With Turkey battling COVID-19, Turks are turning to a traditional custom to contain the virus: sweet smelling cologne, known as “kolonya”.  With its high alcoholic content, cologne is widely accepted as useful in killing the coronavirus on people’s hands. From major producers to local chemists, all are working to keep up with the surge in demand. Ziya Melih Sezer, 89 years old, is perhaps Istanbul’s oldest chemist. His profession keeps him exempt from the nationwide lockdown on people over 65. Donning a chic beret, Sezer continues to open his pharmacy to serve the local people, like his family has done for more than century.  Family pharmacy certificates dating back before the Turkish republic attribute to the Sezer’s family serving Istanbul for more than a century. (D. Jones/VOA)On the wall of his store hangs his family’s pharmacy qualifications written in Ottoman script dating back before the Turkish Republic.  Sezer recalls previous health crises to hit Istanbul. The typhus epidemic during World War Two was denied by authorities who dismissed the outbreak as malicious propaganda, he says. Cholera, in 1973, was “terrible,” with people fleeing the districts hit by the waterborne disease. But the coronavirus is the greatest challenge, he says “Nothing like this happened. Nothing like this panic,” Sezer said. “I haven’t heard such rate of deaths, never seen anything like that. People are collapsing and dying like a house of cards.” According to Turkish healthy ministry figures, over 3,000 people have died from the disease, with more than 60% of those deaths in Istanbul.  Distinct lemon scentIstanbul’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu of the opposition CHP, suggests the death rate is probably much higher. The government vehemently denies Imamoglu’s accusation. Chemist Ziya Melih Sezer, every week for decades, prepares cologne, which is now in high demand as a way of sterilizing hands to prevent COVID’s spreading. (D. Jones/VOA)In a tiny back room, Sezer, in his small way, is helping to battle the virus. For decades he, like many chemists, produces cologne, carefully mixing fragrances with alcohol. In a large pestle and mortar, he pounds the ingredients that give the cologne its distinct lemon scent so loved by Turks. Sezer then, with a steady hand, carefully mixes in the alcohol, which he says is so effective in killing the coronavirus on people’s hands. As the virus spreads across Turkey and with it a growing awareness to regularly sterilize hands, demand for cologne has surged.  “At the beginning of the coronavirus, there was a real high demand,” Sezer said. “For a short while, there was a shortage of ingredients.” Part of Turkish lifeCologne, for more than a century, is a part of the fabric of Turkish life.  “Still cologne is a very important tradition in Turkey,” said Mehmet Muderrisoglu, owner of Rebul Pharmacy. His son Kerim runs the family firm Atelier Rebul, one of Turkey’s most prominent cologne producers. Traditional lemon-scented cologne is an essential part of Turkish culture. But its 80% alcohol content means it’s effective in sterilizing hands, becoming an important part of the country’s battle to contain COVID. (D. Jones/VOA)”There are few traditions when you visit an office or a house. One. You are offered a cup of tea, two a lokum (sweet), and three, when you enter the house the first thing they would give you, is to distribute cologne. This is the fragrant lemon cologne, and it is (also) good for disinfecting,” Muderrisoglu added. “I don’t think another society has that much consumption of cologne as the Turkish society,” said Professor Istar Gozaydin, an expert on religion and the Turkish State. Professor Istar Gozaydin says the widespread use of cologne in turkey is apart of Turkish identity. (VOA/D. Jones)Enduring popularity Gozaydin says Turkey being a predominantly Muslim country in part, explains cologne’s enduring popularity. “Cleanliness is a very important part of Turkishness, probably has to do with its religious identity, which is Islam, that demands washing before praying fives a day.”  “However, among Muslim societies, the Turkish one is quite unique. Cleanliness among Turks extends to washing oneself only with running water is an example, or to be obsessed with washing oneself after deification, washing oneself after sex. Yes, it has to do with identity, and the widespread use of cologne is a part of this culture of cleanliness,” added Gozaydin. Cologne came to Turkey from Europe in the 19th century. A Frenchman founded Atelier Rebul, which is at the forefront of meeting the surging demand.   “The first week was a boom. It was a very booming subject because everybody was running behind the cologne,” said Muderrisoglu, admitting they initially struggled to keep up with demand as people stocked up.  Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline. Embed” />CopyMuderrisoglu, says they are now on top of demand, with calm starting to return to the market, “Now it is decreasing to normal.” But cologne’s sterilizing qualities are now demanded not only in Turkey. “Now we are exporting to Europe a lot. Previously cologne was never accepted in the European market. But now the European market is an important market for the cologne industry.” Fortunately, the surge in demand coincides with Atelier Rebul, opening a new factory that will triple production. Meaning there should be plenty of cologne to go round. 
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With Turkey battling COVID-19, Turks are turning to a traditional custom to contain the virus: sweet smelling cologne.  With its high alcoholic content, cologne is widely accepted as useful in killing the coronavirus on people’s hands. From major producers to local chemists, all are working to keep up with the surge in demand. Ziya Melih Sezer, 89 years old, is perhaps Istanbul’s oldest chemist. His profession keeps him exempt from the nationwide lockdown on people over 65. Donning a chic beret, Sezer continues to open his pharmacy to serve the local people, like his family has done for more than century.  Family pharmacy certificates dating back before the Turkish republic attribute to the Sezer’s family serving Istanbul for more than a century. (D. Jones/VOA)On the wall of his store hangs his family’s pharmacy qualifications written in Ottoman script dating back before the Turkish Republic.  Sezer recalls previous health crises to hit Istanbul. The typhus epidemic during World War Two was denied by authorities who dismissed the outbreak as malicious propaganda, he says. Cholera, in 1973, was “terrible,” with people fleeing the districts hit by the waterborne disease. But the coronavirus is the greatest challenge, he says “Nothing like this happened. Nothing like this panic,” Sezer said. “I haven’t heard such rate of deaths, never seen anything like that. People are collapsing and dying like a house of cards.” According to Turkish healthy ministry figures, over 3,000 people have died from the disease, with more than 60% of those deaths in Istanbul.  Distinct lemon scentIstanbul’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu of the opposition CHP, suggests the death rate is probably much higher. The government vehemently denies Imamoglu’s accusation. Chemist Ziya Melih Sezer, every week for decades, prepares cologne, which is now in high demand as a way of sterilizing hands to prevent COVID’s spreading. (D. Jones/VOA)In a tiny back room, Sezer, in his small way, is helping to battle the virus. For decades he, like many chemists, produces cologne, carefully mixing fragrances with alcohol. In a large pestle and mortar, he pounds the ingredients that give the cologne its distinct lemon scent so loved by Turks. Sezer then, with a steady hand, carefully mixes in the alcohol, which he says is so effective in killing the coronavirus on people’s hands. As the virus spreads across Turkey and with it a growing awareness to regularly sterilize hands, demand for cologne has surged.  “At the beginning of the coronavirus, there was a real high demand,” Sezer said. “For a short while, there was a shortage of ingredients.” Part of Turkish lifeCologne, for more than a century, is a part of the fabric of Turkish life.  “Still cologne is a very important tradition in Turkey,” said Mehmet Muderrisoglu, owner of Rebul Pharmacy. His son Kerim runs the family firm Atelier Rebul, one of Turkey’s most prominent cologne producers. Traditional lemon-scented cologne is an essential part of Turkish culture. But its 80% alcohol content means it’s effective in sterilizing hands, becoming an important part of the country’s battle to contain COVID. (D. Jones/VOA)”There are few traditions when you visit an office or a house. One. You are offered a cup of tea, two a lokum (sweet), and three, when you enter the house the first thing they would give you, is to distribute cologne. This is the fragrant lemon cologne, and it is (also) good for disinfecting,” Muderrisoglu added. “I don’t think another society has that much consumption of cologne as the Turkish society,” said Professor Istar Gozaydin, an expert on religion and the Turkish State. Enduring popularity Gozaydin says Turkey being a predominantly Muslim country in part, explains cologne’s enduring popularity. “Cleanliness is a very important part of Turkishness, probably has to do with its religious identity, which is Islam, that demands washing before praying fives a day.”  “However, among Muslim societies, the Turkish one is quite unique. Cleanliness among Turks extends to washing oneself only with running water is an example, or to be obsessed with washing oneself after deification, washing oneself after sex. Yes, it has to do with identity, and the widespread use of cologne is a part of this culture of cleanliness,” added Gozaydin. Cologne came to Turkey from Europe in the 19th century. A Frenchman founded Atelier Rebul, which is at the forefront of meeting the surging demand.   “The first week was a boom. It was a very booming subject because everybody was running behind the cologne,” said Muderrisoglu, admitting they initially struggled to keep up with demand as people stocked up.  Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline. Embed” />CopyMuderrisoglu, says they are now on top of demand, with calm starting to return to the market, “Now it is decreasing to normal.” But cologne’s sterilizing qualities are now demanded not only in Turkey. “Now we are exporting to Europe a lot. Previously cologne was never accepted in the European market. But now the European market is an important market for the cologne industry.” Fortunately, the surge in demand coincides with Atelier Rebul, opening a new factory that will triple production. Meaning there should be plenty of cologne to go round. 
