The independent Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta has called on Moscow authorities to investigate a “chemical attack” against its premises after a security camera recorded a person spraying its office entrance with an unknown liquid.The media outlet, which shares the premises with several other companies in the Russian capital, demanded the investigation on March 16, a day after a strong chemical odor swept through the building. Late on March 15, a video allegedly taken by a CCTV camera  at the building circulated on the Internet showing a man in a Yandex.Food delivery uniform spraying an unknown liquid near the building’s entrance from a device on the back wheel of the bike he was riding.”Look, it is now a device for terrorist acts — a false courier sprays a poisonous gas that is in a container installed on a bicycle. The idea is clear: the employees step in the poison and then distribute it to all of the floors in the building,” Novaya Gazeta said in a statement.A spokeswoman at Yandex.Food told the website Mediazona that the company did not receive any orders from the address where Novaya Gazeta is located.Novaya Gazeta’s staff members have said the odor in the building was very similar to one that was present when the home and car of correspondent Yulia Latynina was sprinkled with an unknown chemical in 2017.That same year the newspaper received a letter with an unknown white powder inside, which later was shown to be harmless.In October 2018, unknown people brought three cages with sheep wearing vests with the inscription PRESS on them.Several days before that, unknown individuals threw a funeral wreath in front of the periodical’s building with notes threatening Denis Korotkov, a correspondent for the newspaper. Days later a sheep’s head was found near the office with a note threatening all reporters at Novaya Gazeta.Six Novaya Gazeta journalists, including well-known reporters Yury Shchekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, and Anastasia Baburova, have been killed since 2001. 
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament Tuesday that his government will seek to strengthen ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific region in the wake of the nation’s departure from the European Union.The shift is part of his government’s so-called Integrated Review of national security and international policy, a year-long study by his government that he highlighted for lawmakers. Calling it the most comprehensive review of British defense and foreign relations since the Cold War ended, Johnson said its purpose is to make the nation safer, stronger and more prosperous, while standing up for its values.”The review describes how we will bolster our alliances, strengthen our capabilities, find new ways of reaching solutions and relearn the art of competing against states with opposing values,” he told members of parliament.As part of Britain’s pivot toward Asia, Johnson said he has invited the leaders of Australia, South Korea and India to attend the G-7 summit in the British resort town of Carbis Bay, in June. Johnson plans to visit India next month and announced that Britain has applied to become a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He said Britain will also seek to join the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement.The prime minister said his plan calls for Britain to invest at least $9.1 billion to fund advanced and next-generation research and development in areas including space, directed energy weapons, and advanced high-speed missiles.To reaffirm that Britain is “unswervingly committed” to leadership in NATO, Johnson said the government will increase its defense budget by more than $33 billion over the next four years and remain the largest European spender on defense in NATO, with expenditures now standing at 2.2% of its gross domestic production. Britain will deploy more of its armed forces overseas more often and for longer periods of time, while cybersecurity will also be strengthened, he said.Johnson also told lawmakers the United States remains Britain’s most important bilateral relationship in defense, intelligence and security.He added that while China would pose a great challenge to what he described as Britain’s “open society,” his government would continue to work with Beijing whenever it was “consistent with our values and interests.”
 
