The British Health Ministry announced a new trial Tuesday of the anti-viral drug remdesivir as a treatment for patients with COVID-19.Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock holds the daily coronavirus disease news conference at 10 Downing Street in London, May 21, 2020.At his usual COVID briefing in London, Health Minister Matt Hancock called trials for the promising drug “probably the biggest step forward in the treatment of coronavirus since the crisis began.” He said treatment would be prioritized where it will provide the greatest benefit.Remdesivir, developed by the U.S. pharmaceutical company Gilead, was approved for treatment of U.S. COVID-19 patients earlier this month after trials by the U.S. National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases ((NIAID)) showed positive results. Japan fast-tracked approval for use of the drug on its COVID-19 patients a short time later.NIAID director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the drug proved effective in shortening recovery in COVID-19 patients, and while not a “cure-all” could be a helpful treatment.Hancock also announced that on Monday, 134 COVID-19 deaths were reported across Britain. And for the first time since March 18, no deaths from the coronavirus were recorded in Northern Ireland.
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U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) says Russia recently deployed military fighter aircraft to Libya to support Russian state-sponsored, private military contractors, who are helping forces fighting the U.N.-supported Libyan government.The Russian fighter aircraft arrived at al-Jufra Airfield in Libya from an airbase in Russia after a stop in Syria where they were repainted to camouflage their Russian origin, AFRICOM said Tuesday. The fighter jets are expected to provide close air support for Russian military contractors with the Wagner Group, who have been supporting Libyan strongman Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) in their yearlong offensive against the country’s Government of National Accord (GNA).AFRICOM commander Gen. Stephen Townsend called out Russia in a press release Tuesday for expanding its military footprint in Africa by sending mercenary pilots to “bomb Libyans.” “For too long, Russia has denied the full extent of its involvement in the ongoing Libyan conflict. Well, there is no denying it now. We watched as Russia flew fourth generation jet fighters to Libya, every step of the way,” Townsend said.He added that neither the LNA nor private military companies could arm and operate this type of aircraft without the “support they are getting from Russia.”FILE – President Donald Trump meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Oval Office of the White House, Nov. 13, 2019, in Washington.In a phone call Saturday, President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shared their concerns about worsening foreign interference in Libya, according to the White House. Turkey has provided military support to the internationally recognized GNA and has warned that attacks by Haftar’s forces will have “grave consequences.”Critics of Russian involvement in Libya say Moscow’s support of Haftar has increased the regional instability that has helped fuel Europe’s migration crisis.U.S. Air Force Gen. Jeff Harrigian, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa, warned Tuesday that Russia was setting up a means to create “real security concerns” for southern Europe in the near future.”If Russia seizes basing on Libya’s coast, the next logical step is they deploy permanent long-range anti-access area denial (A2AD) capabilities,” which are used to prevent adversaries from traveling across an area that the weapon protects, he said in a press release.
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Italy’s new contact tracing app for the coronavirus is about to be launched in a number of pilot regions. It will be available to everyone in the country on a voluntary basis and will guarantee the privacy of users, officials who commissioned its development say.
 
Italians will be able to download the contact tracing app on their mobile phones that will help combat the spread of the coronavirus, starting May 29.  “Immuni” was developed at the request of Italy’s Ministry of Innovation Technology and Digital Transformation. Paolo de Rosa, its chief technology officer, says the app can speed up the process of finding people who have had contact with the coronavirus.
    
“The app is able to do that in a privacy-preserving way so it is not like the traditional approach where you need to identify people. In this case there is only an alerting of people that have been in contact with someone that result positive,” de Rosa said.
    How contract tracing apps work
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Those alerted they have come close to someone that has tested positive for the coronavirus can quickly take action and contact health authorities or their personal physician.
 
De Rosa stressed that privacy is guaranteed as special measures have been taken and it would be extremely difficult to identify anyone using the app. The only data that a user must provide is the territorial province to which he or she belongs.
 
For the app to be fully effective, de Rosa said, there needs to be a significant amount of people using it, up to 60 percent, but that is only if one does not take into consideration other factors like social distancing. In any case, de Rosa is convinced that it will be a useful tool to have on one’s phone. “This is a very bleeding edge technology, very few countries in the world have used it,” he said.
    
Creating the app was no easy matter, de Rosa said, adding trade-offs had to be made between the requirements of health authorities and privacy. Knowledge was shared with many other countries as well, but no one really knew what the best app needed to look like. With such a highly infectious virus, the need for a tool that would help speed up contact tracing was considered essential to break the chain of the contagion.
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Merck & Co Inc, which has largely kept to the sidelines of the race for COVID-19 treatments, said it was buying Austrian vaccine maker Themis Bioscience and would collaborate with research nonprofit IAVI to develop two separate vaccines.
 
It also announced a partnership with privately held Ridgeback Biotherapeutics to develop an experimental oral antiviral drug against COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
 
It did not disclose the terms of the acquisition of Themis, a privately held company.
 
Merck shares rose more than 3% in premarket trading.
 
Most big pharmaceutical companies have already placed their bets on COVID-19 treatments, but Merck has been waiting for opportunities with proven track records, Chief Executive Ken Frazier said.
 
“We wanted to be in a position where we could choose things that have the right kind of characteristics to make a contribution for a virus that’s likely to be with us for some time,” he told Reuters in an interview.
 
