The United States is not the only country watching anxiously as coronavirus cases spike.Britain is poised to shutter individual towns in the event of a rise in confirmed cases. And the government has already locked down the English town of Leicester, where textile factories may be behind an alarming jump in infections, just as the rest of the country celebrated the easing of restrictions.Serbia reimposed a lockdown Friday as cases began to mount. Last month, neighboring Croatia reinstituted mandatory two-week self-isolation for travelers arriving from other Balkan countries. Bulgaria extended its state of emergency until July 15 and has made mask-wearing mandatory inside stores and public buildings.Deputy Migration Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos, right, greets the 25 unaccompanied refugee children as they prepare to board a plane to Lisbon, Portugal at Athens International Airport, July 7, 2020.Following new outbreaks, Portugal renewed coronavirus restrictions on the capital, Lisbon, and the Spanish government has moved quickly with restrictions on parts of northeast Spain to try to tamp down local spikes.Some government officials say the biggest problem is persuading the public to observe social distancing rules and wearing masks. The easing of lockdowns and the reopening of economies do not mean caution should be jettisoned, they say.  Underlining their appeals for people to remain cautious and vigilant is an exasperation with egregious recklessness, prompting officials in some countries to question whether their citizens have the discipline or sense of civic responsibility to be trusted.In Britain, police expressed their frustration with maskless crowds converging outside bars and restaurants in some towns, including in central London. Last Saturday, the first day that bars reopened in England after the coronavirus shutdown, police described the close-quarters drinking and shoulder-to-shoulder socializing as “absolute madness.”“A predictably busy night confirmed what we knew, alcohol and social distancing is not a good combination,” tweeted John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales.Sgt. Richard Cooke of the West Midlands police tweeted, “Just got home after a long shift, late shift peppered with pub fights, domestic violence & drunken, drugged up fools. If today was anything to go by the second wave won’t be long in the making!”People sit and drink, outside a pub on the south bank of river Thames, as the capital is set to reopen after the lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, in London, July 4, 2020.Rafal Liszewski, a store manager in the London district of Soho, told reporters that on Saturday, “Everything got out of control. And by 8 to 9 p.m., it was a proper street party, with people dancing and drinking. Barely anyone was wearing masks, and nobody respected social distancing,” he said. Liszewski added, “To be honest, with that many people on one street, it was physically impossible” (to social distance).Beaches have also seen swarms of people. In the English coastal town of Bournemouth, Mayor Vikki Slade said recently she was “absolutely appalled at the scenes witnessed on our beaches.”Britain has not been alone in seeing months of lockdown giving way to impromptu parties, illicit raves and illegal parties, hastily organized on social media and held in parks and industrial estates. In Portugal, a ban in Lisbon on gatherings of more than five people was instituted amid reports of illicit parties attracting thousands of young revelers. Portugal had been hailed as one of Europe’s coronavirus success stories. The government’s swift response was credited with keeping the country’s death toll to well under 2,000. But in recent weeks, cases have soared. Parties have proven fertile for the virus — 76 new cases were linked to a birthday celebration in The Algarve.“After doing everything right, we’re not going to ruin it now,” Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa said, as he banned drinking in public places and prohibited restaurants from serving alcohol after 8 p.m. Germany, France and Spain have all been worried about block parties and raves.Visitors watch oil on canvas of 1807 entitled Le Sacre de Napoleon by Jacques Louis David, at the Louvre Museum, in Paris, July 6, 2020.The World Health Organization warned that around 30 European countries have reported new case surges in the past two weeks, and epidemiologists said the trajectory is alarming in 11 countries.Spanish officials, who recently fined Belgium’s Prince Joachim $11,700 after he broke the country’s quarantine rules to attend a party in southern Spain, fear that people will not be able to resist the allure of the country’s ingrained culture of summer fiestas — as hundreds did recently in a spontaneous gathering in the Menorcan city of Ciutadella to mark the day of local Saint Joan.Along with officials, infectious disease experts blame signs of a resurgence on the negligence of the public, with too many people ignoring orders to wear masks and keep their distance. But critics in several European countries fault officials, saying governments have been giving mixed signals in their eagerness to restart economies and end lockdowns, and have issued at times contradictory and confused instructions. They say governments seem to be positioning themselves to blame the public for a coronavirus resurgence.David King, a former chief scientific adviser to the British government, has criticized the lockdown easing as over-hasty. “We need to look at the fastest route out of COVID-19, and that is not the current route,” he said. 
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France’s newly appointed government gets down to work this week facing big challenges, including coronavirus and the economic crisis — not to mention general elections in less than two years.
 
