All posts by MPolitics

France has Millions of Unsold Face Masks after Virus Crisis

The French praised the altruism of their prized textile and luxury goods companies when production facilities got diverted from churning out the latest fashions to making cloth masks designed to protect the general public from the coronavirus.Now, the companies that helped France avoid a feared shortage of virus-filtering face wear for everyday use say they need help unloading a surplus of 20 million masks. They asked the French government for assistance promoting and finding buyers for the unsold output of the industry’s national effort.Hundreds of textile and clothing manufacturers answered the government’s call for millions of masks superior to homemade versions. President Emmanuel Macron last month sported a military-tested model embroidered with the tri-color national flag to advertise the “Made in France” masks.Yet within weeks, demand dried up for the domestically produced masks that sold for a few euros at supermarkets and pharmacies or were available in bulk for free distribution by businesses and local governments. Manufacturers and the government acknowledged that many suppliers and consumers still opted for cheaper disposable face masks from Asia.“We are faced with a lot of competition” from countries with lower labor costs, said Thomas Delise, owner of Chanteclair, the knitwear manufacturer behind the mask Macron wore during a school visit last month.In this June 12, 2020 photo, director Thomas Delise gestures in Chanteclair Hosiery, a French knitwear clothing manufacturer in Saint Pouange, east of Paris, that began making masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus.In an interview with The Associated Press at his factory southeast of Paris, he called for trade barriers to large imports, and coordination within Europe to buy Europe-made masks.Guillaume Gibault, founder of trendy underwear brand Le Slip Francais (The French Brief), sees the slump as a marketing and distribution problem. The washable, specially engineered masks produced by his company and others saw “a very strong and immediate demand” before the excess accessories piled up in warehouses and factories.“Not everyone necessarily knew about what was available around them, and the public didn’t necessarily know where or what to buy,” he told French public radio service RFI.Some textile companies complained that the French government was slow to validate their masks as effective in filtering out small particles, which slowed their ability to get to market before people were allowed to start emerging from their homes and needed masks in stores or on public transportation.A group of industry representatives got time with two junior government ministers this week to discuss the surplus masks, as well as broader concerns about the health of fashion, textiles and luxury goods makers amid the economic fallout of the pandemic and in the long term.After the meeting, the ministers pledged the government’s help to spread the word to distributors, local governments and other potential customers about the environmental and employment benefits of the French masks and finding buyers at home and abroad for the surplus stock.In this June 12, 2020 photo, an employee walks by fabric cut to produce face protection masks in Chanteclair Hosiery, a French knitwear clothing manufacturer, in Saint Pouange, east of Paris.Agnes Pannier-Runacher, state secretary to France’s economy minister, told French broadcaster RTL that the government’s objective “is to convince large buyers to switch from single-use masks to reusable washable textile masks.” Gibault and French Textile Industry Union President Yves Dubief agreed to lead the mission.“In a few weeks, the French textile industry has managed to mobilize and redirect its productive apparatus on our territory in order to provide the French durable textile masks with guaranteed filtration in sufficient quantities,” Pannier-Runacher said. “This impressive effort is to be commended. It must now be long term and be given support.”The French Textile Industry Union was the first to sound the alarm in early June on this problem of surplus.“The demand was such that no one had anticipated such a brutal halt. But in the textile industry, once launched, production does not stop with a snap of the fingers,” Dubief told French magazine Challenges.Some French companies were disgruntled because it was the French government that urged many of them to get into mask-making and to increase capacity so the country would produce 5 million masks a day that could be sold or given to the general public, local governments and corporations by mid-May.The mask surplus is especially painful because France was so short of any kind of masks early in the pandemic that some nursing home and medical staff had no face protection at all. Those mask shortages are central to several lawsuits against the government of a country that has seen nearly 30,000 virus deaths.The French government said this week that part of the joint industry-government mission will be to help cloth mask-makers adjust “production capacities to collective needs in masks over the next few months.”At his textile factory, Delise said: “We don’t know how the pandemic will evolve. We don’t know which instructions the government will give, we don’t know what kind of equipment the professionals will want. So today, yes, we have a surplus stock of 600,000 masks and it obviously has an impact on my company.” 

Relief, but Also Worry, as Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar Reopens

Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, one of the world’s oldest and largest, is open for business after being closed for 70 days as part of Turkey’s COVID lockdown. The reopening early this month is an important symbolic step in what the government calls its normalization efforts, a move that cannot come soon enough for the 30,000 people working at the bazaar. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.Producer: Rod James. Videographer: Berke Bas.