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Despite the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, France is once again under pressure to take new measures to curb a new spread of the virus in the country.  The situation is once again deteriorating rapidly in the French capital. Hospitals in the Paris region are close to capacity and health professionals are rushing daily to find beds for their COVID patients. As of Monday, more than 4,200 patients were in intensive care units across France. The pandemic’s third wave is a reality in France and health workers have been evacuating seriously ill COVID patients to other parts of the country to cope with bed shortages. Enrique Casalino, a medical director with Hopitaux de Paris, the largest health system in Europe, describes the epidemic situation as deteriorating in the Paris region where every 12 minutes a new patient enters an intensive care unit. Casalino thinks medical evacuation to other French regions is just a temporary solution that does not solve the current crisis. He says there are only two options: a quick and massive immunization campaign to safeguard 70% of the population, which he doubts is currently achievable in France. The other would be a strict lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading further.On top of a delay in the delivery of vaccines, France is among European nations that are pausing the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to public concerns about side effects.Lockdowns have already been imposed in some hotspots in France, including Dunkirk and Nice, but not in the capital region.  A national nighttime curfew has been in force since the end of January, and bars, restaurants, museums, and movie theaters remain closed.  Still, a general lockdown in the Paris region has not been ordered.  Jerome Béglé, deputy director at Le Point, a French weekly, sees a lockdown of the Paris region as equivalent to a national lockdown as this region is the main economic center of France with 12 million people living there and a few tourists still visiting.With neighboring Italy imposing new restrictions Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron resisted the idea of a third national lockdown.Jean Castex, France’s prime minister says a national lockdown would be a last resort that cannot be ruled out due to the current situation. He says he would like to avoid one as it would place a heavy burden on the population.More than 90,000 people have died so far in France due to the COVID. The country is expected to reach a dreaded 100,000-death milestone next month.
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Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders appeared until recently to have faded into political irrelevance, thanks partly to the country’s mainstream parties’ adoption of some of his populist positions. Rivals on the populist right, notably Thierry Baudet, started to eclipse Wilders.  But the controversial firebrand seems to be on the brink of pulling off a strong electoral showing with his party, the Party for Freedom, PVV, likely to place second in Wednesday’s parliamentary elections, according to opinion polls.Pollsters say the PVV is on course to retain the 20 seats it won in 2017, and analysts and commentators say that if that holds true, it will amount to a comeback by Wilders, whose party has struggled to keep its political footing and stumbled in 2019 when it went from nine seats to five in elections for the national parliament’s upper house. Dutch anti-immigration, anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders speaks to the media following the verdict in his appeal in Schiphol near Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sept. 4, 2020.In the same year, his anti-immigrant and anti-EU party just scrambled to reach the electoral threshold to gain a single seat in the European Parliament. Wilders was dismissed as a has-been. Baudet was seen as the new face of alt-right in the Netherlands. Euro-skeptics gainingWilders also stood out less with other parties embracing, to varying degrees, euro-skepticism.A record number of 37 parties are competing for seats in the 150-strong lower house. All the eve-of-election polls are giving the right-wing liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, VVD, of incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte a clear lead in the elections. His party is projected to get at least 30 seats in the lower house.EU negotiations last year over a coronavirus recovery fund for member states ran into an impasse partly thanks to Rutte, who took on the leadership role of the so-called “frugal four” north European countries opposed to an $857 billion EU stimulus package. Rutte was nicknamed “Mr. No No No!” for his opposition to the package and he’s seen as the leader of what Eurocrats dub “the awkward squad.” Third place in the elections is likely to go to the Christian Democratic Appeal party, CDA, which has moved further to the right under the leadership of Wopke Hoekstra, the country’s finance minister, who was also an outspoken critic of the EU’s post-pandemic financial stimulus plan, which will see richer European countries help out poorer ones. Wilders said this week that the three largest parties after the election should immediately enter into coalition discussions, but Rutte has ruled that out, saying he won’t include the PVV in talks about forming a new government.  The same happened in 2017 when the PVV was shut out of government.That, according to Wilders, is “undemocratic.” “Voters are in charge, not Mark Rutte,’ Wilders told NPO Radio 1 Monday. But he still harbors hopes, saying Rutte is a “full-blooded power broker” who will cut whatever deal he needs to stay in office. Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders of the PVV party and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the VVD Liberal party take part in a televised debate in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 11, 2021.Some analysts question whether Wilders has any interest in actually joining a government. If he had, they say, he would have been more circumspect in his rhetoric in the lead-up to the polls. Controversial figureWilders says that he wants the Netherlands to return to “a country without headscarves, but with traditional Dutch coziness,” and backs the contentious tradition of Black Pete, when children and adults dress as “blackface” during the December holiday of Sinterklaas.  
“We express that our own culture is best. And we’re proud of that! Unfortunately, the attack on the Netherlands’ culture went into high speed last year because of the glorification of dangerous activist groups like Black Lives Matter and Kick Out Black Pete,” Wilders says in the PVV manifesto. The folklore character of Black Pete is a helper of the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas and has been the focus of fierce debate for years in the Netherlands.Racial inequality has been debated in the election campaigning, mainly pushed by minor parties. Sylvana Simons, a former TV presenter who leads a small party called ‘Together,’ says she hopes those who gathered last year to support Black Lives Matter, which head to the polls.Simons, who was born in Suriname and at 18 months moved with her parents to the Netherlands,  told Associated Press: “It was good to see that so many people said, ‘enough is enough’ and they came out and spoke out. And I do also hope that they will use that same voice when we have our general elections.” But pollsters say Simons’ party will struggle to gain even one seat.Housing shortages, the environment, health care and education have all figured in election campaigning. Rutte’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has also been an issue. The 54-year-old’s favorability ratings had held up well for most of last year, but a prolonged lockdown has begun to dent his popularity in recent weeks. And Wilders has sought to profit from the Dutch impatience. “What are you doing Premier Rutte? You are holding an entire country hostage in fear and captivity,” Wilders has charged. 
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An investment deal between China and the European Union restricts Europeans from investing in Chinese media and entertainment companies but does not block Chinese firms from investing in European ones, according to newly released details.  Despite mounting alarm about Chinese disinformation and propaganda campaigns in Europe, the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment pact, announced Friday, gives Chinese firms a significant advantage in the media sector, critics say.  FILE – National security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Feb. 4, 2021.The deal, which was signed in principle in December, has drawn fire from Washington. Days before the agreement was struck, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan urged the Europeans to delay completing negotiations, calling in a tweet for “early consultation with our European partners on our common concerns about China’s economic practices.” Critics on both sides of the Atlantic say the deal will give China preferential access to European markets while Beijing continues to tamp down Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and maintain detention centers in Xinjiang province, where China’s Communist government has interned more than a million Uyghurs, according to rights groups. Growing criticismThe agreement still has several stages to go before adoption and needs to be ratified by the European Parliament. The rules governing investment access to the media and entertainment sector are quickly becoming the focus of criticism from some European lawmakers, mostly members of the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), the largest grouping in the European Parliament.  In a statement, the EPP has urged European commissioners to “develop an EU-wide regulatory system to prevent media companies either funded or controlled by governments to acquire European media companies.”  China has invested around $3.5 billion in European media firms in the past decade. EU officials say the investment deal is merely enshrining access rules that the bloc and China had agreed under World Trade Organization terms.  FILE – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet remotely, in Brussels, Dec. 30, 2020.The deal “does not create any new rights for the Chinese investors in (the) media sector,” according to a European Commission spokesperson. Under the terms, Chinese investors in media companies should be treated the same as European investors and enjoy similar market access. But the deal does not afford European investors the same rights. French lawmaker Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, a liberal in the European Parliament, has “even more questions than before,” since further details of the investment deal became public last week.  She said the EU is treating China as a partner, but Beijing is not reciprocating. Other lawmakers point to recent studies tracking Chinese influence that show when Chinese firms, mainly state-owned, invest in European media, China’s coverage of the new acquisitions turn more positive. In a study published last year, MapInfluenCE, a foreign policy research group operated by the Association for International Affairs, concluded that “local audiences in Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia have increasingly become direct targets of not only ‘mask diplomacy,’ but more complex propaganda efforts promote a positive image of China, strain transatlantic relations and directly attempt to rewrite narratives around sensitive issues.” Eleven member states, mostly central European, including Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, remain concerned about the deal and are reserving the right to treat Chinese investors differently.  Media restrictionsChina is a major trading partner for the EU. Over the past 20 years, European companies have invested $174 billion in China. The European Commission said the investment agreement will provide overall improved market access and fairer rules for European companies in China, investors and service providers.  FILE – European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis speaks at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, March 10, 2021.”The agreement provides a clear and enforceable framework of rules, which will give EU businesses greater access and more certainty when investing in China,” the bloc’s trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said in a statement last week. Critics of the deal say there is no level playing field when it comes to the media. China’s state-controlled CCTV channels are broadcast without hindrance across Europe, but restrictions are placed by China on European broadcasters.  Outside the EU, Britain and China have disagreed over the media. Last month, the Beijing government banned BBC World News after the channel ran a string of reports on accusations of systematic rape of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.  FILE – Britain’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Dominic Raab walks outside Downing Street in London, Britain, Feb. 3, 2021.British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the move an “unacceptable curtailing of media freedom.”  The U.S. State Department condemned the decision, calling it part of a wider campaign to suppress free media in China. China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) said BBC World News had “seriously violated” broadcast guidelines, including a “requirement that news should be truthful and fair” and not “harm China’s national interests.”  Earlier this year, British media regulator Ofcom revoked state broadcaster China Global Television Network’s (CGTN) license to broadcast in Britain. The details of the EU-China investment pact will likely add to the Biden administration’s dismay over the EU’s decision to advance the deal. U.S. President Joe Biden wants a “united front” when it comes to China to increase leverage on Beijing.  Analysts have warned for weeks that the EU and the Biden administration will not see eye to eye on the best ways to handle an increasingly assertive China. 
 