Both vaccines are designed to be delivered in a single dose.
 
The Themis vaccine, developed in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur in Paris, is based on a modified measles virus that delivers bits of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into the body to prevent COVID-19.
 
It was developed in part through funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
 
Merck said it moving quickly with this candidate and expects to start vaccinating volunteers “within weeks.”
 
The IAVI vaccine uses the same technology as Merck’s Ebola vaccine ERVEBO, recently approved by the European Commission and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
 
That candidate, which Merck is developing jointly with IAVI, is expected to start human trials some time this year, Frazier said.
 
The U.S. Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is backing the effort.
 
Both vaccines are made using technologies that have resulted in licensed products, unlike some frontrunners, such as the rapidly developed vaccine from Moderna Inc, which is expected to start large, late-stage clinical trials in July.
 
Last week, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said Merck’s vaccine, and those from Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi, were a month or two behind Moderna’s, but may get added to large efficacy trials this summer as they wrap up early-stage studies.
 
“I think we’ll be in a position to participate,” Frazier said.
 
Merck intends to shoulder the cost of scaling up production of the vaccines before either has been proven to work, although it has not yet determined where they will be manufactured commercially, he said.
 
Doses of the Themis vaccine are already being made in France for clinical trials. Merck also plans to begin early production of the vaccine it is developing with IAVI at its plant in Pennsylvania.
 
Frazier said Merck had not signed any pacts with the U.S. government to deliver doses of either vaccine to Americans first, adding it was committed to making its vaccines accessible globally and affordably.
 
Ridgeback’s pill, EIDD-2801, is designed to block virus reproduction, and has shown promise in animal studies of multiple coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2. It has also been shown to be safe and well tolerated in early stage trials.
 
Frazier compared it to Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir, but it would be a pill, rather than an intravenous infusion. Efficacy trials will start later this year.
 
“If the drug works, we would be able to produce billions of doses,” Frazier added.
 
The United States has recorded more than 1.6 million new coronavirus infections and over 97,000 deaths, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday.
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Kazakhstan on Monday eased some restrictions on tightly-controlled public demonstrations but rights groups said they still fell short of international standards.Until now, protesters in the energy-rich country needed to apply for permission to hold a rally, and permits for political demonstrations were almost never granted.According to the legislation signed into law by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Monday, demonstrators should notify authorities in advance of a rally taking place in one or more of the areas designated by the authorities for holding protests.FILE – Then-acting President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev delivers a speech in Astana, Kazakhstan, March 20, 2019.It also barred foreigners from joining protests or organizing them.Shortly after taking office last year, Tokayev pledged to reform the post-Soviet country’s restrictive legislation on public assembly.Yevgeniy Zhovtis, director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, criticized the new law.”There is nothing in international conventions on freedom of assembly about some sort of ‘designated places’,” he told AFP.”There is either freedom to assemble or its lack,” he said after parliament passed the bill last week.Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, a U.N. envoy on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, said in April that parts of the new law “do not seem to be in line with international standards.”He called the notification process in the draft legislation “a de-facto approval procedure.”The draft law was also panned in late April by international rights groups in an open letter to the president.It was repeatedly criticized by local civil society activists, who said a national emergency imposed over the coronavirus pandemic had further limited space to debate the legislation.Tokayev, 67, has tried to position himself as a moderate reformer against the background of his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev’s reign of three decades that saw regular crackdowns on opposition and the free press.Nazarbayev, 79, hand-picked Tokayev as his successor after retiring from the presidency in March 2019 but retained key posts — notably the powerful chairmanships of the country’s security council and ruling party. 
 