Paris Marchers Decry Racism, Far Right Rallies in London

Paris riot police fired tear gas Saturday to disperse a largely peaceful but unauthorized protest of police brutality and entrenched racism, as France’s minorities increasingly push back against a national doctrine of colorblindness that has failed to eradicate discrimination.In London, far-right activists and soccer rowdies scuffled with police while trying to “guard” historical monuments that have been targeted recently by anti-racism protesters for their links to slavery and British colonialism.The events in the two European capitals reflected the global emotion unleashed by the death of George Floyd in the United States and the ensuing reckoning with racial injustice and historical wrongs. In both cities, protesters defied restrictions on public gatherings imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.Myriam Boicoulin, 31, who was born in the French Caribbean island of Martinique, said she marched in Paris on Saturday because she “wants to be heard.””The fact of being visible is enormous,” Boicoulin said. As a black woman living in mainland France, she said, “I’m constantly obliged to adapt, to make compromises, not make waves — to be almost white, in fact.””It’s the first time people see us,” she told The Associated Press. “Let us breathe.”The Paris march in Paris was led by supporters of Adama Traore, a  French black man who died in police custody in 2016 in circumstances that remain unclear despite four years of back-and-forth autopsies. No one has been charged in the case.”We are are all demanding the same thing – fair justice for everyone,” Traore’s sister Assa told the rally.  Angry shouts rose from the racially diverse crowd as a small group of white extreme-right activists climbed a building overlooking the protest and unfurled a huge banner denouncing “anti-white racism.”Building residents then reached out of their windows and tore part of the banner down, one raising his fist in victory. Officers prevented people attending the main rally from approaching the counter-demonstrators, but didn’t detain the far-right activists until two hours later, further angering the crowd below.Riot police then fired tear gas and charged unruly members of the main protest, urging them to disperse. The crowd initially planned to march through the city, but police decided to block them from moving, citing coronavirus concerns.Similar protests were also held Saturday in cities around France, from Rouen in Normandy in the northwest to Marseille on the Mediterranean.Some demonstrators were encouraged that the French government responded to the past couple of weeks of Floyd-inspired protests by banning police chokeholds and launching investigations of racist comments in private Facebook and Whatsapp groups for police.In London, a Black Lives Matter group called off a demonstration scheduled for Saturday, saying the presence of counter-protesters who also planned to demonstrate would make it unsafe.  Some protesters still gathered at Hyde Park to denounce racism while hundreds of far-right activists demonstrated, despite strict police restrictions and warnings to stay home to contain the coronavirus.Many from the far-right camp gathered around a statue of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Cenotaph war memorial, which were both boarded up to guard against vandalism. Officials put protective panels around the monuments amid fears that far-right activists would seek confrontations with anti-racism protesters under the guise of protecting statues.Some activists threw bottles and cans at officers, while others tried to push through police barriers. Riot police on horses pushed the crowd back. The protesters, who appeared to be mostly white men, chanted “England” and sang the national anthem.”I am extremely fed up with the way that the authorities have allowed two consecutive weekends of vandalism against our national monuments,” Paul Golding, leader of the far-right group Britain First, told the Press Association.Monuments around the world have become flash points in demonstrations against racism and police violence after the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed a knee to his neck.In Britain, the protests have triggered a national debate about the legacy of empire and its role in the slave trade. A statue of slave trader Edward Colston was hauled from its plinth by protesters in the city of Bristol on Sunday and dumped in the harbor. In London, Churchill’s statue was daubed with the words “was a racist.”Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted Friday that while Churchill “sometimes expressed opinions that were and are unacceptable to us today,” he was a hero and “we cannot now try to edit or censor our past.” Churchill, whose first term spanned 1940-45, has long been revered for his leadership during World War II.  ___Hui reported from London. Angela Charlton and Boubkar Benzabat in Paris contributed. 

George Floyd’s Death Sparks Calls for UN Debate

A group of African countries has sent a letter to the president of the U.N. Human Rights Council calling for a debate on racially inspired human rights violence when the council meets next week.  The request was sparked by the death of African American George Floyd while in police custody in the U.S. In its letter, the African group says the events that have unfolded since the May 25 death of George Floyd have sparked protests globally against the injustice and brutality that people of African descent face daily in many parts of the world.
 
It says the current racially inspired human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality and violence against peaceful protest makes a debate airing these festering issues a matter of great urgency.
 
It says the death of George Floyd is not an isolated issue. The group of African ambassadors that drafted the letter notes many people of African descent have suffered the same fate due to unchecked police brutality. However, the crimes have gone largely unnoticed.
 
U.N. human rights spokesman Rolando Gomez tells VOA the debate is likely to occur at the council Tuesday or Wednesday, when the U.N. body takes up agenda item 9, which deals with issues of racism and discrimination.
 
“Structural racism and police violence are issues, which are commonly raised by states and civil society at meetings of the council, as are unlawful killings by police and racial bias in policing,” Gomez said. “And, the aim, of course, is to prevent such abhorrent acts.”
 
The African group’s letter to the council president notes the uprising in the U.S. is a protest against systemic racism that produces state-sponsored racial violence and impunity for the perpetrators.  It adds the protests the world is witnessing are a rejection of the racial inequality and discrimination suffered by black people and other people of color in the United States.
 
Earlier this week, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Andrew Bremberg, issued a statement expressing American horror, anger, and grief at the senseless death of George Floyd.
 
He said the public reaction following this grave tragedy demonstrated the American peoples’ desire to overcome racial injustice and to achieve a more equal and just society. 

Professional Football Resumes in Italy but Still in Empty Stadiums

Professional soccer has resumed in Italy after a three-month stoppage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Juventus played against AC Milan in Turin in the second leg of the Italian cup semi-final. To the happiness of football fans all over Italy, matches in the country’s top league will resume June 20. However, stadiums remain empty of fans for the time being.When the Italian government took the difficult decision to suspend the football season on March 9 due to COVID-19, it was a sad moment for fans across the country. The indefinite suspension of the national sport was tough for many to digest. The resumption of matches Friday night was a moment of joy, despite the fact the game was nothing to write home about. Playing at the Allianz Stadium in Turin were host Juventus and AC Milan – in a game that would qualify one of the teams for the final of the Italian Cup to be played in Rome Wednesday. The atmosphere was surreal with no one in the stands and quality on both sides after such a long break from the field clearly lacking.Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci spoke after the game.Bonucci said his emotions are strange, playing in an empty stadium after 90 days of no competition. He said it was difficult at the beginning and AC Milan played well despite only having a 10-man team, but said Juventus managed to reach their objective to play in the final.Italy’s top football division, Serie A, will get underway again on June 20. Before the season can end, there are still 110 regular-season games left to play and 4 make-up games. Italian soccer authorities are hoping and working towards re-opening stadiums in July and allowing at least some fans to watch the games live.But until then, most fans will be watching the games from home because even at sports bars social distancing rules are in place. Some soccer teams have thought up innovative ways to avoid the sadness of having to play in front of empty seats.Lazio, one of the two top-division teams in Rome, launched the idea of fans purchasing cardboard cutouts of their image to be placed in the stands when the team is playing. The proceeds will go to the Red Cross. Other teams will play recorded cheers after a team score. The aim is to maintain a semblance of the enthusiastic atmosphere at Italian football games. Inter Milan has said it will be using lights and graphic effects during their matches.       

Turkey Arrests Journalist for Revealing State Secrets, Lawyer Says

A Turkish court jailed a prominent opposition journalist from an online news outlet pending trial on accusations that she revealed state secrets in two articles about Ankara’s military involvement in Libya, her lawyer said on Friday.Muyesser Yildiz, the Ankara news editor for the OdaTV online news portal, was detained on Monday and formally arrested on Thursday following her questioning.One article published in December questioned which Turkish commanders met Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army, which is fighting the internationally recognized Government of National Accord of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj, backed by Turkey.The second article, from January, gave details about a military officer who was sent to Libya to oversee Turkey’s involvement there.Yildiz was initially detained on espionage charges but this was later changed to revealing state secrets, lawyer Erhan Tokatli told Reuters.”If the articles threaten the security of this country so much, they should have blocked access to them,” he said.Ismail Dukel, Ankara representative of broadcaster TELE1, who was also detained along with Yildiz and questioned, was released, state-owned Anadolu news agency said. An army sergeant detained with them was also jailed, it said without elaborating.OdaTV, an online news outlet, has been critical of President Tayyip Erdogan’s government. Turkey ranks among the top jailers of journalists across the world.Erol Onderoglu, Turkey representative for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said such cases damage Turkey’s international reputation and that the detention of journalists aimed to silence criticism.”Turkey, which is one of the biggest jailers of journalists in the world, needs to make peace with criticism, transparency and the values of an open society,” he said.Critics say Erdogan has used a failed 2016 coup as a pretext to clamp down on dissent and strengthen his grip on power, a charge Ankara denies. It says the measures are necessary to safeguard national security.  

