A Hamburg court convicted a 93-year old German man of helping to murder 5,232 prisoners, many of them Jewish, at a Nazi concentration camp during World War II and gave him a suspended two-year sentence in one of the last cases against Nazi-era crimes.Rolled into the courtroom in a wheelchair and hiding his face behind a blue folder, Bruno D. acknowledged he had been an SS guard in the Stutthof concentration camp near Gdansk in what was then occupied Poland, but he said his presence did not amount to guilt.This did not convince the court in Hamburg, which found him guilty Thursday of being involved in the killings from August 1944 to April 1945.”How could you get used to the horror?” asked Judge Anne Meier-Goering as she read the verdict.About 65,000 people, including many Jews, were murdered or died at Stutthof, the museum’s website says. Prosecutors argued that many were shot in the back of the head or gassed.As Bruno D. was only 17 or 18 years old at the time of the crimes, he was tried in a youth court and sessions were limited to two to three hours per day because of his frail health.Prosecutors had called for a prison sentence of three years. In his final testimony to the court, he apologized for the suffering of victims but stopped short of taking responsibility.”I would like to apologize to all the people who have gone through this hell of insanity and to their relatives and survivors,” he told the court on Monday, broadcaster NDR and other media outlets reported.Some 75 years after the Holocaust, the number of suspects is dwindling but prosecutors are still trying to bring individuals to justice. A landmark conviction in 2011 cleared the way to more prosecutions, as working in a camp was for the first time found to be ground for culpability with no proof of a specific crime.
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Spain was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in April but after imposing one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns, the infection and death rates dropped. However, that trend is taking a turn for the worse.  As Alfonso Beato reports from Barcelona, the cases have risen threefold in July and now restrictions are being re-imposed. Ihar Tsikhanenka narrates the story.PRODUCER: Rob Raffaele
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A new British policy allowing Hong Kong residents to claim British citizenship is a “violation of international law” and interferes with China’s internal affairs, the Chinese Embassy in London said Thursday.Britain’s interior minister, Priti Patel, said in a written statement Wednesday that Hong Kong people with British National Overseas visas would be able to apply for citizenship starting in  January 2021.The Chinese Embassy said in a statement posted on its website that Beijing would respond strongly, adding that Britain should immediately correct its mistakes.This is a breaking story. Check back with voanews.com for further developments.
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A report by the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre this month accused hackers with links to Russian intelligence of attacking organizations developing a vaccine for COVID-19.  The report has raised diplomatic tensions and opened a window into the world of pharmaceutical intelligence. VOA’s Tatiana Vorozhko has the story.
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This Friday, Islamic prayers are due to be held in Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia for the first time since Turkey’s government decided to re-convert the ancient cathedral into a mosque. Russia has stepped in, with Moscow voicing concern to Ankara over the fate of the historic building, including its world-famous Christian mosaics.  
 
A spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has spearheaded the push to change the status of the monument from museum to mosque, earlier said Christian mosaics would be concealed with curtains or lighting during Friday prayers.  
 
Within days of an Istanbul court revoking the Hagia Sophia’s museum status – paving the way to its conversion to a mosque – Russian president Vladimir Putin was on the phone to President Erdogan seeking assurances over the state of the mosaics.  
 
Russian Orthodox leaders have also expressed concerns about building’s conversion, which they describe as a threat to Christianity.  
 
The 6th-century Byzantine cathedral is not only famous as an architectural marvel, but also for the large mosaics depicting Christ, the Virgin Mary, and Byzantium rulers decorating the building’s massive walls ceilings.’A major monument’ for Christians
Russia’s Orthodox Church is a powerful force within Russian society. “These images are very important for Christianity because it was a major monument for Christian people,” said professor Zeynep Ahunbay, who spent 25 years working on the Hagia Sophia’s restoration and preservation.
 
“All possible steps must be taken to prevent damage that could be caused by the hasty change in the status of the world-renowned museum,” read a statement this month by the Russian parliament the State Duma.This handout picture released by the Turkish Presidential press office shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visiting Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, July 19, 2020.When the Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque in 1453 after the Ottoman conquest of then-Constantinople by Fatih Sultan Mehmed – known historically as Mehmed the Conqueror – the mosaics were later plastered over to comply with Muslim doctrine banning figurative representations in places of worship.  
 
The mosaics were only revealed when the Hagia Sophia was turned into a museum in 1934 by the founder of the Turkish secular republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
 
Russia and Turkey are currently at odds on issues like Syria and Libya, but Moscow rarely publicly criticizes Ankara over domestic matters.
 
Ankara has been quick to quell growing concern by offering assurances on the future of Hagia Sophia’s artwork. “It’s out of the question that these mosaics are (to be) covered, plastered over or are kept from the public,” said presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalın.
 Curtains, not lasers
 
But the Turkish leadership appeared in disarray over how the museum will be converted into a mosque. Initially, the Turkish presidency proposed sophisticated lighting to obscure the images. In pro-government newspapers, the use of “dark lasers” was touted as a solution without explaining what a dark laser is.  
 
The use of lighting raised concerns over the potential risk posed to the integrity of the nearly thousand-year-old images. However, following Erdogan’s visit to the Hagia Sophia Sunday to inspect preparations for the building’s conversion, curtains are now presented as the more viable solution.  
 