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With the number of coronavirus infections continuing to rise in Turkey, the country is – like many others – anxiously awaiting a vaccine. Until one comes, many Turks are turning to an old tradition: perfume. From Istanbul, Dorian Jones reports.
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Governments across Europe are facing a coronavirus-related revolt from the elderly, who are pushing back on plans that would see their home-confinement prolonged as restrictions on other age groups are slowly relaxed. Seniors say a prolonged “gray lockdown” amounts to age discrimination and will probably cut their lives short anyway, regardless of the coronavirus.They have support from some doctors, who warn of the “impact” lockdowns are having on the “physical and mental health” of the elderly.In Britain, where all those aged 70 and over, regardless of their health, have been classified as “clinically vulnerable” and told to stay at home, the British Medical Association (BMA) has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to include the elderly in any plans for easing the coronavirus lockdown in the coming weeks. Home confinement is damaging the mental health of seniors, they say.FILE – Elderly people wait for a Sainsburys supermarket to open as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Hertford, Britain, March 19, 2020.Age alone should not determine people’s ability to resume aspects of their daily lives when the government begins easing the overall lockdown restrictions in the coming weeks, the BMA says.In a statement, the BMA said, “A blanket ban on any section of the population being prohibited from lockdown easing would be discriminatory and unacceptable.” The doctors’ association acknowledged the government should ensure that “those at highest risk from infection are protected,” but added, “This needs to be based on individual risk that would apply at all ages rather than an arbitrary age of 60 or 70.”Muir Gray, professor of primary health care at Britain’s Oxford University, has warned of  a “de-conditioning syndrome,” in which reduced physical and mental activity “increases the risk of dementia and frailty.”Those at greatest risk to the coronavirus are the over-70s, but the elderly say they should be allowed to make their own risk assessments as other age groups are slowly released from confinement.FILE – Stanley Johnson, father of the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, speaks at an event on climate change, in London, Oct. 9, 2019.”It should be up to us to determine our own risk, and judge whether we can finally see our children and grandchildren again,” according to commentator Magnus Linklater.As debate rages in Britain over the future of the elderly, Boris Johnson’s father, Stanley, has entered the fray, saying he hopes his son will end restrictions on seniors in time for his 80th birthday in August as he hopes to join an expedition to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for a charity.”I am rather hoping they will ease the restrictions in time,” the elder Johnson said.FranceAfter a pushback from the elderly in France, President Emmanuel Macron assured seniors his government will try to avoid setting separate rules for older people as the easing of the coronavirus confinement unfolds. The French president was forced to offer the concession when a backlash mounted after his top scientific adviser, Jean-François Delfraissy, said home confinement should continue for people over the age of 65 for the foreseeable future.”The President has followed the growing debate about the situation for elderly citizens,” the Elysee palace said in a statement last month. “He does not want there to be any discrimination among citizens after May 11 in the context of a gradual easing of confinement measures, and will appeal to people’s individual responsibility.”FILE – Marguerite Mouille, 94, gestures while her visiting daughter takes a photo at the Kaisesberg nursing home, eastern France, April 21, 2020.Generational tensions The debate is underscoring generational tensions in Europe. As countries started to lock down in March and April, governments appealed to cross-generational solidarity, arguing that the young had a duty to abide by restrictions in order to shield the most-at-risk groups, those with underlying health conditions, the old and frail.While many, if not most, people, both young and old, have responded to the appeals, there have been signs of generational friction — as well as complaints by both sides. Some youngsters bristled at lockdowns and flouted restrictions, with especially rebellious ones disobeying the rules on social distancing. Some held “lockdown parties” and “end of world” drinking sessions, joking on social media sites that the pandemic was the perfect opportunity for the removal of the baby boomer generation. Baby boomers are generally thought to have been born between 1946 and 1964.Millennials (born between 1981 and the mid-’90s) and youngsters from Generation Z (born between the mid-’90s and 2015), have also complained that they will be the ones who will have to bear the brunt of the economic costs of the coronavirus, rather than the old, much as what happened after the 2008 crash. State pensions in most European countries after the financial crash were shielded for the elderly and increased in line with inflation; austerity measures hit youngsters harder, their advocates say.FILE – Reinier Sijpkens performs classical music on his music boat for elderly people confined to their nursing home because of the coronavirus, in Heemstede, Netherlands, April 27, 2020.The elderly have said that they too suffered after 2008 with low returns on their savings — as they are suffering now. Nonetheless, there have been mounting calls for the huge economic cost of the pandemic emergency measures to be shared equally between old and young in the years ahead.”Quite rightly, society is making sacrifices to protect its elderly right now. There is a clear case for intergenerational reciprocation when it comes to meeting the fiscal costs of the crisis in the years ahead,” said Scott Corfe of the Social Market Foundation, a research group based in London.While some youngsters, who are less at risk from the coronavirus, have earned the ire of government officials and scientists for blithely flouting coronavirus restrictions, there have also been complaints of some seniors not observing lockdown rules, especially in central Europe, where pensioners have crowded markets. Romanian authorities cracked down on pensioners, ordering those aged over 65 only to venture from their homes between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. unless seeking urgent medical care.Craig Turp, the editor of Emerging Europe, a news site, suggested that the more carefree attitude of central Europe’s elderly had much to do with the history they have experienced.”War, deportation, poverty, dictatorship and revolution: They harden the spirit, darken the soul.” He went on to write, “For anyone who has lived through them, why would an invisible threat such as coronavirus pose any concern at all?”  
 
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As the coronavirus scythed through nursing homes, cutting a deadly path, Valerie Martin vowed to herself that the story would be different in the home she runs in France.  The action she took to stop the virus from infecting and killing the vulnerable older adults in her care was both drastic and effective: Martin and her staff locked themselves in with the 106 residents.  For 47 days and nights, staff and residents of the Vilanova nursing home on the outskirts of the east-central city of Lyon waited out the coronavirus storm together, while COVID-19 killed tens of thousands of people in other homes across Europe, including more than 9,000 in France. “I said, ‘No. Not mine. My residents still have so much to live for,'” Martin said in an interview. “I don’t want this virus to kill them when they have been through so much.”  On Monday, Martin and 12 colleagues who stayed in the home for the full duration ended their quarantine with hugs of celebration and singing, and with an uplifting victory: Coronavirus tests conducted on the residents and staff all came back negative. The caregivers, who nicknamed themselves “the happily confined,” left in a convoy of cars, joyously honking horns and heading for reunions with families, pets and homes.  “We succeeded,” Martin said. “Every day, every hour, was a win.”  While COVID-19 killed people by the dozens at some other homes, Martin said there were just four deaths at Vilanova during their lockdown and that none appears to have been linked to the virus. The average age of residents at the home is 87 and the deaths were not unexpected, she said.  Because staff and residents were locked in together, Vilanova didn’t have to confine people to their rooms like other homes to shield them from the risk of infection brought in from outside. That spared residents the loneliness that has been agonizing for others. Vilanova allowed residents to continue to mingle and to get fresh air outside.May Day in France: Virtual Protests and Little to CelebrateThe coronavirus pandemic has battered the country’s economy and jobs, leaving workers anxious about the futureThe son of a 95-year-old resident described the staff as “a fantastic team,” saying they saved his mother by shielding her from the virus and keeping her spirits up, even holding celebrations for her birthday on April 17. Gilles Barret said the home’s daily Facebook posts of news, photos and videos also were “such a comfort.”  “It saved lives,” he said. “Perfect, perfect. I tip my hat to them.”  Martin said she didn’t want their residents to feel like “prisoners” and that it wouldn’t have felt right to her had she continued to come and go from the home while depriving them of their liberty during France’s lockdown, in place since March 17. Residents were confined to their rooms for two days at the beginning while staffers gave the home a thorough cleaning, and that proved “a catastrophe,” Martin said. “In two days, we already saw people who started no longer wanting to eat, people who didn’t want to get up, people who said, ‘Why are you washing me? It’s pointless,'” she said, In all, 29 of the 50 staff volunteered to stay, bringing pillows, sleeping bags and clothes on March 18 for what they initially thought might be a three-week stay but which they subsequently opted to extend. Other staff came from outside to help and were kept apart from residents and made to wear masks and take other protective measures to prevent infections. The carers slept on mattresses on the floor. Martin slept in her office. One of the volunteers left a 10-month-old baby at home. The team tallied the days on a blackboard marked: “Always together with heart.”  “It was tough,” said caregiver Vanessa Robert. But there were also moments of “total joy, getting together in the evenings, fooling around, tossing water bombs at each other.”  Martin said her top priority now is to console her estranged cat, Fanta. And one of the weirdest moments of the lockdown was climbing back into her car and hearing the same tune on the CD player — Limp Bizkit’s “Mission Impossible” soundtrack — that she had been listening to when she parked seven weeks earlier. “It was a bit like entering a holiday camp,” she said. “Living a lockdown with 130 people is extremely rewarding.”
