to charges of an attempted assassination of a public figure, but say they got no response.
 
“They understand that any investigation will lead to the Kremlin,” Sobol said. “They’re not launching a criminal probe because they will have to answer at some point what the results of the investigation of this criminal case are.”
 
Russia’s Prosecutor General office said Thursday the inquiry launched last week did not find any indication of “deliberate criminal acts committed against” Navalny.
 
The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said last week he saw no grounds for a criminal investigation before the cause of Navalny’s condition was fully established.  
 
Navalny, a well-known critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and a corruption investigator, fell ill August 20 while flying to Moscow from Siberia, prompting an emergency landing in Omsk.
 
His personal doctor and aide said Navalny had drunk black tea at an airport café, which she believed was laced with poison.Last weekend, Navalny was transferred to the Charité Hospital in Berlin, Germany, for an “extensive medical diagnosis.” Doctors there found traces of “cholinesterase inhibitors,” a neuroparalytic substance, in his system. He reportedly remains on a ventilator in a medically-induced coma.  German doctors describe his condition as serious but not life-threatening. 
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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday threatened to cut European transit routes through Belarusian territory if sanctions are imposed on his country.Speaking while visiting a dairy factory, Lukashenko said he would block neighboring European countries from shipping goods to Russia over Belarusian territory and divert Belarusian exports now shipped through ports in neighboring EU member Lithuania to other outlets.”If they, Poles and Lithuanians, used to fly through us to China and Russia, now they will fly through the Baltic or through the Black Sea to trade with Russia, and so on, and they can only dream of sanctioned products, those products on which Russia has imposed an embargo,” he said.Lukashenko also said he had ordered half the country’s army to be at combat preparedness and had agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin that troops of both countries could unite against a potential Western threat.A woman carries a historical white-red-white flag of Belarus during an opposition demonstration against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 28, 2020.“If they (NATO troops) don’t hold still, it’s necessary to use a joint grouping of armed forces, the basis of which is the Belarusian army,” Lukashenko said. “The Russians must support us and follow us.”Lithuania, Poland and Latvia have called for Europe to take stronger action against Lukashenko, in face of a nearly three-week popular uprising since the August 9 election, which the opposition maintains he rigged to prolong his 26-year rule. Lukashenko has denied the accusations.Since the Monday after the election, when Belarusian Central Election Commission declared Lukashenko received over 80% of the votes and opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya about 10%, thousands have taken to the streets demanding Lukashenko’s resignation. Lukashenko has said the protests are encouraged and supported by the West and accused NATO of moving forces near Belarusian borders. The alliance has denied the accusations.  
 
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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is still in an induced coma from a suspected poisoning but his condition is stable and his symptoms are improving, the German doctors treating him said Friday. Navalny, a politician and corruption investigator  who is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on Aug 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.  Last weekend, he was transferred to the Charité hospital in Berlin, where doctors found indications of “cholinesterase inhibitors” in his system.  FILE – German army emergency personnel load into their ambulance the stretcher that was used to transport Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny on at Berlin’s Charite hospital, Aug. 22, 2020.Found in some drugs, pesticides and chemical nerve agents, cholinesterase inhibitors block the breakdown of a key chemical in the body, acetycholine, that transmits signals between nerve cells. Navalny, 44, is being treated with the antidote atropine. Charité said “there has been some improvement in the symptoms caused by the inhibition of cholinesterase activity.” “While his condition remains serious, there is no immediate danger to his life,” the hospital said. “However, due to the severity of the patient’s poisoning, it remains too early to gauge potential long-term effects.” FILE – Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, speaks with the media outside a hospital, where her husband is receiving medical treatment, in Omsk, Russia, Aug. 21, 2020.Navalny’s wife Yulia has been visiting him regularly at the hospital and Charité said physicians remain in close contact with her. Navalny’s allies insist he was deliberately poisoned and say the Kremlin was behind it, accusations that Russian officials rejected as “empty noise.”  Western experts have cautioned that it is far too early to draw any conclusions about what may have caused Navalny’s condition, but note that Novichok, the Soviet-era nerve agent used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain, was a cholinesterase inhibitor.  The Russian doctors who treated Navalny in Siberia have repeatedly contested the German hospital’s conclusion, saying they had ruled out poisoning as a diagnosis and that their tests for cholinesterase inhibitors came back negative.  Help from GermanyNavalny was brought to Germany for treatment after Chancellor Angela Merkel personally offered the possibility of him being treated in Berlin. “We have an obligation to do everything so that this can be cleared up,” Merkel told reporters at her annual summer news conference on Friday. “It was right and good that Germany said we were prepared … to take in Mr. Navalny. And now we will try to get this cleared up with the possibilities we have, which are indeed limited.” When there is more clarity about what happened, Germany will try to ensure a “European reaction” to the case, Merkel said. She cited the poisonings of Skripal and his daughter two years ago, which prompted many European countries to expel Russian diplomats and vice-versa. Calls to investigateFollowing a meeting in Berlin with his counterparts from 26 European Union countries, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said forcefully that Russia had an obligation to carry out a thorough investigation, something many countries have called for. FILE – Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny takes part in a rally, in Moscow, Feb. 29, 2020.”Russia must contribute more to clearing up the Navalny case, and the investigations that we expect must not remain a fig leaf,” Maas told reporters. “The background to this act must be investigated comprehensively and transparently, and those responsible — directly and indirectly —brought to account.” So far, Russian authorities appear reluctant to investigate the politician’s condition. Navalny’s team submitted a request last week to Russia’s Investigative Committee, demanding authorities launch a criminal probe on charges of an attempt on the life of a public figure and attempted murder, but said there was no reaction.  Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he saw no grounds for a criminal case until the cause of the politician’s condition was fully established. Russia’s Prosecutor General’s office said Thursday that a preliminary inquiry launched last week hasn’t found any indication of “deliberate criminal acts committed against” Navalny. Growing supportThe dissident’s supporters are not surprised at the Kremlin’s reaction. “They understand that any investigation will lead to the Kremlin,” Lyubov Sobol, a prominent opposition politician and one of Navalny’s closest allies, told The Associated Press on Friday. “They’re not launching a criminal probe … because they will have to answer at some point what the results of the investigation are.”FILE – Russian opposition activist Lyubov Sobol speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Moscow, Russia, Aug. 15, 2019.Sobol says while Navalny’s condition hasn’t prompted big protests in Russia, it has stirred the outrage brewing there. “I saw a lot of comments from well-known public figures in Russia who have never spoken out for Alexei Navalny before, (but now) spoke their minds and said that this was outrageous, it shouldn’t be this way,” Sobol said. “It’s a turning point.” Even with their leader in the hospital, Navalny’s team continues its work on corruption investigations and regional election campaigns in Moscow and dozens of other regions. Navalny’s most recent project, Smart Voting, identifies candidates that are most likely to beat those from Putin’s United Russia party and his supporters actively campaign for them.  According to Sobol, the team is used to working in his absence — frequently arrested, Navalny has spent more than a year in jail in recent years.  “So we know how to work without direct orders from Navalny. We understand what we need to do,” Sobol said.  
 