The Diyanet, the state body administering the Muslim faith in Turkey, announced Christian icons would be curtained off and unlit “through appropriate means during prayer times.” The authority also vowed to protect the building’s integrity promising “not even a nail would be used” when installing the system.The head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, Ali Erbas, visits Hagia Sophia as workers lay carpets in its interior, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 22, 2020.In Turkey, curtains are already used in other recent mosque conversions of former historic churches. “We have seen some examples of using curtains,” said Ahunbay. “In Iznik [Turkish City] there is also a Hagia Sophia and another one in Trabzon [Turkish City], there they try to cover in some way human images, so it’s not visible during prayer times. But these are much smaller buildings. You can imagine in Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, how difficult to cover the mosaics, 40 meters high up, and several meters big. I think it’s not practical.”
 Damage control
 
Ankara is working hard to defuse the controversy, “Our goal is to avoid harming the frescoes, icons and the historic architecture of the edifice,” stated Kalin in a television interview.  
 
The government is seeking to present Hagia Sophia mosque conversion as a victory for spirituality, arguing the importance of returning the historic building to its intended religious purpose.
 
“Hagia Sophia’s resurrection is a sign that we something new to say to the world as the Turkish nation, as Muslims, and all of humanity.” Yasin Aktay, a close Erdogan adviser, penned in a column Thursday in the pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper.
 
Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, and Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani both close Erdogan allies, are invited to attend the Hagia Sophia’s reopening as a mosque. Thousands of people are expected to travel from across Turkey to attend Friday prayers at the Hagia Sophia.  
 
With opinion polls indicating Erdogan’s party, the AKP, is hemorrhaging support, analysts say the Hagia Sophia’s conversion is widely seen as an attempt by Erdogan to galvanize both his religious and nationalist base.
 