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Goodbye lockdown, hello smartphone.
As governments race to develop mobile tracing apps to help contain infections, attention is turning to how officials will ensure users’ privacy. The debate is especially urgent in Europe, which has been one of the hardest-hit regions in the world, with nearly 140,000 people killed by COVID-19.
The use of monitoring technology, however, may evoke bitter memories of massive surveillance by totalitarian authorities in much of the continent.  
The European Union has in recent years led the way globally to protect people’s digital privacy, introducing strict laws for tech companies and web sites that collect personal information. Academics and civil liberties activists are now pushing for greater personal data protection in the new apps as well.  
Here’s a look at the issues.Why an App?
European authorities, under pressure to ease lockdown restrictions in place for months in some countries, want to make sure infections don’t rise once confinements end. One method is to trace who infected people come into contact with and inform them of potential exposure so they can self-isolate. Traditional methods involving in-person interviews of patients are time consuming and labor intensive, so countries want an automated solution in the form of smartphone contact tracing apps. But there are fears that new tech tracking tools are a gateway to expanded surveillance.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline. Embed” />CopyEuropean Standards
Intrusive digital tools employed by Asian governments that successfully contained their virus outbreaks won’t withstand scrutiny in Europe. Residents of the EU cherish their privacy rights so compulsory apps, like South Korea’s, which alerts authorities if users leave their home, or location tracking wristbands, like those used by Hong Kong, just won’t fly.
The contact-tracing solution gaining the most attention involves using low energy Bluetooth signals on mobile phones to anonymously track users who come into extended contact with each other. Officials in western democracies say the apps must be voluntary.  Rival Designs
The battle in Europe has centered on competing systems for Bluetooth apps. One German-led project, Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing, or PEPP-PT, which received early backing from 130 researchers, involves data uploaded to a central server. However, some academics grew concerned about the project’s risks and threw their support behind a competing Swiss-led project, Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing, or DP3T.
Privacy advocates support a decentralized system because anonymous data is kept only on devices. Some governments are backing the centralized model because it could provide more data to aid decisionmaking, but nearly 600 scientists from more than two dozen countries have signed an open letter warning this could, “via mission creep, result in systems which would allow unprecedented surveillance of society at large.”
Apple and Google waded into the fray by backing the decentralized approach as they unveiled a joint effort to develop virus-fighting digital tools. The tech giants are releasing a software interface so public health agencies can integrate their apps with iPhone and Android operating systems, and plan to release their own apps later.
The EU’s executive Commission warned that a fragmented approach to tracing apps hurt the fight against the virus and called for coordination as it unveiled a digital “toolbox” for member countries to build their apps with.Beyond Borders
The approach Europe chooses will have wider implications beyond the practical level of developing tracing apps that work across borders, including the many found in the EU.
“How we do this, what safeguards we put in, what fundamental rights we look very carefully at,” will influence other places, said Michael Veale, a lecture in digital rights at University College London who’s working on the DP3T project. “Countries do look to Europe and campaigners look to Europe,” and will expect the continent to take an approach that preserves privacy, he said.Country by Country
European countries have started embracing the decentralized approach, including Austria, Estonia, Switzerland, and Ireland. Germany and Italy are also adopting it, changing tack after initially planning to use the centralized model.
But there are notable exceptions, raising the risk different apps won’t be able to talk to each other when users cross Europe’s borders.  
EU member France wants its own centralized system but is in a standoff with Apple over a technical hurdle that prevents its system from being used with iOS. The government’s digital minister wants it ready for testing in “real conditions” by May 11 but a legislative debate on the app was delayed after scientists and researchers warned of surveillance risks.  
Some non EU-members are going their own way. Norway rolled out one of the earliest – and most invasive – apps, Smittestopp, which uses both GPS and Bluetooth to collect data and uploads it to central servers every hour.
Britain rejected the system Apple and Google are developing because it would take too long, said Matthew Gould, CEO of the National Health Service’s digital unit overseeing its development. The British app is weeks away from being “technically ready” for deployment, he told a Parliamentary committee.
Later versions of the app would let users upload an anonymized list of people they’ve been in contact with and location data, to help draw a “social graph” of how the virus spreads through contact, Gould said.
Those comments set off alarm bells among British scientists and researchers, who warned last week in an  open letter against going too far by creating a data collection tool. “With access to the social graph, a bad actor (state, private sector, or hacker) could spy on citizens’ real-world activities,” they wrote.  
Despite announcing plans to back European initiatives or develop its own app, Spain’s intricate plan for rolling back one of the world’s strictest confinements doesn’t include a tracing app at all. The health minister said the country will use apps when they are ready but only if they “provide value added” and not simply because other countries are using them.
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Every morning a white horse named Jenny is seen strolling freely through her Frankfurt neighborhood.  Her owners, Anna and Werner Weischedel, say the 25-year-old, free-roaming Arabian mare, is brightening up the coronavirus lockdown for many people in the Fechenheim area of Frankfurt-am-Main.  “She goes wherever she wants, she has no limits. She can travel further away than we can, because we have travel restrictions at the moment. Jenny has ‘Corona-Freedom’, everything is allowed,” Werner said.For more than a decade Jenny has roamed solo through the town, taking the high street or trotting along the tram line to a nearby field nibbling for hours on patches of grass. “People seem to notice her more because they have more time. A lot of passers-by stroke her, maybe because they are missing some human contact,” Anna said. “Everyone knows her, no matter where she goes. People always greet her nicely, especially now in times of coronavirus, they are happy to have someone to cuddle. People have to stay apart from each other, but Jenny sometimes has 10 children around her. Adults too come out of the tram and hug or pet her,” Werner said.Germany, like many other countries, has closed schools, playgrounds and many businesses to curb the spread of the coronavirus. It has slowly begun to ease some lockdown measures, but people are urged to observe social distances and limit their social interactions. But the guidelines do not apply when it comes to interacting with Jenny and people can still snuggle with her. Since residents have in the past called the police to report an unaccompanied horse, Jenny wears a note around her neck that reads: “I haven’t run away, I’m just out for a walk.” 