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 The family’s two-room apartment slants downhill, and there is no running water.Three-year-old Zaineb is crying from hunger. The girl hasn’t eaten all day, says her mother, Ismahan, as she rolls rice into grape leaves for what will be the family’s evening meal.By afternoon, Zaineb, 3, cries because she hasn’t eaten any food and she is hungry, on May 20, 2020 in Istanbul. (Heather Murdock/VOA)They plucked the leaves from trees, she explains, because they can’t afford to buy them.Like many Syrian refugee families living in Turkey during the pandemic, they also cannot pay their rent.Eight people including Ismahan’s two children are crowded into the tiny apartment and an abandoned shelter nearby. The rent is only $30, very cheap for Istanbul, but they haven’t paid in two months.“The landlord says he will kick us out if we don’t pay,” says Ismahan. “He doesn’t like Syrians.”Across the country, families like hers have moved from poor to destitute as they are increasingly isolated by the pandemic lockdown.Most Syrian refugees rely on incomes from the country’s informal sector, in jobs such as cleaning, textiles, shop work and street sales. Most of these jobs have been wiped out since the onset of COVID-19.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
Syrian refugee Mohammed, 45, says since the pandemic began, he can no longer sleep because he’s worried about money, on May 20, 2020 in Istanbul. (Heather Murdock/VOA)Hostility and neglectA few kilometers away from Ismahan’s home, Mohammed, his wife Marwa and their five children live in a slightly more spacious apartment, paid for by a local charity.In early March, the family lived in another Turkish city, and Mohammed made money painting houses and fixing motorcycles. But when the government announced it was opening its border with Greece, Mohammed sold his furniture, and they headed for the border.Like tens of thousands of others, he thought this meant they could move to Europe.
However, Greece never opened its side of the border. After nearly two weeks camping in a petrol station, the family boarded a bus to Istanbul, homeless and broke. Aid groups met them at the bus station and helped them resettle.“But they told me they won’t pay our rent again,” says Mohammed, as his older children push his infant daughter around in an empty box that once contained food aid. “Now, I stay up all night, every night, worrying about how to keep my children off the streets.”Like in many places, the pandemic is straining Turkey’s economy, with the poorest people suffering the most, on May 20, 2020 in Istanbul. (Heather Murdock/VOA)Turkey hosts over 3.5 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world. But as the country grows poorer, public resentment toward the refugees deepens.“People here tell us all the time, ‘Go back to your country,’” explains Mohammed. But as a former rebel fighter in Syria, he doesn’t have that option. “They think we are taking food from their mouths, but we are not. We are just trying to work to feed our families.”Marwa and four of her five children in a home paid for by charity for this month, in Istanbul, May 20, 2020. They don’t know how they can pay next month. (Heather Murdock/VOA)Mental strainIsolation from the pandemic has also brought back memories of the war, says Marwa, Mohammed’s wife, making her feel like she is reliving the worst moments of her life.“It is the same fear,” she continues. “In Syria, we were stuck in the house afraid of being killed by the bombs. Now, we are afraid of going out and getting the virus.”More than 5 million people have fled Syria in nine years of war, and nearly all of them have suffered some kind of mental trauma, says Dr. Mohammed Khaled Hamza, a neuropsychologist and mental health professor with Lamar University in Texas, after thousands of interviews with Syrian refugees.The impact of the war on Syrian families’ mental health is so great that Hamza and the Syrian American Medical Society call it “Human Devastation Syndrome.”Ismahan says these grape leaves rolled with rice and some yogurt is all they can afford for a day, on May 20, 2020 in Istanbul. (Heather Murdock/VOA)And for many Syrian refugees stuck in camps and on the fringes of society, the pandemic is making it worse.“It’s bad when you have health problems,” says Hamza. “But it’s much worse when you have health problems and don’t have enough money or the finances to treat yourself.”At his apartment in Istanbul, Mohammed describes increasing anxiety and feelings of depression caused by the financial strain.“When your children come to you and ask for food because they are hungry,” he says, “the hardest thing in the world is to say, ‘No, we don’t have any.’” 
 

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Russian prosecutors have asked a Moscow court to find former Marine Paul Whelan guilty of espionage — a charge Whelan and U.S. officials vehemently deny — and sentence him to 18 years in prison.Whelan’s lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, said on May 25 that the Moscow City Court set June 15 as the date to hand down its verdict after a high-profile trial that has strained ties with Washington.”Frankly speaking, we are all in shock,” Zherebenkov said outside the Moscow City Court, where the trial was held.According to Zherebenkov, his client reacted “with dignity” to the prosecutor’s demand, adding that, in all, 15 witnesses had testified at the trial.”The prosecutor questioned its four witnesses, who were mainly operatives of the secret service, while defense questioned its 11 witnesses, who are people Whelan was in touch with while in Russia. All of them testified that Paul had not ‘recruited’ anyone and had never collected any secret information,” Zherebenkov said.The 50-year-old Whelan, who also holds British, Canadian, and Irish citizenships, again told the court in his final statement that he was not guilty.Whelan was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 and in March of this year went on trial, despite the coronavirus pandemic and diplomatic protests.Prosecutors claim that a flash drive found in his possession contained classified information.He says he was framed when he took a USB drive from an acquaintance thinking it contained holiday photos and that the allegations of spying against him are politically motivated. He has also accused his prison guards of mistreatment.The trial was held behind closed doors because the evidence includes classified materials, as well as because of measures taken to slow the spread of the coronavirus.Whelan was head of global security at a U.S. auto-parts supplier at the time of his arrest. He and his relatives insist he visited Russia to attend a wedding.U.S. officials have urged Moscow to release Whelan and criticized the Russian authorities for their “shameful treatment” of him.
 