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The New York Times reported Tuesday that according to several people familiar with the matter, U.S. Ambassador to Britain Robert Johnson told colleagues in February 2018 that President Donald Trump asked him to reach out to the British government for possible help in getting one of Trump’s golf courses selected as a site for the British Open. The Times said its story was based on information from three people with knowledge of the events. FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump waits on the fourth tee at Turnberry golf course, Scotland, July 14, 2018.The newspaper reported that Johnson brought up the idea of trying to get the tournament assigned to the Trump Turnberry course in Scotland with the secretary of state for Scotland David Mundell, who told the newspaper it would be inappropriate for him to discuss his interactions with Johnson. The report said Mundell instead referred reporters to a British government statement that said Johnson had not made any requests about the tournament. The Times also said Johnson, the State Department and White House all declined to comment. The British Open site is selected by a private organization. 
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Even as European Union leaders celebrate their historic coronavirus recovery package agreement, some regions and countries are bracing for a possible resurgence of the infection.  Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg and Portugal count among others reporting an increase in cases. Parts of Barcelona, Spain have gone under lockdown. And in another hard-hit country, Italy, the Lazio region that includes Rome warned also of possible local lockdowns, if more clusters of the infection are found.  Meanwhile, France on Monday imposed a face mask requirement for all indoor public spaces, threatening violators with a $155 fine. The country has seen a modest rise in cases, but a more worrying spike in areas like the northeast, Brittany, and the territory of Mayenne.  “At this point we are very far from a second wave,” French Health Minister Olivier Veran told France Info radio Monday.  Still, he warned, if the trend continued, the government may consider regional or even nationwide confinement measures. “All options are on the table,” Veran said.  With European economies battered by the pandemic’s fallout, such a scenario likely sends chills through many capitals. In France alone, the first lockdown will contract the economy by roughly 9 percent this year, according to the INSEE statistical agency.  “I think a second wave that would need a lockdown, either national or regional, would be very costly from an economic perspective,” said Gregory Claeys, senior economist for Brussels-based research group Bruegel.  Each month of confinement in France cost the country roughly 3 percent of GDP, he added, citing INSEE.  All the more reason, some analysts say, for European collaboration in avoiding such a scenario — as EU leaders finally did Monday, in adopting the recovery package after marathon talks. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, left, and European Council President Charles Michel address a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels, July 21, 2020.Could have done better The increase in European cases dwarfs that of the United States, with its recent spell of record daily cases. The pandemic’s hotspot has long moved on from Europe, where Italy and Spain topped global charts in April. Still, many observers say the region could have done a lot better in managing the pandemic.  A Monday New York Times article described Europe as “behind the curve” in managing the first wave, its coronavirus pandemic plans and sense of readiness built on a sand castle of “miscalculations and false assumptions.” National stockpiles of masks and other medical supplies existed only on paper, the newspaper reported, with acquisitions based on presumed supply chains that were disrupted by the pandemic.  “I think now, at least, they are better prepared,” economist Claeys said, with certain items like masks in good supply. “That will be helpful in avoiding another lockdown.”  New research from Britain’s University of Southampton points to another area where European countries should coordinate more; in lifting lockdowns and other virus-curbing measures.  Meanwhile, the university’s WorldPop study published Friday in the journal Science and mapping several scenarios, found any virus resurgence could be brought forward by up to five weeks if European states acted independently in lifting restrictions.  “The danger is you would have this case of whack-a-mole if it’s not coordinated, where some places have lower cases, while others experience an increase,” said Nick Ruktanonchai, the study’s lead author.   While Europe governments did not coordinate their lockdowns, he said, life didn’t immediately go back to normal after they were lifted. Among the population, “there was a fair amount of adherence for a while” to restrictive measures, helping to even the playing field.  Now, with cases still relatively low across the EU, “time has essentially been bought,” Ruktanonchai said, to build up infrastructure to cope with an “inevitable” second wave. Among other needed investments, he said: cross-border testing and contact tracing.  Yet not all European countries have rolled out contact tracing apps. Some that have, including France, found very little public interest — and the different European apps are not all compatible.   A different economic story  Still, these and other virus-curbing mechanisms may be needed sooner, rather than later.  Sweden, which did not go under lockdown, has seen a sharp rise in cases in recent weeks, but also a decline in serious instances and deaths.  Belgium has also seen an overall caseload increase, with numbers doubling in some areas.  The country was among the world’s worst hit by the virus on a per-capita basis, and virologists warned Friday the country could be at the start of a second wave, the Reuters news agency reported.  Meanwhile, the EU’s newly agreed on recovery package has ushered in some needed good news. Overall, Bruegel’s Claeys believes, the bloc has done a better job managing the pandemic’s economic fallout than its health one. “I’m still waiting for a second New York Times article saying that even if Europe maybe was not prepared, on the economic front we gave a very good response,” he said.  In countries like Germany, France, Ireland and the Netherlands, governments have heavily subsidized payrolls, allowing coronavirus-idled workers to remain paid.  The European Central Bank rolled out a vast bond buying program to help member states weather the crisis, while the EU relaxed fiscal rules, allowing those states to run up bigger deficits through massive rescue packages.  In both cases, Claeys said, Europe has “learned from its past mistakes” — notably its sluggish response to the 2009 global financial crisis.  While Claeys had hoped for a bigger share of non-repayable grants in the newly agreed to EU recovery package, its passage “shows Europe is able to act in a relatively short amount of time,” he said. “That it’s ready to do things together — and that it’s a sustainable construction.”  
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For Turkish journalist Emre Kızılkaya, social media is a necessity. He’s been using platforms including Twitter since 2008, tweeting during the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul in 2013 and when soldiers raided his newspaper building after the failed coup attempt in 2016.But if Turkish lawmakers heed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s calls this month for greater control over social media, Kızılkaya and other journalists could lose one of the last platforms that allows them to report freely.A draft bill — first introduced in April and backed by Erdogan — calls for large platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Google to appoint a legal representative in Turkey to handle court requests to remove content or provide the identity of users. Companies that fail to appoint a representative within 30 days of the legislation going into effect would face gradually increasing fines and bandwidth reductions of up to 90 percent, a Turkish legislator told reporters. Proposals are a concernLocal journalists and digital rights experts say the proposals are a concern in a country that has limited space for independent journalism and where social media plays a key role in reporting on and sharing news.“I check the pulse of the public [on social media],” said Kızılkaya, who is vice president of the International Press Institute’s national committee in Turkey and project editor at Journo, a nonprofit news platform. “Social media is a part of history. Controlling it would mean to rewrite the history.” Erdogan called for further controls on social media on July 1, the day after social media users posted insulting comments when his daughter and son-in-law announced the birth of their child. Police detained individuals alleged to have been behind 11 of the 19 accounts that criticized the family.“These platforms do not suit this nation,” Erdogan told members of his Justice and Development (AKP) party. “We want to shut down, control [them] by bringing [a bill] to parliament as soon as possible.”Erdogan called on lawmakers to fast-track the legislation. Lawmakers said Tuesday they were submitting a nine-article draft bill to parliament. It is due to be debated by the general assembly next week.Ozlem Zengin, a ruling party legislator told reporters the draft bill would “balance freedoms with rights and laws,” adding, “We aim to put an end to insults, swearing, to harassment made through social media.”Opposition parties said they were concerned the measures would further limit access to social media and independent news, the Associated Press reported.Press freedom has been under assault in Turkey for years. Following a failed military coup in 2016, Erdogan’s government closed more than 150 news outlets and jailed more than 100 journalists, often on terrorism-related accusations.  Journalists deemed pro-opposition or who criticize Erdogan can find themselves in court, including on charges of “insulting the president,” and authorities have temporarily blocked access to popular websites, including YouTube and Wikipedia.Reporters Without Borders says Turkey is conducting a “witch-hunt” against government critics and independent journalists. The Paris-based media watchdog ranks the country 154 of 180 countries, with 1 being most free in its World Press Freedom Index.With traditional networks under attack, social media has become an important resource for journalists and media organizations, Kızılkaya said. Pro-government businessmen began to take over news outlets, which then saw audiences shrink. Now, many independent journalists and smaller outlets rely on social media for their work.“It may be one of the reasons why the government wants to expand its control on social media,”  Kızılkaya said. “Simply put, the digital domain is the last refuge of independent journalism in Turkey.”Social media platforms are popular among the country’s population of 84 million. As of April, Turkey had 37 million regular Facebook users  – those who access their account at least once a month – and 13.6 million on Twitter, according to data from Statista, a German online research group.The legislation is not the first attempt by Ankara to try to control social media.In the first six months of 2019 — the most recent information available — Twitter received 388 court orders for removal requests and 5,685 requests from government agencies, police or other organizations, the platform’s transparency report shows. Twitter said it complied in full or partially with 5 percent of requests.Last month, Twitter permanently removed over 7,300 accounts that it determined were “fake and compromised.” Analysis found fake accounts, as well as some profiles associated with the president’s critics that had been hacked,  were used to promote support for the AKP and Erdogan, Twitter said.’Propaganda machine’In response, the presidential communications director called the platform a “propaganda machine” and dismissed allegations that the accounts were supporting the ruling party.The proposed bill has worrying implications, Raman Jit Singh Chima, the Asia policy director and senior international counsel for digital rights organization Access Now, told VOA. Such legislation sends a “symbolic statement” to news organizations, he said.“[Governments] are saying ‘Look, comply with the request we’re making to you. Otherwise we’re going to come at you with a law, change the law to make you more liable or to make it more expensive for you to operate’,” he said.Other rights groups, including the International Press Institute and European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, condemned the proposed law as an attempt to “further restrict freedoms.”“Turkey is obliged to ensure the right to freedom of expression and access to information,” a joint statement read.Kızılkaya said that while the measures are troubling, he has hope for the future of independent journalism.“Turkey’s next-generation journalists are eager and capable to create a better environment for the freedom of the press,” Kızılkaya said. “They stick to journalism, and they insist on doing it in Turkey for the public good.”Mehmet Toroglu contributed to this report from Washington.
 