The new government takes office just over a week after President Emmanuel Macron’s Republic on the Move party fared poorly in the second round of local elections. France’s new prime minister Jean Castex arrives at the Elysee Palace for the weekly cabinet meeting, in Paris, July 7, 2020.Heading it is Prime Minister Jean Castex, a little known former mayor from the Pyrenees. He earned the title of “Mr. Deconfinement” after managing France’s emergence from the coronavirus lockdown.  He replaces the popular Edouard Philippe, a possible challenger to Macron in the next election.  “President Macron has one goal: to fight the recession, to transform the country, to be in a better shape than now for the next presidential election,” said Ulysse Gosset, a political commentator for France’s BFMTV.“The job of the new prime minister is to execute the orders from Macron,” added Gosset. “He has to deal with the crisis. And no more. Macron doesn’t want a prime minister who could be a competitor like former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe was.”  
Making more waves is the new interior minister, Gerard Darmanin. At 35, he’s the youngest interior minister of France’s Fifth Republic. He takes over at a time when the police force is demoralized and faces allegations of racism and brutality.  Newly appointed French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin arrives to attend the weekly Cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, July 7, 2020.Darmanin himself faces a preliminary investigation into a rape accusation, which Macron’s office says didn’t pose an obstacle to his appointment.  Police unions have offered a muted reaction to their new boss. But some feminists protested in front of the Elysee presidential palace.  New Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti is also controversial. He’s earned a reputation as a pugnacious lawyer defending Corsican nationalists, African politicians and Wikileaks founder Julien Assange. One judges union leader slammed his appointment as a “declaration of war” against the judiciary.  Macron’s reshuffled government faces heavy pressure to take environmental action after the Greens Party surged in municipal elections.Barbara Pompili, newly appointed French Minister for the Ecological Transition, arrives to attend the weekly Cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, July 7, 2020.The new minister for ecological transition, Barbara Pompili, co-founded an environmental party, and was a former secretary of state for biodiversity. But she isn’t a big name, and she’ll face close scrutiny in how she handles emissions reduction and other green goals.  
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A Russian court on Tuesday fined a coronavirus-denying monk who has challenged Kremlin lockdown orders for spreading false information about the pandemic.The court in the Ural Mountains region ordered Father Sergiy to pay 90,000 rubles ($1,250). The 65-year-old monk, who has attracted nationwide attention by urging followers to disobey church leadership and ignore church closures during the pandemic, didn’t attend the court hearing.On Friday, a Russian Orthodox Church panel in Yekaterinburg ruled to defrock Father Sergiy for breaking monastic rules. He didn’t show up at the session and dismissed the verdict, urging his backers to come to defend the Sredneuralsk women’s monastery where he has holed up since last month.In Friday’s video posted by his supporters, Father Sergiy denounced President Vladimir Putin as a “traitor to the Motherland” serving a Satanic “world government” and dismissed Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill and other top clerics as “heretics” who must be “thrown out.”Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin wasn’t following developments regarding the rebel monk.  When contagion engulfed Russia, Father Sergiy declared the coronavirus non-existent and denounced government efforts to stem the outbreak as “Satan’s electronic camp.” The monk has described the vaccines being developed against COVID-19 as part of a global plot to control the masses via chips.He urged believers to disobey the closure of churches during the nationwide lockdown. Orthodox churches across Russia were closed on April 13 amid a quick rise in COVID-19 cases and were allowed to reopen in early June as authorities eased restrictions.The church banned the monk from ministry in April, but he has continued preaching and last month took charge of the monastery outside Yekaterinburg that he had founded years ago. Dozens of burly volunteers, including veterans of the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine, helped enforce his rules, while the prioress and several nuns have left.The police visited the monastery last month a day after Father Sergiy took over, but found no violations of public order. Facing stiff resistance by his supporters, church officials have appeared indecisive, lacking the means to enforce their ruling and evict the rebellious monk by force. 
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The United Nations says global HIV/AIDS targets for 2020 will not be met, and that some progress could be lost, in part because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has seriously impacted the HIV/AIDS response.“Our report shows that COVID is threatening to throw us even more off course,” Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS said Monday at the report’s launch in Geneva. “COVID is a disease that is claiming resources — the labs, the scientists, the health workers — away from HIV work. We want governments to use creative ways to keep the fight going on both. One disease cannot be used to fight another.”COVID-19 is the disease caused by the new coronavirus.UNAIDS says despite expanding HIV treatment coverage — some 25 million of the 38 million people living with HIV now have access to antiretroviral therapy — progress is stalling. Over the last two years, new infections have plateaued at 1.7 million a year, and deaths have only dropped slightly — from 730,000 in 2018 to 690,000 last year. The U.N. attributes this to HIV prevention and testing services not reaching the most vulnerable groups, including sex workers, intravenous drug users, prisoners and gay men.COVID-19 poses an additional threat to the HIV/AIDS response because it can prevent people from accessing treatment. The U.N. estimates that if HIV patients are cut off from treatment for six months, it could lead to a half-million more deaths in sub-Saharan Africa over the next year, setting the region back to 2008 AIDS mortality levels. Even a 20% disruption could cause an additional 110,000 deaths.HIV/AIDS patients who contract COVID-19 are also at heightened risk of death, as the virus preys on weakened immune systems.The World Health Organization warned Monday that 73 countries are at risk of running out of antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO says 24 countries have reported having either a critically low stock of ARVs or disruptions in the supply chain.FILE – A doctor takes an AIDS/HIV blood test from an athlete during the 18th National Sports Festival in Lagos, Nigeria.Gains and lossesUNAIDS reports progress in eastern and southern Africa, where new HIV infections have dropped by 38% since 2010. But women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa continue to bear the brunt of the disease, accounting for nearly 60% of all new HIV infections in the region in 2019. Each week, some 4,500 teen girls and young women becoming infected. They are disproportionately affected, making up only 10% of the population, but nearly a quarter of new infections.Condom use has also dropped off in parts of central and western Africa, while it has risen in eastern and southern parts of the continent.Eastern Europe and Central Asia is one of only three regions where new infections are growing. Nearly half of all infections are among intravenous drug users. Only 63% of people who know their HIV status are on treatment. UNAIDS says there is an urgent need to scale up HIV prevention services, particularly in Russia.The Middle East and North Africa have also seen new infections rise by 22%, while they are up 21% in Latin America.“New infections are coming down in sub-Saharan Africa, but going up in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, going up in the Middle East and North Africa, and going up in Latin America. That’s disturbing,” Byanyima, the UNAIDS chief said.Progress is also impacted by draconian laws and social stigma. At least 82 countries criminalize some form of HIV transmission, exposure or nondisclosure.  Sex work is criminalized in at least 103 countries, and at least 108 countries criminalize the consumption or possession of drugs for personal use.One of UNAIDS’s main targets was to achieve “90-90-90” by this year. That means 90% of all people living with HIV would know their status; 90% of those diagnosed would be on antiretroviral treatment; and 90% of all people on treatment would have suppressed the virus in their system.Only 14 countries have reached the target, including Eswatini, which has one of the highest HIV rates in the world. The others are Australia, Botswana, Cambodia, Ireland, Namibia, the Netherlands, Rwanda, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.“It can be done,” Byanyima said. “We see rich and poor countries achieving the targets.”Globally, there have been gains in testing and treatment for HIV. By the end of 2019, more than 80% of people living with HIV worldwide knew their status, and more than two-thirds were receiving treatment. Therapies have also advanced, meaning nearly 60% of all people with HIV had suppressed viral loads in 2019.UNAIDS says that increased access to medications has prevented some 12.1 million AIDS-related deaths in the past decade.  While some 690,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses last year, that is a nearly 40% reduction since 2010.
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Tomas Kapler knew nothing about ventilators — he’s an online business consultant, not an engineer or a medical technician. But when he saw that shortages of the vital machines had imperiled critically ill COVID-19 patients in northern Italy, he was moved to action.”It was a disturbing feeling for me that because of a lack of equipment the doctors had to decide whether a person gets a chance to live,” Kapler said. “That seemed so horrific to me that it was an impulse to do something.”And so he did. “I just said to myself: ‘Can we simply make the ventilators?'” he said.  Working around the clock, he brought together a team of 30 Czechs to develop a fully functional ventilator — Corovent. And they did it in a matter of days.Kapler is a member of an informal group of volunteers formed by IT companies and experts who offered to help the state fight the pandemic. The virus struck here slightly later than in western Europe but the number of infected was rising and time was running out.”It seemed that on the turn of March and April, we might be in the same situation as Italy,” Kapler said.  Ventilators had become a precious commodity. Their price was skyrocketing and so was demand that the traditional makers were unable to immediately meet.”Corovent” lung ventilators, manufactured in Trebic, Czech Republic, are being tested, June 17, 2020.Components for the ventilators were also in critically short supply. So Kapler said he set out to “make a ventilator from the parts that are used in common machines.”  A crowd-funding campaign ensured the necessary finances in just hours.Kapler approached Karel Roubik, professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Czech Technical University for help. He, in turn, assembled colleagues through Skype, while his post-graduate student tested the new design in their lab in Kladno, west of Prague.They had a working prototype in five days, something that would normally take a year.Roubik said their simple design makes the machine reliable, inexpensive, and easy to operate and mass produce.  A group of volunteer pilots flew their planes to deliver anything needed. And then MICO, an energy and chemical company based in Trebic, 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Kladno, offered to do the manufacturing.Flights between the two places helped fine-tune the production line in a few weeks.  “I didn’t do anything more than those people who were making the face masks,” said MICO’s chief executive, Jiri Denner. “They did the maximum they could. And I did the maximum I could.”With the certification for emergency use in the European Union approved, the ventilator was ready in April — but it was not needed in the Czech Republic, which had managed to contain the outbreak.MICO has submitted a request for approval for emergency use in the United States, Brazil, Russia and other countries. Meanwhile, they’ve applied for EU certification for common hospital use.”Originally, we thought it would be just an emergency ventilator for the Czech Republic,” Kapler said. “But it later turned out that the ventilators will be needed in the entire world.”Kapler looks back at the effort with satisfaction.”I had to quit my job and I have been without pay for several months,” he said. “But otherwise, it was mostly positive for me. I’ve met many fantastic people who are willing to help.”Or to quote the slogan printed on the ventilator’s box: “Powered by Czech heart.”
 
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Tourists are back in Italy – a country that a few months ago was the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, suffering nearly 35,000 deaths.European Union borders have re-opened to tourists from a list of countries without the need to quarantine.  But the United States is not on that list – much to the dismay of businesses in Italy.  With the tourism industry accounting for 13 percent of Italy’s gross domestic product, the Italian economy – already battered by the COVID-19 pandemic – is expected to suffer significant losses without American tourists who are also the biggest spenders.Since the country began reopening its borders June 3, European travelers were the first to return and then starting last week, those from a number of non-EU nations followed. However, American tourists – the second largest group of visitors to Italy after the Germans – are still barred from entering the country, except for urgent reasons.
 
Today, the few American visitors seen in Italy often have a story to tell. Colleen Hewson, a retiree from the U.S. city of Detroit, and her husband came in March to visit the ruins at Pompeii only to find it closed due to the pandemic. They were caught in Italy’s lockdown, stayed, and were among the first to reenter the archeological site when it reopened at the end of May.
 
“We’re here on a vacation for our 30th (wedding) anniversary staying at an Airbnb (vacation home rental) with a local and he was nice enough to accommodate us until the lockdown was over and the ruins have opened,” Colleen Hewson said.Italy’s Amalfi CoastItaly’s Amalfi Coast is among areas affected by the absence of usually big-spending American tourists 
Expensive hotels popular with Americans such as in the Amalfi Coast area are bracing themselves for big losses this vacation season. Some have partially reopened, while others not at all.  
 
Fifteen million Americans visit Europe each year, many of them during the summer. Their absence is a huge blow since they account for ten percent of Europe’s overall economy.
 