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The British government announced Friday plans to fast-track any viable COVID-19 vaccine, allowing the emergency use of the drug before it goes through the formal licensing process, if it meets certain safety and quality standards.In a statement the British government, said if a viable vaccine is discovered before the end of the year, the proposals will bolster existing powers that allow the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to consider approving its use, before a full product license is granted, provided it is proven to be safe and effective.The measures are necessary because during the transition period, a new potential COVID-19 vaccine must be granted a license after a review by the European Medicines Agency a process than can often take months.A handout image released by 10 Downing Street, shows Britain’s new Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England Jonathan Van-Tam speaking at a remote press conference, May 30, 2020.Britain’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said in the statement, “If we develop effective vaccines, it’s important we make them available to patients as quickly as possible but only once strict safety standards have been met.”The new guidelines also call for expanding the number of trained health care workers who can administer any potential COVID-19 vaccines as well as flu vaccines.The government said a three-week “consultation” is being launched immediately for health experts and key stakeholder groups to consider the new proposals. If approved they could be in place as early as October.Britain has had the worst COVID-19 death toll of any European country.
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The Russian navy conducted major war games near Alaska involving dozens of ships and aircraft, the military said Friday, the biggest such drills in the area since Soviet times.  
 
Russia’s navy chief, Adm. Nikolai Yevmenov, said that more than 50 warships and about 40 aircraft were taking part in the exercise in the Bering Sea, which involved multiple practice missile launches.  
 
“We are holding such massive drills there for the first time ever,” Yevmenov said in a statement released by the Russian Defense Ministry.
 
It wasn’t immediately clear when the exercises began or if they had finished.
 
Yevmenov emphasized that the war games are part of Russia’s efforts to boost its presence in the Arctic region and protect its resources.
 
“We are building up our forces to ensure the economic development of the region,” he said. “We are getting used to the Arctic spaces.”
 
The Russian military has rebuilt and expanded numerous facilities across the polar region in recent years, revamping runways and deploying additional air defense assets.
 
Russia has prioritized boosting its military presence in the Arctic region, which is believed to hold up to one-quarter of the Earth’s undiscovered oil and gas. Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited estimates that put the value of Arctic mineral riches at $30 trillion.
 
Russia’s Pacific Fleet, whose assets were taking part in the maneuvers, said the Omsk nuclear submarine and the Varyag missile cruiser launched cruise missiles at a practice target in the Bering Sea as part of the exercise.
 
The maneuvers also saw Onyx cruise missiles being fired at a practice target in the Gulf of Anadyr from the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula, it added.
 
As the exercise was ongoing, U.S. military spotted a Russian submarine surfacing near Alaska on Thursday. U.S. Northern Command spokesman Bill Lewis noted that the Russian military exercise is taking place in international waters, well outside U.S. territory.
 
Lewis said the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command were closely monitoring the submarine. He added that they haven’t received any requests for assistance from the Russian navy but stand ready to assist those in distress.
 
Russian state RIA Novosti news agency quoted Russia’s Pacific Fleet sources as saying that the surfacing of the Omsk nuclear submarine was routine.
 
It cited former Russian navy’s chief of staff, retired Adm. Viktor Kravchenko, as saying that by having the submarine surface in the area the navy may have wanted to send a deliberate signal.
 
“It’s a signal that we aren’t asleep and we are wherever we want,” RIA Novosti quoted Kravchenko as saying.
 
The presence of Russian military assets in the area caused a stir for U.S. commercial fishing vessels in the Bering Sea on Wednesday.
 
“We were notified by multiple fishing vessels that were operating out the Bering Sea that they had come across these vessels and were concerned,” U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Kip Wadlow said Thursday.
 
The Coast Guard contacted the Alaskan Command at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, which confirmed the ships were there as part of a pre-planned Russian military exercise that was known to some U.S. military officials, he said.
 
The Russian military has expanded the number and the scope of its war games in recent years as Russia-West relations have sunk to their lowest level since the Cold War after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, and other crises.
 
  
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