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British lawmakers are set to vote Monday on whether misogyny constitutes a hate crime in the aftermath of the killing of a woman in London. Lawmakers are proposing an amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill, which would require police in both England and Wales to keep track of cases of violence motivated by misogyny. Set to be debated in the House of Lords, Britain’s upper parliamentary chamber, the amendment has cross-party support. “This is our moment for change,” said parliamentarian Stella Creasy of the Labor Party, who proposed the amendment. “Rather than telling women not to worry about violence or to stay home at night if they want to be safe, it’s time to send a message that women should be equally able to live free from fear of assault or harm from those who target them simply for who they are.” Labor Party parliamentarian Alicia Kennedy added that “this is a simple measure that we could take now to start making sure every woman is safer at home and on our streets.”  The change was inspired by the slaying of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, who was kidnapped and killed on her way home on March 3. Wayne Couzens, a police officer who has been charged with kidnapping and murder in her death, will appear in court Tuesday. FILE – A sign is seen as people gather at a memorial site in Clapham Common Bandstand, following the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard, in London, Britain, March 13, 2021.A September report from the British Law Commission concluded that misogyny should be treated in the same way as discrimination against other groups. In Britain, protections — that can carry harsher sentences — already exist for race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity. The bill also has the support of conservative and cross-bench parliamentarians, as well as of human rights organizations such as Citizens U.K., U.N. Women U.K., and the Fawcett Society.  
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Germany, France and Italy are the latest European countries to halt the rollout of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine following reports of possible adverse side effects – but as Henry Ridgwell reports, the World Health Organization says the drug is safe. Camera: Henry Ridgwell    
 