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Russia has seen a record rise in coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, according to government figures reported Sunday.  The daily rise of 10,633 new cases is the highest since the beginning of the outbreak in the country and brings the total of cases to almost 135,000. On Sunday, 58 more people in Russia were reported dead, bringing the death toll from coronavirus-linked cases to 1,280. The death rate is still lower than in the United States, Italy and some other countries.Russia’s Tass news agency reports that 4.1 million coronavirus tests have been administered so far, 174,000 in the last official report issued Sunday.  Earlier in the week Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin tested positive for the coronavirus, the highest Russian official who has been diagnosed with COVID-19.Tailor Yalcine of Boulard Retouche prepares face protective masks in cotton sewn in his shop at the Daguerre district in Paris, Sunday, May 3, 2020 as a nationwide confinement continue to counter the COVID-19.Meanwhile France reports that the number of new cases is flattening and has declined in three of the hardest hit regions. The total number of new cases reported Sunday was less than 300 and the total of new deaths was 135, compared to April 7 when the number of new cases was close to 9,000 and the death toll was more than 14,000. France is one of the most affected European countries with a total of nearly 170,000 COVID-19 cases and close to 25,000 deaths. The government has extended health emergency for two more months, until the end of July.About a half of European Union countries will begin relaxing coronavirus measures starting Monday after weeks of shutdowns which have brought down their economies. Italy and Spain, Europe’s most affected countries, are among them. On Sunday, both reported the lowest daily death tolls in weeks.   British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the only head of state to have had COVID-19, is expected to announce a plan to reopen his country next week after declaring that the number of new cases is flattening in the country. Britain has had close to 187,000 COVID cases and the coronavirus has killed close to 29,000.Sweden also announced a drop in new infections. The European country has raised eyebrows with its liberal coronavirus policy, keeping its schools and restaurants open throughout the outbreak. On Sunday it said that one infected person on average passes the infection to less than one person, which means the pandemic is in decline.  Sweden has had more than 22,000 cases and nearly 2,700 deaths, which is more than double the numbers of Denmark and Norway put together.European leaders have announced plans to establish an international organization to  fight the coronavirus. The group wants to raise $8 billion in an online pledging campaign to finance finding a COVID-19 vaccine and treatment.  A man wearing a protective gear mourns next to the body of his father who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a graveyard in New Delhi, India, May 2, 2020.Another campaign is seeking to raise funds to stop the spread of coronavirus in India. International stars including Mick Jagger, Will Smith, Kate Bosworth and Jack Black joined Bollywood celebrities in the 4-hour-long “iFor India” concert livestreamed Sunday on Facebook to help COVID-19 relief in the second most populous Asian country. India reported a daily record of 2,600 new cases on Saturday, despite tough shutdown measures. The country now has more than 42,500 COVID-19 cases with close to 1,400 deaths, despite the government’s tough restrictions aimed at stopping the outbreak.The number of new cases grew sharply in Bangladesh in the past 24 hours, with 665 new cases reported on Sunday.China, the continent’s most populous country, where the virus was first recorded in December, reported only two new cases since Saturday.  Monsignor Kieran Harrington, Vicar for Communications for the Diocese of Brooklyn, prays over the body of the Rev. Jorge Ortiz-Garay in the Brooklyn borough of New York as they prepare to transport his body to JFK International Airport, May 3, 2020.The United States has about 1,200.000 cases, with close to 69,000 deaths so far.  On Friday, the country saw the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths – 2909 within 24 hours, according to the World Health Organization. It also recorded 34,000 new cases, the highest daily total since April 24. More than 1,000 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.  In South America, Brazil and Peru are experiencing a spike in new cases.Close to 3.5 million cases of COVID-19 and about nearly 250,000 resulting deaths have been confirmed and reported around the world.
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While millions of people took advantage of easing coronavirus lockdowns to enjoy spring weather, some of the world’s most populous countries reported worrisome new peaks in infections Sunday, including India, which saw its biggest single-day jump yet.Second in population only to China, India reported more than 2,600 new infections. In Russia, new cases exceeded 10,000 for the first time. The confirmed death toll in Britain climbed near that of Italy, the epicenter of Europe’s outbreak, even though the U.K. population is younger than Italy’s and Britain had more time to prepare before the pandemic hit.A woman wearing a home made face shield and mask walks a dog in Piccadilly Circus, central London, Sunday, May 3, 2020.The United States continues to see tens of thousands of new infections each day, with more than 1,400 additional deaths reported Saturday.Health experts have warned of a potential second wave of infections unless testing is expanded dramatically once the lockdowns are relaxed. But pressure to reopen keeps building after the weeks-long shutdown of businesses worldwide plunged the global economy into its deepest slump since the 1930s and wiped out millions of jobs.China, which reported only two new cases, saw a surge in visitors to newly reopened tourist spots after domestic travel restrictions were loosened ahead of a five-day holiday that runs through Tuesday. Nearly 1.7 million people visited Beijing parks on the first two days of the holiday, and Shanghai’s main tourist spots welcomed more than 1 million visitors, according to Chinese media. Many spots limited daily visitors to 30% of capacity.On the eve of Italy’s first steps toward easing restrictions, the Health Ministry reported 174 COVID deaths in the 24-hour period ending Sunday evening — the lowest day-to-day number since the national lockdown began on March 10. Parks and public gardens were set to reopen on Monday.In Spain, many ventured outside for the first time since the country’s lockdown began March 14, but social distancing rules remained in place. Masks are mandatory starting Monday on public transit.In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under pressure to reveal how the country will lift its lockdown. The restrictions are due to last through Thursday, but with hundreds of deaths still being reported daily — twice as many recently as Italy or Spain — it’s unclear how the country can safely loosen the restrictions.The 55-year-old Johnson, who spent three nights in intensive care while being treated for COVID-19, told The Sun newspaper that he knew his doctors were preparing for the worst.”It was a tough old moment, I won’t deny it,” he said. “They had a strategy to deal with a ‘death of Stalin’-type scenario” if he succumbed to the virus.Another potentially troubling sign emerged in Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul, where a third of the 500 people selected in random test came up positive for the virus.In the U.S., New Jersey reopened state parks, though several had to turn people away after reaching a 50% limit in their parking lots. Margie Roebuck and her husband were among the first on the sand at Island Beach State Park.”Forty-six days in the house was enough,” she said.Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” White House coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx expressed concern about protests by armed and mostly maskless crowds demanding an end to stay-at-home orders and a full reboot of the economy. President Donald Trump has encouraged people to “liberate” their states.”It’s devastatingly worrisome to me personally, because if they go home and infect their grandmother or their grandfather … they will feel guilty for the rest of our lives,” she said. “So we need to protect each other at the same time we’re voicing our discontent.”If restrictions are lifted too soon, the virus could come back in “small waves in various places around the country,” said Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.”Nothing has changed in the underlying dynamics of this virus,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that his state would join with six others to create a regional supply chain for masks, gowns, ventilators, testing supplies and other equipment for fighting the disease.”It will make us more competitive in the international marketplace, and I believe it will save taxpayers money,” Cuomo said.  Meanwhile, the divide in the United States between those who want lockdowns to end and those who want to move more cautiously extended to Congress.The Republican-majority  Senate will reopen Monday in Washington. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives is staying shuttered. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to convene 100 senators gives Trump, a Republican, the imagery he wants of America getting back to work, despite the risks.Doctors attend to a patient inside the intensive care unit for people infected with the new coronavirus, at a hospital in Moscow, Russia, May 2, 2020.Elsewhere, Russia’s latest tally of infections was nearly double the new cases reported a week ago. More than half of Russia’s new cases were in Moscow, where concern is rising about whether the capital’s medical facilities will be overwhelmed.Indian air force helicopters showered flower petals on hospitals in several cities to thank doctors, nurses and police at the forefront of the battle against the pandemic.  The country’s number of confirmed cases neared 40,000 as the population of 1.3 billion marked the 40th day of a nationwide lockdown. The official death toll reached 1,323.And in Mexico City, where authorities expect infections to peak next week, workers will turn the Hernandez Rodriguez Formula 1 racecourse into a temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients. The paddocks and suites along the front straightaway will have eight hospital modules with 24 beds each. The pits will be used as offices for consultations.The virus has infected 3.5 million people and killed more than 246,000 worldwide, including more than 66,000 dead in the United States, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.  All the numbers are considered to be undercounts, due to testing issues, the problems of counting deaths in a pandemic and deliberate concealment by some governments. 