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Greece restarted regular ferry services to its islands Monday, and cafes and restaurants were also back open for business as the country accelerated efforts to salvage its tourism season.
Travel to the islands had been generally off-limits since a lockdown was imposed in late March to halt the spread of the coronavirus, with only goods suppliers and permanent residents allowed access.
But the country’s low infection rate in the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the government to start the holiday season three weeks earlier than the expected June 15 date, as other Mediterranean countries — including Italy, Spain and Turkey — are grappling with deadlier outbreaks.
At Bairaktaris restaurant on central Monastiraki Square in Athens, waiters and staff wearing purple face masks and some with plastic visors, sliced meat from the revolving gyros grill, arranged flowers on widely spaced tables and waited for customers, who remained cautious Monday.
Spiros Bairaktaris, the exuberant owner, is carrying on a family business running for 140 years and has framed pictures on the wall of himself sitting next to supermodel Naomi Campbell, singer Cesaria Evora, and other past celebrity customers. He says he’s optimistic about the season despite the slow start.
“This has never happened before,” he told the AP. “We normally sit 100 in the inside area, now it’ll be just 30. … There won’t be any bouzouki music or dancing until we get the all-clear from the doctors.
“But I think people from all over Europe will come here because we have a low death toll, thank God.”
Greece has had nearly 2,900 infections and 171 deaths from the virus. Italy has seen nearly 33,000 coronavirus patients die, Spain has had nearly 29,000 dead and Turkey has had 4,340 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Social distancing regulations and passenger limits have been imposed on ferries and at restaurants to ward off new infections.
State-run health services to combat the coronavirus are being expanded to the islands, with intensive care units being placed on five islands: Lesbos, Samos, Rhodes, Zakynthos, and Corfu, along with existing ICU facilities on the island of Crete.
Tourism is a vital part of the Greek economy, directly contributing more than 10% of the country’s GDP as Greece struggles to emerge from years of financial crisis. More than 34 million visitors traveled to Greece last year, spending 18.2 billion euros ($19.5 billion), according to government data.
With a view of the Acropolis and padded lounge seating, it’s usually hard for cafe goers to find a spot at Kayak, but midday Monday it was still largely empty.
“Eighty percent of our business is from tourism, and people in Greece are cautious, they fear they will lose their job,” owner Liza Meneretzi said. “I’ve been running the cafe for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this. But I was born an optimist, so we’ll see how things go.” 
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Vietnam has one of the only economies in the world that will grow in 2020, a distinction to be boosted as it heads into a final vote on its trade deal with Europe this week. The National Assembly of Vietnam scheduled a vote on the long-awaited deal for Thursday. The European Union Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is seen as one tool for the economy to recover from COVID-19, as well as a catalyst for labor and environmental reforms.  Businesses shut down for weeks, but reopening before most nations helped Vietnam lure foreign investment, like Apple’s first-ever decision to make an entirely new product in Vietnam, its latest headphones. The Southeast Asian nation reported no deaths from the virus and 325 cases, sparing it from the worst of the crisis, particularly as many neighbors brace for recession.  The deal, which is the EU’s first with a developing nation, is expected to sail through Vietnam’s rubberstamp parliament and incentivize businesses to improve their product standards for export. Parliamentarian Hoang Van Cuong said the state should support businesses in making use of the deal.  “The government must make a list of exported goods to the EU market,” Hoang Van Cuong, a Member of Parliament representing Hanoi, said last week in a discussion to tee up the vote. “These goods are required to meet EU standards.” A cobblestone street is seen in Brussels, the seat of the European Union, which Vietnam is awaiting to finalize a trade agreement. (VOA/Ha Nguyen)Officials on both sides call the trade deal ambitious because of its social and eco-friendly goals. Besides ultimately scrapping 99% of tariffs between the European Union and Vietnam, the deal requires the latter nation to legalize labor unions independent of the ruling communist party and strengthen environmental rules, such as those against illegal logging. And there are other “major legal gaps” Vietnam will have to fill to enact the deal, the World Bank said. These relate to animal and plant sanitary standards, investor-state disputes, and rules of origin. “If Vietnam can act in a decisive manner to close legal and implementation capacity gaps, it can capitalize a trade deal whose direct benefits are estimated to be largest in the country’s history,” Ousmane Dione, World Bank country director for Vietnam, said. “With COVID-19 acting as a reset button and EVFTA as an accelerator, now is the perfect time to embrace deeper domestic reforms.” Vietnam’s major exports to the European Union include garments, footwear and other textiles, electronics, and agricultural goods, while imports from the bloc include machinery, medicines, vehicle parts and food products. The trade deal should increase Vietnam’s exports to the world’s biggest market, building on the investment gains that were made possible because Vietnam limited the pandemic’s impact, Trinh Nguyen, a senior economist for emerging Asia at Natixis, an investment bank, said. “Zero is certainly the new hero, and Vietnam is a frontier market that can lay claim to the impressive feat of having zero reported [deaths] from COVID-19,” she wrote in an analysis of the trade deal. She added that to reap the full benefit of the EU deal, however, Vietnam would need changes, such as more domestic businesses joining in global supply chains, rather than relying on foreign businesses as investors relocate from China. “Vietnam’s gross export growth is impressive but beneath the strong performance is domestic weakness,” Nguyen said. If that weakness is addressed, “Vietnam’s manufacturing luster will not be diminished and will continue to outshine the region in its higher growth trends.” Should the trade deal take effect by July this year as expected, it would be the EU’s second in Southeast Asia, after one with Singapore.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is defending one of his top advisers who has come under scrutiny for violating travel lockdowns.
 
Johnson said he would not fire adviser Dominic Cummings, who drove 400 kilometers to his parents’ house from London while he and his wife were sick with the novel coronavirus.
 
Opposition politicians have called for Cummings’ resignation or dismissal as he violated clear restrictions on any trips outside of one’s primary residence, other than for essential business.
 
British regulations also demand that anyone showing signs of COVID-19 self-isolate.
 
But Cummings said that he had to travel when he realized he and his wife were becoming sick in order to ensure that his four-year-old son would be looked after.
 
In a press conference Sunday, Johnson defended Cummings’ actions, saying he acted “responsibly, legally and with integrity” and “followed the instincts of every father and every parent.”
 
But even some members of Johnson’s own conservative party have said Cummings should be dismissed.
 
“Dominic Cummings has a track record of believing that the rules don’t apply to him and treating the scrutiny that should come to anyone in a position of authority with contempt. The government would be better without him,” MP Damian Collins wrote on Twitter.Dominic Cummings has a track record of believing that the rules don’t apply to him and treating the scrutiny that should come to anyone in a position of authority with contempt. The government would be better without him.— Damian Collins (@DamianCollins) May 24, 2020 Britain has recorded the second-highest death toll from COVID-19 in the world, with over 36,000 deaths from the virus.
 