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Russia said Wednesday it was restricting the use of Twitter on the grounds the company has not removed banned content. State communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said if Twitter does not comply with Russian law, there will be further actions against the service, including a complete ban. The agency said Wednesday’s action involved slowing service speeds for all those in Russia accessing Twitter on mobile devices and half of those using the service in other ways. Twitter did not immediately comment on the new restrictions. The move is the latest by Russia to tighten control of the internet. It previously banned a number of websites, including Dailymotion and LinkedIn. 
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Greece’s prime minister appealed for calm Tuesday night after youths protesting an incident of police violence attacked an Athens police station with firebombs and severely injured one officer. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis issued a statement strongly condemning the violence at the march.  “Blind rage leads nowhere,” Mitsotakis said. “These scenes of violence must be the last.” The violence came during a demonstration by about 5,000 people, according to a police estimate, in the southern Nea Smyrni district, about 4 kilometers southwest of central Athens. Hundreds of youths threw firebombs and stones at police, who tried to repel them with water cannons, tear gas and stun grenades. At one point in the clashes, rioters pulled down a police officer riding pillion in a column of motorcycle police. Dozens rushed at him, hitting him with clubs and stones and raining blows on him. Other officers eventually succeeded in repelling the mob, and the injured police officer was taken to hospital. A police officer stands over an injured companion during a demonstration against a police crackdown on gatherings, in Athens, Greece, March 9, 2021.“It should serve as a wake-up call that the life … of a young policeman was endangered,” Mitsotakis said. “At this point everyone must display restraint and calm.” Opposition parties also condemned the riots. Police said another two officers were injured, and 10 people were arrested on suspicion of taking part in the riots. There were no immediate reports on injured demonstrators. Rioters also caused extensive damage to parked vehicles. Before the demonstration started, police said they had confiscated quantities of firebombs destined for use by violent protesters. They said several participants in the march were armed with iron bars. The march to the Nea Smyrni police station was in reaction to an incident on Sunday during police enforcement of pandemic lockdown measures in a square in the same area. Video showed a police officer repeatedly beating with a baton a man who did not appear to have engaged in any threatening behavior. Police said officers had earlier been attacked by dozens of people who objected to them trying to issue fines to people who were not obeying lockdown restrictions. An investigation has been ordered into Sunday’s incident. 
 
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Buckingham Palace said Tuesday the British royal family is “saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the past few years have been” for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, popularly known as Harry and Meghan.Following a widely publicized CBS interview Sunday with Oprah Winfrey, in which issues of race, family dynamics and suicidal thoughts were raised, a Buckingham Palace statement issued on behalf of Queen Elizabeth said, “While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”The statement, published on Twitter, also said the couple and their son Archie will always be “much loved family members.”The statement comes after Markle, who is biracial, said a member of the family raised concerns over “how dark” Archie would be. The former actress is now pregnant with her second child.In February, the palace announced the duke and duchess would not return as working royals, almost a year after it was announced that they would be stepping down from their duties as working members of the royal family. The couple moved to North America later that year. They currently reside in California.Tuesday marks the first time the royal family has publicly responded to the issues raised in the Sunday interview. 
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With the Kremlin cutting deals to ship its Sputnik V vaccine to countries struggling to combat the coronavirus, Russian soft power is on display. Yet the global outreach campaign is happening amid signs the government is struggling to inoculate its own population at home.  For VOA from Moscow, Charles Maynes reports.Camera: Ricardo Marquina
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The European Parliament voted Tuesday to waive the immunity of the former head of Spain’s Catalonia region and two other separatists, raising the prospect they could be extradited to Spain to face sedition charges.
 
Carles Puigdemont and former cabinet members Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati have had immunity since winning seats in the European Parliament, and they plan to appeal Tuesday’s decision.
 
The Spanish government welcomed the European Parliament vote, saying the country’s matters should be settled internally.
 
Puigdemont and other separatists fled after a 2017 independence referendum for the Catalonia region.  Puigdemont and Comin have been in self-imposed exile in Belgium, while Ponsati has been in Scotland.
 
Voters overwhelmingly approved the referendum, but the Spanish government called it illegal.  A police crackdown injured hundreds of people in Catalonia.
 