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The Egyptian parliament’s decision Monday to authorize the possible deployment of Egyptian troops in Libya is highlighting concerns in the region about a possible escalation of the Libyan conflict.  International pressure is, meanwhile, growing on Turkey over its involvement as Ankara doubled down on its support of Libya’s Government of National Accord, fueling fears of a wider a regional war.After a phone conversation Monday, President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al Sissi added their voices to growing international calls for a Libyan ceasefire.FILE – Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar walks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Apr. 14, 2019 in this handout picture courtesy of the Egyptian Presidency.The Turkish intervention turned the tide in the conflict, with Haftar forces suffering heavy losses. Alarmed by this reversal, Cairo is looking to intervene.Widening conflictOn Monday, the Egyptian parliament voted to allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to order Egyptian military intervention in Libya.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Friday pledged “never to abandon the Libyan people,” claiming a new agreement deepening cooperation with Tripoli will be signed soon.Ankara has so far not responded to Trump’s call for a ceasefire. But geo analyst Yoruk Isik says Trump’s intervention is unlikely to end the fighting immediately.”Ankara will say this is wonderful. I want a ceasefire. But the Trump statement is not necessarily saying I want a ceasefire tomorrow,” said Isik.”If Trump were to call Erdogan and demand an immediate ceasefire, it would, of course, be different. But I don’t think that call will happen because Turkey stopping right at this moment, means the Russians will retain the upper hand in Libya, and Washington doesn’t want a ceasefire with the Russians fully settling in Libya.”Libya Remains Calm as Egypt’s Parliament Authorizes Military InterventionEgypt’s leader Sissi and US President Trump concur on need for cease-fire in Libya in a Monday night phone call Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Russia are all suspected of supplying arms to Haftar’s forces.Despite growing international pressure, Ankara believes it has a winning hand in Libya, calculating that no country is ready to confront the situation directly. Analyst Uzgel warns of the dangers of overconfidence.”There is a kind of hubris self-indulgence. Sometimes this may lead them (Turkish leaders) to make serious mistakes as they’ve done in the past.”
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Tuesday as tensions escalated between the United States and China over trade, the status of the South China Sea, the origins of the novel coronavirus and the Chinese response to the virus when it first emerged in the city of Wuhan.   
 
The London visit by America’s top diplomat came just days after Johnson decided, on security grounds, to prohibit Chinese tech giant Huawei from participating in the development of Britain’s fast-speed 5G phone network — a ban Washington had been urging for more than year.
 
After finishing his initial talks, Pompeo tweeted,  “Constructive visit with @BorisJohnson today. Our two countries’ long-standing, strong bilateral relationship has laid the foundation for today’s candid discussion on issues ranging from 5G telecommunication to our negotiations for a U.S.-UK free trade agreement.”
 
In a press conference later Pompeo praised Britain for its tough line on Huawei and Hong Kong. “I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate the British government for its principled responses to these challenges. You made a sovereign decision to ban Huawei computer 5g networks.”He added: “We want every nation to work together to push back against the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts in every dimension that I described to you today that certainly includes the United Kingdom includes every country, we hope we can build out a coalition that understands this.”The two Western allies appear to be increasingly seeing eye-to-eye about the challenges posed by the Chinese government, say analysts and Western diplomats. On his arrival in the British capital, Pompeo tweeted that he was looking forward to meeting with Johnson “as we tackle our most pressing global issues in combating COVID-19 and addressing our shared security challenges.” COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.
 
Pompeo and Johnson observed social distancing guidelines while in the Downing Street garden. “Hope you appreciate the social distancing,” Johnson told journalists gathered there. “Social distance does not imply diplomatic or political distance,” the British leader added.  
 
Analysts say Pompeo wants to capitalize on Britain’s hardening line toward Beijing. The Huawei ban was a major policy U-turn for Britain which has been trying to walk a tight rope between Washington, its long-stranding traditional ally, and Beijing, which it has been courting heavily since the 2016 Brexit vote in the hope of securing a lucrative trade deal.FILE – A sign reading “Boris Stop Huawei” is seen next to the M40 motorway, Tetsworth, Britain, May 1, 2020, in a reference to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.The outright confrontation between Washington and Beijing in the wake of the coronavirus has made a balancing act even harder to pull off, say former British diplomats. Beijing’s increasingly aggressive moves in the South China Sea, where it is alarming its neighbors with expansive territorial claims, is also prompting a cross-party political backlash in Britain.  
 
This week Britain announced it was suspending an extradition agreement with Hong Kong because of a draconian Beijing-imposed security law on the former British colony. The British and Chinese governments have been trading increasingly acrimonious barbs since the Chinese government launched a crackdown earlier this year on Hong Kong — a move the British say breaches a deal the two countries struck in 1997 for the handover of the territory to China.
 
Britain has also imposed an arms embargo on Hong Kong, banning the export of equipment that could be used for “internal repression.” Britain’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, who also met with Pompeo, told the House of Commons Monday that the measures were a “necessary and proportionate response” to the new security law, which Britain says is being used to outlaw dissent. “The UK is watching and the whole world is watching,” Raab told lawmakers.British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, left, walks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outside of 10 Downing Street, in London, July 21, 2020.China responded to Monday’s announcement by warning that Britain would “bear the consequences” of its actions. “Now the UK side has gone even further down the wrong road in disregard of China’s solemn position and repeated representations,” a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in London said. He added,“ China urges the UK side to immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs, which are China’s internal affairs, in any form.”
 