Johnson was the first world leader to test positive for the disease but returned to work after weeks of recovery.
 
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The public returned to St Peter’s Square on Sunday to receive Pope Francis’s blessing from his window for the first time in nearly three months as he convoked a year of reflection on the environment.Only a few dozen people went to the square, which was reopened on Monday along with St Peter’s Basilica following coronavirus lockdowns. They kept to social distancing rules and most wore masks.Francis delivered his message via the internet from his library, as those in the square watched on large screens, and then went to the window for the silent blessing. In the past three months, he has blessed an empty square.Sunday was the fifth anniversary of his encyclical “Laudato Si” on the care of the environment, which called for a reduction of fossil fuels and backed the majority scientific consensus that human activity is partly to blame for global warming.He urged Catholics to reflect on the environment for the next twelve months, how they can better protect it and how to help those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.He also sent special greetings to Catholics in mainland China on the day they celebrate a national religious feast day.Catholics in China are emerging from more than half a century of division which saw them split between a state-backed “official” Church and a “non-official” underground Church loyal to Rome.In 2018, the Holy See and Beijing signed a historic pact on the naming of bishops, meaning all bishops recognized the pope’s authority.But there have been hiccups. In June, the Vatican asked Beijing to stop intimidating clergy who refuse to sign an official government registration.The deal, which is up for renewal in September, has split Catholics in China and around the world, with some critics saying the pope caved in to the Communist government. 
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Europeans and Americans soaked up the sun where they could, taking advantage of the first holiday weekend since coronavirus restrictions were eased, while European governments grappled with how and when to safely let in foreign travelers to salvage the vital summer tourist season.Yet even as social distancing rules spread families and friends out Sunday across beaches and parks, the virus remained a constant threat. The United States was on track to surpass 100,000 coronavirus deaths in the next few days, while Europe has seen over 169,000 dead, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.The New York Times marked the horror by devoting Sunday’s entire front page to a long list of names of those who have died in the pandemic in the U.S. under a headline that called it “An Incalculable Loss.”President Donald Trump played golf at one of his courses during the Memorial Day weekend as he urged U.S. states to reopen their coronavirus lockdowns. However, many Americans were cautious as the number of confirmed cases passed 1.6 million nationwide.Across Europe, a mishmash of travel restrictions appears to be on the horizon, often depending on where travelers live and what passports they carry. Germany, France and other European countries aim to open their borders for European travel in mid-June but it isn’t clear when intercontinental travel will resume.Spain, one of the worst-hit countries in the pandemic and also one of the world’s top destinations for international travelers, says it won’t reopen for foreign tourists until July. To boost the economy, the country’s leader has encouraged Spaniards to “start planning their vacations” for late June inside Spain.“Come July, we will allow the arrival of foreign tourists to Spain under safe conditions,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said. “We will guarantee that tourists are not at risk and that they don’t represent a risk (to Spain).”For now, travel between Spain’s provinces isn’t allowed and many other restrictions remain — although on Monday, residents in worst-hit Madrid and Barcelona will be able to join the rest of the country in dining outdoors at bars and restaurants, which can offer only 50% of their usual tables.Also Monday, local sunbathers and swimmers will be permitted in some of Spain’s coastal provinces. The number of beach-goers will be limited and umbrellas must be at least 4 meters (13 feet) apart.In Germany, domestic tourists will be allowed to return Monday to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state in the northeast — home to the country’s Baltic Sea coast — and to hotels in Berlin, the popular capital. But tourism campaigns will require a new approach.“We don’t think people want closely packed big-city bustle at the moment,” Burkhard Kieker, the chief of visitBerlin, told RBB Inforadio. His agency has launched a campaign showing “how much green space and how much water there is” in Berlin.In Paris, where all city parks remain closed, locals soaked up the sun along the embankments of the Seine River and lounged on ledges outside the Tuileries Gardens. In some spots, people sat safely spaced apart. Elsewhere, groups of maskless teens crowded together, shrugging off social distancing rules.Beginning Monday, France is relaxing its border restrictions, allowing in migrant workers and family visitors from other European countries. But is calling for a voluntary 14-day quarantine for people arriving from Britain and Spain, because those countries imposed a similar requirement on the French.Italy, which plans to open regional and international borders on June 3 in a bid to boost tourism, is only now allowing locals back to beaches in their own regions — with restrictions.In the northwestern Liguria region, people were allowed a dip in the sea and a walk along the shore, but no sunbathing. In Savona, a dozen people were fined for violating sunbathing bans. Rimini, on Italy’s east coast, attracted beach-goers beginning at dawn, and many sat in widely spaced groups. Still, authorities had to work at enforcing distancing on a popular beach in Palermo.”We cannot forget that the virus exists and is circulating,” deputy health minister Pierpaolo Sileri told Sky TG24. “Even if the numbers of new cases are low, we must respect the rules.”For the first time in months, well-spaced faithful gathered in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square for the traditional Sunday papal blessing. Some 2,000 Muslims gathered for for Eid al-Fitr prayers at a sports complex in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, carefully spaced 1 meter apart and wearing masks.Beachside communities along England’s coast urged Londoners and others to stay away after rules were eased to allow people to drive any distance for exercise or recreation. The southern coastal city of Brighton put it: “Wish you were here — but not just yet.” Wales kept up its “Later” tourism campaign, reminding people that its hotels, restaurants and tourist sites were still closed.In the U.S., restrictions eased state-by-state although hundreds of people are still dying from COVID-19 every day. New Orleans stirred back to life as some of its famed restaurants and businesses opened for the first time in over two months. In California, where many businesses and recreational activities are reopening, officials in Los Angeles County said they would maintain tight restrictions until July 4.New York state reported its lowest number of daily coronavirus deaths — 84 — in many weeks in what Gov. Andrew Cuomo described as a critical benchmark.Officials in China, where COVID-19 was first detected late last year, hit back at criticism of the country. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said any lawsuits brought against China over the the virus have “zero factual basis in law or international precedence.”Wang told reporters Sunday that China was a victim of the pandemic alongside other countries.“To our regret, in addition to the raging of the new coronavirus, a political virus is also spreading in the U.S., which is to take every chance to attack and discredit China, “Wang said. “Some U.S. politicians, heedless of basic facts, have fabricated too many lies and plotted too many conspiracies.”The director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology said claims that the pandemic originated there are a “pure fabrication.””We didn’t even know about the existence of the virus, so how could it be leaked from our lab when we didn’t have it?” Wang Yanyi was quoted as saying by state media.Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have repeatedly said they suspect the virus was somehow released from the laboratory in Wuhan. Most scientists say the pathogen was passed from bats to humans via an intermediary species likely sold at a market in Wuhan late last year.Worldwide, more than 5.3 million people have been infected and 342,000 have died, according to the Johns Hopkins tally that experts say under-counts the true toll of the pandemic for a number of reasons. 
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More than 40 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus following a church service in Frankfurt, Germany’s financial center, earlier this month, the head of the city’s health department told a news agency Saturday.“Most of them are not seriously ill. As far as we know only one person has been admitted to hospital,” Rene Gottschalk told the dpa agency.The service took place on May 10 at a Baptist church, the department’s deputy chief Antoni Walczok told local newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau. On its website the church says it holds services in both German and Russian.“The situation is very dynamic,” Walczok told the paper, adding that the church did not violate official guidelines aimed at containing the spread of the virus.Churches in the German state of Hesse, where Frankfurt is located, have been able to hold services since May 1 provided they adhere to official social distancing and hygiene rules.Frankfurt’s health department was not available for comment outside business hours Saturday.
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Some scientists now say “superspreader” events may be responsible for at least 80 percent of coronavirus infections.A report on the website of The Telegraph, a British newspaper, details some findings that “closely packed markets, vigorous dance classes, loud bars and choirs” may be the primary culprits in the spreading of the virus.The public is already aware that established superspreaders of the virus can include “hospitals, nursing homes, large dormitories, food processing plants and food markets.”One of the largest spreaders, however, according to the article, came from a bar in the Tyrolean Alps. The Telegraph said hundreds of infections in Britain, Germany, Iceland, Norway and Denmark have been traced back to the Kitzloch bar, “known for its après-ski parties.”A South Korean study found that “Intense physical exercise in densely populated sports facilities could increase risk for infection” of the coronavirus. It found that 112 people were infected with the virus within 24 days after participating in “dance classes set to Latin rhythms” at 12 indoor locations.In other studies, choir members were found to be susceptible to contracting the virus, but scientists believe singing was not the only pathway of the spread during the early days of the contagion before social distancing was observed. The coronavirus was likely spread when choir members greeted each other, shared drinks and “talked closely with each other.”The newspaper account said the virus swept through an Amsterdam choir, infecting 102 of its 130 members.
 