In addition to sedition charges, Puigdemont and Comin are also facing charges of misusing public funds.
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The United States denounced Monday what it called a Russian disinformation campaign against U.S.-made COVID-19 vaccines, saying Moscow was putting lives at risk. The Global Engagement Center, an arm of the State Department whose activities include monitoring foreign propaganda, said that Russian intelligence was behind four online platforms involved in a campaign. The sites have “included disinformation about two of the vaccines that have now been approved by the FDA in this country,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “It is very clear that Russia is up to its old tricks, and in doing so is potentially putting people at risk by spreading disinformation about vaccines that we know to be saving lives every day,” Price said.A medical specialist holds a vial of Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus in a department store in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 2, 2021.The Wall Street Journal first reported on the Global Engagement Center’s findings, which said that the websites played up risks of the U.S.-made Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in an apparent bid to boost Russia’s homegrown Sputnik V. In an assessment provided last year to AFP, the Global Engagement Center said that thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts have run a coordinated campaign to undermine official narratives on COVID-19 including by spreading allegations of U.S. involvement. The center found that China briefly made a similar effort but ultimately decided it made more traction by highlighting Beijing’s own efforts. U.S. intelligence has long suspected Russia in disinformation campaigns on health, including spreading the myth in the 1980s that U.S. scientists created the HIV virus that causes AIDS. 
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For her studies in quieting wind turbines and making other forms of renewable energy more competitive, a University of California-Merced student from Germany has been awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University in the U.K. In October, Selina Brinkmann will start four years of study, all expenses paid, courtesy of the Rhodes program that awards a mere 102 scholarships each year to academically outstanding applicants around the world. Brinkmann told VOA she is passionate about renewable energy and has focused her research on desalinating farm wastewater in the agriculturally lush Central Valley of California. The valley produces half of all fruits and vegetables in the U.S., but requires massive irrigation, some of which requires desalination.  “I’m working on the third alternative, which will allow them to reuse the wet content of their drainage water — the water, because that’s valuable, especially here because it’s so dry — while also not having any salt, like on the ground,” Brinkmann said.  Prior to UC-Merced, Brinkmann attended the University of Siegen in Germany and spent a year in the U.S. at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. Brinkmann said that her parents were very supportive of her and her three siblings growing up. They expected her to achieve, but weren’t strict about it, she said.   “My parents would never be upset with me if I had bad grades if I showed that I actually tried it,” she said. “My parents would really get annoyed at me though, if I was just like not doing anything and then got a bad grade — that was bad. So, they were definitely into education.”  After graduating high school in Germany, Brinkmann spent a year in Edinburgh, Scotland, before attending the University of Siegen. “I went to my local university and I stayed at home, which was nice,” Brinkmann said. “It allowed me to save up money for traveling and doing my own hobbies,” which include backpacking, dancing and ultimate frisbee.  In her third year, she studied abroad on a grant in the U.S. at the University of Tulsa. A graduate student fellowship followed through the DAAD — the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, or the German Academic Exchange Service. Brinkmann applied to the German Rhodes Scholarship in fall 2020, working toward her Ph.D. to follow the master’s degree she is working on now. The Rhodes interview was conducted over video. “Yeah, so and then the unique thing is, you obviously hear back the same day, which considering the time difference was really nice, because I just went to bed and woke up in the morning to get the email,” she explained to VOA.  Her plans for Oxford fit in with her experience and passion for renewable energy. She reached out to two professors at Oxford before even applying to the Rhodes Scholarship. “I’ll be joining the center for doctoral training in wind and marine energy systems and structures,” she said. She noted that the program combines her precise interests: sustainable energy and turbo machinery. Brinkmann is excited for the opportunity, but acknowledged how daunting studying at Oxford is.  “It’s not like any university,” she said.  
 
Other famous Rhodes Scholars include former President Bill Clinton, U.S. senator Cory Booker, American actor and songwriter Kris Kristofferson, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow.  
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New controversy is brewing for Britain’s royal family after an interview on U.S. television with Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle raised questions of possible racism in the royal family. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.Camera: Henry Ridgwell    
 