The EU’s decision to exclude travelers from certain nations, including the United States, is based on infection rates. Other major countries whose tourists are barred include Brazil and Russia. Citizens of Australia, Canada, Japan, and South Korea are allowed in.
 
Last week, five American tourists made the news when they were denied entry to Sardinia, another favorite destination with Americans. They were forced to leave Cagliari airport after flying into the Mediterranean island on a private jet.  
 
The Italian government says 5.6 million Americans visit Italy every year, with July being their preferred month of travel. Aside from the more common destinations like Rome, Venice, Florence and Milan, many flock to the sea resorts like the Amalfi Coast and the major islands of Sardinia and Sicily – where the food and culture are named as the biggest draw.  
 
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The fiancee of Jamal Khashoggi told a Turkish court July 3 that the Washington Post columnist was lured to his death at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul through “a great betrayal and deception,” and she asked that all persons responsible for his killing be brought to justice. Hatice Cengiz spoke at the opening of the trial in absentia of two former aides of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and 18 other Saudi nationals who were charged in Turkey for Khashoggi’s grisly slaying.  The journalist’s 2018 killing at the consulate sparked international condemnation and cast a cloud of suspicion over the prince. FILE – In this Nov. 2, 2018, photo, a video image of Hatice Cengiz, fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, picured below, is displayed during a memorial event in Washington, Oct. 2, 2018.The 20 Saudi defendants all left Turkey, and Saudi Arabia rejected Turkish demands for their extradition. Some of the men were put on trial in Riyadh behind closed doors. The proceedings were widely criticized as a whitewash. Khashoggi’s family members later announced they had forgiven his killers. The trial in Turkey is being closely watched for possible new information or evidence from the killing, including the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s remains.  FILE – A still image taken from CCTV video and obtained by TRT World claims to show Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, highlighted in a red circle by the source, as he arrives at Saudi Arabia’s Consulate in Istanbul, Oct. 2, 2018.Khashoggi, who was a United States resident, had walked into his country’s consulate on Oct. 2, 2018, for an appointment to pick up documents that would allow him to marry his Turkish fiancee. He never walked out. “He was called [to the consulate] with great betrayal and deception,” the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Cengiz as testifying. Hatice Cengiz leaves the Justice Palace in Istanbul, July 3, 2020.”I am making a complaint about everyone who knew about the incident and about everyone who gave the order,” said Cengiz, who waited for Khashoggi outside the Istanbul consulate when he went there to obtain the documents and alerted authorities when he failed to come out.  Yasin Aktay, a prominent politician from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party and a friend of Khashoggi’s, told the court that the slain journalist felt safe in Turkey despite reports of “operations by Saudis against dissidents abroad.” Aktay also testified that he alerted Turkey’s intelligence chief, among other officials, after Khashoggi failed to emerge from the consulate after five hours. He said the intelligence chief responded, “I wish he hadn’t gone in,” according to Anadolu.  The court also heard testimony from six local Turkish employees of the Saudi Consulate. Five of them said they did not see Khashoggi,. One said he had a brief conversation with the journalist when Khashoggi first entered the building but did not see him again after that. The trial was adjourned until Nov. 24 to await several actions, including an Interpol response to correspondence concerning Turkish requests for the suspects’ arrests, Anadolu reported. Turkish prosecutors have demanded that the defendants be sentenced to life terms in prison, if convicted.  The Turkish prosecutors have charged the prince’s former advisers, Saud al-Qahtani and Ahmed al-Asiri, with “instigating a premeditated murder with the intent of [causing] torment through fiendish instinct.” Prosecutors are also seeking life prison sentences for 18 other Saudi nationals charged with carrying out “a premeditated murder with the intent of [causing] torment through fiendish instincts.” A team of 15 Saudi agents had flown to Turkey to meet Khashoggi inside the consulate. They included a forensic doctor, intelligence and security officers and individuals who worked for the crown prince’s office.  Turkish officials allege Khashoggi was killed and then dismembered with a bone saw. Turkey, a rival of Saudi Arabia, apparently had the Saudi Consulate bugged and has shared audio of the killing with the CIA, among others. Prior to his killing, Khashoggi had written critically of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince in columns for The Washington Post.  Saudi Arabia had initially offered shifting accounts about Khashoggi’s disappearance. As international pressure mounted because of the Turkish leaks, the kingdom eventually settled on the explanation that he was killed by rogue officials in a brawl.  Turkish prosecutors say the suspects “acted in consensus from the beginning in line with the decision of taking the victim back to Saudi Arabia and of killing him if he did not agree.” Riyadh had insisted that the kingdom’s courts are the correct place for the suspects to be tried and put 11 people on trial over the killing. In December, five people were sentenced to death while three others were found guilty of covering up the crime and were sentenced to a combined 24 years in prison.  During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in May, Khashoggi’s son announced that the family pardoned the killers, giving legal reprieve to the five government agents who were sentenced to death.  
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The Louvre, Paris’ famous and the world’s most visited museum, partly reopened Monday, after being on lockdown for 16 weeks due to the spread of COVID-19.   The museum has lost more than $45 million in ticket sales in nearly four months, according to its director Jean-Luc Martinez, and may continue to have reduced visitation for a few more years, as the world adapts to the virus. The Louvre’s most famous works of art, like “Mona Lisa” and its big antiquities collection will be accessible, but a third of its galleries where social distancing is more difficult to observe, will remain shut.   However, no selfies will be allowed in front of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, and visitors are required to stand on marked spots on the floor. About 70 percent of the Louvre’s 9.6 million visitors last year were foreigners, but the situation is much different this year. The museum is hoping to have more French visitors to fill the gap, as France is trying to counter its elitist image ahead of the Paris Olympics to be held in four years. 
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The prosecution’s closing arguments will be heard on Monday in the trial of a 93-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard for complicity in the murder of more than 5,000 people during World War II. In what could be one of the last such cases of surviving Nazi guards, Bruno Dey stands accused of complicity in the murder of 5,230 people when he worked at the Stutthof camp near what was then Danzig, now Gdansk in Poland.   Dey, who has appeared in court in a wheelchair, denies bearing any guilt for what happened at the camp. His defense has insisted that he did not join the SS voluntarily before serving at the camp from August 1944 to April 1945, ending up assigned there because a heart condition excluded him from frontline service.   But prosecutors argue that his involvement was crucial to the killings, as his time in the SS coincided with the “Final Solution” order to systematically exterminate Jews through gassing, starvation or denial of medical care. Dey is standing trial at a juvenile court because he was aged between 17 and 18 at the time. ‘Emaciated figures’During his testimony in May, Dey told the court that he wanted to forget his time at the camp. “I don’t want to keep going over the past,” he told the Hamburg tribunal.   Judge Anna Meier-Goering had asked whether Dey had spoken to his children and grandchildren about the time he stood guard at Stutthof. “I don’t bear any guilt for what happened back then,” Dey said. “I didn’t contribute anything to it, other than standing guard. But I was forced to do it, it was an order.” Dey acknowledged last year that he had been aware of the camp’s gas chambers and admitted seeing “emaciated figures, people who had suffered”, but insisted he was not guilty. The Nazis set up the Stutthof camp in 1939, initially using it to detain Polish political prisoners. But it ended up holding 110,000 detainees, including many Jews. Some 65,000 people perished in the camp.  Race against time   Dey, who now lives in Hamburg, became a baker after the war. Married with two daughters, he supplemented his income by working as a truck driver, before later taking on a job in building maintenance.   He came into prosecutors’ sights after a landmark 2011 ruling against former Sobibor camp guard John Demjanjuk on the basis that he was part of the Nazi killing machine. Since then, Germany has been racing to put on trial surviving SS personnel on those grounds rather than for murders or atrocities directly linked to the individual accused. Ukrainian-American Demjanjuk was convicted of being an accessory to the murder of nearly 30,000 Jews at the Sobibor death camp. He died while his appeal was pending. The court ruled that as a guard at the camp, he was automatically implicated in killings carried out there at the time. The case set a new legal precedent and prompted several further convictions of Nazi officers, including that of the “bookkeeper of Auschwitz” Oscar Groening. He died aged 96 before he could be jailed. 
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Britain will invest nearly $2 billion in cultural institutions and the arts to help a sector that has been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday.
 
Theaters, opera houses and ballet companies have been left without a live audience for months.
 
