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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Hungary is closing its border transit zones where it held asylum-seekers as they waited for authorities to review their applications. The move announced Thursday by President Viktor Orban’s chief of staff follows a ruling last week by the European Union’s top court saying the system amounted to detention. Hungary said it was moving 280 asylum-seekers to other facilities as a result of closing the transit zones. All new asylum applications will now only be accepted at Hungarian embassies and consulates. Orban’s government has sought to strictly limit immigration, and during a 2015 migrant crisis in Europe it built fences along its southern border.     
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Russia continues to pose “serious” and “growing” threats to U.S. interests in space, according to the top military officer for space defense. “They’re real, they’re serious and they’re concerning,” Gen. John Raymond, chief of the newly established U.S. Space Force and head of U.S. Space Command, told reporters Wednesday. “Our advantage has been diminished, and that’s why the establishment of the Space Force in the Aerospace Command is so important — to allow us to move fast with agility of effort, reducing costs to stay ahead of that growing threat,” he added. The realm of space is essential to everyday activities from navigation to banking. Space assets are also critical to military missions from launching missiles to collecting intelligence. Raymond did not elaborate when pressed for specific areas where the U.S. advantage is eroding but touted “significant strides” over recent months to remain the world leader in space.  Raymond credited having the “best partnerships” as a major reason the United States leads in space, confirming that Peru this month became the latest nation to join a U.S.-led network that shares information on space objects.  The data-sharing space situational awareness agreement will give Peru access to satellite tracking data, connecting Peru’s space agency with the military team that tracks space objects for the United States. Raymond warned, however, that as the United States has watched both Russia and China advance in space capabilities, “any progress they make could erode our advantage.” Russia and China have recently placed a greater emphasis on their space capabilities, including developing technology and weapons that could disrupt or destroy satellites.  “Our adversaries in the last several years have weaponized space. They’ve made it a war fighting domain,” Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Friday.U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, speaks during a news conference on Feb. 29, 2020.In recent weeks, Russia fired an anti-satellite missile, technology that could threaten U.S. orbital assets. It also conducted test maneuvers of two satellites that followed a U.S. spy satellite, a move that the U.S. Space Force said last month “exhibited characteristics of a space weapon.”  Raymond slammed Russia’s “hypocritical” behavior toward space, saying that Moscow is advocating for outer space arms control at the same time it is developing space weapons.  Iran and North Korea have less developed capabilities than Russia and China, but they still pose a threat, according to defense officials. Last month, Iran conducted its first successful launch of a military satellite into space. Raymond reiterated to reporters Wednesday that the satellite was “nothing more than a tumbling webcam” that was unlikely to provide intelligence. 
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For most of the coronavirus pandemic, the daily Downing Street briefing by ministers of the ruling Conservative party has been accompanied by a chart showing Britain’s death toll trailing comfortably behind tallies in other Western countries, notably Italy and Spain. But earlier this month, when Britain’s toll surged past continental neighbors, the chart unceremoniously disappeared.Britain has not had a good coronavirus war, say critics of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, including some Conservatives, who fault him for not locking down the country earlier than he did.”I’ve always been skeptical about British exceptionalism,” former Conservative lawmaker Matthew Parris commented in Britain’s The Times newspaper. “No longer. Our handling of this crisis has been exceptionally poor.”On Monday, an all-party parliamentary panel criticized Johnson’s Conservative government for missteps and U-turns, and for failing to be transparent with the public about the scientific reasoning behind its shifting strategy.Government ministers say they have just been following scientific advice, but until recently, the membership of the main expert body advising ministers was kept secret and the minutes of its deliberations also have been held from publication.The parliamentary panel rebuked the government for what it termed a “lack of boldness” with the country’s virus testing regime and for a failure to boost testing capacity fast enough. “Capacity drove strategy, rather than strategy driving capacity,” the committee said.Medical Director of NHS England, Professor Stephen Powis, speaks as Britain’s Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden chairs the daily coronavirus disease news conference at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, May 20, 2020.Committee members also fumed about the explosion of infections and deaths in Britain’s nursing homes, which have accounted for about 42 percent of the 40,000 coronavirus-related deaths so far in the country, which is the second highest reported death tally in the world.Public health officials failed to warn nursing home operators about the rate of infection in the sector during March and April, even though they knew it was rapidly increasing, critics say. And they forced care homes to admit elderly patients from hospitals without testing them first to see if they were infected.Polls suggest even Britons think many foreign governments, including those in the European Union, have handled the crisis better. The pandemic risks upending Johnson’s bid to restore the image of Britain being an orderly, well-governed place after the country’s governance took a battering during its long, drawn out and shambolic Brexit