Turkey Communications Director Blasts Twitter for Removing 7,340 Accounts 

Turkey criticized Twitter on Friday for suspending more than 7,000 accounts the social media company said were promoting narratives favorable to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and the AK Parti (AKP). The suspended 7,340 accounts were detected earlier this year “employing coordinated inauthentic activity,” Twitter said in a blog post uploaded on Friday. Republic of Turkey communications director Fahrettin Altun said the social media company was attempting to smear the government and trying to redesign Turkish politics. “This arbitrary act … has demonstrated yet again that Twitter is no mere social media company, but a propaganda machine with certain political and ideological inclinations,” Altun said in a written statement on Twitter.Statement regarding Twitter’s decision to suspend accounts in Turkey and the company’s allegations: pic.twitter.com/mi9abYDWEE
— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) June 12, 2020The communications director closed with a warning to Twitter. “We would like to remind this company of the eventual fate of a number of organizations, which attempted to take similar steps in the past,” Altun said. In its Friday blog post, Twitter revealed it had shared data from the account takedowns related to Turkey, as well as China and Russia, with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute  (ASPI) and Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO). In what the SIO dubbed “The Turkey Operation,”  it found batches of fabricated personalities, all created on the same day. The suspended accounts were used for AKP “cheerleading,” to increase domestic support for Turkish intervention in Syria and compromised other Twitter accounts linked to organizations critical of the government, the SIO found.Twitter’s handling of the “Turkey Operation” has come to light as it removed 23,750 accounts posting pro-Beijing narratives, and 1,152 accounts engaging in state-backed political propaganda within Russia. 

Putin Appears at Russia Day Celebration

In his first public appearance since May 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday expressed confidence that “an absolute majority” of Russian citizens support constitutional reforms that include allowing him to stay in office until 2036.Putin, speaking at a Russia Day Celebration at Moscow’s Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill, offered holiday greetings to Russian citizens and their compatriots abroad.In his comments, Putin spoke of the common “historical code and moral foundations,” culture and traditions that all Russians share, such as respect for the working man, parents and family.  He said “There have been frequent requests to include these fundamental, core principals into the Russian constitution. I’m sure that the absolute majority of our citizens share and support such a position.”Russians go to the polls July 1 to vote on a series of constitutional reforms, including a change that would allow Putin to run for two more six-year terms, after his current term expires in 2024.Other ballot measures include deepening presidential powers over parliament, establishing the ruble as Russia’s official currency and defining marriage as between a man and a woman, effectively banning gay marriage.Observers speculate the gay marriage ban was added to the ballot to drive voter turnout.  Russia Day began in 1992 to mark Russia’s declaration of sovereignty from the Soviet Union, paving the way to the country’s independence.

French Police Stage Banned Demo to Demand Government Support

French police defied a ban on mass gatherings to protest what they see as a lack of government support, marching shoulder to shoulder on Friday on the Champs-Elysees to show their anger against new limits on arrest tactics and criticism of racism in their ranks.
France this week announced a ban on chokeholds is part of government efforts to stem police brutality and racism in the wake of global protests over George Floyd’s death in the U.S. But police have especially taken issue with any implication of systemic racism among French police.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said earlier this week any “strong suspicion” of racism would be punished, in response to investigations into racist comments on closed Facebook and WhatsApp groups for police.
Friday’s protest was small but highly visible, with honking, flags and blue smoke blowing under rainy skies. As officers marched close together, with hardly a mask in sight, Paris police issued a bulletin confirming that anti-police protests planned this weekend were banned because of the coronavirus pandemic.  
Friday’s group walked unimpeded to the interior ministry, which is next to the presidential palace and has been barricaded against demonstrators since the 2018 yellow-vest protests that frequently ended in violent clashes. Uniformed guards appeared startled at the arrival of the protest but did not intervene. After a minute of silence for dead police officers, they sang the French national anthem, spoke briefly and dispersed.
“French police are the most controlled in the world, so when there are certain lapses by a tiny minority, don’t stigmatize all police,” said Fabien Vanhemelryck of the Alliance union. He accused politicians of responding hastily to a crisis in the United States “that has nothing to do with us.”Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 11 MB480p | 15 MB540p | 22 MB720p | 51 MB1080p | 91 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioPolice unions met Thursday and Friday with Castaner to discuss changes to police tactics after the minister announced Monday that police would no longer be taught to seize suspects by the neck or push on their necks. Castaner stopped short of banning another technique — pressing on a prone suspect’s chest — that also has been blamed for leading to asphyxiation and possible death.
Such immobilization techniques have come under growing criticism since Floyd’s death. But French police say the new restrictions go too far.  
“He doesn’t even know what he’s talking about,” said Jean-Paul Megret, another police union leader. “Sometimes you can’t just ask people to follow you to be arrested. Every day, you’re dealing with people who are completely insane.”
Unions floated the idea this week of widening the use of stun-guns, which are only available to a handful of specialized officers.  
France has seen several anti-police protests sparked by Floyd’s death, and another is planned Saturday. Friday’s protest began on the Champs-Elysees avenue, which was repeatedly the scene of violence between police and the “yellow vest” protesters last year.  
Last week, the Paris prosecutor’s office opened a preliminary investigation into racist insults and instigating racial hatred based on comments allegedly written in a private police Facebook group.
Website Streetpress published a string of offensive messages that it said were published within the group, though acknowledged that it is unclear whether the authors were officers or people pretending to be police. Some of the reported comments mocked young men of color who have died fleeing police.
Separately, six police officers in the Normandy city of Rouen are under internal investigation over racist comments in a private WhatsApp group. Both incidents have prompted public concerns about extreme views among French police.