Australia and Canada suspended extradition treaties with Hong Kong earlier this month, and the United States ended preferential economic treatment for the territory, while also imposing sanctions on Chinese officials. China has taken retaliatory steps.
 
British officials have started to echo more volubly long-standing American grievances about Beijing’s treatment of China’s Muslim Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority in northwest China. Since 2015, more than a million Uighurs have been detained in what Chinese officials describe as “vocational education centers” for job training, but critics and rights campaigners describe as internment or concentration camps, part of an effort to forcibly assimilate the Uighurs.  
 
The ban on Huawei has angered Beijing and retaliation is almost a certainty. Chinese officials say the ban has wrecked any chances of Beijing agreeing to a wide-ranging free trade deal with Britain, something London has been hoping would come in compensating for the likely commercial losses the country will suffer from Brexit.   
British companies such as AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Burberry and Jaguar Land Rover, which have large investments in China, are bracing for retaliation. With a Chinese trade deal likely off the table, a favorable post-Brexit agreement with the U.S. is of even greater urgency for Britain, say analysts.  
 
A senior Chinese official accused Britain of pandering to Washington shortly after Pompeo landed in London. “We do not want to see the tit-for-tat between China and the U.S. happen in China-U.K. relations,” the Chinese ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, tweeted.
 
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday hailed Johnson’s Huawei ban as Pompeo set off for Britain.
 
Pompeo is scheduled also to meet in London with Hong Kong democracy activist Nathan Law, who fled China recently, and Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong. Patten is a former Conservative minister who has become increasingly critical of China and advocates confrontation with Beijing.
 
In a recent press interview, he said Britain and other Western countries had been naive in thinking they could tame China’s Communist leaders by “cozying up” to them. He said successive Western governments had fallen for a myth about China “that somehow at the end of all the kowtowing there’s this great pot of gold waiting for us… We keep on kidding ourselves that unless we do everything that China wants we will somehow miss out on great trading opportunities. It’s drivel,” he added.
 
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met face to face with members of his Cabinet Tuesday for the first time since March.
 
Johnson and his Cabinet gathered at the Foreign Office so they could have a room large enough to practice social distancing due to the new coronavirus.
 
In his remarks before the meeting, Johnson said he will not let the pandemic blow him off course and delivering on his agenda. He touted his plan to build 40 new hospitals and hire 50,000 more nurses, as well as thousands more police officers and more funding for schools.
 
The pandemic would likely be on the agenda for the meeting a day after scientists at Oxford University said their experimental coronavirus vaccine has been shown in an early trial to prompt a protective immune response in hundreds of people who received the shot.
 
Johnson called the in-person meeting just days after encouraging people to return to their jobs. He said last week he would give employers more flexibility to determine the safest way to bring employees back to their workplaces.
 