process — a fear held even by some Conservative party loyalists.Recession fearsGovernment steps to ease the lockdown also are not going well. Public unease is mounting about whether the government is prioritizing the economy above public health. Figures released this week showed that claims for unemployment benefits rose 69 percent between March and April, the fastest month-to-month rise since records began in 1971.Britain’s top finance minister, Rishi Sunak, warned Tuesday that the country was facing a severe recession on a scale “we haven’t seen” before and that the economy could be permanently scarred by the lockdown.He added the country was unlikely to “bounce back” quickly and spelled out the bleak impact on the economy, health and society for prolonging the lockdown. Sunak highlighted research suggesting that for every two percent increase in unemployment, more than a million people develop chronic health conditions.Reopening schoolsEven so, the government is facing stiff resistance to its efforts to ease the lockdown. A crucial part of unlocking is reopening schools, but teacher unions have criticized the plans to allow some age groups to resume classes on June 1, dubbing them unsafe. And the government is facing an unprecedented revolt by local governments, including large cities in the north of the country, whose leaders say they will defy government plans to reopen elementary schools.French coordinator Julie Bonaz covers a bookshelf with plastic to help provide a teaching environment safe from coronavirus for pupils and teachers at La Petite Ecole Bilingue at Kentish Town, north London, May 20, 2020.”We recognize the importance of schools reopening. We also recognize the role of getting children back to school in helping to kick-start the economy. But this needs to be done with the safety of school communities at front and center,” said Tamoor Tariq, a local politician in Bury, a town in northwest England. Liverpool, the ninth largest city in England, has also said it won’t reopen schools and Manchester, too, the third largest English city, is also opposed.The leader of the municipal authority in Gateshead in the north east of England, Martin Gannon, which has one of the highest infection rates in the country, says Britain “locked down too late and this un-locking strategy is premature. The testing capacity isn’t robust enough, neither is the tracking and tracing system, the R-rate [the virus’s reproduction rate] isn’t low enough. They’re doing this too soon; it means a second wave will happen.” Municipal defiance has now thrown the government’s school-reopening plan into disarray with one senior government minister, Robert Buckland, the justice secretary, Wednesday conceding that Downing Street accepts there are still issues needing to be addressed. School resumptions might not be able to happen in a “uniform way,” he suggested.That partial reversal of thought came after one of the government’s most senior scientific advisers said schools should only reopen once an effective system to test for the virus, track transmissions and isolate the infected has been established.Britain isn’t alone among Western countries struggling to balance public health needs with economic imperatives. Defenders of the government’s efforts say all nations have experienced setbacks and missteps, and have had to shift strategies and tack as new evidence and data has emerged.’The science’World shortages of protective equipment, as well as technical and administrative problems with testing, have affected Britain’s near neighbors, too. All countries are trying to feel their way forward as they deal with a novel virus, government supporters say.”You can only make judgments and decisions based on the information and advice that you have at the time,” work and pensions minister Therese Coffey said Tuesday.”If the science was wrong, advice at the time was wrong, I’m not surprised if people will then think we then made a wrong decision,” she added. “Ministers say they have been guided throughout by ‘the science.'”People sit in the sunshine in London Fields, north east London, May 20, 2020.Her remarks have led to accusations that ministers are trying to divert blame for any mistakes on to the government’s science advisers. They, in turn, have pushed back. Adrian Smith, the president of the Royal Society, Britain’s most prestigious scientific body, chided ministers earlier this week for saying they are just doing what scientists tell them.He said ministers felt the need to appear decisive but that with a new virus, there is much that is uncertain and that politicians needed to be frank and open about that.”We’re fairly sure about how the planets work, but once you get into new viruses you get extraordinary amounts of uncertainty,” he said in a newspaper interview.Political pressure is now mounting on the government to publish all scientific advice the government is receiving to head off a deepening “blame game” among ministers, officials and scientists. So far, the government has published only 28 of the 120 papers produced by its top expert group.Poll ratingsJohnson, who was hospitalized for COVID-19, has opinion poll ratings that have personally remained high but have dropped in recent weeks. A poll Sunday showed that approval ratings for his government over the handling of the coronavirus crisis have plummeted with a net disapproval rate — the figure reached when the percentage who disapprove is subtracted from percentage who approve — now at minus three percent. In late March it was +42 percent.Much of the disapproval of the government’s performance and of its unlocking plans is coming from the north of the country — in parts of the country Johnson’s Conservatives captured from the main opposition Labor Party in last year’s general election. That is adding to unease in Conservative ranks.So, too, is the increasing divergence on coronavirus policy between the government in London and the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales, which have chosen increasingly their own paths and are turning their backs on a speedy unlocking. Senior Scottish lawmakers say the British government’s handling of the crisis is “building the case for Scottish independence.”That may be wishful thinking, according to commentators, but the divergence between different parts of Britain is adding to a picture of coronavirus confusion. 
