In the closing days of the Belarus presidential election campaign, opposition candidates are holding mass rallies and incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko is visiting businesses, giving speeches to the Security Council and government – and lashing out at the news media.During a meeting with campaign staff, Lukashenko railed at local and international media, saying the Belarussian edition of Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda “will soon turn into a tabloid” and accusing foreign outlets, including the BBC and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, of being biased and calling for riots.Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years, asked the Foreign Ministry to intervene.“There is no need whatsoever to wait until the end of the election campaign. Get them out of here if they do not comply with our laws and call people to Maidans,” he said on July 23, referring to mass protests in Ukraine in 2013 over the country’s move away from the European Union.In the months leading up to the August 9 vote, journalists and bloggers in Belarus have been arrested, harassed and even deported as Lukashenko faces an unexpectedly tough election amid discontent with the economy and his poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic.The president, who says he People look at a presidential election information board in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 7, 2020.Opposition presidential candidates were also A man stands next to an election campaign poster during a rally held by supporters of Svetlana Tikhanouskaya, a candidate in the upcoming presidential election and President Alexander Lukashenko’s main challenger, in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 6, 2020.Earlier in the campaign, Sergei Tikhanovsky was the main irritant for authorities, said Klaskovsky.“He traveled all over the country,” Klaskovsky said. “In small towns, he would give the microphone to disadvantaged people blasting the authorities. And the authorities felt that it was dangerous, because their biggest fear is the street, since the election commissions are staffed with loyal people and the counting of votes is completely under state control.”On May 6, authorities charged Sergei Tikhanovsky and seven others with “organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order.”Boris Goretsky, deputy chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, said arrests and oppression of journalists have increased, with over 60 incidents recorded during the campaign.“The authorities are afraid of freely disseminated information, as evidenced by the recent arrests of journalists after rallies,” Goretsky told VOA. “Authorities try to detain the maximum number of journalists so no one is there to provide video coverage and distribute it on the internet.“After all, information is what motivates people to act,” he said.In addition to the arrests, authorities are beating journalists at rallies and obstructing live broadcasts, said Natalya Radina, editor-in-chief of the news website Charter’97.Klaskovsky, of BelaPAN, added that bloggers and administrators of public and Telegram channels working under the “Country to Live In” brand have been hit hard, but the pressure is also felt by independent news websites, news agencies and publications whose editorial offices are abroad.These journalists are often not invited to press conferences or other official events, where the priority is given to state-owned press. And those covering mass gatherings risk being arbitrarily detained, having equipment broken or confiscated and, if they lack accreditation, being fined for “illegal fabrication of mass media products.”“The rest of the press finds itself in an information vacuum,” Klaskovsky said.The Belarus Embassy in Washington told VOA on Friday to send questions via email. The embassy did not respond to VOA’s emailed questions.‘Under supervision’Independent media in Belarus are still tightly controlled. Journalists need accreditation to access official events, and the State Security Committee — still known as the KGB, its Soviet-era name — regularly monitors the press, with officials calling reporters to discuss their work.FILE – Opposition supporters wearing protective masks amid the coronavirus disease outbreak wait in a line to put signatures in support of their potential candidates in the upcoming presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, May 31, 2020.Because of these officials — described by some journalists as “supervisors” — “it is very difficult to determine the degree of independence of a local outlet,” said Irina Khalip, a Belarus correspondent for Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russia paper known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs.“All foreign journalists need to be accredited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And this accreditation comes with lines you cannot cross,” Khalip said. “One step over and your accreditation is revoked.”In May, the Foreign Ministry stripped a Channel One correspondent of his accreditation and deported him to Russia. The ministry did not state the reason, but Channel One, a Russian state broadcaster, said it came one day Belarus citizens in Poland demonstrate during a solidarity rally in front of the Belarusian Embassy before the upcoming presidential election, in Warsaw, Aug. 7, 2020. Belarus will hold its presidential election on Aug. 9.The journalist was convicted of rioting after the 2010 election and authorities jailed her husband, Andrew Sannikov, who ran as an opposition presidential candidate.News websites based outside Belarus are a key source of information. Despite attempts by authorities to block the sites, readers are finding ways to access them online.The Charter’97 website has been blocked for over two years, editor-in-chief Radina said. “But people have learned to bypass the blocking via virtual private networks [and] anonymizers, and still read us because they need accurate information.”“It is impossible to completely cut off information, because these days not only journalists but everyone can record videos on their mobile phones and post them on the internet. Information on what happens in Belarus on August 9 and 10 will appear anyway,” Radina said.Goretsky, deputy chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, said the internet, along with social media and Telegram channels, makes it faster and easier to share or access objective information.“People no longer watch TV day and night; they watch YouTube channels. This gave birth to the phenomenon of Sergei Tikhanovsky, who created his own channel, which was popular with the older generation as well,” he said.“While the government has been fighting all these years for print runs and compulsory subscriptions, independent publications have de facto taken over the internet,” Goretsky said. “And although many of them do not have accreditation and cannot attend official events, they have several advantages, including the internet.”This article originated in VOA’s Russian service.