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France may soon join a handful of countries with laws aimed at repatriating stolen money and assets to their countries of origin. But anti-corruption watchdogs say the draft legislation needs changes to ensure the assets don’t go back to corrupt leaders.  Lisa Bryant reports from Paris. 
Camera: Lisa Bryant, agencies 
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The Italian Health Ministry Monday changed course and signed an order approving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for people 65 and older. Even though Europe’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, fully approved the vaccine, the Italian government initially balked, as did Germany, at giving the vaccine to people over 65 due to “limited data” on its efficacy within that age group. Germany has reversed course on its use, as well. The doubts raised by some health officials prompted people to turn down the vaccine, resulting in doses going unused and slowing down the vaccination process throughout the continent. Italy’s decision comes as the nation’s COVID-19 death toll approaches 100,000 since the pandemic started. The nation is expected to pass the milestone by Tuesday. Syrian President and First Lady Test Covid-19 Positive ‘They are in good health and their condition is stable,’ the statement added. Meanwhile, Britain reopened all its schools Monday for the first time since late 2020. The openings come as the country experiences some of its lowest coronavirus death tolls since October. The coronavirus causes the COVID-19 disease. Also on Monday, Vietnam launched its COVID-19 vaccination program, with its front-line health care workers and first responders receiving the first shots.  In Japan, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the country will speed up its vaccination program after a slow start due to vaccine and syringe shortages. Three weeks in, a little more than 46,500 front-line medical workers have received their shots. The elderly will be next in line.  The Reuters news agency reported that Suga promised to have enough of the shots to vaccinate the entire population by the start of the Summer Olympics in July.  The European Union has warned member states against buying Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, since the EU has not yet completed a review of it. Despite the warning, several nations have made moves to purchase the vaccine.  The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Monday that there are almost 117 million global coronavirus cases.   The United States has more infections than any other location with nearly 30 million, followed by India with 11.2 million and Brazil with 11 million. 
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 Italian state police arrested an Algerian citizen in Italy’s southern city of Bari Monday who is suspected of belonging to Islamic State and providing help for the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.  Police identified the 36-year-old Algerian as Athmane Touami, also known as Tomi Mahraz.   According to investigators, Touami gave direct support for the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks at the Bataclan concert hall, the Stade de France, and in three boroughs of Paris on Nov. 13, 2015. The Paris attacks in which hundreds more people were wounded, were France’s deadliest since World War II. Touami is also believed to have provided counterfeit documents to the gunmen and bombers who participated in the attacks, a statement by the Bari police said. Athmane Touami, his brothers Medhi and Lyes, and several other individuals, some of them not yet identified, had been operating in Italy and Algeria, as well as in France, Belgium, Spain and Syria, with links to radical jihadist circles, the statement said. Athmane Touami has been in prison in Bari since 2019, because while in the Temporary Detention Center for migrants in Bari, he was found in possession of false documents used to move freely in the countries of the Schengen zone.    He was tried and sentenced to two years in prison, and due for release on June 19, 2021.  
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Britain opened all its schools Monday. The openings come as the country has experienced some of its lowest coronavirus death tolls since October.Vietnam began its COVID-19 vaccination program Monday with its front-line health care workers as the first recipients of the shots.Japan’s rollout of its COVID vaccine program has been slow, hampered by vaccine and syringe shortages. Three weeks in, a little over 46,500 front-line medical workers have received their shots. The elderly will be the next in line.Japan, however, intends to speed up its vaccination program. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has promised to have enough of the shots to vaccinate Japan’s entire population by the start of the Summer Olympics in July, according to Reuters.The European Union has warned member states against purchasing Russia’s COVID vaccine since the EU has not yet finished its review of Sputnik V. Despite the warning, several nations have made moves to purchase the vaccine.Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Monday that there are almost 117 million global coronavirus cases.The U.S. has more infections that any other location with nearly 30 million, followed by India with 11.2 million and Brazil with 11 million.
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Meghan, the wife of Prince Harry, accused Britain’s royal family of raising concerns about how dark their son’s skin might be and pushing her to the brink of suicide, in a tell-all television interview that could send shockwaves through the monarchy.The 39-year-old, whose mother is Black and father is white, said she had been naive before she married into royalty in 2018, but that she ended up having suicidal thoughts and considering self-harm after pleading for help but getting none.Meghan said that her son, Archie, now 1, had been denied the title of prince because there were concerns within the royal family about “about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.””That was relayed to me from Harry, those were conversations that family had with him,” Meghan recounted in an interview with Oprah Winfrey aired on CBS late Sunday.Meghan declined to say who had aired such concerns, as did Harry, who said his family had cut them off financially and that his father, Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, had let him down and refused to take his calls at one point.Buckingham Palace had no immediate comment about the interview, which aired in the early hours of Monday morning in Britain.The sit-down conversation with Winfrey was the most anticipated royal interview since Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana, shared intimate details of her failed marriage to Charles in 1995, denting the heir’s reputation and the family’s standing in the eyes of the British public.Nearly three years since her star-studded wedding in Windsor Castle, Meghan described some unidentified members of the royal household as brutal, mendacious and guilty of racist remarks.She also accused Kate, the wife of her husband’s elder brother, Prince William, of making her cry before her wedding.While the family came in for open criticism, neither Harry nor Meghan attacked Queen Elizabeth directly.Still, Meghan said she had been silenced by “the Firm” — which Elizabeth heads — and that her pleas for help while in distress at racist reporting and her predicament had fallen on deaf ears.”I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. And I remember how he (Harry) just cradled me,” Meghan said, wiping away tears.’Really let down’Harry and Meghan’s announcement in January 2020 that they intended to step down from their royal roles plunged the family into crisis. Last month, Buckingham Palace confirmed the split would be permanent, as the couple looks to forge an independent life in the United States.Harry, 36, said they had stepped back from royal duties because of a lack of understanding, and he was worried about history repeating itself — a reference to the death of his mother, Diana, who was killed in a 1997 crash as her car sped away from pursuing photographers.Asked what his mother would say about events, he said: “I think she would feel very angry with how this has panned out and very sad.”He felt “really let down” by his father and added: “My family literally cut me off financially.”Harry denied blindsiding Queen Elizabeth, his grandmother, with his decision to shun life within the monarchy, but said his father stopped taking his calls at one point.”I had three conversations with my grandmother, and two conversations with my father before he stopped taking my calls. And then he said, ‘Can you put this all in writing?’”Detractors say the couple wanted the limelight but were not willing to live with the attention it brought. To supporters, their treatment shows how an outdated British institution lashed out against a modern, independent biracial woman.Lies and tearsThere have also been allegations of bullying against Meghan which appeared in The Times newspaper in the buildup to the couple’s appearance. Buckingham Palace said it would investigate the claims, adding it was “very concerned.”Meghan told Winfrey that people within the royal institution not only failed to protect her against malicious claims but lied to protect others.”It was only once we were married and everything started to really worsen that I came to understand that not only was I not being protected, but that they were willing to lie to protect other members of the family,” Meghan said.Meghan denied a newspaper story that she had made Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, cry before the wedding and said it was a turning point in her relations with the media and the palace.”The reverse happened,” Meghan said. “A few days before the wedding she (Kate) was upset about something, pertaining to yes, the issue was correct about the flower girl dresses, and it made me cry. And it really hurt my feelings.”Meghan, who said they were not paid for the interview, conceded she had not realized what she was marrying into when she joined the British monarchy and “went into it naively.”The couple also revealed that Meghan, who is pregnant with their second child, was expecting a girl.Harry said Meghan had “saved” him from his trapped royal life. “I would disagree, I think he saved all of us. You made a decision that certainly saved my life,” Meghan said.”This is in some ways just the beginning for us.”
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A particularly spectacular blast from Italy’s Mount Etna volcano belched out a towering cloud of ash and lava stone Sunday onto Sicilian villages, the latest in a series of explosions since mid-February.Italy’s national geophysics and volcanology institute INGV said the powerful explosion at 2 a.m. local time was the 10th such big blast since February 16, when Europe’s most active volcano started giving off an impressive demonstration of nature’s fire power, coloring the night sky in hues of orange and red.  Increasing tremors rattled the mountain throughout much of the night. Ash and small lava stones rained down on eight villages on Etna’s slopes Sunday morning, while lava flowed from the southeast crater slowly down an uninhabited side, as it has been doing for the last three weeks, the institute said.  The column of ash and lava reached a height of 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) on Sunday, according to scientists who monitor volcanic activity with specialized instruments from an observatory at Etna in eastern Sicily.Locals swept ash and lava stones from their front steps and balconies. They have taken to covering cars parked outdoors with carpets, blankets and sheets of cardboard to make cleanup easier after each blast. Winds helped carry the ash eastward, INGV said.No injuries or serious damage have been reported after the recent blasts. Geologically active, Etna occasionally becomes particularly noisy and explosive as it has been lately.By midmorning, Etna’s latest display of activity had slowed somewhat with the lava flow ending, although the volcano was still puffing out a “weak emission of ash” from the southeast crater. A few hours later, the volcanic tremors picked up again, the INGV said in a statement.  The INGV scientists say there is no way of predicting when this current round of particularly robust volcanic activity might subside.
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Illegal migrants and refugees in Greece will take a back seat in the nation’s coronavirus vaccination drive, the government in Athens has said, stoking concerns that more than 70,000 asylum-seekers, stuck in squalid living conditions, may become more vulnerable, according to aid workers and the United Nations.In rolling out the vaccine program last month, the center-right government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis vowed to make asylum-seekers eligible for the jab.
 