Italy Resumes all Professional Sport Competitions

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced Thursday night that all professional sport competition in the country will resume starting Friday — but without fans attending, to prevent the risk of spreading the coronavirus.Conte also announced that amateur contact games may restart beginning on June 25 as Italy emerges from the COVID-19 outbreak and regional authorities confirm that the rate of infection continues to decline.Some entertainment activities will resume, and others will remain suspended.”Shows with public in concert halls and movie theaters will also resume, as well as those in other spaces, including those outdoors, but with some precautions,” Conte said. “All those activities that take place in ballrooms, discos and similar clubs, may them be indoors or outdoors, will remain suspended.”Italy is also limiting arrivals for tourism from most of Europe but allowing people to enter Italy from Asia or North or South America for work or other essential reasons for a short period of time.Conte urged Italians to download a new contact tracing app, known as the Immuni app, which will become available all over the country for the first time next week. Immuni uses Bluetooth technology to notify users they have come into close, prolonged contact with an app user who has tested positive.Technological Innovation and Digitalization Minister Paola Pisano said Thursday that 2 million people have downloaded the Immuni app so far.  

In France, Minorities see George Floyd’s Death Mirrored at Home

Like many countries, France is witnessing a public awakening on the issue of police violence and racial profiling, sparked by the death of George Floyd in the United States. In northern Paris, one group of judicial experts and activists is working with minority youngsters, teaching them their rights and how to interact with the police and the communities they live in. Lisa Bryant in Paris has the story.
Camera: Lisa Bryant, Agencies

Turkey Sentences US Consulate Employee to More Than 8 Years

A Turkish court on Thursday convicted a local U.S. Consulate employee in Istanbul of aiding an armed terror organization and sentenced him to eight years and nine months in prison, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.Metin Topuz, a translator and assistant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, has been jailed since 2017, accused of links to U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen. The Turkish government blames Gulen for the 2016 coup attempt and considers his network to be a terrorist organization.Topuz’s arrest and subsequent prosecution caused tensions between Ankara and Washington, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement criticizing the conviction.The accusations were based on his contacts with police officers believed to be members of Gulen’s network of followers. Topuz has maintained his innocence throughout his trial and is expected to appeal the verdict.In his statement, Pompeo said: “U.S. officials observed every hearing in the trial of Mr. Topuz in Istanbul, and we have seen no credible evidence to support this decision. As a result, this conviction undermines confidence in Turkey’s institutions and the critical trust at the foundation of Turkish-American relations.”Pompeo added that the U.S. officials “reiterate our call on the Turkish government to resolve his case in a just manner.”In his concluding words in his own defense before the verdict, Topuz told the court that he had been in contact with Turkish police, paramilitary police and customs officials as part of his job with the DEA and had no way of knowing that these officials were involved in criminal acts.”As part of my duty with the DEA, under the instructions and observation of my superiors, I had thousands of contacts with 309 law enforcement officials to prevent crime,” the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Topuz as saying.”I committed no crime and had no relations with (Gulen’s network),” he said.The U.S. Embassy said: “For nearly three decades, Mr. Topuz performed outstanding work appreciated and lauded by officials and citizens of both countries. Under our direction, he promoted law enforcement cooperation between Turkey and the U.S., contributing to the safety of people in both nations.”Gulen, who has been in self-imposed exile in the U.S. since 1999, denies involvement in the coup attempt, which killed about 250 people and injured around 2,000 others. 

British Decision to Oust Huawei Is Settled, Analyst Says

A British political insider says there is no longer any doubt that the London government will abandon plans to incorporate technology from Chinese tech giant Huawei in the rollout of its 5G telecommunications network.The government will make an official announcement in the coming weeks of its plans to “sunset” Huawei’s involvement in the network, said Nile Gardiner, a onetime aide to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and now the chair of a center named for Thatcher at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation.Word of the decision has already been leaked to British media outlets quoting Downing Street sources, “which is usually how it works,” Gardiner said in an interview.For months, the British government has been under pressure from the United States to pull out of its deal with Huawei, but Gardiner said domestic considerations are at least equally responsible for the decision.He attributes the reversal in part to strong opposition among senior members of the governing Conservative Party, as well as widespread public disillusionment with Beijing resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.“There has been a very significant rebellion against Prime Minister [Boris] Johnson’s earlier decision” to allow Huawei a 35% stake in Britain’s telecommunications market, Gardiner told VOA.Vote to amend soughtDuring a parliamentary debate on the issue in March, former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith questioned Johnson’s decision and called for a vote to amend the government’s Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill.Duncan Smith accused the Chinese government of spending 20 years underbidding other tech firms until Huawei could emerge as the dominant player in the telecom market. He said going ahead with the deal would make Britain “nationally dependent on Huawei,” which has been classified by British authorities as a “high-risk vendor.”Gardiner said the revolt within party ranks has gained sufficient support that the Johnson government must amend its proposed 5G legislation or risk a parliamentary defeat when the issue next comes to a vote this summer.FILE – Mobile network phone masts are visible in front of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, Jan. 28, 2020. A political insider says Britain will abandon plans to incorporate Huawei in the rollout of the nation’s 5G telecommunications network.While Duncan Smith and other lawmakers have warned against Beijing’s increasing involvement in British society for years, the turnaround in British public opinion has been shaped by China’s handling of the coronavirus, including early efforts to suppress reporting on the contagion.This “has significantly hardened the view of the British government and the British people,” Gardiner said, adding that recent moves to extend China’s security control over Hong Kong have been “extremely unhelpful” to Beijing’s cause.Analysts also speculate that Johnson’s personal battle with COVID-19, which brought him close to death in April, contributed to his new, tougher view of China. “A healthy growth is his backbone,” said Fraser Howie, a Scottish-born expert on Britain’s relations with the Asia Pacific region and co-author of Red Capitalism.Huawei campaignHuawei, meanwhile, has not given up on the British market. The company launched a high-profile ad campaign this week in the form of a “Dear Britain” letter published in major media outlets, touting its two-decade-long investment history in the country and reiterating its “commitment to helping bring fast reliable mobile and full fiber broadband networks to every part [of] the country.”The ad campaign follows announcements in April and May that a prominent member of British industry had joined the company’s board, and that it had entered a “new five-year collaboration” agreement with Imperial College London, “aimed at growing the U.K.’s data science and innovation ecosystem.”Washington, too, is keeping up the pressure. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement Wednesday denouncing “the Chinese Communist Party’s coercive bullying tactics,” citing reports that Beijing has issued threats toward Britain’s landmark banking institution, the HSBC.“The United States stands with our allies and partners” and “stands ready to assist our friends in the U.K. with any needs they have, from building secure and reliable nuclear power plants to developing trusted 5G solutions that protect their citizens’ privacy,” Pompeo said.“Free nations deal in true friendship and desire mutual prosperity, not political and corporate kowtows.”