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Greece has lodged a protest over Turkish troops’ occupation of a small patch of swampland along the land border between the two NATO member nations.  Nevertheless, dozens of Turkish soldiers and police remain planted there, defying demands that they retreat. The confrontation is the latest in escalating tension between the two age-old rivals.
 
For more than 100 miles, the Evros river rips down through Greece’s northeast frontiers, separating the country from Turkey.
 
About halfway down its course, the waterway swerves in and out of Turkey, creating a plain of small marsh. While officials call the area Melissokomeio, locals like Athanasios Pemousis commonly refer to it as “the horseshoe,” because of its shape.
 
He says the area is usually flooded in winter but it is used by smugglers during the summer to sneak refugees into Greece.
 
In recent days though, he says, he and others have seen some 35 Turkish soldiers occupying the land, setting up a tent and flying a tiny Turkish flag from a tree.
 
It may be swampland, he says. But it is Greek territory.
 
The Foreign Affairs Ministry in Athens has lodged a stiff protest with Ankara demanding the Turkish soldiers pull back from the region. Turkey is refusing to comply, though, and that has Greece’s defense minister, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, extremely concerned.
 
Rising tensions especially in small areas, he says, heighten the risk of an accident occurring, a spark that could inflame already uneasy ties between Greece and Turkey.
 
Struggling to revive its devastating tourism industry, Greece has opted to keep the matter quiet, refusing to disclose whether it plans to evict the Turkish soldiers.
 
While both NATO allies, Greece and Turkey have been at odds with each other for decades, contesting each other’s claims to air, land and sea rights.  
 
Twenty-five years ago, the two sides came to the brink of war over competing claims to a barren outcrop inhabited only by goats, rabbits and sheep.
 