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned Russia’s foreign minister about alleged bounty payments to Taliban militants for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan, according to The New York Times.The Times reported Friday that Pompeo made the warning to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a July 13 phone call, citing unidentified U.S. officials.It said Pompeo’s warning was the first known rebuke from a senior U.S. official to Russia over the alleged bounties program.Pompeo has previous declined to say whether he specifically raised the bounty allegations with Russia. However, he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month that he has “raised all of the issues that put any Americans at risk” each time he has spoken to Lavrov.Trump has called the reports of Russian bounties on U.S. troops “another Russian hoax” despite concerns about them from the intelligence community.Trump told reporters in Florida last month, “It was never brought to my attention and it perhaps wasn’t brought because they didn’t consider it to be real. And if it is brought to my attention, I’ll do something about it,” he said.During an interview with “Axios on HBO,” Trump said he had not raised the bounty allegations in a recent phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.“That was a phone call to discuss other things, and, frankly, that’s an issue that many people said was fake news,” Trump said.White House officials have said that Trump was not briefed on the suspected bounties because the assessment was not conclusive. However, several media outlets, including the Times, have reported that the issue was included in one of the president’s written daily briefings in February. Trump has said he was never personally told about the issue.Russia has denied that it paid bounties to Taliban militants for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
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France and Germany have quit talks on reforming the World Health Organization in frustration at attempts by the United States to lead the negotiations, despite its decision to leave the WHO, three officials told Reuters. The move is a setback for President Donald Trump as Washington, which holds the rotating chair of the G-7, had hoped to issue a common road map for a sweeping overhaul of the WHO in September, two months before the U.S. presidential election. The United States gave the WHO a year’s notice in July that it is leaving the U.N. agency — which was created to improve health globally — after Trump accused it of being too close to China and having mishandled the coronavirus pandemic. The WHO has dismissed his accusations. European governments have also criticized the WHO but do not go as far as the United States in their criticism, and the decision by Paris and Berlin to leave the talks follows tensions over what they say are Washington’s attempts to dominate the negotiations. FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump speaks prior to signing executive orders on lowering drug prices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, July 24, 2020.”Nobody wants to be dragged into a reform process and getting an outline for it from a country which itself just left the WHO,” a senior European official involved in the talks said. The German and French health ministries confirmed to Reuters that the two countries were opposed to the United States leading the talks after announcing its intention to leave the organization. A spokesman for the Italian health ministry said that work on the reform document was still under way, adding that Italy’s position was in line with those of Paris and Berlin. Asked about the position of France and Germany, a senior Trump administration official said: “All members of the G-7 explicitly supported the substance of the WHO reform ideas.” “Notwithstanding, it is regrettable that Germany and France ultimately chose not to join the group in endorsing the road map,” he said. A spokesman for the British government declined to comment on the latest developments but added that Britain supported the WHO and urged a reform of the body “to ensure it remains flexible and responsive.” The talks on WHO reform began about four months ago. There have been nearly 20 teleconferences between health ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations, and dozens of meetings of diplomats and other officials. A deal by the G-7, which also includes Japan and Canada, would facilitate talks at the G-20 and United Nations, where any changes would have to be agreed upon with China, Russia and other major governments not in the G-7. It is unclear whether a G-7 summit in the United States, at which Trump hopes leaders will endorse the road map, will now go ahead in September as planned. U.S. officials have not said what reforms Washington has sought. But an initial reform road map proposed by Washington was seen by many of its allies as too critical, with one European official involved in the negotiations describing it as “rude.” Despite changes to the original text, Washington’s push remained unacceptable, mainly to Germany, sources familiar with the negotiations said. Funding and ‘politicized management’ In the weeks before the collapse of the talks, negotiators had told Reuters positions were getting closer as Washington softened its approach and European negotiators started to see the reform process as a means to make the WHO more independent from political pressure.European governments had also begun to make skeptical remarks about the WHO in public, with Germany’s health minister urging the WHO to hasten a review of its handling of COVID-19.FILE – Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 28, 2020.In private, some Europeans have supported a tougher line, with some criticizing WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and what they see as politicized management of the pandemic. “Everybody has been critical of Tedros,” a negotiator from a European G-7 country told Reuters. A German government source said: “It must … be ensured in future that the WHO can react neutrally and on the basis of facts to global health events.” But European governments want to make the WHO stronger, better funded and more independent, whereas the U.S. withdrawal of funds is likely to weaken it — Washington is the largest contributor, providing 15% of the budget. Some Europeans see Trump’s criticism of the WHO as an attempt in the run-up to the U.S. election to distract attention from his handling of COVID-19, and Berlin’s ties with Washington have been strained by his decision in July to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Germany. Plans to reform the WHO are unlikely to be definitively shelved, especially if Trump is defeated in the November election. European governments want Washington to remain a WHO member and a financial supporter, and they have shown an interest in boosting their own funding to the body. 
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The director of US intelligence on Friday raised concerns about interference in the 2020 election by China, Russia and Iran.U.S. intelligence has assessed that China is hoping President Donald Trump does not win reelection, Russia is working to denigrate Democrat Joe Biden and Iran is seeking to undermine democratic institutions, said Bill Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence Security Center.In a statement, Evanina provided the U.S. intelligence agencies’ most recent assessment of election threats to the November presidential election.“Many foreign actors have a preference for who wins the election, which they express through a range of overt and private statements; covert influence efforts are rarer,” Evanina said. “We are primarily concerned about the ongoing and potential activity by China, Russia, and Iran.”China views Trump as “unpredictable” and does not want to see him win reelection, Evanina said. China has been expanding its influence efforts ahead of the November election in an effort to shape U.S policy and pressure political figures it sees as against Beijing, he said.“Although China will continue to weigh the risks and benefits of aggressive action, its public rhetoric over the past few months has grown increasingly critical of the current administration’s COVID-19 response, closure of China’s Houston consulate and actions on other issues,” he wrote.On Russia, U.S. intelligence officials assess that Russia is working to “denigrate” Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia “establishment” among his supporters, Evanina said. He said that would track Moscow’s criticism of Biden when he was vice president for his role in Ukraine policies and support of opposition to President Vladimir Putin inside Russia.On Iran, the assessment said Tehran seeks to undermine U.S. democratic institutions as well as Trump and divide America before the election.“Iran’s efforts along these lines probably will focus on on-line influence, such as spreading disinformation on social media and recirculating anti-U.S. content,” Evanina wrote. “Tehran’s motivation to conduct such activities is, in part, driven by a perception that President Trump’s re-election would result in a continuation of U.S. pressure on Iran in an effort to foment regime change.”
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Officials in northwestern Italy have evacuated part of an Alpine resort town and are closely monitoring a glacier which, following days of warm temperatures, is showing signs of breaking apart and could crash into the valley below.Officials Thursday evacuated 75 residents and tourists in the Ferret Valley from their homes and two lodgings in the shadow of the glacier.Aerial views of the Planpincieux Glacier taken Friday show a large section – estimated to be about 500,000 cubic meters in size, breaking away from the rest of the ice field. A regional glacier expert, Valerio Segor, told reporters Friday the section is about the size of a cathedral, or perhaps a soccer field if it were under 80 meters of ice.Segor said the next two or three days will be critical for the glacier, as temperatures are expected to rise during that time. He said water circulation between the ice and rocks beneath will determine if glacier breaks apart.‎The Planpincieux Glacier is located under a group of Alpine peaks on the Italian side of Mont Blanc, near the border with France.
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A Moscow court convicted 7 young Russians on extremism charges Thursday — sentencing several of the group to lengthy prison sentences in a closely watched case that seemed to encapsulate the limits of political youth activism in today’s Russia. Prosecutors argued that the defendants — most in their teens and 20’s — had organized an illegal online extremist chat group called “The New Greatness” with the intent of overthrowing the government in 2018.   The accused all denied the charges and said evidence was fabricated.Indeed, to critics, the case was the latest example of the government’s abuse of Russia’s vague anti-extremism laws — and subservient court system — to crush perceived political rivals through any means necessary. The state’s case was marred by credible accusations of torture and entrapment by Russia’s Federal Security Services, or FSB.  The government’s key witness was an undercover FSB agent named “Ruslan D” who prosecutors say infiltrated the group to learn of their plans. Throughout the trial, the accused countered that the agent himself concocted “The New Greatness” label and pushed a radical political agenda to the other participants in an otherwise largely apolitical group chat. Supporting government evidence came from an additional suspect in the case — Pavel Rebrovsky, who later cut a plea deal with investigators and was given a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence in April 2019.  Rebrovsky has since rescinded his testimony — saying it was given under pressure from state investigators.The judge cited Rebrovsky’s initial confession as proof of the group’s guilt, nonetheless.Authorities also promoted the group’s guilt by releasing a video confession from another defendant, Ruslan Kostylenkov. Kostylenkov, 29, later retracted the statement explaining he had been coerced through torture and rape while in custody.  He was given the harshest sentence — a 7-year prison term.  Two others were given 6.5- and 6-year prison terms. The remaining accused were handed suspended sentences, including Anna Pavlikova, who was a 17-year old high school student when the case began.   Lawyers for all said they would appeal the ruling.  Acquittals are exceedingly rare in Russia, with conviction rates hovering at over 99% in criminal trials.FSB Unbound   Outside the courthouse, several hundred supporters — most of them younger Russians — gathered and shouted chants of “Not guilty!” and “Let them go!”  While inside the courtroom, the defendants were forced to stand for 4 hours as the judge read his verdict in a hushed whisper. The case was widely seen as the latest legal warning shot against youth dabbling in politics — particularly as the Kremlin has increasingly struggled to gain support among a generation that has essentially known one leader, Vladimir Putin, for their entire lives. In February, a court sentenced a group of young leftist activists to lengthy prison terms for running an “anarchist terrorist” cell called “The Network.” The case was similarly tainted by allegations of fabricated evidence and torture at the hands of the federal security services. 