Britain Faces Grim Coronavirus Forecast

The British government is facing strong criticism for its response to the coronavirus pandemic, as latest forecasts suggest the economy could be the worst-hit globally. Britain has the world’s second-highest death toll from the virus and is emerging from its lockdown later than most of Europe. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.

After Missteps, Turkey Tames Coronavirus

Turkey has turned into a surprising coronavirus success story, despite fears that its outbreak — at one time one of the fastest growing in the world — would spin out of control and leave the country overwhelmed.Even though its official death toll of 4,729 is disputed by some doctors, who say the real tally is likely higher because authorities include only those who test positive for the virus, the country appears to have averted the bigger disaster some epidemiologists predicted. This has happened despite early missteps and equivocations that allowed a surge in cases, particularly along the Black Sea, which could have been prevented, say analysts.“It’s a fairly small club of countries that have been quite effective in reducing the viral spread,” said Jeremy Rossman, a virologist at Britain’s University of Kent.  
He told the BBC that Turkey is among the countries that responded quickly enough with testing and tracing to slow the transmission of the coronavirus without following the example of some European neighbors that opted for total lockdowns. The confirmed case tally is just over 170,000.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Tuesday the lifting of stay-at-home orders for people over 65, as well as for children, part of a further easing of restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.FILE – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, wearing a face mask to protect against the new coronavirus, and Basri Bagci, the new member of Turkey’s Constitutional Court, greet each other during a ceremony, in Ankara, June 9, 2020.Turkey lifted restrictions on intercity travel and allowed restaurants, cafes, parks and sports facilities to reopen on June 1 after a big reduction in new cases. However, case numbers are still rising in southeast Turkey.The government has been lauding its anti-coronavirus strategy — amplified by a pro-Erdogan press. Last month, Fahrettin Altun, the president’s spokesman, tweeted: “Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdogan invested billions in health care infrastructure, let top scientists devise a strategy and treated all COVID-19 patients for free. The result? Our recovery rate is almost 75 percent. The pandemic has been contained. #MissionAccomplished.”
 
The coronavirus came later to Turkey than it did to many of its neighbors. “As the virus raged on in China, many in Turkey wrongly believed that the country would not be affected by the spread of the virus,” said Kemal Kirişci, an analyst for the Brookings Institution, a Washington research group.Time was lost
 
“As late as mid-March,” Kirişci said,” the Turkish president even predicted economic gains for Turkey emerging from the crisis. Precious time was lost until the WHO [World Health Organization] officially declared a pandemic, coincidentally on the same day that Turkey’s first case was reported, and the country’s vulnerability was finally recognized. Two weeks later, the severity of the situation had still not completely dawned on the president.”Analysts say that at the start, the president had two overriding priorities: to placate his conservative religious base, which led him not to impose an effective quarantine on returning pilgrims from Mecca nor to ban communal gatherings at mosques; and to keep an already badly ailing economy running.FILE – Relatives of Munevver Kaya, who died of COVID-19, wearing face masks for protection against the coronavirus, offer their prayers during a funeral at a special section of Baklaci cemetery in Istanbul dedicated to COVID victims, May 11, 2020.The failure to shutter borders quickly and to quarantine returning pilgrims earned the government a public rebuke from the Turkish Medical Association, which said the early response to the coronavirus was “inadequate.”Contradictions, say analysts, marked early steps in trying to curb the pandemic. In mid-March, the government ordered people to stay at home but also announced tax cuts on flights and hotels to encourage business. Eventually as infection numbers surged, stricter isolation measures were introduced, with cities placed under weekend curfew orders. New cases then started to plateau at around a thousand a day. Senior experts at the WHO have praised Turkey’s subsequent performance.
 
Its official death toll is 10 times lower than Britain’s — partly thanks, say Erdogan supporters, to the massive investment in the health care system the past few years and the building of new hospitals. The infrastructure has not come close in the pandemic to being overstretched.Science-based response
 
Much of the credit, though, for averting a disaster is being laid at the door of Erdogan’s health minister, Fahrettin Koca, who, far from the start, urged a science-based response. Highly proactive mayors in Istanbul and Ankara, both opponents of Erdogan, also have been praised.
 
But the pandemic response, however effective it has been after early missteps, has prompted political alarm. Doctors in Turkey’s southeast and eastern regions, who have disputed the official toll, have found themselves reprimanded and placed under investigation, and reporters and ordinary social media users have been charged with disseminating “fake news” for questioning the rate of infections.“The Turkish authorities’ criminally investigating medical chamber officials is not only an outrageous attack on free speech but impedes the fight against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic and obstructs their legitimate work,” said Hugh Williamson of the NGO Human Rights Watch. “The investigations should immediately be dropped, and all conditions imposed on the doctors, including travel bans, lifted.”FILE – Turkish police officers, wearing face masks to protect against the coronavirus, arrest a demonstrator during May Day protests against the government lockdown, in Istanbul, May 1, 2020.Rights campaigners say the government has used the pandemic to muzzle and lock up even more Erdogan opponents. On Tuesday, as the Turkish president announced further easing of coronavirus restrictions, hundreds of people were detained on the ground they are adherents of the faith-based Gülen movement, led by cleric Fethullah Gülen, who Erdogan claims was behind a 2016 coup attempt against him. Gulen, a former ally of the Turkish president, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, denies any involvement.Since 2016, more than 80,000 people have been detained,  many of them civil servants or members of security forces. Western governments and rights campaigners accuse the government of using the coup attempt as a pretext to silence Erdogan’s opposition in the country.