U.S. diplomacy helped pull back both allies from the brink.
 
Defense experts tell VOA Turkey’s decision to send troops to the region was probably sparked by Greek plans and ongoing technical surveys to extend its border fence with Turkey.
 
Turkey refuses to acknowledge that some of the land on the eastern side of the Evros river still belongs to Greece.
 
In recent weeks alone, Greek soldiers have been shot at four times from over the border and Turkish fighter jets are routinely chased out of Greek airspace.
 
The latest border incident comes weeks after tens of thousands of migrants tried to push their way into Greece from Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in February that he would no longer prevent them from doing so.
 
He has since then rescinded his decision in order to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic but he has vowed to allow refugees to enter Europe anew once the coronavirus pandemic subsides.
 
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Some scientists now say “superspreader” events may be responsible for at least 80 percent of coronavirus infections.A report on the website of The Telegraph, a British newspaper, details some findings that “closely packed markets, vigorous dance classes, loud bars and choirs” may be the primary culprits in the spreading of the virus.The public is already aware that established superspreaders of the virus can include “hospitals, nursing homes, large dormitories, food processing plants and food markets.”One of the largest spreaders, however, according to the article, came from a bar in the Tyrolean Alps. The Telegraph said hundreds of infections in Britain, Germany, Iceland, Norway and Denmark have been traced back to the Kitzloch bar, “known for its après-ski parties.”A South Korean study found that “Intense physical exercise in densely populated sports facilities could increase risk for infection” of the coronavirus. It found that 112 people were infected with the virus within 24 days after participating in “dance classes set to Latin rhythms” at 12 indoor locations.In other studies, choir members were found to be susceptible to contracting the virus, but scientists believe singing was not the only pathway of the spread during the early days of the contagion before social distancing was observed. The coronavirus was likely spread when choir members greeted each other, shared drinks and “talked closely with each other.”The newspaper account said the virus swept through an Amsterdam choir, infecting 102 of its 130 members.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to reduce Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s involvement in Britain’s 5G network in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.Johnson has asked officials to make plans to reduce China’s involvement in British infrastructure to zero by 2023, the newspaper reported late on Friday.Johnson is expected to use less reliance on China as a means to boost trade talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in the aftermath of Britain’s departure from the European Union, according to the newspaper.Downing Street declined to comment. Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Earlier on Friday, The Times reported that Johnson has instructed civil servants to make plans to end Britain’s reliance on China for vital medical supplies and other strategic imports.Beijing is being criticized for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, which began in China. Beijing denies U.S. allegations it has not been transparent about the outbreak.”He (Johnson) still wants a relationship with China but the Huawei deal is going to be significantly scaled back. Officials have been instructed to come up with a plan to reduce Huawei’s involvement as quickly as possible,” a source was quoted by the Telegraph as saying.The development would be a change of direction for Britain, which in late April confirmed it would allow Huawei to have a role in building its 5G phone network.Britain decided in January to allow Huawei into what the government said were non-sensitive parts of the network, capping its involvement at 35 percent.The United States has raised security concerns about Huawei equipment, and warned that allies that use it in their networks risked being cut off from valuable intelligence sharing feeds. 
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The Spanish government Friday announced it will allow the cities of Madrid and Barcelona to ease their COVID-19-related lockdown measures beginning Monday.Most of Spain has begun to slowly reopen since May 11, but those two cities together account for close to half country’s roughly 233,000 officially recorded coronavirus cases.The loosening of limits is staggered over four stages, with a requirement that certain targets, including the number of cases and hospital capacity, are met before moving onto the next stage.Health Minister Salvador Illa told reporters the Madrid region and city of Barcelona are moving into Phase 1, permitting outdoor-only seating at restaurants and bars of 50 percent capacity, gatherings of families and friends of up to 10 people, and the reopening of small shops, museums, movie theaters and places of worship, all with restrictions on capacity.The health ministry said the lockdown is due to be eased one notch further in other regions. The sparsely populated Canary Islands of La Graciosa, El Hierro and La,” Gomera, as well as Formentera in the Balearics, were freed from most restrictions on Monday.Illa cautioned the process of reopening the country “is incredibly complex and difficultand the situation will be closely monitored. He called for residents to be prudent “on an individual basis” and continue following social distance guidelines.  Spain’s COVID-19 death toll of almost 28,000 is the world’s fifth highest.
 
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The coronavirus crisis has slammed one of the world’s top tourist destinations — Europe — upending the region’s cherished summer holidays and leaving its multibillion-dollar tourism industry struggling to survive. The European Union hopes to at least boost tourism within the bloc, as another mark of EU unity. But as Lisa Bryant reports for VOA from Paris, translating that goal into reality won’t be so easy.Camera: Lisa Bryant 
 