 
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The sky-high ratings and talk of a start-up nation are long gone. So is the reformist agenda, pushed through over strikes and demonstrations.  Two years before the next presidential elections, France’s 42-year-old leader, Emmanuel Macron, is struggling to find a second wind, as the coronavirus pandemic and its aftermath shreds the country’s economy and his progressive programs.  Macron’s approval ratings are underwhelming, his unifying rhetoric in dispute. For this week, at least, it seems the only good news has been regional.  FILE – German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds a joint video news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin, Germany, May 18, 2020.On Monday, Macron teamed up with France’s traditional ally, proposing with German Chancellor Angela Merkel a massive bailout for struggling European Union countries. While reactions have been mixed, the announcement offered the president a chance to polish his image as a regional leader.  Whether he can bounce back at home, as he has before, is another question.  “Macron must realize his 2017 program is partly or completely dead,” wrote the country’s respected Le Monde newspaper, “upended by the coronavirus epidemic and its consequences.” “I think for Mr. Macron, the game is over,” said geopolitical analyst and former French diplomat Philippe Moreau Defarges. “Presidents generally can do many things in the first months or even first year of their term. After that, it’s over.” Macron faced a fresh setback Tuesday, when his centrist Republic on the Move, or LREM Party, lost its absolute majority in parliament, with the departure of half-a-dozen leftist and ecology-minded members.  To be sure, the fallout was widely expected. And in a landscape where the traditional right and left have been severely weakened, the LREM can still cobble alliances with other smaller parties. Yet, losing the majority was symbolic, analysts say, and underscored a steady trickle of defections in recent months.  “It’s going to impact the image Emmanuel Macron wants to project as a unifier” in the health crisis, Sciences Po Paris political analyst Bruno Cautres told Le Parisien newspaper.   FILE – A picture taken on April 3, 2020 shows a banner reading “Emergency services are suffering” above empty stretchers in the hall of the emergency services of the Aix Hospital Center in Aix-en-Provence, southern France.Reforms on hold Macron’s government has faced sharp criticism over its handling of the coronavirus crisis, which saw the country short of face masks, tests and even some basics such as thermometers and hand sanitizer.  The pandemic has also highlighted a hospital system weakened by funding and staff cuts over successive administrations, problems which sparked massive protests last year.  Visiting a Paris hospital last week and in a rare admission, Macron acknowledged a “mistake” in his hospital reform strategy and promised action. Still other reforms his government rammed through, including a hard-fought battle to overhaul the pension system, are on indefinite hold. Recent polls show see-sawing public opinion. An early May IFOP survey, reflecting several others, showed Macron’s approval rating falling six points to just 40%. By contrast, the ratings of conservative Prime Minister Edouard Philippe — who has been on the front lines of daily crisis management — were on the uptick and five points more than Macron’s.  Reports suggest relations between the two are tense and competitive, although officially they reportedly view each other with “mutual respect.” In this file photo taken on Sept. 8, 1968, French President Charles de Gaulle holds a press conference at the Elysee Palace, in Paris.”De Gaulle tells us that France is strong when it knows its destiny, when it stays united, when it searches the path of cohesion,” Macron said at the site of a key battle in northeast France. But critics say calls for unity are hollow when Macron’s own party is divided. Moreau Defarges doubts Macron shares de Gaulle’s farsightedness as he charts a post-COVID-19 recovery.  “He will be both populist and conservative,” predicts Moreau Defarges on how Macron will finish his term. He describes the government’s stimulus package to reboot the economy as “we give money, and after that, we will see.”  But for now, polls show that Macron faces no major mainstream rival. France’s traditional right and left imploded during the 2017 elections. He has also bounced back from previous crises, including monthslong yellow vest demonstrations over social and economic disparities. Last year, Macron announced a “Great Debate” giving French a say in finding solutions, which helped diffuse tensions.  He could still pull another surprise solution “out of his hat,” Le Monde wrote, among other options moving forward.  “I think he’s convinced that during these two small years, he can climb back,” Moreau Defarges said. “But it’s not sure.” 