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European Union leaders reached an agreement early Tuesday on a $2.1 trillion budget and coronavirus relief package.    The agreement includes $857 billion in coronavirus funding that will be issued as loans and grants to the hardest-hit countries. It came after negotiations stretched on for four days and nights, well beyond what was expected.  A main sticking point was a divide between a group of five richer countries in the north, including the Netherlands and Austria, that advocated a cut in the original proposal of $572 billion in grants along with stricter spending controls, while others such as Spain and Italy sought to keep such restrictions to a minimum. European Union leaders during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, July 17, 2020.The final agreement included a compromise of $446 billion in grants. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the final deal “a good package that safeguards Dutch interests and that will make Europe stronger and more resilient.” European Council President Charles Michel celebrated the package as a success for all 27 member countries and “the right deal for Europe right now.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “We have laid the financial foundations for the EU for the next seven years and came up with a response to this arguably biggest crisis of the European Union.” The European Parliament must still give its approval to the agreement. EU nations have experienced 135,000 deaths from COVID-19, with Italy, France and Spain having among the highest death tolls in the world.  The lockdown orders instituted by many governments to stop the spread of the virus have hurt the EU economy, with economists forecasting an 8.3% contraction this year. 
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A deal on a massive economic rescue package reached by leaders of the European Union and reports of more promising coronavirus vaccines fueled a surge in global markets Tuesday. In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei index ended the day’s trading session up 0.7%.  The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong earned 2.3%, and Shanghai’s Composite index is up 0.2%. The S&P/ASX index in Sydney earned 2.5%.  Seoul’s KOSPI index finished 1.3% higher, and the TSEC index in Taiwan gained 1.8%.  Mumbai’s Sensex is up 1.3% in late afternoon trading. Over in Europe, London’s FTSE index is up 0.7%, the CAC-40 in Paris is 1.2% higher, and Frankfurt’s DAX index has gained 1.9%. Oil markets are also rising Tuesday. U.S. crude oil is trading at $41.85 per barrel, up 2.5%, and Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, is up $44.45 per barrel, up 2.7%. And in futures trading, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are all trending positively, indicating a strong start for Wall Street at the opening bell Tuesday.   
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European Union leaders reached an agreement early Tuesday on a $2.1 trillion budget and coronavirus relief package. The deal came after negotiations stretched on for four days and nights, well beyond what was expected, with various factions of member countries divided over the exact structure of the funding and whether it should include restrictions such as spending controls.European Union leaders during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, July 17, 2020.European Council President Charles Michel announced the finalization of the talks with a one-word tweet: “Deal!” EU nations have experienced 135,000 deaths from COVID-19, with Italy, France and Spain having among the highest death tolls in the world. The lockdown orders instituted by many governments to stop the spread of the virus have hurt the EU economy, with economists forecasting an 8.3% contraction this year. 
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Poland’s justice minister says it would be unacceptable for the European Union to force the conservative country to legalize gay marriage so it can get EU financial aid. “There is a real risk that we may find ourselves in a situation where the EC (European Commission) will effectively force us to introduce the so-called homosexual marriages with the right to adopt children,” Zbigniew Ziobro told a news conference Monday, Reuters reports. “We cannot agree to this under any circumstances.” Some EU leaders at the tough budget talks in Brussels have demanded member states adhere to so-called democratic values or payment would be blocked. Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice Party and President Andrzej Duda were reelected last week in part because of their pledges to ban gay couples from adopting children and forbidding schools from teaching about civil rights for homosexuals. Duda has called gay rights an “ideology” worse than communism. Polish gay rights activist Alicja Sienkiewicz says Duda is treating the LGBT community as the enemies of the state.  “This is bizarre. If you want to get these (EU) funds, you should automatically accept how the EU expects them to be spent, because adhering to the rule of law means adhering to basic human rights, and it is about respecting them,” she said. Poland could lose billions of dollars in COVID-19 recovery money and other aid if it fails to live up to what the EU regards as democratic standards.  
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The United States on Monday slapped sanctions on the regional strongman leader of Russia’s republic of Chechnya over human rights violations including torture and extrajudicial killings. Ramzan Kadyrov, 43, has run Chechnya like his personal fiefdom, relying on his security forces to quash dissent. International human rights groups have accused Kadyrov and his lieutenants of abductions, torture and killings of their opponents. Rights defenders also hold the Chechen authorities responsible for a sweeping crackdown on gays over the past few years that has seen more than 100 people arrested, subjected to torture, with some of them killed. Chechen authorities have denied those accusations, and federal authorities said a probe found nothing to support the charges. In a statement announcing the sanctions, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointed at “extensive credible information that Kadyrov is responsible for numerous gross violations of human rights dating back more than a decade, including torture and extrajudicial killings.” Pompeo said the restrictions will apply to Kadyrov’s wife and two daughters and he encouraged U.S. allies to take similar measures. Kadyrov responded on his blog, posting a picture of himself standing in a weapons storage room with a smile on his face and a machine gun in each hand. “Pompeo, we accept the fight. It’s going to be even more fun down the road,” he said. Russian lawmakers said that Moscow will find a way to reciprocate to the U.S. sanctions against Kadyrov, but wouldn’t say what a possible response could be.  The Kremlin has relied on Kadyrov to stabilize Chechnya after two separatist wars, providing generous federal subsidies and dismissing international criticism of his rule. The Kremlin also has stood by Kadyrov amid Russian opposition claims of his involvement in the 2015 killing of prominent Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, which the Chechen leader has rejected. An officer in Chechnya’s security forces was convicted of shooting Nemtsov on a bridge adjacent to the Kremlin and received a 20-year prison term.  
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Britain’s government suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong on Monday and blocked arms sales to the former British territory, after China imposed a tough new national security law.
As tensions grow with Beijing, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he had concerns about the new law and about alleged human rights abuses in China in particularly in regard to the treatment of the Uighur minority. He described the measures being taken Monday as “reasonable and proportionate.”
“We will protect our vital interests,” Raab said. “We will stand up for our values and we will hold China to its international obligations.
Raab followed the example of the United States, Australia and Canada by suspending extradition arrangements with the territory.
The arms embargo extends a measure in place for China since 1989. It means that Britain will allow no exports of potentially lethal weapons, their components or ammunition as well as equipment that might be used for internal repression such as shackles, firearms and smoke grenades.
The review of the extradition measures comes only days after Britain backtracked on plans to give Chinese telecommunications company Huawei a role in the U.K.’s new high-speed mobile phone network amid security concerns fueled by rising tensions between Beijing and Western powers.
Johnson’s government has already criticized China’s decision to impose a sweeping new national security law on Hong Kong. The U.K. has accused the Beijing government of a serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration under which the U.K. returned control of Hong Kong to China in 1997, and announced it would open a special route to citizenship for up to 3 million eligible residents of the community.
Beijing has objected to the move. China’s ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, recently described the offer as “gross interference” in Chinese affairs.  
Liu told the BBC’s Andrew Marr on Sunday that Britain was “dancing to the tune” of the U.S. and rejected the allegations of human rights abuses against the mainly-Muslim Uighur people.
He accused Western countries of trying to foment trouble with China.  
“People say China (is) becoming very aggressive. That’s totally wrong,” he told the BBC “China has not changed. It’s Western countries, headed by United States — they started this so-called new Cold War on China.” 
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Police and security officials in Frankfurt, Germany, announced Monday they have banned late gatherings in that city’s opera square after a party there turned violent over the weekend, resulting in 39 arrests.The square – known locally as the “Opernplatz” – had become a popular gathering place for what locals called “corona parties” as German clubs and bars remain closed because of the COVID pandemic.  Officials say as many as 3,000 people attended such a gathering Saturday and it was mostly peaceful through the night. But Frankfurt police chief Gerhard Beres said in early hours of Sunday, a brawl broke out and as police moved to stop it and help a bleeding man, the crowd turned on them, pelting them with bottles.Beres said police arrested 39 suspected bottle-throwers, eight of whom were still in custody Sunday. Police said 29 of the 39 suspects arrested came to Frankfurt from outside.At a news conference in Frankfurt Monday, Beres, and Frankfurt Security Chief Markus Frank condemned the actions of those who committed the violence and announced the square would now be closed after midnight Fridays and Saturdays. He said the goal was to send a signal to “troublemakers” that “it is just not worth it to come to Frankfurt.” 