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European leaders are establishing an international medical organization to mount a united battle against the coronavirus.In their announcement in The Independent, a British newspaper, they said they are following in the footsteps of “Louis Pasteur, one of the world’s greatest scientists and a mastermind behind vaccines and breakthroughs which have saved millions of lives spanning three centuries.”“Our aim is simple,” the group said, about its goal of raising $8 billion Monday in an online pledging campaign to finance finding a COVID-19 vaccine and treatment.The leaders listed as being responsible for The Independent article are: Giuseppe Conte, prime minister of Italy; Emmanuel Macron, president of France; Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany; Charles Michel, president of the European Council; Erna Solberg, prime minister of Norway; and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.“We will all put our own pledges on the table and we are glad to be joined by partners from the world over,” they said. “We support the WHO and we are delighted to join forces with experienced organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.”U.S. President Donald Trump has suspended payments to the World Health Organization, saying that WHO did not act swiftly enough in alerting the world about the deadly virus.The European leaders said, “Every single euro or dollar that we raise together will be channeled primarily through recognized global health organizations such as CEPI, Gavi, the Vaccines Alliance, the Global Fund and Unitaid into developing and deploying as quickly as possible, for as many as possible the diagnostics, treatments and vaccines that will help the world overcome the pandemic.”“If we can develop a vaccine that is produced by the world, for the whole world, this will be a unique global public good of the 21st century,” the alliance said. “Together with our partners, we commit to making it available, accessible and affordable to all.”There are more than 3.4 million global cases of COVID-19 worldwide, and nearly 244,000 deaths.
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With the coronavirus having closed nightclubs across the world, comedians are still managing to get the laughs from people on a pandemic lockdowns all over the world.   VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports on Hollywood’s Laugh Factory and The Stand comedy club in Edinburgh. And she looks at a Japanese comedian who stormed the world with his hit  ‘Pineapple-pen,’ is back with a new message: Wash your hands!
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An earthquake struck the Greek island of Crete Saturday.
 
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the afternoon temblor, centered in the Mediterranean Sea.
 
The European Mediterranean Seismological Center reported the quake was of a 6.0 magnitude at a depth of 10 kilometers.
 
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake registered a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 at a depth of 17 kilometers.
 
The German Research Center for Geosciences also reported a preliminary magnitude of 6.6.
 
The quake rocked the island as Greece again confronts the possibility of a deep recession while it grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.
 
Ten years ago, the country was plunged into one of the world’s worst economic crisis in decades.  
 
The economy has since shown signs of recovery, as its gross domestic product grew 1.9% last year and the jobless rate fell more than 10 points over the previous year to 17.3%.
 
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Spaniards spent time outside near their homes Saturday as Spain is starting to reopen after weeks of lockdown triggered by one of Europe’s most deadly coronavirus outbreaks.Parks and gardens are still closed in the capital Madrid, and law enforcement personnel are still keeping people from entering many open spaces for leisure or exercise.
 
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has issued a four-phase plan for easing restrictions to get the country back to “a new normal” following the COVID-19 outbreak.There will be at least two weeks between each phase, as authorities monitor the situation to assess possible adverse consequences of the reopening.As the first phase began Saturday, walks outside for exercise were allowed mornings between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and in the evening from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. local time.People in capital expressed relief at their partially regained freedoms.”I feel great. There are very strong restrictions, but it is what it is. We have to follow the instructions from health ministry because they know more than us. This feeling of freedom is great. When this gets better, all of us feel even better,” said Manuel Garcia, a 52-year-old trader.”Well, I came to do some exercise, firstly just to walk because it is going to be hard to start straight away running after so much time, but I feel good,” said Angela Arroyo, a 60-year-old teacher, also a Madrid resident.Spain, the second hardest hit country in Europe after Italy, has reported more than 210,000 coronavirus infections and over 24,000 deaths. 
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Former rebel fighter-turned-president Ramzan Kadyrov has made it clear that independent journalism will not be tolerated in Chechnya: a message that appears to come with the Kremlin’s blessing.Irritated at criticism of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kadyrov in mid-April threatened Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s few remaining independent media outlets that still covers Chechnya, and its reporter Elena Milashina.“If you want us to commit a crime and become criminals, then just say so. Someone will take on this burden, responsibility, and will be punished according to the law, serve time in prison and be released,” Kadyrov said in comments shared on social media.It wasn’t the first time Novaya Gazeta or Milashina have been threatened. In February, Milashina was beaten while in Grozny, and both she and her colleagues have been threatened repeatedly. Six of the paper’s journalists have been killed because of their work, including prominent reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who was murdered in 2006.But Kadyrov’s latest threat still shocked the paper’s editor and sparked a wave of condemnation, with the U.S. Helsinki Commission, the European Union and the Council of Europe, and international human rights organizations demanding that Moscow take action and offer protection to Novaya Gazeta and Milashina.The Kremlin’s response was to dismiss the threat as “nothing unusual.”“There is nothing forbidden or illegal in this,” Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on April 16, adding that the Kremlin did not consider it necessary to publicly respond to Kadyrov’s threats against Novaya Gazeta or to provide state protection for Milashina.Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor also ordered Novaya Gazeta to remove the article. The news website complied.Chechnya: History of media violenceThe Kremlin assessment that this was “nothing unusual” is close to the truth.Kadyrov, who fought against the Russian army at age 18, has ruled the autonomous republic for 13 years. From the start, his government has harassed journalists and human rights activists. And his critics have been attacked, publicly humiliated or even killed.In 2015, Chechen blogger Adam Dikayev criticized Kadyrov for working out in his gym while the song “My best friend is President Putin” played. A few days later Dikayev appeared in a video shared on social media. The blogger was on a treadmill, half-naked and apologizing for his comments.Five years later, residents of Chechnya rarely risk discussing their leadership on social media, and the few journalists who travel to the republic for work can face violence.More recently, in February attackers beat Milashina and lawyer Marina Dubrovina in the capital, Grozny.They were in the city to report on a lawsuit filed against Chechen vlogger Islam Nukhanov, who used YouTube videos to discuss the luxurious lifestyle of Kadyrov’s relatives and inner circle.The attackers filmed their actions, Milashina said, to report back to those who ordered the attack.The journalist reported the attack to police, who said they were investigating.Quitting not an optionThe threats and attack were nothing new for Milashina, who leads Novaya Gazeta’s special projects unit.In 2017, when Novaya Gazeta released her investigation into Chechnya’s repression of the LGBT community, she had to leave Russia because of threats.Milashina told VOA that the only way to ensure the safety of journalists is with solidarity of the media.“Extreme measures taken against journalists, when you kill them, lead to emergence of another journalist, who would keep doing the same,” she said. “The only protection for journalists amid the inaction of authorities is to keep working. Only this would protect us, nothing else would.”Milashina, who has been awarded several prizes, including the U.S. State Department’s International Women of Courage Award, said she has moments of despair.“I have already given up a thousand times, because, frankly, I rarely can boast of any successes there — when I manage to save someone, get someone out [of prison].”She said she did not expect the Russian government to protect her from Kadyrov, because the Kremlin has given the Chechen leader free rein.“Kadyrov is efficient from the Kremlin’s point of view. The Kremlin needs Chechnya to be suppressed, with people who are afraid of [authorities],” she said. “Of course, they handed him a blank check to act with locals without limitations, and neither security forces nor authorities would be punished for overreaching.”Milashina ruled out the possibility of stopping reporting on Chechnya, saying, “Can I abandon the region where 1.5 million people live, who actually do not have a chance to be heard? This is not an option.”Coverage of Chechnya will continueMilashina is not the first Novaya Gazeta staff member to be attacked or threatened for their work.Dmitry Muratov, the paper’s editor-in-chief, still remembers Politkovskaya, who covered human rights violations and the Chechen war.In 2006, Politkovskaya was found shot dead in her Moscow apartment building. Six people have been convicted for their role in her murder.Muratov said he was surprised by the bluntness of Kadyrov’s latest threats.