 
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Britain’s prime minister told parliament on Wednesday that a COVID-19 test, track and tracing system would be in place by June 1. 
Responding to a question from opposition Labor Party Leader Keir Starmer, Boris Johnson said the government has already recruited 24,000 trackers and will have another thousand in place by that date. He said they will be able to trace the contacts of 10,000 new cases a day. 
Starmer had accused Johnson of “abandoning” virus tracking and leaving a huge hole in Britain’s COVID-19 defenses. 
Tracking and tracing involves testing vast numbers of people, identifying those who test positive, isolating them and tracking those who have come into direct contact with them.  
Johnson told the lawmakers the country will be able to test up 200,000 people per day by the end of the month.  
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 resource center reports that currently, Britain has 35,422 deaths and more than 250,000 confirmed cases of the disease caused by the coronavirus. 
 
 
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Italy’s restaurants and pizzerias, for foodies the world over a key reason to visit, are facing an existential threat. Those that didn’t fold after 10 weeks of a strict coronavirus lockdown are emerging to find that new social distancing requirements might yet drive them out of business.While Italians reveled this week in being able to sit down to a plate of spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams) at their local trattoria for the first time since March, a slew of studies suggest that as many as a third of Italy’s bars and restaurants risked closing. The reasons? Financial losses already incurred by the lockdown, a projected tourism downturn, reduced table capacity and Italians’ own fears about eating out.Venice’s famed Harry’s Bar — the birthplace of the Bellini cocktail of white peach juice and prosecco — has closed until further notice.”We can’t think about opening with just five or six people” allowed inside at a time, said owner Arrigo Cipriani.Milan chef Matteo Fronduti, who won the first Italian edition of “Top Chef,” announced that his Manna restaurant wouldn’t reopen for now, given lingering questions about the continued risk of contagion and the Italian government’s confusing regulations for restaurants.Only when those questions were answered, Fronduti said, would he consider reopening Manna, which features unusual, wildly named dishes like “Against the wear and tear of modern life,” (artichokes, raw jumbo shrimp and lemon) and “All talk” (spaghetti, broccoli rabe, herring and horseradish).”Until then, I’ll continue listening and making meatballs,” Fronduti wrote on Facebook.As it is, the lockdown in the birthplace of the Slow Food movement has already cost Italy’s food and beverage sector 14 billion euros ($15.1 billion) in lost revenue, the Bain consultancy said. It estimated the full-year losses could reach 30 billion euros ($32.4 billion) in an industry that is worth 4% of Italy’s gross domestic product and accounts for 5% of its jobs. Bain projected that up to 300,000 jobs were at risk.”It is a situation that is a bit apocalyptic,” said Manuela Paiella, owner of the Corsi Trattoria in downtown Rome, a popular lunchtime spot for tourists and Romans alike. “Never would we ever have thought in the restaurant business, in the historic center of a European capital, that we could ever live through something like this.”Corsi reopened for business on Monday, the first day that restaurants were allowed sit-down customers. But half of the tables were removed due to social distancing rules. Hand sanitizing gel was placed at the entrance and a new ordering system was installed to let customers see the menu on their phones. No longer do waitresses squeeze between tightly packed tables to recite specials.”We have to turn upside down all the activity that we did before,” lamented chef Raffaele di Cristo, who now must wear a mask and latex gloves to cook. “Everything is changed.”Nearby