US ‘Deeply Concerned’ About Turkish Drilling in Mediterranean

The United States is urging Turkey to stop drilling in contested waters of the Mediterranean Sea out of concern the move will hurt diplomatic relations with Greece. Tension is rising among the NATO neighbors and others in the region trying to control energy-rich zones.  The warning from U.S. Under Secretary of State Matthew Palmer marks Washington’s strongest diplomatic intervention yet in a long-running energy feud between Greece and Turkey.“The United States remains deeply concerned by drilling activities in waters off Cyprus,” said Palmer. “The actions raise tensions in the region and we again urge Turkish authorities to halt all drilling operations off Cyprus.”Palmer’s warning, at an international conference in Greece, follows threats by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to proceed with the drilling, including plans to send a new exploratory vessel well within Greece’s territorial waters, off the coast of the Greek islands.No specific location has been revealed but Turkey has been threatening to drill since Erdogan signed a maritime agreement with Libya, allowing Ankara to explore for natural gas and oil and exploit hundreds of kilometers of Mediterranean seabed from its southeast coast to northern Libya.With Greek islands in between, Turkey maintains that the deal also gives it the right to survey Greek waters. Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, says that reading is wrong.“It is unhelpful and provocative in any term but most importantly it can take no rights away from Greece,” said Pyatt.Tensions, though, continue to escalate between Greece and Turkey.In recent days, the leaders of the two countries have challenged each other’s sovereign rights, saying they are prepared to go to war to defend themselves.Palmer is advising both sides to pull back from any semblance of confrontation.“As an ally, the U.S. is concerned that the increasing tensions between Greece and Turkey could result in an incident or accident that leads to unintended consequences,” said Palmer. “In the past we have seen incidents in the regions escalate quickly. We urge Greece and Turkey to ensure that the channels of communication remain open between these two NATO allies.”Greece and Turkey have had no diplomatic contact on the issue so far.

EU to File Antitrust Complaint Against Amazon Over Treatment of Third Party Sellers: WSJ

The European Union is planning on filing formal antitrust charges against Amazon.com Inc over its treatment of third-party sellers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.The EU has been building its case and circulating a draft of the charge sheet for a couple of months and could officially file the charges as early as next week or the week after, the report added. 
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
 

France Will Roll Back Special Government Powers on July 10  

France is prepared to lift the special government powers granted to cope with the coronavirus pandemic on July 10 but will continue to restrict gatherings and freedom of movement for the next four months, the prime minister’s office said.In March, as the coronavirus outbreak spread across the globe, France implemented “state of health emergency” legislation, extending the government’s power to restrict civil liberties without parliamentary approval.Since France lifted its nationwide lockdown on May 11, hospital and mortality data have been on a steady downward trend, raising officials’ confidence to roll back the emergency legislation.  “In view of the positive evolution of the health situation at this stage, the government wishes to put an end to the state of health emergency, which must remain an exceptional case,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe’s office said. Despite the end of the emergency power, France’s Council of Ministers was presented with a new bill on Wednesday that would allow the government to restrict freedom of movement, make face masks compulsory on public transport, close businesses and ban large gatherings for another four months. The bill will be voted on by the National Assembly on June 17. While France’s advisory Scientific Council has confirmed that there will be no return to a nationwide lockdown, the bill would allow for local measures in the event of an outbreak such as lockdowns, travel bans or school closures.France’s coronavirus death toll has reached 29,296, the fifth highest in the world and third highest in Europe, after the United Kingdom and Italy. On Tuesday, the number of people in intensive care fell below 1,000 for the first time since March 19.

London May Remove Statues as Floyd’s Death Sparks Change 

London’s mayor announced Tuesday that more statues of imperialist figures could be removed from Britain’s streets after protesters knocked down the monument to a slave trader, as the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis continued to spark protests — and drive change — around the world. On the day Floyd was buried in his hometown of Houston, Texas, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was setting up a commission to ensure the British capital’s monuments reflected its diversity. It will review statues, murals, street art, street names and other memorials and consider which legacies should be celebrated, the mayor’s office said. “It is an uncomfortable truth that our nation and city owes a large part of its wealth to its role in the slave trade and while this is reflected in our public realm, the contribution of many of our communities to life in our capital has been willfully ignored,” Khan said. Even before the new commission got underway, officials in east London removed a statue of 18th-century merchant and slave owner Robert Milligan from its place in the city’s docklands.  Joe Biggs, mayor of London’s Tower Hamlets borough, said that following the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston by demonstrators in the city of Bristol on Sunday, “we’ve acted quickly to both ensure public safety and respond to the concerns of our residents, which I share.” It was the latest sign that international protests of racial injustice and police violence that Floyd’s May 25 death spurred are already creating change. A white police officer who pressed a knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes has been charged with murder. Statues, as long-lasting symbols of a society’s values, have become a focus of protest around the world. On Sunday, protesters in Bristol hauled down a statue of Colston, a 17th-century slave trader and philanthropist, and dumped in the city’s harbor. That act revived calls for Oxford University to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes, a Victorian imperialist in southern Africa who made a fortune from mines and endowed Oxford University’s Rhodes scholarships. Several hundred supporters of the Rhodes Must Fall group gathered near the statue at the university’s College on Tuesday, chanting “Take it down” before holding a silent sit-down vigil in the street to memorialize Floyd. Protesters call for the removal of the statue of 19th century imperialist, politician Cecil Rhodes from the Oriel college in Oxford, England, June 9, 2020.Oxford city officials urged the college to apply for permission to remove the statue so that it could be placed in a museum. Another large statue of Rhodes that had stood since 1934 was removed from South Africa’s University of Cape Town in April 2015, after a student-led campaign that also urged the university to increase its numbers of black lecturers and to make the curriculum less Eurocentric. In 2003, the Rhodes Scholarships started a new program in South Africa, the Mandela Rhodes Scholarships in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The Rhodes Scholarships continue to operate in South Africa and around the world. In Antwerp, authorities used a crane on Tuesday to remove a statue of Belgium’s former King Leopold II that had been splattered with red paint by protesters, taking it away for repairs. It was unclear whether it would be re-erected. Leopold took control of Congo in 1885 and enslaved much of its people to collect rubber, reigning over a brutal regime under which some 10 million Congolese died. In Edinburgh, Scotland, there are calls to tear down a statue of Henry Dundas, an 18th-century politician who delayed Britain’s abolition of slavery by 15 years. The leader of Edinburgh City Council, Adam McVey, said he would “have absolutely no sense of loss if the Dundas statue was removed and replaced with something else or left as a plinth.”  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has acknowledged that it was “a cold reality” that people of color in Britain experienced discrimination, but said those who attacked police or desecrated public monuments should face “the full force of the law.” Some historical figures have complex legacies. At weekend protests in London, demonstrators scrawled “was a racist” on a statue of Winston Churchill. Britain’s wartime prime minister is revered as the man who led the country to victory against Nazi Germany. But he was also a staunch defender of the British Empire and expressed racist views. Khan suggested Churchill’s statue should stay up. “Nobody’s perfect, whether it’s Churchill, whether it’s Gandhi, whether it’s Malcolm X,” he told the BBC, adding that schools should teach children about historical figures “warts and all.” “But there are some statues that are quite clear-cut,” Khan said. “Slavers are quite clear-cut in my view, plantation owners are quite clear-cut.” Protests continued Tuesday in cities around the world. In Britain, where more than 200 demonstrations have been held so far, people gathered in London’s Parliament Square for a vigil timed to coincide with Floyd’s funeral. France has seen nationwide protests calling for greater law enforcement accountability, and more demonstrations were being held Tuesday evening. Floyd’s death has resonated especially strongly in France’s banlieues, or suburbs, where poverty and minority populations are concentrated. Protesters marching in solidarity with U.S. demonstrations over Floyd’s death have also called for justice for Adama Traore, a young man of Malian origin whose death in French police custody in 2016 is still under investigation. Thousands of people gathered in Paris once again Tuesday evening to denounce police violence in the United States and in France. Participants knelt and observed silence in George Floyd’s memory. “It’s unacceptable that young people, when they’re in contact with the police, see their life expectancy melt like snow in the sun,” a 42-year-old artist who goes by the professional name Fhemann said. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has met police and citizens’ groups. He said Tuesday that the code of police ethics would be reviewed. The French government has also announced that the chokehold would no longer be taught in police training.  