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Hundreds of Catalan independence supporters protested the visit of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia on Monday to the northeastern region as part of a royal tour across Spain that is meant to bolster spirits amid the coronavirus pandemic. The visit came as a barrage of media leaks accuse the king’s father, former monarch Juan Carlos I, of allegedly hiding millions of untaxed euros in offshore funds.  Prosecutors in the country’s Supreme Court are determining whether the king emeritus can be investigated for receiving the funds from Saudi Arabia, possibly as kickbacks for a high-speed railway project. Juan Carlos hasn’t publicly addressed the allegations against him. The scandal is the latest to rock the Spanish royal family. In mid-March, it prompted Felipe to renounce any inheritance he could receive from his father and stripped him of the annual stipend as king emeritus. Juan Carlos abdicated on behalf of his son in 2014. With that backdrop, the royal couple launched a visit to all of Spain’s 17 regions that was designed as a show of support for the citizens and the economy as it recovers from the first wave of the pandemic.  The Catalan leg of the tour was initially planned for last week covering several towns and Barcelona, but the monarchy said it had postponed it and scaled it back to a short visit to a monastery because of the spike in virus cases in and around the regional capital. Protesters on Monday carried photos of Felipe upside down and letters completing the sentence “Catalonia doesn’t have a king” during a march organized by ANC, the region’s largest pro-independence civil society group.  The march was headed to the Royal Monastery of Poblet, where the king and the queen were visiting, but police blocked access at the main road. Some of the activists tried to reach the monastery by venturing into nearby vineyards. Spain’s Health Minister Salvador Illa, left, Spain’s King Felipe VI, third left, and Queen Letizia, third right, visit the Royal Monastery of Poblet, northeastern Spain, July 20, 2020.High-speed and regular trains in and out of the northern Catalan city of Girona were also delayed or cancelled due to “acts of vandalism,” according to a tweet by Spain’s railway infrastructure operator, ADIF. A photo circulated on messaging apps showed tires burning on railways next to a sign showing a crossed out upside down image of a crown. Tensions between separatists in Catalonia, which has a population of 7.5 million, and those in support of Spanish unity came to a head in late 2017 following a banned referendum met with police violence that led to the prosecution of top elected officials and activists.  
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European Union leaders took a break Monday morning on their fourth day of talks aimed at agreeing on a $2 trillion budget and funding to help member states cope with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The negotiations, which were originally meant to run only through Saturday, were due to resume Monday afternoon. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the leaders were making progress, and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that while the negotiations have been tough, “we can be very satisfied with today’s result.”EU leaders summit in Brussels, July 19, 2020.The past few days have been defined by a divide that has pitted five wealthy northern European countries – Austria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden – against southern nations that have been hit hardest by the coronavirus and which have the support of Germany and France. The northern countries have advocated instituting strict spending controls as part of any deal, while others such as Italy and Spain have sought to minimize such conditions. EU nations have experienced 135,000 deaths from COVID-19, with Italy, France and Spain having among the highest death tolls in the world. The lockdown orders instituted by many governments to stop the spread of the virus have hurt the EU economy, with economists forecasting an 8.3% contraction this year. 
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Canada’s Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the flight data recorders from a Ukrainian passenger plane downed by an Iranian missile are in Paris where they are expected to be taken to France’s Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authority for analysis Monday. Champagne said on Twitter that officials from Canada’s Transportation Safety Board will be present for the investigation. Most of the 176 people on board the plane were Canadian citizens or residents, or were traveling to Canada.People gather for a candlelight vigil to honor the victims of the Ukraine plane crash, at the gate of Amrikabir University, where some of the victims were former students, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 11, 2020.Iran says its military accidentally shot down the Ukraine Airlines plane in January, shortly after it took off from Tehran’s airport, mistaking it for an incoming missile. The incident happened during a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the United States, just after Iran had launched missiles at several bases in Iraq in response to the U.S. killing of top Iranian general Qassim Soleimani. Canada, Ukraine and other nations whose nationals were on board the plane have demanded a thorough investigation, and the analysis of the so-called black box recorders recovered from the wreckage has been the subject of negotiation. The plane was manufactured by Boeing, a U.S. company, and due to U.S. sanctions on Iran the United States rejected sending Iran a piece of equipment needed to recover the data from the recorders. 
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The coronavirus outbreak in Florida grew more dire Sunday as nearly 50 hospitals throughout the state say they have no available beds in their intensive care units. The state is not only the COVID epicenter in the United States, it is one of the world’s hot spots, with more than 12,000 new cases reported Sunday – the fifth straight day that number exceeded 10,000. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is making mask wearing in public mandatory. Starting Monday, anyone without a face covering gets an immediate $50 fine. A third offense brings a $500 fine. Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber has issued an 8pm curfew for the famed South Beach area, home to countless bars and nightclubs.  “There has been some adherence to the mask rules, not nearly enough. At some points, it was resembling a bit of a party, an outdoor party. We can’t have anything resembling Bourbon Street (in New Orleans) right now in our community,” said Gelber.  In Europe, the focus is on recovery from the pandemic.   European Council President Charles Michel said Sunday that European leaders need to overcome their differences and agree on a budget and a continentwide COVID-19 recovery fund. The 27 European Union leaders appeared to be at an impasse Sunday night on a $2.1 trillion budget that includes $858 billion specifically earmarked to help businesses and others affected by the coronavirus pandemic. “Are the 27 EU leaders capable of building European unity and trust or, because of a deep rift, will we present ourselves as a weak Europe, undermined by distrust,” he implored, telling the leaders to think about the more than 600,000 COVID deaths worldwide.EU leaders meet on the sidelines of an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, July 19, 2020.Europe has more than 3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus as of Sunday, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), and more than 200,000 deaths. The coronavirus has pushed the EU into a deep recession, with economists predicting the bloc’s economy will shrink a staggering 8.3% this year. Reporters in Brussels say the dispute is between five wealthier northern EU nations, dubbed “the frugals,” who want stricter controls on spending than southern nations hit hardest by the pandemic, including Italy and Spain, are willing to accept. In the United States, where new COVID-19 case number records are set nearly every day, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says he is “on the brink” of issuing another stay-at-home order in the country’s second biggest city. This would be the third time since March he made such a decision. Garcetti blames the White House for what he calls a lack of national leadership in battling the disease. “This was politicized when it should have been unified. We were left on our own when we should have had help,” he told CNN Sunday. “We know this will be a marathon. Stop telling people this will be over soon. … If we don’t come together as a nation with national leadership, we will see more people die.”  California Governor Gavin Newsome last week again closed bars and restaurants across the state because of the surge in new cases.  The U.S. reported 67,574 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of nearly 3.7 million confirmed cases, and nearly 140,000 deaths, according to data Sunday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  The president of Chile, the world’s largest producer of copper, has announced a five-part plan to reopen the country he calls “Step by Step.” “These five weeks of improvement allow us to start a new stage today,” President Sebastian Pinera said Sunday. “This plan, which will be step by step, cautiously, prudently, will be applied gradually and flexibly,” he said. Pinera announced plans to reopen Chile after some of the country’s regions have shown improvement in the rate of infections. According to the WHO, Chile had 2,300 new cases Sunday, more than 328,000 confirmed cases and nearly 8,500 deaths as of Sunday. Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama announced he has COVID-19 after his fourth test for the virus came back positive. He said he went for the test at the first sign of a throat irritation. He joins more than 36,000 of his countrymen who have tested positive, according to WHO data. Nearly 800 Nigerians have died of the disease, the WHO data says. Onyeama said he is going to be isolated in a health facility, but did not sound too worried, tweeting Sunday “That is life. Win some, lose some.”  One of life’s biggest winners revealed Sunday that he and his wife had COVID-19 when the pandemic started to take hold in April. Golf legend Jack Nicklaus told the TV audience watching the PGA Memorial tournament that he and his wife, Barbara, tested positive for the coronavirus but were “done with it” by the third week in April.  “It didn’t last very long, and we were very, very fortunate, very lucky,” Nicklaus said. “Barbara and I are both of the age, both of us 80 years old, that is an at-risk age. Our hearts go out to the people who did lose their lives and their families. We were just a couple of the lucky ones.” 
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Britain and China issued new salvos of criticism against each other Sunday, with the U.K. foreign secretary hinting that he may suspend the U.K.’s extradition arrangements with Hong Kong over China’s moves against the city-state.  
 