Pierluigi, one of Rome’s fanciest restaurants, had to renovate its kitchen because workplaces also have to respect social distancing.Italy’s main farm lobby estimated this week that Italian restaurants and pizzerias saw an 80% drop in consumption during the lockdown, with the ripple effects hitting the vital wine and agricultural sectors particularly hard.Coldiretti said prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Italians spent 35% of their food budgets outside of the home, from morning cappuccinos to pizza dinners, pumping 84 billion euros ($90.7 billion) a year into the Italian food and beverage industry.But now, many Italians are too terrified to eat out. An SWG poll this week found that 32% of Italians considered going to a restaurant “unsafe,” particularly places with only indoor seating.Their fears are not unreasonable. For two months, Italy was the epicenter of Europe’s coronavirus outbreak, with a surge of patients overwhelming some hospitals in the north and soaring deaths scarring Italian families and psyches. Italy has seen over 32,000 deaths in the pandemic, behind only the United States and Britain.While Italians have welcomed the easing of lockdown restrictions, many fear a predicted second wave of infections and deaths amid uncertainty that the government has the outbreak under control.For those staying home, at least there’s Massimo Bottura’s “Kitchen Quarantine,” a weekly YouTube cooking tutorial from the Michelin three-starred chef, who just won a Webby Award for “inspiring home cooking and uplifting spirits” during the COVID-19 crisis.The show is charming. Narrated in English by his daughter Alexa and featuring cameos of Bottura’s American wife and son in their home kitchen, Bottura takes viewers through easy recipes.Bottura’s Osteria Francescana in Modena, one of Italy’s best known restaurants, is scheduled to reopen June 2.But the loss of tourists is hitting the industry hard. Seven out of 10 restaurants on Rome’s picturesque Piazza Navona were still shuttered Wednesday. They cater mostly to tourists, so many will likely stay closed at least until Italy reopens to European visitors on June 3.At L’Isola del Pescatore in the Santa Severa beach resort near Rome, up to 40% of the clientele had been foreigners.”Certainly we have to be stronger than before and try to restart,” said owner Stefano Quartieri as he readied tables to meet the government’s new regulations.Restaurant owners had harshly criticized preliminary government recommendations that their tables be spaced 4 meters (13 feet) apart, arguing it would decimate the industry.”If you want 4 meters, better to keep us closed,” warned Lino Enrico Stoppani, president of the FIPE federation of restaurant owners. The government eventually relented and agreed to a 1-meter (3-foot) distancing rule, and moved up the original June 1 reopening by two weeks.Diner Francesco Lapenta joined some colleagues for a lunch at Corsi on Monday, sitting widely spaced apart. He read off the menu items from his phone, speaking loudly so his friends could hear.”We will have to yell more,” said Lapenta as he rattled off the pastas of the day: carbonara, cacio e pepe, gricia. “We will make more noise!” 
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Croatia’s President Zoran Milanovic on Wednesday scheduled a parliamentary election in the European Union nation for July 5.  Milanovic formally set the date for the ballot after Croatia’s lawmakers voted earlier this week to dissolve parliament.The Balkan country of around 4.2 million people has been easing lockdown measures against the new coronavirus after a drop in new cases.Croatia’s ruling conservatives are facing a challenge from a liberal opposition alliance after losing the presidential election in January.  The former Yugoslav republic has one of the weakest economies in the 27-nation EU after going through a war in the 1990s’.
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Here’s a look at how Muslims worldwide are marking Ramadan, a month of fasting, prayer and reflection, during the Pandemic.