Germany Says US Considering Troop Reduction

The German government Wednesday said it has received official confirmation from the U.S. of plans to reduce the number of American forces in Germany. German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer told reporters in Berlin the government had been informed the U.S. is considering reducing its forces in Germany but said there is no final decision. There has been no U.S. confirmation. Last week, The Wall Street Journal newspaper first reported that U.S. President Donald Trump wanted to pull some 9,500 of about 34,500 U.S. troops from Germany. Earlier this week, Germany’s defense minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, suggested that plan could weaken not only the NATO alliance but the U.S. itself. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, confirmed to The Associated Press that there were plans to move troops, saying some could go to Poland while others could go elsewhere. Poland had expressed interest in having some of the troops stationed there.  But some former U.S. military officials have strongly criticized the idea. Retired U.S. Army European commander general Ben Hodges called the move “a colossal mistake” in media interviews and on his Twitter feed this week. He said troops are not in Germany to defend Germans, but to help stabilize NATO. He said Poland would be better served with a stable NATO than U.S. troops stationed there. Hodges told the New York Times the move does not “seem attached to any kind of strategy.” The White House official told AP the decision is part of the president’s and Department of Defense’s effort to review combatant commands around the globe.  
 

European Markets Make Sudden Reversal Wednesday 

After getting off to a strong start Wednesday, European markets are falling as investors wait to hear what steps the U.S. Federal Reserve will take to ensure a post-pandemic recovery.  London’s FTSE index is down 0.5%, the CAC-40 in Paris is 0.8% lower, and the DAX index in Frankfurt is down one percent.   Asian markets were mixed Wednesday, with Tokyo’s Nikkei index gaining 0.1%.  Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was essentially unchanged, while Shanghai’s composite index was down 0.4%.  In Sydney, the S&P/ASX was trading flat, the Sensex in Mumbai gained 0.8%, Taiwan’s TSEC was 0.7% higher, and the KOSPI in Seoul was up 0.3%. In oil trading, U.S crude is selling at $37.90 per barrel, down 2.6%, while Brent crude is going for $40.27 per barrel, down 2.2%. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 are trending down in futures trading, while the NASDAQ is trending higher hours before the opening bell on Wall Street.   