  Russian Leftist Activists Convicted of Terrorism ChargesA military court in the western city of Penza gives seven members of a left-wing group prison terms of up to 18 years on terrorism charges human rights groups call fabricatedAnd, like in The New Greatness trial, the group’s goal was allegedly ending President Vladimir Putin’s rule. The initial arrests in The New Greatness occurred in March 2018, just days before Putin was elected to a new 6-year term. “It was a gift to the president from the FSB,” said Alina Danilina, whose boyfriend, 22-year old law student Vyachaslav Kryukov, was sentenced to six years.   “It’s a catastrophe,” she added about Thursday’s ruling. “The worst happened.” “There is no evidence, no objective reason for my involvement in this case,” wrote Kryukov in a statement provided to VOA ahead of the verdict.  “It feels extremely strange that they accused me of things I’ve always opposed. Extremism stands for hatred and violence — I’ve never been like that.” Indeed, the case seemed to point to a security apparatus untethered — with many voicing suspicion agents were inventing threats simply to justify their continued existence and generous state funding.“These people have to do something to prove their effectiveness. So they forge these fake cases to show there is extremism and they are doing an important job,” said Alexey Minyaylo, 35, a political activist who himself was arrested and faced charges of “inciting riots” against the government during a charged election season in 2019.  “They know how to beat out a confession,” he tells VOA in an interview. “What they don’t know is how to gather evidence. And this is especially true when there is nothing to find.”“It’s a security service out of control,” said Nikolai Svanidze, a veteran journalist who sits on Russia’s Presidential Human Rights Council, in an interview outside the courthouse. “It means any provocateur can give false testimony and make an honest person guilty,” added Svanidze, while noting similarities to the worst of Russia’s Soviet-era repressions. “The scale is different, but the principles are the same.” Torture Allegations  The grim nature of the torture allegations were front and center throughout the trial — even if judge refused to acknowledge them or investigate the charges.  In October of last year, Kostylenkov and Kryukov slit their wrists during a courtroom hearing — the two of them yelling “This is an unfair trial” and “Freedom for political prisoners” before being rushed to hospital. “Their nerves couldn’t handle it anymore,” said Kostylenkov’s lawyer, Svetlana Sidorkina at the time. “All the evidence proves that they didn’t commit a crime.”Kostylenkov later detailed horror at the hands of FSB agents. In a letter written to a friend last March but only released to the media during the final phase of the trial, he said he had been beaten and sexually assaulted with a kitchen mallet to gain his confession.   ndeed, the violence hovering over the case was captured in a stunt before the day’s final verdict: Activists dressed as police slit the throat of a mannequin dressed as Christ — spraying red paint on supporters before being detained by security officers.  Meanwhile, Kira Yegorova, an actress, showed up to give a more low-key performance — she was holding a teddy bear. “The state is destroying our children,” she tells VOA.  And yet — for some — the trial has meant there was also fast growing up to do. Kryukov’s girlfriend, Alina Danilina 23, announced the verdict meant that she and Vyachaslav Kryukov were getting married. “It’s the only way I can visit him in prison,” she tells VOA. “We’ve lost for now,” she added. “But I will fight until the end.” 
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Russia boasts that it’s about to become the first country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, with mass vaccinations planned as early as October using shots that are yet to complete clinical trials — and scientists worldwide are sounding the alarm that the headlong rush could backfire.Moscow sees a Sputnik-like propaganda victory, recalling the Soviet Union’s launch of the world’s first satellite in 1957. But the experimental COVID-19 shots began first-in-human testing on a few dozen people less than two months ago, and there’s no published scientific evidence yet backing Russia’s late entry to the global vaccine race, much less explaining why it should be considered a front-runner.“I’m worried that Russia is cutting corners so that the vaccine that will come out may be not just ineffective, but also unsafe,” said Lawrence Gostin, a global public health law expert at Georgetown University. “It doesn’t work that way. … Trials come first. That’s really important.”According to Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s Direct Investment Fund that bankrolled the effort, a vaccine developed by the Gamaleya research institute in Moscow may be approved in days, before scientists complete what’s called a Phase 3 study. That final-stage study, usually involving tens of thousands of people, is the only way to prove if an experimental vaccine is safe and really works.Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said members of “risk groups,” such as medical workers, may be offered the vaccine this month. He didn’t clarify whether they would be part of the Phase 3 study that is said to be completed after the vaccine receives “conditional approval.”Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova promised to start “industrial production” in September, and Murashko said mass vaccination may begin as early as October.In this photo made from footage provided by the Russian Defense Ministry on July 15, 2020, a group of volunteers participating in a coronavirus vaccine trial pose for a photo as they leave the Budenko Main Military Hospital outside Moscow, Russia.Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease specialist, questioned the fast-track approach last week. “I do hope that the Chinese and the Russians are actually testing a vaccine before they are administering the vaccine to anyone, because claims of having a vaccine ready to distribute before you do testing I think is problematic at best,” he said.Questions about this vaccine candidate come after the U.S., Britain and Canada last month accused Russia of using hackers to steal vaccine research from Western labs.Delivering a vaccine first is a matter of national prestige for the Kremlin as it tries to assert the image of Russia as a global power capable of competing with the U.S. and China. The notion of being “the first in the world” dominated state news coverage of the effort, with government officials praising reports of the first-step testing.In April, President Vladimir Putin ordered state officials to shorten the time of clinical trials for a variety of drugs, including potential coronavirus vaccines.According to Russia’s Association of Clinical Trials Organizations, the order set “an unattainable bar” for scientists who, as a result, “joined in on the mad race, hoping to please those at power.”The association first raised concern in late May, when professor Alexander Gintsburg, head of the Gamaleya institute, said he and other researchers tried the vaccine on themselves.The move was a “crude violation of the very foundations of clinical research, Russian law and universally accepted international regulations” the group said in an open letter to the government, urging scientists and health officials to adhere to clinical research standards.But a month later, the Health Ministry authorized clinical trials of the Gamaleya product, with what appeared to be another ethical issue.Human studies started June 17 among 76 volunteers. Half were injected with a vaccine in liquid form and the other half with a vaccine that came as soluble powder. Some in the first half were recruited from the military, which raised concerns that servicemen may have been pressured to participate.Some