“Like everyone, I was surprised by the frankness, utter sincerity he described with the algorithm we already know about: ‘We’ll kill her, serve some time in jail, having it on our conscience,’ ” he told VOA.“Of course, I was surprised. Still, he is a civil servant, moreover, police general and the head of the region, and he allows himself to say such things,” Muratov said.Muratov noted the willingness of some Chechen authorities to mitigate the attack on the newspaper.“I told Kadyrov’s spokesman that they have the right to answer: the party that felt hurt or unfairly accused of anything has this right even in pre-trial order. And two or three days later, we received a letter from them that we published. I would very much like to consider the conflict settled on this.”He ruled out stopping coverage of the region.“Since Chechnya is the territory of the Russian Federation, and we are a federal media and work throughout Russia, we naturally will continue to cover Chechnya,” he said. “A totalitarian enclave in an authoritarian country.”Sometimes, as in the case of the trial of Oyub Titiev, head of the Chechen branch of the Memorial Human Rights Center, attention is so great that authorities do not impede the work of journalists.Dozens of visiting journalists were allowed into the Titiev trial; TV cameras stood in a line at the Grozny City Hotel.But it was an isolated case. Kadyrov has declared journalists and human rights defenders to be enemies of the nation, Tatyana Lokshina, program director for Russia at Human Rights Watch, said.“Many people remember Kadyrov’s public statements, that the republic will be closed for the human rights defenders after the Titiev trial is over,” she said. “And by ‘human rights defenders’ he also meant all those journalists who are not personally loyal to him.”Lokshina said that in Chechnya, “the concept of freedom of the press does not apply.”“In terms of human rights, Chechnya flouts international law, as well as the Russian constitution. There’s only one law, notoriously known as ‘Ramzan said so,’ ” Lokshina said.Cruel but populist leaderRussian President Vladimir Putin installed Kadyrov, son of assassinated leader Akhmad Kadyrov, as president of Chechnya in 2007. Under his presidency, the region has been relatively stable after two brutal wars, but rights groups have criticized him for serious human rights abuses.Kadyrov is rarely interviewed by Western media. But Gregory Feifer, executive director of the Institute of Current World Affairs in Washington and a former correspondent for RFE/RL, had a chance to interview the leader in 2009.[Editor’s note: Reporter Danila Galperovich, who wrote this story, and Feifer interviewed Kadyrov for RFE/RL in 2009.]“When we recorded the interview with him, not even a month had passed after the murder of Natalya Estemirova, human rights activist. The whole atmosphere of this interview was surreal: after many hours of waiting for the interview, it was scheduled for 2 a.m., and it took place in his huge residence with a personal zoo,” Feifer told VOA.“Kadyrov played pool when we entered his palace and behaved like a frat boy — he sang and cheered himself up with screams. In general, he behaved quite eccentrically, as a person who is slightly out of his mind or prone to emotional outbursts,” Feifer said.He added that Kadyrov demands loyalty from everyone, but also talks about concerns for his people and said in the interview that he had to live in a mansion for security reasons.“Kadyrov is openly cruel, inhuman, and at the same time he is a populist leader. There is much talk that Kadyrov ‘won the Chechen war,’ that he receives money from Moscow, while de facto having real independence from Moscow in exchange for loyalty to Putin. This is partly true, but this is not a problem for Putin. In fact, this is what Putin wants,” Feifer said.However, the more that human rights are violated in Chechnya, the more attention is drawn to Kadyrov from the international community.Since 2013, the U.S. Treasury has imposed sanctions under the Magnitsky Act on Kadyrov and 11 others for human rights violations in the region. The act penalizes human rights abusers by freezing their assets and blocking them from entering or doing business in the U.S.Recently, U.S. lawmakers called on the State Department to remind Middle East countries with ties to Kadyrov that these links could be subject to U.S. sanctions.U.S. Representative Tom Malinowski, who initiated this appeal, told VOA, “The signal to President Putin should be the following: If you act alongside this man, if you use him, then you become an accomplice.”This story originated in the Russian Service of Voice of America. 
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A Pakistan journalist living in exile in Sweden who has been missing since March has been found dead, police said Friday.”His body was found on April 23 in the Fyris river outside Uppsala,” police spokesman Jonas Eronen told AFP.Sajid Hussain, from the troubled southwestern province of Baluchistan, was working part-time as a professor in Uppsala, about 60 kilometers north of Stockholm, when he went missing on March 2.He was also the chief editor of the Baluchistan Times, an online magazine he had set up, in which he wrote about drug trafficking, forced disappearances and a long-running insurgency.”The autopsy has dispelled some of the suspicion that he was the victim of a crime,” Eronen said.The police spokesman added that while a crime could not be completely ruled out, Hussain’s death could equally have been the result of an accident or suicide.”As long as a crime cannot be excluded, there remains the risk that his death is linked to his work as a journalist,” Erik Halkjaer, head of the Swedish branch of Reporters without Borders (RSF), told AFP.According to the RSF, Hussain was last seen getting onto a train for Uppsala in Stockholm.Hussain came to Sweden in 2017 and secured political asylum in 2019.The Pakistan foreign ministry declined to comment when asked about Hussain by AFP.
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Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Friday the country will have the capacity to test 12,000 people for COVID-19 by the middle of the month.Speaking at her regular coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh, Sturgeon said Scotland had exceeded its target for testing, and currently has the capacity to conduct 8,350 tests per day in its labs.Testing is considered crucial in getting coronavirus under control, as it allows cases to be identified and isolated.Sturgeon also confirmed 40 additional deaths from coronavirus from Thursday to Friday, bringing Scotland’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,515.The first minister also reported that 2,659 patients who had tested positive and been admitted to the hospital have been discharged.  Scotland has reported 11,654 positive cases of the coronavirus. 
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The establishment of one-man rule in the heart of Europe has enraged civil libertarians and Hungary’s opposition leaders, who accuse Viktor Orbán of manipulating the coronavirus pandemic to establish what’s effectively an elective dictatorship. Pressure is mounting on the European Union to take action against Hungary for passing sweeping emergency measures that will allow populist leader Orbán to rule by decree indefinitely. Orbán insists the measure is only temporary. And his foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, told CNN that it was “unfair” to say the rule-by-decree measure amounts to a threat to the country’s democracy. Although there’s no deadline on Orbán’s enhanced authority, he said, the parliament can remove his new powers when the virus subsides.”There are many fake news and lies spread about Hungary based on this new law,” Szijjártó said.  Orbán’s foes doubt his good faith. They say his emergency measure fits into a disturbing pattern from Ankara to Beijing and Caracas to Moscow, with authoritarian-minded leaders using the pandemic to consolidate or expand their power.A man sits on a road in Budapest during a demonstration to protest the Hungarian government and its measures to respond to the novel coronavirus pandemic, April 20, 2020.In Hungary’s case, the emergency coronavirus measure cancels the country’s elections, allows eight-year prison sentences for anyone breaking quarantine and gives Orbán  the power to shut down media outlets that spread what is deemed “fake news.””Parliament can, technically vote to end this extra power,” Umut Korkut, a politics professor at Scotland’s Glasgow Caledonian University wrote in a recent commentary. “But Orbán’s party Fidesz has a two-thirds majority. The Constitutional Court can investigate the legality of any governmental decrees Orbán produces, but again, he has made sure it is packed full of judges chosen by his party. It has been a long time since the court last voted against the government.””The legislation therefore effectively delivers the country to Orbán in full, without any checks and balances,” Korkut wrote.Since Orbán’s re-election in 2010, civil libertarians have denounced him for initiating a concerted erosion of democratic checks and balances. They include curbing judicial independence, politicizing the civil service and interfering in media and civil society.”He moved quickly to consolidate power now because the public health crisis provides the perfect opportunity to take advantage of Hungarians’ sense of vulnerability, fear, and anger,” according to Markos Kounalakis, a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank on the campus of Stanford University in California. The Hungarian leader has remained undeterred in his shaping of what he likes to call an “illiberal democracy.” His political message has been that national sovereignty is being undermined by globalization, and nation states and their traditional cultures and lifestyles are being weakened by bankers and Eurocrats.Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is seen on a laptop screen in a flat in Budapest as he makes an April 9, 2020, announcement that the government extended the partial curfew for an indefinite time in Budapest.Orbán has at various times cited Russia, Turkey and China as useful models for Hungary and opposed Western sanctions on Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea. The European Commission, which has clashed with Orbán before over rule-of-law issues, said it was monitoring developments in Hungary and may now need to take action against Hungary. A spokesman said the commission was carrying out a ”mapping exercise” of member states to examine whether any laws adopted during the crisis comply with EU and international laws.  ”There is particular concern about the case of Hungary, and I can tell you that we will not hesitate to take further action if this is deemed necessary,” said the spokesman, who requested anonymity to speak frankly at a briefing.Donald Tusk, the former European Council president who now heads the largest political grouping in the European Parliament, the center-right European People’s Party, said it should consider expelling Orbán’s Fidesz party as a member once the coronavirus crisis ends.The Fidesz party was suspended last year from the main pan-European center-right alliance as controversy flared over alleged rule-of-law violations in Hungary.”Making use of the pandemic to build a permanent state of emergency is politically dangerous, and morally unacceptable,” Tusk said. As the vote passed on the emergency legislation, Orbán assured the national assembly: “When this emergency ends, we will give back all powers, without exception.” He added: “Changing our lives is now unavoidable. Everyone has to leave their comfort zone. This law gives the government the power and means to defend Hungary.”But Norbert Röttgen, head of the German Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee and a candidate in the race to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor, also condemned the law, writing on Twitter that it “effectively eliminates opposition” and was a breach of basic principles the EU “cannot accept.”Legally the EU could suspend Hungary’s membership of the bloc until it decides Hungary is in compliance. That would require the backing of all member states, however. The EU could also withhold funding and subsidies, which amount to 6   percent of Hungary’s gross domestic product. That, too, needs unanimous consent.There are doubts whether the commission will act decisively, despite mounting pressure. Last week, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, a center-left political group in the European Parliament, issued a statement saying ”Orbán has crossed all red lines” and that ”Hungary is becoming the first dictatorship in the EU.” The parliament’s president David Sassoli has called for ”swift action.” The commission’s formal response, however, has not gone beyond the rhetorical stage. The threats contain no suggestion of possible economic punishment. Brussels has ducked taking sharp action before against Hungary over rule-of-law breaches.The European Commission is the executive arm of the EU and makes recommendations to the heads of national governments. All EU member states are supposed to observe rule-of-law standards and separation of powers. In 2017, for example, the commission brought a case in the European Court of Justice against Poland over laws that allegedly politicized the judiciary.In the past, Orbán has had the support of like-minded nationalist leaders in neighboring states in Central Europe — although this time they have also expressed disapproval at what they see as an over-reach. Othmar Karas, a lawmaker and member of Austria’s ruling conservative OVP party, which has been supportive of Orbán in the past, told reporters that the emergency measure “puts Orbán on the path” of authoritarianism.But Orbán’s defenders say actions under Hungary’s emergency legislation can be struck down both by parliament and the constitutional court, the country’s top tribunal.John O’Sullivan, a former adviser to Britain’s Margaret Thatcher and the president of the Danube Institute, a pro-Orbán think tank based in the Hungarian capital Budapest, says Orbán’s action is no different from other Western leaders during the coronavirus crisis.Writing in the National Review, the U.S. political magazine, he says: “Macron is already ruling by decree, and both Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel are doing the same in effect, through primary and secondary legislation.”Orbán made his name as a young anti-Communist dissident delivering a fiery anti-Russian speech at the 1989 reburial of Imre Nagy, leader of the Hungarian revolt of 1956 against the Soviet Union. But since the 2008 financial crash he has morphed from a libertarian leader into a populist conservative.Last year, Freedom House, a U.S.-based watchdog group, described Hungary as only “partly free,” the first time in history it withheld the designation “free” from an EU member state. It accused the Fidesz-led government of having “moved to institute policies that hamper the operations of opposition groups, journalists, universities, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) whose perspectives it finds unfavorable.”One punitive step the EU could take, said Renata Uitz of the Comparative Constitutional Law program at the Central European University in Vienna, is to block Hungary from accessing a €861 million fund set up to assist with the pandemic.  ”Conditioning access to EU funds based on member states’ respect for the founding values of the European Union has never been more urgent – and has never been more achievable,” Uitz said. “Otherwise,” she said, “the Union will continue to support a regime that has already demonstrated its commitment to abusing the unlimited emergency powers it arrogated.”
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Russia’s top diplomat on Thursday angrily dismissed media reports alleging a Russian plot to poison the mayor of Prague and another official in the Czech capital. Prague’s mayor Zdenek Hrib and Zhanna Nemtsova, daughter of Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov smile after unveiling a sign renaming the square where the Russian Embassy is located in Prague, Feb. 27, 2020.Respekt weekly said in its latest edition published on Monday that Czech intelligence services suspected a Russian agent was sent to Prague three weeks ago to poison Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib and Prague 6 mayor Ondrej Kolar. The story was based on anonymous sources.  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ridiculed the claims, saying that the notion that Czech authorities spotted a Russian man with powerful poison ricin and let him through doesn’t make any sense. Czech officials didn’t comment, but Kolar said in a television interview Tuesday that he has been under police protection because of “some facts that have been found, the fact that there’s a Russian here whose goal is to liquidate me.” He added that the alleged assassin was also targeting Hrib and Pavel Novotny, Prague’s Reporyje district mayor. Lavrov scoffed at the allegations. “They found a deadly poison and let him into the country?” he said at Thursday’s briefing. “Would any sound person believe in these fabrications.” Moscow and Prague have been at loggerheads for weeks after Kolar’s district removed the statue of Soviet World War II commander Ivan Konev whose armies liberated Prague from Nazi occupation. Officials in Prague 6 said the statue will be moved to a museum and a new monument honoring the city’s liberation will be installed in its place. The statue’s removal caused outrage in Russia, which has angrily lashed out at any attempts to diminish the nation’s decisive role in defeating the Nazis. Lavrov charged Thursday that the Prague authorities’ action violated a 1993 friendship treaty that carried a Czech pledge to protect memorials to Russian World War II heroes. 
 
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Christian Etchebest’s Parisian bistro is a shadow of its usual bustling self. Five lunch specials sit in neat paper bags on the bar awaiting takeout customers — a tiny fraction of his normal midday business before the coronavirus. A skeleton staff rotates in daily at La Cantine du Troquet near the banks of the Seine River, just blocks from the Eiffel Tower. One day they packaged a streamlined version of his Basque menu: sausages with a celery and beetroot remoulade, mashed potatoes and a dessert of strawberries with lemon sauce. Yet Etchebest isn’t facing bankruptcy — not yet anyway — thanks to a French government program that lets him put staff on reduced hours and makes up most of their lost salary, on the condition they are not fired. That is giving him a chance to keep his team together, awaiting the day when restrictions are lifted and sit-down meals are again allowed at this restaurant and his six others across Paris.  Similar programs are keeping hard-hit businesses across Europe afloat, preventing millions of workers from losing their jobs  and income for now, and thousands of bosses from seeing their trained staff scatter. Some 11.3 million workers in France are getting up to 84% of net salary. The government estimates the cost at 24 billion euros ($26 billion), with half of all private sector employees expected to take part. FILE – Femke Zimmerman, manager of Brasserie Berlage, a cafe and restaurant nestled in the manicured gardens of The Hague’s historic art deco Kunstmuseum, poses for a portrait as she prepares the restaurant for reopening, April 24, 2020.Femke Zimmermann, manager of Brasserie Berlage in The Hague in the Netherlands, has her eye on re-opening even as she spends most days at home looking after her 1-year-old and 5-year-old sons while the restaurant’s owners pay her with government help.  For now, she is not overly worried about losing her job. She stays in contact with her team and asked them to come in to give the restaurant a two-day spring clean.  “They hate sitting at home. They want to do something for the business,” she said. Athens waiter George Sakkas, 26, is getting by on a Greek government program that lets businesses suspend workers’ contracts and replaces their pay with a flat stipend of 800 euros ($870). Businesses that take the help cannot fire staff.  “The stipend definitely helped,” he said, noting the amount was roughly what he would make anyway.  “In the beginning we didn’t know about the stipend, so [the closing] hit us very badly,” he said. “When the stipend arrived it gave us some breathing space.” 