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As much of Europe remains under a strict lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, Sweden has stood out in taking a very different approach.  The government has refused to impose strict new lockdown laws, and its people have been allowed to work and travel.    In the early days of the pandemic, it seemed that Sweden may have gotten things right, as the outbreak tore through Italy, Spain, France and Britain. However, infection rates are increasing rapidly, and there have been close to 4,000 deaths, prompting growing nervousness in the country. Unlike other cities across Europe, the streets of Stockholm have remained busy, as shops, cafés, restaurants and nightclubs have stayed open, along with primary schools and most services such hairdressing.  The government has asked citizens to take individual responsibility for social distancing, while people over 70 and anyone feeling ill are asked to stay home.  State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell of the Public Health Agency of Sweden speaks during a news conference on a daily update on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation, in Stockholm, Sweden, May 15, 2020.The theory behind Sweden’s approach is sustainability, says the government’s chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, who has become something of a popular cult figure among many Swedes through his numerous television appearances.   “I think the Swedish strategy has proven to be sustainable,” he said. “I mean, we get figures now that people are actually increasing their adherence to our advice, not decreasing. It is very difficult to stop having very strict measures. I mean, that’s the signals we get from all of these countries. It’s very difficult to stop a lockdown.”  Opinion is divided on whether Sweden’s unusual approach is working. Scott Rosenstein, director of the global health program at the Eurasia Group, said the trajectory of deaths and infections suggests the government has made mistakes.  “Ultimately, the death toll in Sweden right now is the highest per capita in Europe as of this week. And the experience of their neighbors hasn’t been as severe. So, I think if you look at Denmark, which has taken a very different approach — a very strong lockdown early — they really got out in front of their outbreak. They have been testing significantly more than Sweden. They’ve been able to relieve a lot of their social distancing quicker,” Rosenstein told VOA.  Paramedics clean and disinfect an ambulance after dropping a patient at the Intensive Care Unit at Danderyd Hospital near Stockholm on May 13, 2020, during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.Almost half of Sweden’s deaths have occurred in care homes. Outside Sweden’s Parliament, victims’ relatives have made a memorial to loved ones who they say died “without help.” “Why didn’t they protect the citizens by closing the borders, by protecting the people against the epidemic?” asked Mirrey Gourie, who set up the memorial after losing her father to COVID-19. Ultimately, it is too early to tell who has gotten it right, argues Dr. Peter Drobac, a global health analyst at Britain’s Oxford University.  “We’re relying on some historical experience, some modeling. But to an extent, all countries are kind of experimenting with different methods of safely opening up. And I think we have to be very careful in trying to learn from one another.”   The economic damage in Sweden could be less severe than in other European states, but the human toll may far exceed neighboring countries. The debate over such trade-offs will likely intensify as the pandemic continues to take lives. 
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President Donald Trump said Thursday he is pulling the United States out of the 18-year-old international Open Skies treaty allowing surveillance flights over other countries because Russia has been violating it. The U.S. began notifying the other 33 signatories to the accord that it was giving the required six months’ notice to leave. President Donald Trump listens during a meeting in the State Dining Room of the White House, May 18, 2020, in Washington.At the White House, Trump accused Moscow of ignoring terms of the treaty. Consequently, Trump told reporters, “We’re not going to adhere to it either,” although he held out hope that some new agreement might be reached. The treaty has allowed the 34 countries to conduct surveillance flights over each other’s territory to look at military installations, an effort aimed at international peacekeeping. But the U.S. contends that Moscow has been violating the treaty by blocking it from conducting flights over the Baltic Sea city of Kaliningrad and Russia’s southern border near Georgia, both of which are permitted by the agreement. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March that Russia has been “cheating for many years.” Russia has denied violating the treaty. The Open Skies withdrawal is Trump’s latest move during his three-and-a-half-year presidency to remove the U.S. from international agreements enacted by previous presidents that he considers unfair to American interests.  Last year, Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, and earlier had abandoned the international Paris climate control accord, a trade treaty with Pacific Rim nations and a deal with Iran to restrain its development of nuclear weapons. The concept of the Open Skies treaty was first advanced in the decade after the end of World War Two by President Dwight Eisenhower. The Soviet Union balked at the idea at the time, but the U.S. again pushed for a pact in 1989 under President George H.W. Bush. It was finally adopted by the required 20 countries in January 2002. 
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British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Thursday that a small-scale antibody surveillance study has shown that about 17% of people in London and 5% in the rest of the country have had COVID-19.Speaking at his usual remote COVID-19 news briefing in London, Hancock said the study came out of Britain’s government-funded effort to develop antibody tests, which he said were not reliable enough for clinical use. He said that for the public at large to know whether they have had the coronavirus, they needed antibody tests at a larger scale.To that end, Hancock announced that Britain had signed contracts with pharmaceutical company Roche and Abbott to supply more than 10 million antibody tests. He said they would begin rolling out the tests in phases beginning next week, starting with health workers, and then patients.Hancock also reported a 14% decrease in COVID-19 patients being treated in hospitals since last week. He said that over 3 million people had been tested for the virus, of which 250,908 tested positive.The COVID-19 death toll in Britain stands at 36,042, a rise of 338 since Wednesday.  
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Italy’s most popular tourist destination, Venice, is beginning its slow process to a return to normality. The city’s beautiful canals and palazzos have seen no visitors now for over two months so it faces enormous challenges when it comes to recovering economically. But the coronavirus lockdown appears to have had a positive effect on the environment, as Sabina Castelfranco reports from Venice.
Camera: Mark Brewer
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In Russia, a colossal new Orthodox Church cathedral has gone up on the outskirts of Moscow. It is called the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed forces – a place of worship not only dedicated to the Christian faith, but a museum and also, for many, a symbol of the former Red Army’s conversion to conservatism. Jonathan Spier narrates this report by Ricardo Marquina in Moscow.
Camera: Ricardo Marquina et al
Video editor: Jason Godman
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