experts said their desire to perform well would affect the findings. “It’s no coincidence media reports we see about the trials among the military said no one had any side effects, while the (other group) reported some,” said Vasily Vlassov, a public health expert with Moscow’s Higher School of Economics.As the trials were declared completed and looming regulatory approval was announced last week, questions arose about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness. Government assurances the drug produced the desired immune response and caused no significant side effects were hardly convincing without published scientific data describing the findings.The World Health Organization said all vaccine candidates should go through full stages of testing before being rolled out. “There are established practices and there are guidelines out,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said Tuesday. “Between finding or having a clue of maybe having a vaccine that works, and having gone through all the stages, is a big difference.”In this photo made from footage provided by the Russian Defense Ministry on July 15, 2020, medical workers look at volunteers participating in a coronavirus vaccine trial as they leave the Budenko Main Military Hospital outside Moscow, Russia.Offering an unsafe compound to medical workers on the front lines of the outbreak could make things worse, Georgetown’s Gostin said, adding: “What if the vaccine started killing them or making them very ill?”Vaccines that are not properly tested can cause harm in many ways — from a negative impact on health to creating a false sense of security or undermining trust in vaccinations, said Thomas Bollyky, director of the global health program at the Council on Foreign Relations.“It takes several years to develop any drug,” said Svetlana Zavidova, executive director of Russia’s Association of Clinical Trials Organizations. “Selling something the Gamaleya (institute) tested on 76 volunteers during Phase 1-2 trials as a finished product is just not serious.”Russia has not yet published any scientific data from its first clinical trials. The WHO’s list of vaccine candidates in human testing still lists the Gamaleya product as in Phase 1 trials.It uses a different virus — the common cold-causing adenovirus — that’s been modified to carry genes for the “spike” protein that coats the coronavirus, as a way to prime the body to recognize if a real COVID-19 infection comes along. That’s like vaccines being developed by China’s CanSino Biologics and Britain’s Oxford University and AstraZeneca.It’s not the first controversial vaccine Russia developed. Putin mentioned earlier this year that Russian scientists delivered an Ebola vaccine that “proved to be the most effective in the world” and “made a real contribution to fighting the Ebola fever in Africa.”Russia’s Health Ministry authorized two Ebola vaccines for domestic use — one in 2015 and another one in 2018 — but there is little evidence either was widely used in Africa.People wearing face masks and gloves to protect against coronavirus come through passages equipped with disinfectant sprays at a shopping mall entrance in Moscow, Russia, Aug. 3, 2020.In 2019, the WHO considered the 2015 vaccine along with several others for use in Congo but didn’t pick it. It pointed out that it had been approved for emergency use after Phase 1 and 2 trials, but not Phase 3. According to ClinicalTrials.Gov, a website maintained by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, a study among 2,000 people in Guinea and Russia was still ongoing last month.The 2018 Ebola vaccine, according to the WHO, was tested on 300 volunteers in Russia and completed all three phases. The Associated Press couldn’t find any records of the studies in the Health Ministry’s registry of approved clinical trials. As of 2019, both Ebola vaccines were listed by the WHO as “candidate vaccines.”Russia’s Health Ministry did not respond to numerous requests for comment, and the Gamaleya institute referred an interview request to the ministry.It remains unclear whether Phase 3 trials, said to be carried out after the COVID-19 vaccine receives “conditional approval,” will wrap up by October, when health officials plan to start mass vaccinations, and how trustworthy the results will be. The study will supposedly involve 1,600 participants — 800 for each of the two forms of the vaccine; in comparison, a similar Phase 3 trial in the U.S. includes 30,000 people.According to Dmitriev, countries including Brazil and India have expressed interest in the vaccine.For Lawrence Gostin, this is another cause for concern.“There may be many people in the world who don’t care about the ethics and just want the vaccine,” he said.  
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The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday called on Belarus to immediately release a blogger arrested a week ago and allow him and other reporters to “freely and safely” cover Sunday’s presidential elections.The organization’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator in New York, Gulnoza Said, said President Aleksandr Lukashenko “wants an election to put a veneer of legitimacy on his longstanding leadership, but he is achieving the reverse by harassing and detaining journalists up and down the country who are trying to cover his opposition.”Belarusian police arrested Evgeniy Vasilkov, who also works as a mechanic, at his garage in Khoiniki July 31 and took him to a police station, local media reported.He was accused of writing a slogan used by Lukashenko critics on road signs.Vasilkov has denied the charge, saying his arrest was retaliatory because of his support for an opposition candidate.He appeared before a local judge who sentenced him to 10 days of detention for “disobeying” police, for allegedly refusing to show them the identification at his arrest.On July 31, Belarusian police also detained five reporters, working for Belsat, an independent satellite broadcaster, while they were livestreaming rallies in support of the opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.Her supporters had taken to the streets in large numbers at rallies in the capital, Minsk, and other Belarusian cities.Tikhanovskaya, 37, entered the race with the promise to free political prisoners and call new elections after the arrest in May of her husband, opposition blogger and presidential hopeful, Sergei Tikhanovsky. He was charged with attacking a police officer, a claim he rejected as a provocation.Lukashenko is campaigning for a sixth term amid an increase in opposition protests against his autocratic rule and economic difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
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Lebanon’s Chernobyl.  That is how some are describing the mammoth blast that shook the capital city Beirut  and left thousands injured. At least 300,000 people lost their homes and a number of hospitals also bore the brunt.  Among the signs of international support was a visit by French President Emmanual Macron, who got a firsthand look at the worst-affected neighborhood. Anchal Vohra reports from Beirut.
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A 37-year-old teacher with no political experience has become an unlikely challenger to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko — widely known in the West as ‘Europe’s last dictator’. As Henry Ridgwell reports, huge crowds have turned out to support the opposition presidential candidate in recent weeks — but it’s unclear if the show of ‘people power’ will be reflected in the election on Sunday.Camera: Henry Ridgwell    Produced by Henry Ridgwell
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Two RFE/RL journalists were assaulted at a rally for Bulgaria’s ruling GERB party in Sofia, where Prime Minister Boyko Borisov was speaking. RFE/RL has called for an investigation and for Bulgarian authorities to condemn the incident.