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Britain Thursday went all out to honor the 100th birthday of a World War II veteran who has become a national hero for his $37 million fundraising effort for the nation’s health service.A retired engineer and captain in the British Army during World War II, Tom Moore wanted to do something nice for the National Health Service for the treatment he received after breaking his hip.Earlier this month he started an online campaign, pledging to do 100 laps – using his walker- around his 25-meter yard in exchange for donations. He had hoped to raise about $1,200. Instead, within days, he had raised millions.Since then his effort made “Captain Tom” a British celebrity, and the nation showed its appreciation Thursday.The Royal Air Force sent two World War II-era planes over his home. Congratulatory massages poured in from, among others, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Prince Charles and England football captain Harry Kane. About 125,000 birthday cards came in from around the world, enough to fill a hall in his grandson’s school.Birthday cards are seen on display at Bedford School ahead of Captain Tom Moore’s 100th birthday in Bedford, Britain, April 28, 2020.And the British Army – with the approval of Queen Elizabeth – gave him an honorary promotion to colonel and replaced a medal he had received for his service but had lost.The Guiness Book of World Records says Moore set a record for most money raised by an individual charity walk.Moore said Thursday he was very moved by the outpouring of gratitude, and for being made an honorary colonel. He said “I’m still Captain Tom, that’s who I really am. But if people choose to call me ‘colonel’, well, thank you very much.” 
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Russia is warning that any U.S. attempt to use a low-yield nuclear weapon against a Russian target would set off a massive nuclear response.The Russian foreign ministry was reacting to a State Department paper released last week that says placing low-yield nuclear weapons on ballistic missiles launched from submarines would counter what it sees as possible new threats from both Russia and China.Experts describe a low-yield weapon as the kind the United States dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.The State Department asserts that the low-yield weapons “reduce the risk of nuclear war by reinforcing extended deterrence and assurance.”It alleges Russia is considering using such nonstrategic nuclear arms in a limited war.  Russia denies it is a threat to the U.S. and accuses Washington of “lowering the nuclear threshold.”“Any attack involving a U.S. submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), regardless of its weapon specifications, would be perceived as a nuclear aggression,”  Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday. “Those who like to theorize about the flexibility of American nuclear potential must understand that in line with the Russian military doctrine such actions are seen as warranting retaliatory use of nuclear weapons by Russia.”Russia says it wants to extend the 2010 New START treaty limiting the number of deployed nuclear missiles, warheads, and bombers along with strict inspection regimes. The pact is set to expire next year.The Trump administration says it wants a new arms control agreement that also includes China — which Russia calls impractical. 
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British people love to talk about the weather. Never more so than when they’re locked in their houses, it seems. With perfect irony, the sun hasn’t stopped shining since the coronavirus lockdown began on March 23 – and everyone’s talking about it. It’s been unseasonably warm, with temperatures in London topping 25 degrees Celsius. For those with gardens or with easy access to the countryside, the fine weather has been a perfect antidote to the mind-spinning news headlines; nature, at its finest in spring, has been a tonic for many. For those living in cities, particularly in high-rise apartments, the sunshine has only underlined the claustrophobia of confinement. Staff work at a the COVID-19 testing facility at Ikea near the Wembley stadium in London, April 29, 2020.Across Britain, the skies have never been clearer. I live not far from Gatwick, London’s second biggest airport, and normally the sky is crossed with vapor trails. But there are just a few high cirrus clouds amid the deep blue. There are far fewer cars on the roads too. Instead, families cheerfully cycle past, enjoying their daily hour of exercise. The air smells cleaner. You can hear more birdsong. There are countless stories of wildlife slowly re-colonizing towns and cities as humans enter their own hibernation.All these might seem like trivial observations in the face of a devastating global pandemic. But it’s inevitable that people will look for positives after such disruption to their lives. And it has a lot of people talking about what kind of country we all want to emerge from this crisis.Millions of people are working from home. Can commuting be cut down to save carbon emissions and allow workers to spend more time with families? Are those international business meetings really necessary when it’s all being done by video link? With scientists warning repeatedly that climate change is an even bigger imminent threat to humanity, can we afford to go back to life as it was before? There are other changes to life on a more personal level. Out of concern, I’ve been in touch with family and friends whom I haven’t spoken to for many years. We’ve set up a weekly video chat with close family. Everyone is talking about the parties and reunions we’ll have when this is all over. After years of relationships being conducted through social media, the world is craving human company. Maybe we’ll value those close bonds even more in the post-coronavirus world. And in Britain, which has been torn apart by Brexit in recent years, many people crave some kind of healing. There are clouds on the horizon. Another Brexit deadline looms at the end of the year as the transition period ends, with the threat of even more economic disruption. And it’s quite possible, perhaps justifiable, that the world will rush back to its old ways after the lockdown to recover the vast economic losses. But in my neighborhood, and in communities across Britain and beyond, the same question is being raised: what sort of world do we want to emerge when this is all over? 
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Poland’s prime minister said Wednesday that the presidential election must be held in May despite the coronavirus pandemic to meet the requirements of the constitution. Mateusz Morawiecki said, however, that the May 10 election date may be pushed back by a week or two.  “Constitutional experts say that the election is also possible on successive dates: May 17 or May 23,” Morawiecki said.  “We will be taking the decision in the nearest future,” he said.  The ruling conservative Law and Justice party is pushing for the May vote by postal ballot only, driven by the fact that its candidate, President Andrzej Duda, is leading in opinion polls. It argues voting by mail is safe. But it has also empowered the parliamentary speaker to alter the May 10 date. The opposition wants the vote pushed back by a year or two, for social health reasons. All its candidates are trailing in opinion polls behind Duda. With less than two weeks to the vote, the bill formally regulating procedures for the vote still hasn’t been adopted in parliament, raising questions about whether the election can be held as planned.  
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Swiss investigators concluded Sepp Blatter knew that a World Cup broadcasting contract was breached illegally and that it would cost FIFA millions of dollars, according to a federal police file obtained by The Associated Press.
Investigation reports sent to prosecutors in December and January showed FIFA wrote off a $3.8 million debt from a Caribbean TV deal signed in 2005 by then-FIFA president Blatter and long-time vice president Jack Warner. The deal was later alleged to have been illegally mismanaged by Blatter.
“Blatter acted … more in the interests of Warner than in the interests of FIFA,” concluded one investigation file seen by the AP.
However, the office of Switzerland’s attorney general decided in March it would drop a criminal proceeding  from 2015 against Blatter for the Caribbean deal. No reason was stated.
Swiss federal police believed Blatter knew in 2007 that Warner had breached — and would personally profit from — a Caribbean rights deal for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups that was sold to a Jamaica-based broadcaster.
Details of the original FIFA contract were revealed by Swiss media in September 2015, showing a $600,000 sale to the Warner-controlled Caribbean Football Union.
At the time, FIFA defended the contract by saying it required soccer’s governing body to get a 50% profit share of any future licensing arrangement. The re-sale was valued at about $15 million.
But FIFA did not try to collect money due in August 2010 within 30 days of the World Cup ending, according to the Swiss police file.
The investigation cited documents and staff emails showing FIFA was due half of any gross revenue from the Caribbean deal, into which Warner had inserted a company he owned.
“FIFA were very reluctant to implement any measures in connection with enforcing their rights against the CFU,” Swiss police said in its 491-page report.
FIFA calculated it was owed almost $3.8 million in 2011 after Warner resigned from soccer. He had been implicated in bribing Caribbean voters to oppose Blatter in that year’s FIFA presidential election.
Only then did FIFA management terminate the Caribbean rights and pursue the debt, though not directly with Warner. Instead, it asked the CFU, which had few assets after Warner left.
FIFA wrote off the debt weeks later, the police file showed. It included $3.625 million of estimated revenue from broadcasting sponsors and advertising, and $155,000 of unpaid rights fee instalments, the investigation file said.
A different police report detailed more than 15 years of FIFA’s working relations with Warner. It suggested FIFA granted favors and gifts in apparent exchange for election support to help Blatter retain the presidency.
Blatter, who is now 84 and banned from soccer until October 2021, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He has long denied wrongdoing.
Blatter faces a second criminal proceeding over a $2 million payment he authorized in 2011 to former UEFA president Michel Platini. That payment was revealed by Swiss authorities in September 2015 and led to both men being suspended and then banned from soccer.
Swiss investigations of Blatter are handled by a second prosecutor who took over after the federal office’s head of financial crimes had his contract terminated in November 2018.
Attorney general Michael Lauber was recused from FIFA cases last year. He was disciplined in March  after having secret meetings with current FIFA president Gianni Infantino and failing to tell the truth about them.
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