Though English museums and cinemas can reopen with strict social distancing in the latest easing of the lockdown that began Saturday, guidelines still dictate no live performances at theaters or concert halls.
 
That has created an existential crisis for much of the sector, which has been vocal in calling on the government for support.
 
“This money will help safeguard the sector for future generations, ensuring arts groups and venues across the UK can stay afloat and support their staff whilst their doors remain closed and curtains remain down,” Johnson said in a statement.
 
The government said the 1.57 billion pound ($1.96 billion) investment was the biggest ever in Britain’s culture sector.
 
It said that Britain’s museums, art galleries, theaters, independent cinemas, heritage sites and music venues would be protected through emergency grants and loans.
 
The government will consult with figures from Arts Council England, the British Film Institute and other specialist bodies on awarding grants, while it said repayable finance would be issued on affordable terms.
 
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Croatia’s ruling center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) convincingly won a parliamentary election Sunday, held at a time of rising coronavirus infections and a sharp economic downturn because of the pandemic.The official results after about 60% of votes were counted gave the HDZ 68 seats in the 151-seat parliament, while its top opponent, the Social Democrats (SDP) and its small allies, secured 43 seats.Nationalist and euroskeptic bloc Domovinski Pokret (Homeland Movement), led by popular singer Miroslav Skoro, came in third with 15 seats, followed by the conservative Most (Bridge) party with eight seats and leftist Mozemo (We can) with six seats.The HDZ will now seek partners to form yet another ruling coalition, which analysts believe should not be too difficult given its strong performance.”They have a pretty comfortable position now as they may be able to choose their partners and may not need to negotiate with their opponents on the right-wing spectrum of the political scene,” political analyst Berto Salaj told state television.The HDZ leader and incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the victory brought with it an obligation to work hard.”Croatia is facing serious challenges which require from us responsibility, knowledge and experience. That is exactly what we have offered to the Croatian voters,” he said addressing his party supporters.The new government will have an uphill task to keep a grip on the coronavirus while trying to restore the economy, which is expected to shrink about 10% this year. Tourism revenues are forecast to slump 70%.Croatia has reported a relatively small number of COVID-19 infections, a little over 3,000 cases and some 100 deaths so far, but infections have accelerated in the past two weeks, with the daily number of new cases peaking at about 80. 
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The British government is set to end the participation of Chinese telecom giant Huawei in the building of Britain’s 5G phone network — a policy about-turn that will further deteriorate London’s strained relations with Beijing, but will please Washington, according to British media reports. The major policy change follows a fresh reassessment by Britain’s National Cyber Security Center, or NCSC, on the eavesdropping risks posed by the Chinese company, according to Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper. British officials have confirmed to VOA the newspaper report is accurate. Previously the NCSC, a department within Britain’s intelligence agency GCHQ, said the security risks posed by Huawei could be safely managed and mitigated, a view not shared by U.S. intelligence agencies. But the imposition last month of new U.S. restrictions on Huawei has altered the picture, the NCSC warns. Britain’s cybersecurity chiefs now conclude the sanctions, which block Huawei from using components and semi-conductors based on any American intellectual property, will mean the telecom giant will have to use “untrusted” parts, increasing security risks. British officials are drawing up a timetable for the removal of Huawei equipment already installed in the 5G network. British telecom firms BT and Vodafone have asked the government to give them until 2030 to strip Huawei components from the existing 5G infrastructure, but officials say Downing Street wants much speedier action, even if it means slowing down the roll-out of the new network. Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, welcomed the reports, saying, “The government’s change of heart is very welcome.” The planned policy reversal comes amid a mounting diplomatic dispute between Britain and Beijing over the introduction by the Chinese government of a new draconian security law that allows Chinese security agencies to arrest pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, a former British enclave. To Beijing’s anger, Britain announced Hong Kong residents would be allowed to move to Britain. A sign reading “Boris Stop Huawei” is seen next to the M40 motorway, Tetsworth, Britain, May 1, 2020.In January, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided to allow Huawei a limited role in building the less critical parts of the country’s next-generation cellular network, dealing a blow to a U.S. campaign urging allies to boycott the telecom giant. For more than a year, the Trump administration has urged Britain and other allies to ban Huawei from participating in the development of fifth-generation wireless networks. U.S. officials say there’s a significant risk that the company, which has close ties to Chinese intelligence services, will act as a Trojan horse for Beijing’s espionage agencies, allowing them to sweep data up and gather intelligence. FILE – A pedestrian walks past a Huawei product stand at an EE telecommunications shop in central London, Britain, April 29, 2019.Ahead of Johnson’s go-ahead, U.S. officials warned London that giving Huawei the green-light could jeopardize intelligence-sharing between Britain and the United States. The British prime minister sought to mollify Washington — and critics within his own ruling Conservative party — by allowing Huawei to build only 35 percent of Britain’s 5G infrastructure and to exclude it from critical networks and from locations near nuclear plants and military bases. Pressure has been mounting on Johnson to reverse his decision from within his own party, pressure that has been fueled by the coronavirus pandemic and accusations that Beijing downplayed the danger of the novel virus. A newly-formed Conservative group in the House of Commons called the China Research Group has been urging Johnson to take a robust line with China’s communist leaders on a range of issues, from Beijing’s security crackdown in Hong Kong to Huawei. The group has attracted the support of dozens of Conservative lawmakers and around 60 had warned Johnson that they would mount a backbench rebellion, if he did not block Huawei. Johnson recently instructed officials to draft plans to limit Britain’s reliance on China for vital medical supplies and other strategic imports in light of the coronavirus crisis. Britain is strategically dependent on China for 71 critical goods categories, including pharmaceutical ingredients and consumer electronics, according to trade data analyzed by the Henry Jackson Society, a foreign policy think tank based in London. Last month, Christopher Patten, a former Conservative minister and Britain’s last Hong Kong governor, warned Johnson publicly about Huawei, saying, “If people argue we should deal with Huawei because they’re just like any other multinational company, that is for the birds: if they come under pressure from the Communist government to do things which are thought to be in Beijing’s interest they will do it.” With Britain poised to block Huawei, it would leave Canada as the only member of the so-called ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence-sharing partnership, which includes the U.S., Britain Australia and New Zealand, not yet to have excluded Huawei from involvement in 5G development. Huawei issued a statement Sunday saying it remains “open to discussions with the British government” and accused the U.S. of seeking to boost the market position of American companies. Company officials say an any decision to reverse its role in Britain’s 5G network is based is based on “mistaken assumptions.” A Huawei spokesman said: “Huawei is the most scrutinized vendor in the world and we firmly believe our unrivaled transparency in the UK means we can continue to be trusted to play a part in Britain’s gigabit upgrade. It’s important to focus on facts and not to speculate at this time.”  
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Pope Francis on Sunday threw his support behind a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a halt to conflicts to facilitate the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted the resolution after more than three months of negotiations calling for “an immediate cessation of hostilities in all situations” on the Security Council’s agenda.”The request for a global and immediate cease-fire, which would allow that peace and security necessary to provide the needed humanitarian assistance is commendable,” the pope said after his weekly Angelus prayer at St. Peter’s in Rome.”I hope that this decision will be implemented effectively and promptly for the good of the many people who are suffering.”May this Security Council resolution become a courageous first step towards a peaceful future.”The resolution was the Security Council’s first statement on the pandemic and its first real action since the outbreak started.Repeatedly blocked by China and the United States, which opposed a reference in the text to the World Health Organization (WHO), the resolution aims to support an appeal in March by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a global ceasefire.It “calls upon all parties to armed conflicts to engage immediately in a durable humanitarian pause for at least 90 consecutive days, in order to enable the safe, unhindered and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance.”
 
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NATO’s non-combatant military alliance in Afghanistan said Saturday it has arranged its “largest supply ever” of personal protective medical equipment to help Afghan security forces fight the coronavirus. 
The announcement by the 38-nation Resolute Support mission came just days after news reports said the pandemic was sweeping through Afghan security forces, undermining their ability to counter increased battlefield attacks by Taliban insurgents.
 
“More than 1.4 million masks, 500,000 gloves, 460,000 gowns & surgical supplies are on their way to ANA (Afghan National Army) and ANP (Afghan National Police) across Afghanistan,” the alliance tweeted.
 
It reiterated NATO’s commitment to support the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in their efforts to secure peace in the country.
 