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The United Nations has hailed the arrest of a wanted Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga, who appeared before a Paris court under heavy police protection on Tuesday.Kabuga’s court appearance came three days after French police arrested the 84-year-old at his apartment in the Paris suburb of Asnieres-sur-Seine, where officials say he had been living under a false identity.  The date of arrest and a red cross are seen written on the face of Felicien Kabuga, one of the last key suspects in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, on a wanted poster at the Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit office in Kigali, Rwanda, on May 19, 2020.Experts say French legal procedures could take several weeks or more, before Kabuga can then be transferred for trial. That’s expected to come before a special body that inherited outstanding cases from the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which closed in 2015. That tribunal indicted Kabuga on seven counts, including genocide. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said she hoped Kabuga’s arrest would encourage other states to hunt down other top genocide suspects still at large.  United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet attends a session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 27, 2020.Rights and genocide survivor groups have likewise hailed Kabuga’s unexpected arrest.  Lawyer Patrick Baudouin, honorary president of the International Federation for Human Rights, said it’s in France’s interest to ensure Kabuga is tried as soon as possible, given the years gone by and his advanced age.Once a powerful and wealthy businessman, Kabuga had been on the run across Europe and Africa for more than a quarter-century.   He is accused of financing militia groups who helped carry out the 1994 killings of some 800,000 Rwandan Tutsi and moderate Hutus. He also co-owned Radio Milles Collines, whose broadcasts fed hatred against the Rwanda’s Tutsi minority.   One investigator told Reuters news agency the coronavirus lockdown in France and elsewhere in Europe left them time to focus on Kabuga’s trail. They reportedly traced him through internet clues left by his children, who rented the apartment where he lived.  It’s uncertain how and when he came to France, but neighbors have told local media they saw him around for several years, and he kept a low profile.  Some activists want a fuller explanation of why it took so long to find Kabuga. Baudouin said his trial might also shed light on other genocide suspects. The genocide has long cast a shadow on French-Rwandan relations, with Kigali accusing Paris of complicity. Ties have improved in recent years. Last year French President Emmanuel Macon appointed an expert commission to look into France’s role in the killings, with a report due next year.  For the first time in April, France officially commemorated the Rwandan genocide that took place 26 years ago.   
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A song took aim at an alleged abuse of power by Poland’s ruling party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski. It rose to the top of the chart of a public radio station. Then it disappeared.The public broadcaster is now accused of censorship. The scandal, which has been a top issue of public debate in recent days, has prompted several resignations from the station, Radio Trojka, and left some musicians vowing to boycott it.The affair has created new worries about media freedom in Poland. Since Kaczynski’s party won power in 2015, it has used public media as a propaganda tool in violation of its mandate to be neutral. In the past five years, Poland has fallen in the World Press Freedom Index from 18th to 62nd place.  Kaczynski isn’t himself accused of ordering the removal of the song from a listener-voted chart, and members of the government have also been critical of what happened. Instead, the song’s removal is seen as the kind of self-censorship that happens by overzealous underlings in a system where democratic standards are under threat.Wojciech Mann, a journalist who left Radio Trojka in March, said the story played out at the bottom of a “a ladder of fear” where Kaczynski sits at the top.The song, “My Pain is Better Than Yours,” is by singer and songwriter Kazik Staszewski, known better as just Kazik.The lyrics of the folk rock song describe an April 10 visit by Kaczynski to Warsaw’s Powazki Cemetery that infuriated many Poles because cemeteries in the country were closed to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic.  It was the 10th anniversary of the plane crash in Russia that killed his twin brother, President Lech Kaczynski, and 95 others. Kaczynski was driven in a limousine and protected by bodyguards as he entered the closed cemetery to visit his mother’s grave and a memorial to his brother and other crash victims.The song doesn’t mention Kaczynski’s name, but it speaks of limousines, bodyguards and a visit by one person alone to a closed cemetery.”You alone can soothe the pain, everyone else slid into poverty,” the song says.The song was voted the No. 1 song of the week on Friday by listeners. But the next day it disappeared from the website. Station director Tomasz Kowalczewski said it was removed because of irregularities in voting.  But a Trojka journalist this week said that management ordered him to stop airing the song.The station has been in operation since 1962. Under communism it played rock music geared at the youth and was given some leeway to be more independent than other censored media. One of the journalists who quit in protest over the the weekend, Marcin Kydrynski, said he couldn’t recognize the station anymore.Kazik’s song is now in fourth place on the chart.Culture Minister Piotr Glinski said he disapproved of the song, but also its removal. But Glinski also said he believed the whole scandal could be a “provocation,” suggesting that people against the government were setting it up to look bad. 
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