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Spain’s former King Juan Carlos the First left his country this week as he faces possible accusations of financial wrongdoing.  The besieged monarch, who handed the crown to his son, Felipe, six years ago, is not formally under investigation.  In this report narrated by Jonathan Spier, Alfonso Beato in Barcelona reports the former king’s scandals – and his exile – have reignited questions on whether Spain should keep its monarchy.PRODUCER: Jon Spier
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Over the past month, protests have roiled Russia’s Far East, where locals have come out against the arrest of a popular local governor. As Charles Maynes reports from Moscow, public anger is increasingly directed at President Vladimir Putin.VIDEOGRAPHER: Ricardo Marquina
PRODUCER: Barry Unger
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Poland’s conservative president, Andrzej Duda, has been sworn in for a second term before parliament members.Most opposition parliamentarians and some former leaders did not attend the ceremony Thursday, both because of COVID-19 restrictions and to show their disapproval of what they call Duda’s disregard for the constitution during his first term, and his almost total acceptance of the ruling right-wing party’s policies that have put Poland at odds with European Union leaders.In a speech to lawmakers after taking the oath of office, Duda said Poland should strengthen Euro-Atlantic ties and cooperate with NATO allies, in particular the United States.Last week, Poland’s Defense Ministry announced the U.S. would establish a permanent military presence in Poland by deploying around 1,000 troops.Many seats for opposition lawmakers were empty, except for several members who wore outfits and masks in rainbow colors and held up copies of the Polish constitution at the end of Duda’s speech.Duda won 51.03% of votes in the July 12 election runoff while his challenger, liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, received 48.97% votes. 
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Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said it will decide by next week whether to leave a European treaty to protect women against domestic violence, a move that has angered many Turkish women, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s daughter.Turkey was the first country to ratify the Istanbul Convention in 2012, followed by 33 other European nations.It is called the first binding agreement that declares violence against women a human rights violation and “creates a comprehensive legal framework and approach to combat violence against women,” including protecting victims and prosecuting violent suspects.But Turkey’s conservative government says it wants to withdraw from the pact because opponents say it undermines Turkish families and so-called traditional values that already protect women from violence.A 2016 U.N. report said that 38 percent of Turkish women had experienced “physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence.”  And, according to an authoritative Istanbul-based advocacy group, We Will Stop Femicide, the number of women murdered, usually by their partners, has been increasing, with 121 women murdered in 2011 and in 2018, 440, according to an NPR report.The possible withdrawal is pitting Erdogan’s son and daughter against each other.“It is our religion which determines our fundamental values, our view of the family,” the Turkish Youth Foundation said. Erdogan’s son, Bilal Erdogan, is a member of the foundation’s board.But Erdogan’s daughter Sumeyye Erdogan is the deputy head of Turkey’s Women and Democracy Association.“We can no longer talk about ‘family’ … in a relationship where one side is oppressed and subject to violence,” the association said. “Marital rape is not normal in a healthy relationship. Bullying is in opposition to human dignity and Islamic value judgments.”The deputy chairman of the AKP, Numan Kurtulmus, said Turkey’s LGBTQ community has “taken refuge” behind the convention to push for equal treatment.Those who support Turkey remaining in the agreement said dropping out would be contrary to European values and be considered a step back from Turkey’s long campaign to join the European Union.  
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday he would visit Poland and three other European countries next week, as the United States announced plans to reposition troops outside of Germany. During this tour, which will begin Aug. 11, the U.S. top diplomat will also visit the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Austria. “It will be a very important and productive trip,” he said, announcing the tour during a press conference. Polish President Andrzej Duda, a populist conservative, was narrowly reelected to a new five-year term last month after a highly polarizing campaign in which he was notably received into the White House by Donald Trump. FILE – Poland’s President Andrzej Duda listens to U.S. President Donald Trump during a joint news conference in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, June 24, 2020.The American president, who has a terrible relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has decided to withdraw thousands of American soldiers from Germany to reposition some of them in Poland. The Pentagon announced last week that the United States would deploy 1,000 additional troops to Poland in rotations, thanks to an agreement reached with Warsaw on their status in the country. They will be added to the 4,500 American soldiers already deployed by rotations in the country. The tour should also be placed under the sign of China, as Pompeo, who seeks to reduce Beijing’s influence in the world, urges U.S. allies to avoid Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.  
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Russia is continuing to create and amplify false narratives in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election, with the goal of undermining democratic values and the credibility of the United States and its allies, a government report said.The report from the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) exposed Russia’s tactics of spreading disinformation through official government communications, state-funded global messaging, cultivation of proxy sources, weaponization of social media and cyber-enabled disinformation.“Beijing has also taken a page from Russia’s playbook, leveraging conspiracy websites and proxy channels to push disinformation and propaganda, with the goal of undermining democratic norms,” Lea Gabrielle, special envoy and coordinator of the GEC, said during a phone briefing.“The threat of both China and Russia disinformation is real,” she added.This came as the U.S. is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who works with or for a foreign government for the purpose of interfering with U.S. elections through certain illegal cyber activities.“The U.S. government will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections,” Gabrielle told VOA. “The GEC works with our partners worldwide who share information on election interference and the tactics that they’ve seen used by Russia and others.”Seven Kremlin-aligned disinformation proxy sites and organizations, including the Strategic Culture Foundation website and the Katehon think tank, were also profiled in GEC’s report. Those proxies amplified narratives critical of the U.S. while embracing Russian positions, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak.The report said Russia’s general aims are “questioning the value of democratic institutions” and “weakening the international credibility and international cohesion of the United States and its allies and partners.”But a counterdisinformation community made up of governments, civil society, academia, the press, the private sector and citizens is pushing back, the State Department said.Senior Russian officials and pro-Russian media have sought to capitalize on the fear and confusion surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic by actively promulgating conspiracy theories, the report said.