A recent Washington Post article quoted unnamed Afghan security officials in four provinces as reporting suspected infection rates of 60 to 90 percent among personnel.
 
The outbreak has reportedly reduced the number of Afghan forces available to conduct counter-Taliban operations and other vital tasks, including taking up duty at security outposts.
 
The Afghan Defense Ministry rejected reports of large-scale infections among security forces, saying all necessary measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the virus at military bases and outposts.
 
As of Saturday, the public health ministry said that confirmed COVID-19 infections in Afghanistan, a country of 37 million, have risen to nearly 33,000. It noted that 826 patients have died. COVID-19 is caused by the coronavirus.
 Public health officials have warned that the actual numbers are much higher, citing limited testing capacity, among other challenges facing the war-hit health care system, and that up to 26 million people in the country could become infected in the coming months.
 
There are also reports the outbreak is circulating among top Taliban commanders and fighters, although insurgent officials have denied them.
 
Afghan authorities acknowledge stepped up insurgent attacks in recent weeks have killed and injured hundreds of security forces. The fighting has also killed scores of civilians.
 
The violence comes as Afghan rivals prepare to hold peace talks to negotiate a cease-fire and a power-sharing arrangement.
 
The proposed dialogue is stipulated in a landmark pact the United States signed with the Islamist Taliban in February to end nearly two decades of hostilities in Afghanistan.The commencement of long-awaited intra-Afghan peace talks, however, is tied to the conclusion of an ongoing prisoner swap between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
 
Kabul still has to free about 1,000 Taliban prisoners out of 5,000 it is required to release. The insurgents have released about 740 Afghan out of a promised 1,000.
 
The U.S.-Taliban deal requires all American and allied troops to leave Afghanistan by July 2021, subject to assurances the insurgent group will prevent transnational terrorists from using the country for international attacks and engage in a political reconciliation process to end violence.
 
Meanwhile, the NATO senior civilian representative to Afghanistan, Stefano Pontecorvo, has cautioned Taliban violence is hampering efforts to jumpstart intra-Afghan peace talks.
 
Pontecorvo released the statement via Twitter after updating NATO members in Brussels on the situation in Afghanistan.
 
“We also discussed the situation on the ground — Taliban violence has to go down, it is simply unacceptable and it is creating an issue, a problem for getting to the peace talks,” he said.
 