But Aristotelia Peloni, a government spokesperson, said this past week that thousands of migrants and refugees stuck in some 30 camps across the country or left adrift without proper accommodation, waiting for years to have their asylum requests heard, were not a priority.
 
“There is a provision for [migrant] inoculations to take place in closed areas, but for the time being others have priority, mainly elders … and vulnerable groups that will soon be added into the program regardless of age,” she told a news conference.
 
As of February 1, only the Netherlands and Spain have included migrants into their vaccination programs, according to the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM). Britain also offers free coronavirus testing and vaccinations for undocumented migrants. And Germany, most recently, said migrants would be second in line in its ongoing vaccination drive.
 
People older than age 85 have led Greece’s vaccination campaign, including senior government officials, health workers, police, coast guard personnel and the military. Jabs for those 60 and older have followed in recent weeks in a second and third wave of inoculation against the deadly virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.
 
But the government’s “Greeks first” vaccination policy has critics here fearing it echoes strong anti-immigrant sentiment and rhetoric once trumpeted by the leaders of Golden Dawn, one of Europe’s most violent neo-Nazi groups.
 
Humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, are urging the government to clarify its policy regarding migrants.
 
“No one is safe until everyone is safe,” said Peter Kessler, the senior communications officer for the U.N.’s agency in Greece. “Ensuring that refugees and other non-nationals are included in the vaccine rollout and have access to vaccinations is key to protecting everyone and ending the pandemic.”
 
At least 70% of the population worldwide needs immunity to “sustainably slow the transmission of the virus.” And key to ending the pandemic, experts say, is ensuring that refugees are included in the vaccine rollout.
 
Since taking power in 2019, Mitsotakis’s center-right government has adopted a tougher stance on illegal migration, coming under increasing fire by aid organizations and the UNHCR for mistreating migrants and refugees, and by orchestrating covert operations to forcibly evict asylum-seekers.
 
In a report issued last month, aid group Aegean Boat Report documented the cases of 13 men, women and children it says were beaten, robbed and forced onto a life raft by Greek authorities on the island of Lesbos, only hours after illegally entering the country from Turkey.
 
The report said uniformed operatives removed the refugees from a camp on the island, claiming the refugees were being taken for COVID-19 testing.
 
“Instead,” the report said, “they were forced into an isobox, repeatedly beaten with batons, stripped of their possessions and forced into seas on an inflatable raft.”Greece has grappled with accusations of forced migrant returns and abuse since 2015, when about a million refugees, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, arrived in Europe to escape violence at home.
 
Forcing migrants to turn around is a serious breach of international law, violating asylum-seekers’ right to safe passage and protection.
 