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also accused Beijing of “gross and egregious” human rights abuses against its Uighur population in China’s western province of Xinjiang.
 
In response, the Chinese ambassador to Britain warned that China will deliver a “resolute response” to any move by Britain to sanction officials over the alleged rights abuses.  
 
The comments were the latest signs of sharply increased tensions between the U.K. and China. Issues include China’s treatment of its Uighur minority and a new, sweeping national security law that China imposed on Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous territory that Britain handed over to China in 1997.
 
Britain’s recent decision to prohibit Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from being involved in the U.K.’s superfast 5G mobile network has further frayed bilateral relations.  
 
Raab said Sunday that Britain’s government has reviewed its extradition arrangements with Hong Kong and that he plans to make a statement Monday in parliament on the topic.
 
Earlier this month, Australia suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in response to China’s imposition of security legislation on the semi-autonomous territory. Critics see the new law as a further erosion of the rule of law and freedoms that Hong Kong was promised when it reverted to Chinese rule.
 
Raab added that while Britain wants good relations with China, it could not stand by amid reports of forced sterilization and mass education camps targeting the Uighur population in Xinjiang.
 
“It is clear that there are gross, egregious human rights abuses going on. We are working with our international partners on this. It is deeply, deeply troubling,” he told the BBC.  
 
Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador, denied there were concentration camps in Xinjiang during an interview with the BBC and insisted there are “no so-called restriction of the population.” When confronted with drone footage that appeared to show Uighurs being blindfolded and led onto trains, Liu claimed there are many “fake accusations” against China.
 
Beijing was ready to respond in kind should Britain impose sanctions on Chinese officials, Liu added.  
 
“If the U.K. goes that far to impose sanctions on any individuals in China, China will certainly make a resolute response to it,” he said. “You have seen what happened between China (and) the United States … I do not want to see this tit-for-tat between China-U.S. happen in China-U.K. relations.”
 
Liu also said Britain “should have its own independent foreign policy, rather than dance to the tune of the Americans like what happened to Huawei.”  
 
The criticism echoed comments this week by a Chinese government spokeswoman who accused Britain of colluding with Washington to hurt Huawei and “discriminate, suppress and exclude Chinese companies.” 
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Turkey has suspended flights to Iran and Afghanistan as part of measures against the coronavirus outbreak, the Transport Ministry said on Sunday.   Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that 25 million people may have been infected with the coronavirus in Iran, although health officials later sought to play down the estimate.   Turkish Airlines had gradually restarted international flights as of June 11. 
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