 
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At least 17 people, included journalists, were detained Friday in Moscow, after protesting in front of the Federal Security Service (FSB) headquarters over criminal charges leveled against a Russian journalist.Prosecutors in Pskov requested a six-year prison term for Svetlana Prokopyeva, who wrote an article on the blast outside a branch of Russia’s FSB in Arkhangelsk in 2018.People have gathered here today because the prosecutors have asked for an impossible six years of prison for her article,” said journalist Irina Dolinina. “But they can’t express their opinion because they are detained and taken to the police car before they can take out their banners.”Protesters have expressed fear that Prokopyeva’s case could be followed by more repression in the country, as people are unable to freely protest because the coronavirus restrictions are still in effect.”Hereafter the society will be decaying, and the repressions will strengthen until people start expressing their anger,” said Moscow resident Alexander Matskevich. “I don’t know how far it (the repression) can go. We have an example of North Korea. I doubt anyone wants to have the same here.”Russian authorities had identified the attacker in Arkhangelsk as a local 17-year-old man and treated the case as an act of terrorism.In her article, Prokopyeva wrote that the attacker’s motives were linked to the political climate in Russia.After the publication, authorities accused Prokopyeva of publicly justifying terrorism.The court is expected to announce the final verdict on Monday. 
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A trial of those charged in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi opened Friday in Turkey, but none of the 20 Saudi nationals accused in the killing were in attendance.The fiancee of Khashoggi, Hatice Cengiz, told the court in Istanbul that the accused used “great betrayal and deception” to lure the journalist to his death at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.Cengiz told reporters outside the courthouse that “we will continue seeking justice not just in Turkey but everywhere we can.”Khashoggi, who was a U.S. resident, went to the consulate in 2018 to pick up documents that would allow him to marry Cengiz, who is Turkish. He was killed inside the consulate while Cengiz waited outside, sparking global outrage.The journalist, who wrote columns for The Washington Post, was a prominent critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.The 20 defendants, including two former aides of the crown prince, have all returned to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh has rejected Turkey’s request for their extradition.Some of the men have been tried in Saudi Arabia behind closed doors.Turkish prosecutors allege the men were sent to Turkey from Riyadh to confront Khashoggi.Rogue operatives blamedSaudi Arabia has given varying accounts of Khashoggi’s disappearance, eventually saying the killing was the work of rogue operatives.The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has concluded with “medium to high confidence” that Crown Prince Mohammed ordered the killing. The crown prince denies he was involved.The remains of Khashoggi have not been found. Turkish and Saudi prosecutors allege the Saudi agents dismembered his body after the killing.A handyman at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Zeki Demir, told the Turkish court Friday that he had been asked to light a tandoor oven less than one hour after Khashoggi entered the building. He described the Saudi agents as having an “air of panic.”The trial was adjourned Friday until November 24.
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French President Emmanuel Macron named Jean Castex, a senior civil servant, as his new prime minister on Friday as he acted to recast his presidency and take back control of policy ahead of elections in 2022.Macron wants to start afresh after the coronavirus crisis reversed some of the hard-fought gains earned from moves to liberalize the economy, and is aware he needs to win back disillusioned voters.Outgoing premier Edouard Philippe gave Castex a “namaste” welcome greeting outside the prime minister’s Matignon office, having earlier tendered his government’s resignation ahead of an anticipated reshuffle.”The economic crisis is already here,” Castex said. “Priorities will therefore have to evolve, ways of working will have to be adapted. We will have to unite the nation to fight this crisis that is setting in.”Macron is reshaping his government as France grapples with the deepest economic slide since World War II, a sharp downturn that will shrink the economy by about 11% in 2020 and bring about big job losses.Castex, 55, hails from the center-right, a career technocrat with experience in local politics who most recently has been known as “Monsieur Deconfinement” for his role bringing the country out of lockdown measures.Also the mayor of Prades, a town in southwest France, he speaks with a local lilt and will help Macron connect with provincial France, Elysee insiders hope.Investors will be watching to see if Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who has overseen reforms to liberalize the economy and spent big to keep companies like Air France and Renault afloat during the crisis, keeps his job.FILE – French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the closing press conference at the G5 Sahel summit on June 30, 2020, in Nouakchott.”The return from summer holidays will be difficult, we must get ready,” Macron said on the eve of his government’s resignation.Taking controlPhilippe’s popularity had grown as he steered France through the coronavirus crisis with calm, leaving Macron with a tough decision over whether to jettison his prime minister and opt for a new team.As he did with Philippe, Macron plucked Castex from relative obscurity. The new prime minister, an alumni of France’s top administrative school for politicians and public servants, has held civil servant positions at all levels of government, including as a senior adviser to former President Nicolas Sarkozy.The appointment of a civil servant with a low profile showed “Macron’s willingness to exert full control over the policy agenda in the coming months,” said Antonio Barroso at risk advisory firm Teneo.An Elysee source confirmed Macron had imposed his choice of chief of staff on Castex but rejected suggestions this was an attempt to reduce Matignon’s influence over decision-making.LoyaltyMacron said in mid-June that he wanted to “reinvent” his presidency as France emerges from its coronavirus slump. Then came his party’s dire showing in nationwide municipal elections on June 28.The president’s first three years in office have been mired in social unrest and the elections showed surging support for the Green party and underlined Macron’s troubles connecting with ordinary folk. His ruling party failed to win a single big city, depriving the president of a local power base ahead of 2022.The most notable win was Philippe’s success in Le Havre. His exit from the government clears the way for him to be mayor of the northern port, from where he could emerge as a rival to Macron in two years.Macron aides said Macron and Philippe were leaving on warm terms. Philippe will be tasked with rebuilding Macron’s majority ahead of 2022, a sign Macron may want to ensure he keeps his former prime minister close to him.”I don’t think Philippe’s loyalty has ever been called into question,” the Elysee official said.
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Asking people in English pubs to keep their distance is going to be tough after they’ve had a few of their favorite tipples.Pub managers will have to be resourceful come Saturday when they and other parts of the hospitality industry in England open their doors to customers for the first time since March 20, provided they meet COVID safety requirements.The British government has been accused of being reckless in allowing pubs to open again, given coronavirus infection and death rates are still high and amid evidence that reopening bars in countries like the U.S. has led to new outbreaks. The U.K. has recorded nearly 44,000 virus-related deaths, third behind the United States and Brazil.Closing Bars to Stop Coronavirus Spread is Backed by ScienceAlcohol lowers inhibitions, so people forget precautions, Natalie Dean, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Florida saysMany cash-starved pubs will take the plunge anyway, though they will be very different from what they were when they shut down given the need to ensure everyone is safe — from registering customers upon entrance to making sure tables are far enough apart to meet social distancing rules.”I’m nervous,” said Are Kolltveit, who runs the Chandos Arms in north London with his wife Emily. They have turned around the fortunes of the pub in the past few years by taking it back to the community, offering activities like live music — in addition to a finely poured pint of ale. It was voted Best Local in the 2019 British Pub Awards.”It won’t be the same, but we’ll do our best to make it just as great as ever,” he said.The pandemic is an existential threat to most of England’s 37,500 pubs. The Chandos, and countless others, have benefited from government measures, notably a wage support scheme that prevented mass firings. Around 90% of pub staff were furloughed under the scheme, according to the Beer and Pub Association.Reopening — as early as 6 a.m. if they wish, the government confirmed Friday — offers hope to publicans like Kolltveit, but margins are tight.Kolltveit wants to think people will abide by the rules, given the pandemic is still ongoing, and says his pub can survive for around five months without further help — provided it runs at 50% of maximum capacity and there’s no second spike in contagions or a new lockdown on businesses.”The best pubs are extensions of the landlord’s personality and the atmosphere of the pub is going to be massively challenged, but I think the best publicans will find ways of reinventing it in some way,” said Pete Brown, an award-winning beer writer.When they reopen, pubs will need to ensure table service, a move that halts the cherished tradition of the English boozer — crowding and chatting around the bar. Guests will be limited to groups of six and, where possible, sit side by side to reduce any risk of contagion that may come from shouting too loudly.They will be spaced at least one meter (3.3 feet) apart and be encouraged to take other measures to keep safe, such as using hand sanitizers. Wearing masks, even by staff, is optional.  Pub staff will also have to register the names of customers at the door — and keep them for 21 days — to assist in any efforts to trace virus contagions.Tim Sheehan, co-owner of Franklins, a pub and restaurant in southeast London, is annoyed by the effective enrolment of the hospitality industry in the effort to track and trace contagions and wonders how he is meant to verify anyone’s health or identity.”How many Mr. and Mrs. Presleys are we going to get? And how do you go about asking people personal questions?,” he said. “I’m dreading it in that respect.”He’s also concerned it will be “like New Year’s Eve” in some pubs, particularly those that cater to younger people, and that social distancing guidelines “may go out of the window after people have had a few shandies.””We are moving to the stage where the advice is to essentially use common sense,” said Jon Cross, a 40-year-old accountant in north London.”Most people will trust their local to make the right choices,” added Cross who said he’d happily frequent his local pub, The Wrestlers, if it isn’t busy.The guidelines are the same whatever the size and layout of the pub. But the challenges are likely to be very different for a huge venue like JD Wetherspoon’s The Moon Under Water in Manchester and a quaint country pub like The George at Burpham, tucked between a church and a cricket pitch in southern England.Pubs like The George are inherent to the rhythm of their rural surrounding. It is starting with an outside barbecue on Saturday, followed by a traditional Sunday roast service indoors and out.”Not since the Duke of Norfolk opened Arundel Railway Station on his land in August 1863 has a summer event been more eagerly awaited by Sussex locals than the re-opening of The George,” said Robert Essex, a 59-year-old marketing services executive and one of the locals who bought the pub in 2013.Not everyone is reopening. The Tollington Arms, a pub near Arsenal’s soccer stadium in north London thinks the government is ignoring expert scientific advice and voiced worries about “contributing to a second wave of this pandemic.”Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday that people are “appreciably less likely now to be in close proximity” with someone with the virus and that the latest easing of the lockdown had been carefully thought through.”Let’s not blow it now,” he said.
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Turkish state media reports an explosion at a fireworks factory in northwestern part of the country.  The Associated Press reports there were between 150 to 200 people in the building at the time of the blast Friday. There were no immediate reports of casualties following the explosion in Sakarya province.Television video footage showed a huge cloud of smoke over the blast site. 
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Top diplomats from Ukraine, Georgia and Romania are urging the United States and NATO to step up their presence in the Black Sea region to discourage Moscow from advancing its aggressive agenda.Ambassadors from the three countries, all of which border the sea, voiced their concerns Thursday at an event organized by the Middle East Institute’s newly inaugurated Frontier Europe Initiative.Sitting at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, the Black Sea has been fought over for centuries, noted Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko. More recently, Russia has enlarged its footprint around the strategically vital waterway by directly or indirectly seizing territory from Georgia in 2008 and from Ukraine in 2014.“We alone don’t have the capability to stand up to Russia,” acknowledged Yelchenko, who was joined in that assessment by Georgian Ambassador David Bakradze. Both urged the United States to bolster its presence in the region and to strengthen its allies and partners.Greater US, NATO presenceThe U.S. and NATO presence in the Black Sea region “skyrocketed” immediately after the Crimea crisis in 2014 but has since tapered off, said Heritage Foundation analyst Luke Coffey in an interview with VOA.In a paper published earlier this year, Coffey described the Black Sea as “having been fought over by some of the world’s major empires. Throughout history, it has proven to be one of the most geopolitically and economically important locations in the broader Eurasian region.”FILE – Shipping containers are seen in the Black Sea port of Odessa, Ukraine, Nov. 4, 2016.Fuel, shippingOil and gas pipelines, as well as fiber-optic cables, run along the bottom of the sea, while hundreds of ships crisscross its surface daily moving people and goods, said Coffey, director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy at Heritage.For Russia, the sea is also the maritime gateway to the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal and strategic points beyond.Coffey argued for a continuous NATO presence in the region, saying “every single day of the year, there should be at least one NATO ship” in the Black Sea.He acknowledged that NATO countries presently lack the ships and possibly the political will to maintain such a robust presence, especially with budgets constrained by the coronavirus pandemic. “Surface warships are very expensive defense capability.”He called for “creative solutions,” looking at how air and land assets could accompany a projection of naval force. The situation needs to be looked at “holistically,” he said, taking into account the differing levels of enthusiasm in the region for any alliance with the U.S. and its NATO partners.Romania, Coffey said, is the most enthusiastic NATO member among the countries that border the Black Sea, whereas Turkey wields the most maritime power in the region after Russia.Ankara support seen vitalThe ambassadors from Georgia, Romania and Ukraine agreed that no regional initiative is likely to bear fruit without the support of Ankara. “We would like to see Turkey more engaged,” said George Maior, Romanian ambassador to the United States.FILE – Romanian soldiers take part in a joint exercise with U.S. troops during Argedava Saber 17, a stage in Saber Guardian 17 exercises, in Bordusani, Ialomita, Romania, July 16, 2017.Romania, he said, has worked diligently and consistently with the Pentagon to increase and enhance the U.S. military presence, both on land and at sea.Several participants in the forum expressed hope that the United States and NATO would devote the same attention and resources to the Black Sea region as they have to the three Baltic states, all NATO members since 2004.While NATO membership still seems a distant prospect for Georgia and Ukraine, Coffey said that should not be ruled out.“If you were to ask people in the early 1990s what the prospect of Poland, Latvia joining NATO was, the answer you would likely get was ‘impossible,’ ” he said. Today both are not only alliance members but among the staunchest supporters of the institution.“We shouldn’t let Russia have the unofficial veto” over Georgia and Ukraine, he said.
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Rights activists on Thursday accused Danish officials of being unable to recognize racism after authorities said the killing of a biracial man by two white men was not racially motivated.
 