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Five years ago, Serbia’s Anti-Corruption Agency opened a money laundering investigation into Sinisa Mali, who was then mayor of the capital, Belgrade.  The Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK) —a Serbian investigative journalism outlet — had reported on FILE – Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic gestures at Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) headquarters during a national election, the first in Europe since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, in Belgrade, Serbia, June 21, 2020.Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic denied the probe is retaliation against critics, telling a press conference, “everyone should be equal before the law.”  But local journalists and rights groups questioned the Finance Ministry’s motive. Some said the probe appears to be an attempt to intimidate reporters and civil society groups who are holding powerful officials to account and another signal of rising hostility facing Serbia’s media. FILE – Stevan Dojcinovic, an editor of Serbia’s investigative web portal Krik, known for its reports on corruption and organized crime, poses for a picture in Belgrade, Serbia, Dec. 18, 2019.Stevan Dojcinovic, an award-winning journalist and editor-in-chief at KRIK, said the inquiry is part of the government’s pressure on independent journalism.  “I am not surprised that we were on the list. We, as well as our colleagues, have been targeted for years by various government agencies used to pressure journalists,” Dojcinovic told VOA.  Dojcinovic said the move was concerning because investigative journalists play a critical role in ensuring transparency and exposing government corruption, a chronic problem in Serbia. Multiple investigative outlets in the region work to scrutinize the dealings of those in power and their handling of multi-million-dollar public contracts, among other accountability matters. Their exposes sometimes trigger official investigations, although convictions are rare.  In Mali’s case, for example, KRIK reported that companies he owned bought Bulgarian apartments through two offshore firms, and that Mali failed to report ownership as required.  When the Anti-Corruption Agency looked into the allegations it found Mali received large sums, including from an offshore company under his control. But prosecutors dismissed the case and said they saw no evidence of wrongdoing. KRIK said the prosecutor’s office declined to provide further justification for its decision. Similarly, an official investigation into Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin’s purchase of a Belgrade home was dismissed in 2017 by the Prosecutor for Organized Crime, for lack of evidence. In that case, KRIK reported that Vulin failed to report bringing about $240,000 into the country. The law requires that foreign transactions of about $11,000 or more must be reported.  In another case, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) revealed in 2015 that the state-owned electric company had mismanaged a public contract bidding process for a $17 million contract to pump floodwater from a mine, leading to project delays and budget overruns.  Grist for reporting In a June background document, the European Commission said Serbia has not done enough to fight corruption and organized crime, or to protect the media. The commission in an earlier report said official corruption was prevalent and that, despite some improvement, “There is a need for strong political will to effectively address corruption issues, as well as a robust criminal justice response to high-level corruption.”  The report, part of the country’s Stabilization and Association Agreement as a candidate country for European Union membership, also described lack of progress on freedom of expression as a “serious concern” and reported an increase in political and economic pressure on journalists.  Dragana Zarkovic Obradovic, director of BIRN, which is also on the Anti-Money Laundering Unit target list, said the investigation appeared to be a way for the government to track the source of funding for journalists and NGOs, and how much money is granted.   Some of those on the target list told VOA that officials failed to provide a clear answer when asked about the basis for the investigation.   Serbia’s Ministry of Finance referred VOA to the Anti-Money Laundering Unit, which did not respond to an email requesting comment.  The ministry has denied in news reports that the money laundering probe is meant to criminalize the news media and other organizations. But it has not publicly given a reason for looking into the NGOs and news outlets.  “These are regular activities, not politically motivated,” Mali told the privately owned media company Pink TV.  A statement from the Anti-Money Laundering Unit, carried by the state-run Tanjug news agency, said it has also investigated ministers and that non-governmental groups named for scrutiny should not be treated as “sacred cows.”  President Vucic said, “everyone should be equal before the law” and suggested those named for investigation were trying to profit from it.   “Let’s make noise about how endangered we are so we can get more money from donors,” Vucic said of the NGOs during a July 30 press conference. “That’s been the practice for 30 years.”  Erosion of rights International human rights groups and media watchdogs have been criticized what they see as Vucic’s increasingly autocratic rule.  In its 2020 Freedom in the World Report, the U.S. monitoring group Freedom House said Vucic’s government had “steadily eroded political rights and civil liberties, putting pressure on independent media, the political opposition, and civil society organizations.” Sofya Orlosky, program manager for Eurasia at Freedom House, told VOA that targeting rights groups and independent journalists on allegations of money laundering and financing terrorism has become a “common practice” for regimes in the region. “By abusing the anti-money-laundering mechanism to intimidate civil society, the Serbian authorities show clear disregard for their own commitment to eradicating corruption,” Orloski said. “Instead of threats, the authorities should engage in an honest dialogue.”  
 
The United States and the European Union each raised concerns.   A statement by the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade said the U.S. was ready to assist Serbia on its path toward EU membership.  “However, the impression that official Belgrade wants to suppress civil society or the freedom of the media will damage Serbia’s reputation and make it more difficult to make progress toward this goal of great value,” the statement said.   International rights groups, including Amnesty International, described the probe as an intimidation act.  In a statement, Amnesty said, “The targeting of journalists and NGOs on absurd allegations of money laundering and financing terror is a blatant act of intimidation and the latest in an ongoing campaign by Serbian authorities to silence critics.” Meanwhile, journalists working for media organizations named in the money laundering inquiry say the pressure will only sharpen their focus.  “This government action will not make us question our resolve and purpose,” BIRN Director Zarkovic said. “We will continue to reveal government corruption and expose those involved.” This article originated in VOA’s Serbian service. 
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World Health Organization officials Wednesday urged young people to fight the urge to go parties and other gatherings to help prevent new outbreaks of COVID-19.During a virtual question and answer session from WHO headquarters in Geneva, WHO health emergencies chief Mike Ryan and WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said young people need to play a role in helping to slow or stop the spread of virus.FILE PHOTO: Executive Director of the World Health Organization’s emergencies program Mike Ryan speaks at a news conference on the novel coronavirus in Geneva, Feb. 6, 2020.Countries around the world, even those which had the virus relatively under control, have seen COVID cases surge in night life hotspots, bars, or other areas where young people like to gather.They said this is especially true in the Northern Hemisphere, where it is summer and young people are tired of lockdowns and eager to enjoy the nice weather.Ryan said young people need to ask themselves: “Do I really need to go to that party? Do I really need to be there?” He said younger people have a “huge opportunity to drive down transmission with their behavior.”WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove attends a news conference at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, July 3, 2020.The virus “transmits in clusters, it likes people that come together,” said Van Kerkhove, explaining that the virus, if present, will transmit from person to person any time communities provide the opportunity.WHO officials have seen cases surge among college age people not just at bars and parties, but at places where people gather to watch sporting events, said Van Kerkhove, who urged people to continue practicing physical distancing.What has not been widely discussed, she added, is that not everyone who has the virus spreads it to someone else. Between 10 and 20 of all cases are responsible for about 80% of viral transmissions. Gatherings provide those “spreaders” the best chance to transmit the virus to the most people, she said. 