Croatia, France, Spain, and Italy — all European Union member states that face similar migration challenges — also have been accused of engaging in unlawful, sometimes violent pushbacks.
 
Officials contacted by VOA on Sunday did not respond to requests for comment. Still, the government in Athens has repeatedly denied the allegations, claiming humanitarian groups have been aiding and abetting asylum-seekers in their quest to illegally enter Greece from Turkey and seek passage to the heart of Europe. Athens has also alleged that several of the non-governmental organizations have been working with human smugglers, allegedly facilitating illegal migration to Europe.
 
In February, NGO Mare Liberum said it alone had documented “close to 10,000 people” who were pushed back in 320 cases last year.
 
The group said the alleged pushbacks represented an “unprecedented escalation in human rights violations in the Aegean.”
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Pope Francis Sunday visited Christian communities in Iraq’s north, where the Islamic State group carried out its worst devastation, to bring encouragement and solace to those who suffered numerous atrocities and are trying to rebuild their homes and lives. Iraqis are also hoping to rebuild trust and hope for the future.Joyous celebrations welcomed Pope Francis to Iraq’s Christian heartland, first in Mosul where Iraqis shouted, “Viva Baba Francesco, long live Pope Francis, welcome to Nineveh.” Surrounded by the ruins of Islamic State militant destruction, the pope led prayers for the victims of war, saying, “Hope is more powerful than hatred.”    The pope then headed to the town of Qaraqosh, the heartland of Iraq’s once thriving Christian community of 50,000, where only half the population has returned after the jihadists destroyed infrastructure and laid mines in homes. He urged Christians to forgive injustices perpetrated by Muslim extremists against them and rebuild their lives once again.      “So do not lose hope; do not lose faith. Remember that we need to forgive. Have good courage to continue fighting, to continue to seek forgiveness. And I know it is hard, but God can bring peace to this Earth,” he said.      Pope Francis arrives to pray for the victims of war at Hosh al-Bieaa Church Square in Mosul, Iraq, March 7, 2021.French Dominican Rev. Olivier Poquillon is helping to oversee the rebuilding of Mosul’s Our Lady of the Hour Church, where Muslims, Christians and other communities “work together, engage together for the common good.”    “It’s really a bottom-up initiative,” he said. “The idea came from the people of Mosul. We saw a young neighbor, he was probably born after the time of the American invasion, so he never knew the peaceful time of Mosul. And he told us, Oh, you are Christians, come back, come back; we need you to live in peace together.”     Hassan Amer, a Muslim, works with Catholic Relief Services in the Nineveh Plains on projects to promote rebuilding devastated communities and interreligious trust. The “Shared Future Program’’ receives funding from USAID.    “We work with communities from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds to common goals and establish and strengthening the relationships. Most importantly, building the broken trust among the communities on Nineveh Plains after years of displacement,” he said.   For the Vatican, the continued presence of Christians in Iraq is vital to keeping alive faith communities that have existed since the time of Christ.   
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Swiss citizens vote Sunday on whether to prohibit women from wearing full facial coverings in public, a controversial issue that has divided the country during an exceptionally heated campaign.  
Campaigners, politicians and the media have dubbed it the “burka ban” even though the burka is not worn in Switzerland.  The burka, a full body covering with a mesh screen to see through that is worn in Afghanistan has come to symbolize the oppression of women.    This is one of the messages figuring in a heated campaign leading up to Sunday’s vote.  Campaign posters of a menacing-looking woman wearing a black niqab with only her eyes exposed reading “Stop Radical Islam” and “Stop Extremism” are plastered all over Switzerland.      Critics of the proposed ban call it deeply racist and sexist.  They say it is an attack against the Muslim community and is aimed at stigmatizing and marginalizing this minority group even more.   The right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which supports the ban disagrees.  It claims the burka initiative defends the dignity of women.  However, Swiss parliamentarian Jean-Luc Addor acknowledges the campaign is calling for an end to what supporters see as the Islamization of Switzerland.    “This is something that we find shocking.  It is fundamentally in opposition with various values of our civilization simply because, for us, free people show their faces in all circumstances outside,”  he said.  The irony of demanding a ban on full-face coverings has not escaped many at a time when Switzerland’s 8.5 million people are obliged to wear masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.    The Swiss federal government opposes the proposal.  Justice Minister Eveline Widmer Schlumpf says accepting the initiative would unnecessarily endanger religious peace in the country.   She says it would violate human rights, which are guaranteed under international conventions.  Furthermore, she says passage of the initiative would tarnish Switzerland’s reputation as a country that values the protection of fundamental rights.  Debates about various symbols of Islam, including burkas and niqabs have been going on for years.  In 2009, Swiss voters approved another Swiss People’s Party initiative to ban the building of minarets in the country.   Many people in Switzerland believe the proposed ban on full face coverings is much ado about nothing.  They note only some 30 women in Switzerland wear the niqab.  About half are Swiss converts to Islam and the other half are tourists who come to this Alpine country for vacation.   The latest opinion polls suggest the referendum will pass by a slim margin.  If it does, Switzerland will join five other European countries that have full or partial bans of face covering in place.     
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