“In Denmark, white people are colorblind. They cannot see that racism exists. That is embarrassing,”said Jette Moeller, head of the Danish chapter of SOS-Racism, an international association.  
“Of course, racism exists (in Denmark). We know that. It has been documented for years,” said Mira Chandhok Skadegaard, an assistant professor at Aalborg University in northern Denmark.
A biracial man was killed last month on a Danish Baltic Sea island. The Danish police, prosecutor, a defense lawyer and a white friend of the victim all say a personal relationship that went wrong  between the victim and the perpetrators was the reason for the slaying, not racism.  
The 28-year-old victim, who had Danish and African roots, was found on the island of Bornholm on June 23. Two white brothers in their 20s whom the victim reportedly knew have been detained until July 22 on suspicion of murder. None have been named by authorities.  
Speculation that the killing could be racially motivated began after it emerged that the victim’s death bore some similarities to that of George Floyd, a Black man who died May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes even as Floyd pleaded for air. Floyd’s death has sparked protests around the world demanding racial justice and condemning police brutality.
The Danish chapter of Black Lives Matter wrote on Facebook that “two brothers committed a racial murder on Bornholm” and posted a photo of a swastika tattoo, claiming it was on one suspect’s leg.  
“Let a judge decide” whether the slaying was racially motivated, Moeller told The Associated Press in an interview. “But it should be investigated as a racially motivated crime. Knowing those who killed him doesn’t rule out it could include some racial elements.”
Activists like Moeller see a pattern of denial in Denmark, which they attribute to rising anti-immigrant attitudes in the Nordic country. She also points out that Denmark’s freedom of expression should not be used to denigrate people, and the miss-use of that right has previously brought the Scandinavian country of 10 million into the crosshairs of Muslims around the world.
“Racism is about the effect it has on other people … One cannot use the liberty of expression as an excuse to taunt others, like Rasmus Paludan does by burning copies of the Quran,” she said.
For months, Paludan, a far-right provocateur, has been touring the country and tossing copies of the Islamic holy book in the air before burning them before immigrants. This has sometimes led to brief confrontations between onlookers and police who have been protecting Paludan.
Last month, Paludan was convicted of racism, among other things, with a court ruling that “his statements were derogatory and degrading toward a population group.” He was given a three-month prison sentence, of which two were suspended, and his licence to practice law was suspended in part for three years. He has appealed the sentence.
In September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons showing the Prophet Muhammad. This caused wide outrage among Muslims, who generally hold that any depiction of Muhammad is blasphemous and prompted often violent protests in Muslim countries. The newspaper — one of Denmark’s largest — said it had wanted to test whether cartoonists would apply self-censorship when asked to portray Muhammad. No Danish laws were violated with the cartoons’ publication.  
It was the same daily that in January published a cartoon with the Chinese flag with what resembles viruses instead of the normal stars, sparking China’s anger. In both cases, the Danish right to freedom of speech was invoked.  
In 2017, a 16-year-old Afghan boy was set on fire by four schoolmates but race was ruled out as factor. The four teenagers were found guilty of gross violence and the Afghan boy survived with burns on his legs and chest.  
A 2018 report by the European Union pointed out that hate crimes in Denmark had quadrupled over 11 years, from 35 reported cases in 2007 to 140 cases in 2016.
In Europe, “Denmark belongs to the tough group,” Moeller told the AP. “I believe that we’re on the right track as we start to discuss it, address it.”  
She noted that a racial justice demonstration in Copenhagen on June 7 drew at least 15,000 people.  
Chandhok Skadegaard, who has been studying discrimination for decades, said Danes “are far behind when it comes to recognizing racism in our society. Sweden is several steps ahead of Denmark … as is Norway, and Finland and England.”
“People tend to not report discrimination, because they find it is not acknowledged or taken seriously by the authorities,” she said.
In 2016, Denmark made international headlines when a law was passed requiring asylum-seekers to hand over valuables worth more than 10,000 kroner ($1,500), to help cover housing and food costs while their cases were being processed. Although the center-right government behind the move said it was in line with rules for unemployed Danes seeking benefits, critics denounced the law as inhumane.  
Still, the law has not been changed under Denmark’s present Social Democratic government. 
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The arrest Thursday in the U.S. state of New Hampshire of Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and long-time friend of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is ringing legal alarm bells thousands of miles away in Buckingham Palace, former royal advisers say. Maxwell, 58, has long been wanted for questioning by the FBI over allegations that she supplied underage girls to Epstein and his closest friends, including Prince Andrew, reputedly the favorite son of Queen Elizabeth. Maxwell has publicly denied procuring girls for Epstein and his circle of intimates. Andrew, also known as the Duke of York, was forced to step down in November from public life over his friendship with Epstein amid allegations that he’d had sex with a 17-year-old girl who had been arranged for him by Maxwell. The prince has denied the claim. Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks during a news conference to announce charges against Ghislaine Maxwell, in New York, July 2, 2020.Elizabeth’s legal advisers will be trying to assess what ramifications Maxwell’s arrest may entail for the beleaguered 60-year-old prince, a former Buckingham Palace official told VOA. Maxwell was charged by New York federal prosecutors Thursday with six counts in connection with an ongoing investigation into Epstein’s accomplices, according to court documents, including enticement and conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transportation and conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and two counts of perjury. “In particular, from at least in or about 1994, up to and including at least in or about 1997, Maxwell assisted, facilitated, and contributed to Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse victims known to Maxwell and Epstein to be under the age of 18,” the indictment states. FILE – Jeffrey Epstein is seen in this March 28, 2017, photo provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry.Epstein was found dead last year in a New York prison cell, where he was being held on charges of trafficking girls as young as 14 years old. His death, ruled a suicide, has not stopped a wide-ranging federal probe that is drawing in Epstein’s friends. The prince has been locked in a transatlantic dispute since January with U.S. prosecutors who say he has failed to assist them in their long-running probe into Epstein’s history of sexual abuse, and the possible complicity of others, despite the prince’s pledges to do so. “Certainly, the worry will be that Andrew will be thrust back into the glare of the public spotlight, and that the arrest will embolden the federal prosecutors to press for Andrew’s cooperation,” a former palace official said. “This does risk wider political ramifications, including Britain’s political relations with the U.S, as well as how the British public will view the royal family moving forward,” he added. ‘Megxit’The deepening Epstein saga is adding to the mounting woes buffeting Britain’s royals. Buckingham Palace is also focused on trying to contain the fallout from the decision last year by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to move to the United States and carve out an independent life for themselves free from the protocol constraints of royal life. FILE – Britain’s Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, arrive to attend the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London, March 9, 2020.The palace is braced for a string of upcoming books on the so-called “Megxit” of the young couple from royal life. The pair reportedly assisted some of the authors, and the lurid revelations are likely to deepen an alleged widening rift between royal family members, including between the Duke and his elder brother, Prince William — the sons of Prince Charles, the heir apparent. Hours before Maxwell’s arrest, Britain’s media was focused on claims by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, that she felt shut out by the royal family and that the palace failed to protect her while she was pregnant with her first child, Archie, in 2019.  The claim was made in documents released as part of a High Court battle between the duchess and the Daily Mail newspaper, which she is suing for breach of privacy. Andrew’s legal woes — as well as the semi-public squabbling between members of the royal family, nicknamed “the firm” — is shaping up to turn 2020 into a year comparable to the series of troubles that rocked Buckingham Palace in 1992, which the queen dubbed an “annus horribilis” (horrible year).  That year included the public breakup of the Charles and Diana, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and disclosures about their infidelities, followed by a fire at Windsor Castle that destroyed large parts of the 11th century building.   Questioning Andrew In June, the U.S. Department of Justice invoked America’s Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with Britain, a rare legal move, to demand a formal face-to-face interview with Andrew. British media reports suggest that so far, Andrew has only offered to provide written answers to questions posed by federal prosecutors — and to do so without taking an oath. He has publicly denied any wrongdoing and dismissed allegations that he slept with Virginia Roberts Giuffre at the billionaire’s luxury apartments in London and New York and at his Caribbean retreat when she was a teenager. FILE – A combination photo of the front-pages of British newspapers headline the scandal surrounding Britain’s Prince Andrew, Nov. 21, 2019.Asked during a Fox News interview last month whether the U.S. would officially ask Britain to hand over the duke for questioning, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said there were no plans to seek his extradition. “I don’t think it’s a question of handing him over. I think it’s just a question of having him provide some evidence,” he said. Andrew’s friendship with Epstein first came under intense scrutiny in 2010 when photographs emerged of the two together in New York when Epstein was already a registered sex offender. The prince, who has been accused in the past of forming ill-judged friendships and had a reputation as a hard-partying royal when younger, said in a BBC interview last year that he only visited Epstein at the time to tell him their friendship was over. The 45-minute TV interview, in which he failed to express sympathy for the teenagers trafficked and exploited by Epstein, was widely condemned and prompted a backlash from businesses sponsoring his charities. The immediate impact was Andrew’s announcement he was stepping down from royal duties — a move reportedly insisted on by his elder brother Charles during a family conference. Speaking at a press conference in New York, U.S. Deputy District Attorney Audrey Strauss said she would not comment on the status of Andrew in the investigation, but added, “We would welcome Prince Andrew coming in and speaking with us.” 
 