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Greece has recorded its biggest spike in COVID-19 infections since emerging from a nationwide lockdown three months ago. The country’s virus-free status – relative to others in Europe – has largely faded since allowing tourists to visit again. But now authorities are largely blaming young Greeks for the dramatic rise in infections, accusing them of socializing recklessly and not acting responsibly. Officials fear Greece is just weeks away from living a nightmarish contagion much like that already seen in Italy earlier this year.For a country that until recently had only about 3,000 COVID-19 infections, Tuesday’s single-day count of 121 new cases set off alarm bells.It also forced Sotiris Tsiodras, an infectious diseases expert and the head of the Greek government’s medical response team, to return to the public podium, issuing a stark warning 70 days after Greece claimed it had successfully flattened its coronavirus curve.The situation now, he said, is dangerous and Greeks have to understand the severity of it because the fate of this flare-up ultimately hinges on them.If people behave as they should, Tsiodras said, then they can once again quash the curve. But if they do not, then this can easily and quickly turn into what he described as an Italy-like calamity.COVID-19 infections have been climbing since tourists began trickling back into this sun-drenched country in early June.But as Greeks too have started seeking summer retreat, they also have been loosening up in their compliance with social distancing rules, refusing to wear masks at beach bars, restaurants and social gatherings.Passengers wait to board a ship bound to Greek Aegean islands at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece, Aug. 1, 2020. Authorities introduced tougher restrictions this week following an increase in infections.Home-grown cases have overtaken foreign ones.State statistics released Wednesday suggested only 10 percent of Greece’s COVID-19 cases are linked to tourism.To stem the spread, authorities have introduced a new list of measures, including a cap on large weddings and celebrations that officials say have contributed to the dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases here. They have also implemented tighter border controls – mainly from Albania where the pandemic shows no signs of abating.But reining in Greece’s beach-partying youth is proving more difficult. Greek Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias is now calling on people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s to socialize responsibly, not recklessly.He said that as a father he appeals to the youth to step up to the plate and take the lead in protecting Greece and what it has managed to achieve these past few months in keeping itself clear of the virus.The youth, he said, should now act as young heroes, protecting their families, parents and grandparents.But to officials, it appears that young people are not doing that. Islands like Mykonos and Ios are buzzing with beach parties, defying stiff regulations and steep fines for those failing to observe rules that require them to remain seated at bars, open-air nightclubs and concerts.It is no wonder, health experts say, that the average age of cases here has now dropped from 72 to 52, with the slide slipping more and more into younger age groups traveling around the country during summer break.Cars queue at Promahonas border crossing with Bulgaria, which is the only land border into Greece that is open, July 6, 2020.Charalambos Gogos is a doctor advising the state government’s response.He explained the alarming element in this flare-up is the speed with which it is spreading. It has doubled, he said, in just a matter of days.Any further rise from this point on, he warned, will spell an unchecked pandemic. He said it is imperative to keep the rate and pace of infections down.With Greece’s economy largely dependent on tourism, government officials say they do not want to resort to a new nationwide lockdown, fearing it could scare travelers and business away. 
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Commercial landlords across Europe are bracing for prolonged repercussions from the coronavirus. While they argue offices will remain just as important after the pandemic as before, corporate bosses are starting to rethink their office space needs and many white-collar employees say they would prefer to continue to work largely from home. The pandemic may have kicked off a revolution in working practices — and that could spell trouble, economists say, for pensions funds, which have billions of dollars invested in commercial property, seen before the pandemic as a safe long-term bet.Property experts in London say the demand for office space in the British capital’s financial district is set to fall significantly. They predict corporate bosses will start shunning skyscrapers, preferring instead to rent self-contained buildings for their staff, which can be more easily managed in a public health crisis. The end of the skyscraper?The chief executive of Barclays Bank, Jes Staley, says there will be a distinct trend away from skyscrapers. He told the BBC, “I think the notion of putting 7,000 people in a building may be a thing of the past, and we will find ways to operate with more distancing over a much longer period of time.” Barclays is already exploring moving out of large flagship buildings and using retail branches as work hubs for their corporate management employees and investment bankers to use when they need to have face-to-face meetings.  FILE – Visitors look at the sights during the official opening of “The View” viewing platform at the Shard skyscraper in London.Property consultant Tony Lorenz says shifts in working practices will amount to the most radical change for the commercial property market in the past half-century. He and other property consultants calculate Britain businesses will find they have far more office space than they need. And they say corporate boards are questioning why they need to have staff working from expensive buildings when their white-collar employees have shown they can work productively from home by exploring the full potential of technology.  “I’m anticipating at least a 20 percent to 30 percent fall in rents for offices,” Lorenz told reporters in London. Unpaid rentsIn the more immediate term commercial landlords have already lost a fortune because of lockdowns and tenants being unable to pay their rents. “When you look at the investment market, investors will not be confident that tenants will survive. Even the strongest tenants are struggling to pay rents,” Lorenz says.Across the world millions of tenants and not only in financial districts have stopped, or are delaying, paying their rent to landlords as economies have been left reeling. Hotels and restaurants as well as retail and warehousing businesses have all been struck hard by the pandemic, many will go bankrupt, leaving commercial landlords with considerable losses on their hands, say analysts.Across Western Europe less than half of tenants have been paying their rents on time. Hotels have been especially laggardly, hardly surprising given occupancy rates have fallen to as low as 15%. “The impact of COVID-19 on sentiment in the commercial property sector was always going to make for painful reading. However, the erosion in confidence is stark. What’s even more worrying for investors and occupiers alike is that the full extent of the toll it will take on businesses and the underlying economy is still unclear,” says Simon Rubinsohn of Britain’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.A global issueThe same commercial property slump is being seen outside Europe as well. In the United States commercial landlords have seen rent collection fall by half, according to research firm Remit Consulting.FILE – Property advertisements are seen in central London.The US commercial real estate market is coming under increased stress, according to Real Capital Analytics, a New York-based research firm that monitors the commercial real estate investment market. It reported last month that transactions fell 68% in the second quarter of 2020 across all property types compared with 2019. Many investors have been waiting on the sidelines to see what unfolds. The firm warned the market was paralyzed because the worth of assets is now unclear.Australia, too, is seeing the same problem when it comes to rents and a paralyzed commercial property market. “With many tenants unable to pay rent and vacancies rising, many owners [have] opted to wait and see before making any swift decisions resulting in a decline in investment activity,” Vanessa Rader, head of research at Ray White Commercial, told the Australian Financial Review.The short-term losses and likely major changes roiling the commercial property market represent a major threat to pension funds and other long-term investors, adding to the economies woes triggered by the pandemic. With the yield on government bonds dropping since the 2008 financial crash, institutional investors have turned increasingly to the commercial property market, investing in hotels, shopping malls and office buildings, netting them an average 7% return.  Last week the World Bank said that the 2008 financial crisis reduced the value of global pension assets by 23%. “The magnitude of the pandemic is expected to be higher,” it warned.