Pope Sends Strong Message to US Catholics After Floyd Death

Pope Francis called George Floyd by name, twice, and offered support to an American bishop who knelt in prayer during a Black Lives Matter protest.
Cardinals black and white have spoken out about Floyd’s death, and the Vatican’s communications juggernaut has shifted into overdrive to draw attention to the cause he now represents.
Under normal circumstances, Floyd’s killing at the hands of a white police officer and the global protests denouncing racism and police brutality might have drawn a muted diplomatic response from the Holy See. But in a U.S. election year, the intensity and consistency of the Vatican’s reaction suggests that, from the pope on down, it is seeking to encourage anti-racism protesters while making a clear statement about where American Catholics should stand ahead of President Donald Trump’s bid for a second term in November.
Francis “wants to send a very clear message to these conservative Catholics here who are pro-Trumpers that, ‘Listen, this is just as much of an issue as abortion is,'” said Anthea Butler, a presidential visiting fellow at Yale Divinity School.
Butler, who is African American, said the Vatican is telling Catholics “to pay attention to the racism that is happening and the racism that is in your own church in America.”
The Vatican has long spoken out about racial injustice, and popes dating to Paul VI have voiced support for the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr.’s message of nonviolent protest. History’s first pope from the global south is no different. He quoted King at length during his historic speech to the U.S. Congress in 2015 and met with King’s daughter, as his predecessor had done.
But the degree to which Francis and the Vatican have seized on Floyd’s killing is unusual and suggests a coordinated messaging strategy aimed at a national church that Francis has long criticized for its political and ideological partisanship, said Alberto Melloni, a church historian and secretary of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies in Bologna, Italy.
“It’s not like seven people had the same type of reaction” by chance, Melloni said.  
Last week, Francis denounced the “sin of racism” and twice identified Floyd as the victim of a “tragic” killing. In a message read in Italian and English during his general audience, Francis expressed concerns about violence during the protests, saying it was self-destructive.
He also said, “We cannot close our eyes to any form of racism or exclusion, while pretending to defend the sacredness of every human life.”
It was a clear effort to call out some conservative Catholics for whom the abortion issue is paramount, while other “life” issues dear to Francis — racism, immigration, the death penalty and poverty — play second fiddle at the ballot box.
Francis has firmly upheld the church’s opposition to abortion. And polls show a plurality of American Catholics support significant restrictions on legal abortion.
But Francis has also lamented that the U.S. church is “obsessed” with abortion, contraception and gay marriage to the detriment of its other teachings. Trump is staking his outreach to Catholic voters largely on his anti-abortion platform.
Francis spoke out June 3 after Trump posed in front of an Episcopal church near the White House, Bible in hand, after law enforcement aggressively forced protesters away from a nearby park.  
A day later, Trump visited the St. John Paul II shrine, a visit denounced by the highest-ranking African American prelate in the U.S., Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington, D.C., whom Francis appointed to the politically important position last year. Gregory said he found it “baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated.”
In that vein, the pope’s phone call to Texas Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso last week appeared quietly significant. Seitz has taken a leading role in demanding fair treatment for migrants attempting to cross the southern U.S. border, a cause Francis has championed in ways that have fueled tensions with Trump.
Francis called Seitz unexpectedly after he was photographed kneeling in prayer at a Black Lives Matter protest. Seitz said the pope thanked him without mentioning the demonstration, but the context was clear: “My recent words and actions on the events that are taking place in the country now” after Floyd’s killing.
Francis was not alone in making the Vatican’s views known.  
While the Holy See would be loath to be seen as picking sides prior to the U.S. election, its media operation has made clear its backing for peaceful protests, denouncing injustices suffered by black Americans and underlining its longtime support of King’s message.
Sunday’s L’Osservatore Romano newspaper featured three Floyd-related stories on its front page. The first was that 1 million people were expected to protest that day in Washington.
A second story was about a video showing two U.S. police officers shoving 75-year-old Martin Gugino, a white Catholic protester, to the ground in Buffalo. “Go watch it, please,” the article said.
Its third story was about a prayer service presided over by the highest-ranking American at the Vatican, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who decried how America’s constitutional ideals were failing its black citizens.
In an interview, Farrell said he has spoken to Francis in the past about America’s race problems, which he saw up close as an auxiliary bishop in Washington. Farrell said Francis is well versed in King and American history.
Francis “knows what the principle was and he knows what the struggle was,” Farrell said.
Natalia Imperatori-Lee, a professor of religious studies at Manhattan College, said the Vatican’s message is having an effect on American Catholics.
“We are starting to see a kind of fissure emerge,” she said. “Whether that’s going to be long lasting or whether it is a sign of a paradigm shift, I think it’s too early to tell.”
A poll from the nonprofit Public Religion Research Institute last week found that the share of white Catholics holding favorable views of Trump had dropped by double digits since last year, registering 37% in the last week of May compared with 49% across 2019.  
The test, Imperatori-Lee said, will be if priests are still preaching about racism in six months. And beyond that: “I guess we’ll know if this works when Catholics go to the polls in November.”

Asia, European Markets On the Rise Wednesday 

Global markets are on the rise Wednesday as investors wait to hear what steps the U.S. Federal Reserve will take to ensure a post-pandemic recovery.  In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei index finished the trading session up 0.1%.  In late afternoon trading on, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was essentially unchanged, while Shanghai’s composite index was down 0.4%.  In Sydney, the S&P/ASX was trading flat, the Sensex in Mumbai and Taiwan’s TSEC were both 0.7% higher, and the KOSPI in Seoul was 0.3% higher. European markets are off to a good start, with London’s FTSE index up 0.6%, the CAC-40 in Paris trading 0.8%, and the DAX index in Frankfurt up 0.9%.  In oil trading, U.S crude is selling at $38.10 per barrel, down 2.1%, while Brent crude is going for $40.48 per barrel, down 1.7%. The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are all trending upward in futures trading.   

Moscow Lifts its Coronavirus Restrictions  

After more than 2 months of shutdown due to the coronavirus, Russia’s capital sprung back to life this week —  with city authorities lifting restrictions on most business closings and stay at home rules for Moscow’s 12 million plus residents.   Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced the policy shift Monday — arguing the city had made great progress against the virus, with the pandemic “slowly but surely” on the decline over the past few weeks.  “The struggle isn’t over. But nonetheless, I want to congratulate you with our latest victory and big step towards a return to normal life,” added Nail technicians wearing face masks and gloves perform manicure and pedicure for their clients in a nail bar in Moscow, Russia, June 9, 2020.“Why is it too fast? Some restrictions are in place, others will be lifted in the course of a week or two. It’s not a full cancellation,” said Peskov.   “Sobyanin used his authority and analyzing the situation on the ground…made the decision,” added Peskov.The Mayor’s Shift   The new rules mark a distinct turnaround for Mayor Sobyanin, who became — or was made — the face of the government effort to fight the pandemic early on.   It was left to Sobyanin — rather than President Putin — to introduce unpopular measures such as self-isolation requirements and a digital pass system strictly limiting movement around the city.    Supporters credited the mayor with keeping fatalities lower than comparatively large metropolises like New York and London — even as western media organizations have raised serious doubts over how accurately Russia counts its dead.  And there were plenty of gaffes, too.  An intrusive city tracking app went haywire and randomly fined residents. Sobyanin’s attempt to schedule walks for residents building by building was mocked widely as out of touch with reality.   Yet few could argue Sobyanin was not at least trying to stop the virus.  As recently as late May, Sobyanin insisted on strict guidelines for easing the coronavirus lockdown, arguing public safety could only be assured once new infection rates had fallen dramatically.  But by this week all that had changed.  The digital passes were gone. Beaty salons and barber shops were open.  Crowds were on the sidewalks.  Traffic was back at its usual hum. “Yesterday these roads were empty. Now look at all these people,” grumbled Roman, a taxi driver, who admitted he had largely ignored city requirements to wear a mask and gloves. “Why bother? They do it just to scare people,” he tells VOA. Indeed, Sobyanin may have simply have bowed to the inevitable: with summer weather temperatures arriving over the weekend, the mayor was in effect lifting restrictions that increasingly few were bothering to follow.  Either way, Muscovites appeared to welcome the change in policy and weather — with many ignoring ongoing requirements to wear a mask in public as they strolled city streets and gathered in groups outside.    Only surveying the crowds, some observers predicted an inevitable second wave of infections to come. “Hold this damn parade and damn vote at any price. And how many of you get sick or die, makes no difference,” wrote Echo of Moscow Radio’s ombudsman Anton Orekh in a scathing post about Moscow’s sudden return to normal. “There’s nothing to celebrate or be happy about,” added Orekh.  “If you can — stay home and take care of yourself three times more than before.”