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Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who was accused by many women of helping procure underage sex partners for Jeffrey Epstein, was arrested Thursday in New Hampshire, the FBI said. Maxwell, who lived for years with Epstein and was his frequent travel companion on trips around the world, was taken into custody around 8:30 a.m., said FBI spokesman Marty Feely. An indictment made public Thursday said Maxwell “assisted, facilitated and contributed to Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse ” girls under age 18. FILE – This March 28, 2017, file photo, provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry shows Jeffrey Epstein.Epstein killed himself in a federal detention center in New York last summer while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell was accused by many women of recruiting them to give Epstein massages, during which they were pressured into sex. Those accusations, until now, never resulted in criminal charges. The indictment included counts of conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and two counts of perjury. Messages were sent Thursday to several of Maxwell’s attorneys seeking comment. She has previously repeatedly denied wrongdoing and called some of the claims against her “absolute rubbish.” FILE – Virginia Giuffre, an alleged victim of Jeffrey Epstein, leaves after the hearing in the criminal case against Epstein, at Federal Court in New York, Aug. 27, 2019.Among the most sensational accusations was a claim by one Epstein victim, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, that Maxwell arranged for her to have sex with Britain’s Prince Andrew at her London townhouse. Giuffre bolstered her allegations with a picture of her, Andrew and Giuffre that she said was taken at the time. Andrew denied her story. Maxwell was described in a lawsuit by another Epstein victim, Sarah Ransome, as the “highest-ranking employee” of Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking enterprise. She oversaw and trained recruiters, developed recruiting plans and helped conceal the activity from law enforcement, the lawsuit alleged.  
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Russia overwhelmingly embraced changes to the country’s constitution in a weeklong national vote that ended Wednesday and was held during the coronavirus pandemic, scoring a controversial victory for President Vladimir Putin amid complaints of vote rigging and a constitutional coup by Kremlin critics.
 
Buried among nearly 200 amendments focusing on conservative and patriotic values was a little advertised measure to reset president term limits for Putin — in effect opening the door for the longtime Russian leader to remain in power beyond his current term and until the year 2036.
 
With nearly all votes counted, Russia’s Central Election Commission said 65% of registered voters had participated, with 78% endorsing the changes in an up or down vote. 21% voted against the packet of amendments, according to official results.FILE – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov listens during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 19, 2019.“De facto, this was a triumphant referendum of trust in President Putin,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in assessing the outcome of the vote during a call with journalists on Thursday.
 
On the eve of the final day of voting, Putin urged all Russians to let their voices be heard.
 
“We’re voting for the country in which we want to live,” said Putin in a video address released on the eve of the vote.
 
“Each of our votes is the most important,” added Putin.
 
The Russian leader made no mention of the term limit extension, or that the both houses of parliament had already ratified the agreement, making the vote largely a question of optics.
 An unusual voteThe vote was part of a carefully choreographed event initially scheduled for April — but was pushed back by Putin amid concerns over rapid spread of the coronavirus in Russia.
 
Russia on Thursday sat third in the global count for coronavirus infections, with just over 650,000 documented cases.Ella Pamfilova, head of Russia’s Central Election Commission, wearing a protective mask, is seen at a news conference on the preliminary results of a vote on constitutional reforms, at the commission’s headquarters in Moscow, Russia, July 2, 2020.To assure voters to participate amid the outbreak, Russia’s Central Election Commissioner, Ella Pamfilova, unveiled what she termed “exclusive procedures” aimed at securing public safety while avoiding rules associated with a formal referendum.
 
The vote was extended for a full week, electronic voting was introduced in Moscow, and government vote monitors were put in place of independent observers, under new rules adopted.
 
“Our job is to control the vote, and it was absolutely impossible to control,” says Roman Udot of the independent election monitoring organization Golos in an interview with VOA.
 
“We’ve never had an experience like voting over a week. People were voting in streets, lawns, parks…everywhere.”
 
Voters were also screened for temperature checks and given masks and gloves and individual pens to mark ballots. The urns were disinfected every few hours.
 
“It’s perfectly safe,” said Nina Pavlovna, the head of a voting precinct central Moscow in an interview with VOA. “You can see we’re all wearing protective equipment.”
 
In an attempt to pump up turnout, prizes were also advertised — everything from free pizzas and soccer balls to raffles for smartphones, automobiles and government-gifted apartments.A woman wearing a protective mask stands by the door of her apartment as she prepares to cast her ballot in a mobile ballot box during a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms in Moscow, Russia, July 1, 2020.Opposition leader Alexey Navalny compared the whole experience to a theater performance desperate for an audience.
 
“The only thing he needed was people to turn out, because you can’t perform a play without an audience,” said Navalny in a video released just before the vote ended.
 
“We will never recognize the result,” added Navalny.
 Reality redefined
 
Despite appearances of an overwhelming victory, observers wondered the Kremlin had in effect achieved a result too glaringly at odds with the sour mood of the country.
 
Russia is just coming out of a three-month lockdown in the face of the pandemic that saw unemployment soar and Putin’s poll numbers go into a downward trend.
 
Voting stations were often empty and yet official turnout was high.
 
State-run polling that predicted support for the amendments also clashed with independent studies that showed society was highly split over the vote, and Putin’s extension on term limits in particular.A woman holds a placard reading “No to an eternal Putin” as she protests amendments to Russia’s Constitution, on Pushkin Square in downtown Moscow, July 1, 2020.Greg Yudin, a professor and polling specialist at Russia’s Higher School of Economics, suggests that Russia’s mayors and governors may have “over-performed” in their zeal to please the Kremlin.
 
“No one had any doubt about their ability to achieve the numbers that they want. The issue is whether people will believe the results. And this is still up for grabs,” said Yudin in an interview with VOA.
 
“It might be too much. Too much to be credible,” added Yudin.
 The dissenters
 
In central Moscow, several hundred demonstrators gathered on Pushkin Square to express outrage over the prospect of President Putin remaining in office for the next 16 years.
 
Although scores of police vans lined adjoining streets, no arrests were made.
 
“I don’t know anyone who voted for the amendment,” said Valentina Meshkova, a brand manager in her 20’s, in an interview with VOA.
 
“Russians think they can’t change anything, although people are tired of Putin and want a better future,” she added, noting disappointment in the small turnout.Law enforcement officers block protesters during an opposition rally against amendments to Russia’s Constitution on the last day of a weeklong nationwide vote on constitutional reforms, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 1, 2020.“It’s a constitutional coup,” said Alexey, 20, a student who wore a surgical face mask with the word “Nyet” – “No” in Russian – written on it.
 
“I decided not to participate in this circus,” he added. “But if they’d let me vote for specific amendments instead of all of them at once, I would have.”
 
In addition to the term limit extension, other high profile conservative amendments included a ban on gay marriage, a measure protecting “historical truth” of Soviet actions in World War II, and outlawing calls to “expropriate” Russian territory.
 
Other measures were targeted at working families — such as promise to re-index the pension fund and increases in funding for healthcare and education.
 
Even with the vote now secure, Putin has not indicated his intentions other than to say he is “not ruling out“ a run for the presidency following the end of his current term in 2024.
 
But observers have long argued Putin’s authority depends on the impression of a mandate — something lost in the rush to push through constitutional changes amid a global pandemic.
 
“It’s obvious that Putin doesn’t have the support of the majority — that which has protected him over many years and gave him the basis to do what he wants,” opined Boris Vishnevsky, a liberal political with the Yabloko party in Saint Petersburg in his telegram channel.
 
“And practice shows that when people don’t believe in the authorities, in the end, they stop following them, too,” Vishnevsky said.   
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