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The May death of 46-year-old George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, and the subsequent protests across the United States and globally, led lawmakers from around the world to social media to discuss race relations, according to a new analysis from the U.S.-based Pew Research Center.  The research shows that almost half of lawmakers who are active on Twitter in four countries — Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — posted messages referencing Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter protests. Floyd was African American. “Prior to George Floyd’s killing, very few had used the phrase Black Lives Matter or hashtags related to that movement, only about 4%. And now we see that after George Floyd’s killing, those who are weighing in on these topics shoots up to about half,” said Kat Devlin, a Pew research associate who spoke to VOA via Skype. Black Lives Matter protests were held in London and cities across Britain, as well as Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Sydney, Auckland and elsewhere.FILE – People look at a statue of a Black Lives Matter protester by British artist Marc Quinn erected in the spot once occupied by the statue of a slave trader in the English city of Bristol, July 15, 2020.Devlin said events in the U.S. sparked renewed debates on domestic race relations in many countries.  “Sixty-nine percent (of legislators) in Australia who were talking about George Floyd or the Black Lives Matter movement also began to talk about Indigenous people in their countries — the same with a majority of the legislators in New Zealand,” Devlin said. Almost two-thirds of all British lawmakers using Twitter posted messages about George Floyd or Black Lives Matter. Around a third posted tweets critical of U.S. President Donald Trump’s handling of the protests. Most tweeted support and solidarity for the protesters. Many used the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag to highlight perceived racial inequality in Britain.  One widely shared June 1 tweet from British Labor Party MP Clive Lewis compared the situation in the United States to that in Britain:  “Any liberal democracy, including our own, where historic wealth accumulation is inextricably linked to racist ideology will be capable of #GeorgeFloyd levels of racial injustice. It’s not an accusation, simply the current reality.”FILE – A protester stands in front of the US embassy during the Black Lives Matter protest rally in London, June 7, 2020.Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, a Black lawyer and political activist based in Britain, told VOA that the debate in the U.S. resonates across the Atlantic.   “The protests in solidarity, for instance, in the United Kingdom — personally, I don’t think that’s just about the U.S. It’s also recognizing that these this systemic racism exists here in the U.K.,” Mos-Shogbamimu said in a Skype interview at the time of the London protests. “And social media platforms have become the wireless platform to communicate this information worldwide, in real time, instantly.” Not all lawmakers’ tweets expressed solidarity with the protests. Twenty percent of British legislators’ posts were critical of the demonstrations in Britain. Five percent of these posts made reference to the coronavirus pandemic, criticizing the large gatherings and accusing authorities of double standards for allowing the protesters to congregate despite social distancing and lockdown measures in force at the time. “Legislators were talking about the coronavirus in respect to the protests, but then also turned that conversation to the fact that non-white groups within the U.K. are suffering worse outcomes,” Devlin noted.  In Australia, Sen. Pauline Hanson of the One Nation Party wrote on Twitter June 8: “ANGER OVER DOUBLE STANDARDS GROWS: Premiers are facing a growing backlash over Covid-19 social-distancing restrictions after allowing tens of thousands of protestors to defy health warnings & attend Black Lives Matter rallies.” Hanson recently shared an article on Twitter that described the Black Lives Matter movement as “neo-Marxist.” In the weeks since Floyd’s death, statues of slave traders have been torn down, colonial histories are being rewritten, and demands for racial equality have become louder, amplified by social media. In the United States, the House of Representatives last month voted to rid the Capitol of Confederate statues. It is not clear if the measure will be brought to a vote in the Senate. Trump has described the destruction of Civil War-era statues and other memorials, including those honoring Christopher Columbus, as an attempt to cleanse the U.S. of its history. 
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A gleaming new bridge in Genoa built after the deadly collapse of a viaduct opened Tuesday, but critics say not enough has been done since the 2018 disaster to overhaul Italy’s crumbling infrastructure.The first cars crossed the sleek steel structure just after 2000 GMT, nearly two years to the day the Morandi highway gave way during heavy rain, hurling dozens of vehicles into the abyss and killing 43 people.The San Giorgio bridge, designed by famed Italian architect Renzo Piano, was inaugurated to much fanfare on Monday.But many of the relatives of the victims declined to attend, saying the ceremony overshadowed the 2018 tragedy.”We’re still there, at the collapsed bridge, with the people we lost under the bridge. We’re stuck in 2018,” Giorgio Robbiano, 43, who lost his brother, sister-in-law and nephew in the disaster, told AFP Tuesday.However he said “the bridge had to be built and we’re happy for the city.”It was also important to show that large works could be successfully finished in time, without complications,” he said.The tragedy shone a spotlight on the country’s decaying roads, bridges and railways.The Morandi’s speedy demolition and replacement has been hailed by many as an example of what Italy could be, should it scrap its infamous red tape.The centre-left coalition government promised during the coronavirus pandemic this year to use major infrastructure projects to reboot the battered economy, as Italy slid towards its worst recession since World War II.It said it would radically simplify bureaucracy to unblock some 62 billion euros of construction work, and promoted the “Genoa model”: a code-word for work done efficiently and quickly under the watch of a special commissioner.The country has at least 50 large infrastructure projects that are stalled, from a high-speed train in Sicily to the widening of a motorway in Tuscany, Italy’s construction lobby ANCE said.’The Wild West’ Projects stutter to a halt or fail to get off the ground due to lengthy legal challenges to tenders, companies going bankrupt, political point scoring or local council spats, including one in Liguria over which town should host the station on a new train line.The funds are there: according to the Cresme research institute, there were some 200 billion euros earmarked for the sector at the end of 2019, ranging from government and EU funds to private contributions.Last month the government approved a “simplification decree” — touted by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte as “the mother of all reforms.”But detractors said it failed to make serious inroads into red tape, and could even prove damaging.Infrastructure executive Angelica Donati said it takes twice as long in Italy to carry out a large-scale infrastructure project than in the rest of Europe, so speeding up the process and improving efficiency and transparency would be much welcomed.But she warned that the new decree crushed competition, by effectively excluding the small and medium enterprises that make up the backbone of Italy from tenders for projects worth over 5.3 million euros.For the next two years, the public administration can rule such projects be treated as an emergency “because of the COVID-related crisis … which would exclude them from all public tender regulations, apart from anti-mafia ones”, she told AFP.A small number of specific companies can be invited to participate individually in the tender — penalizing those who would have made joint venture bids, or are simply excluded.”Using the commissioner structure and throwing out the rule book, saying you have full power to do whatever you want, is not the right way to ensure transparency and protect competition,” Donati said.”The Genoa model is a very bad idea, it’s very dangerous,” and risks turning Italy into “the Wild West”.
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A global treaty sponsored by the U.N. International Labor Organization (ILO) calling for greater protection for children against sexual exploitation, forced labor and armed conflict was signed Tuesday by all member nations in the international forum.
Tonga, an island nation located in the Pacific, approved the treaty this week, making it the first U.N. labor treaty ratified by all 187 members. Ratified treaties are legally binding on all signatory governments.International Labor Organization Director-General Guy Ryder attends a news conference after a meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Oct. 1, 2019.“Universal ratification … is (a) historic first that means that all children now have legal protection against the worst forms of child labor,” ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said.
“It reflects a global commitment that the worst forms of child labor, such as slavery, sexual exploitation, the use of children in armed conflict or other illicit or hazardous work … have no place in our society,” he said in a statement.
According to the ILO, the number of child laborers plummeted to 152 million children in recent years, a sharp decline from its previous peak 20 years ago of 246 million. Most child workers are employed in the agricultural sector, and 73 million are placed in dangerous conditions while working.Children in Worst Forms of Labor Get Legal Protection The universal ratification of a convention provides children with critical legal protection from the worst child laborConcern for this issue has risen in recent months amid the coronavirus pandemic and the strain on global and local economies. According to the Reuters news agency, some experts say the pandemic could reverse up to two decades of activism and progress in reducing child labor.
In June, the United Nations warned that child labor in the 5-11 age group was likely to rise during and after the pandemic as families grapple to make ends meet.
“The business community is both aware of and acting on the need to do business with respect for children’s rights,” said Roberto Suarez Santos, head of the International Organization of Employers (IOE), the world’s largest private sector network.
Ending child labor is one of the U.N.’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, a set of global priorities created in 2015. The organization plans to eradicate the practice by 2025. 
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