European leaders are vowing to punish Belarus for illegally diverting to Minsk Sunday a Lithuanian-bound Ryanair flight carrying a fugitive critic of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. Their fury was fueled as more details emerged Monday of the dramatic events leading up to the diversion of the plane. The Ryanair Boeing 737 was carrying 171 passengers and crew had taken off from Athens and was flying over Belarus. It was just moments from leaving Belarusian air space when the captain was signaled by the pilot of a Belarus MiG-29 jet to land in the Belarus capital and not to proceed to the scheduled destination, Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital.   Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 1 MB480p | 2 MB540p | 3 MB720p | 4 MB1080p | 6 MBOriginal | 28 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioWhen the plane landed in Minsk, Belarusian security service officers detained 26-year-old opposition blogger Raman Pratasevich, who could face a death sentence on charges of helping to organize protests against President Lukashenko. Just before the aircraft landed, he gave his laptop and cell phone to a friend for safekeeping, passengers told reporters in Vilnius.    Pratasevich’s girlfriend, Sofia, was also detained. And reports emerged Monday of another detainee.    The plan to seize Pratasevich, who has lived in exile since 2019, also appears to have involved the participation of Belarusian KGB agents, who were present at the departure airport at Athens and boarded the jet, according to opposition activists. WATCH:  RFE/RL Interview with father of detained Belarus journalist The Greek Foreign Ministry released a statement Sunday describing the forced landing as a “state hijacking” which “put the lives of all the passengers on board in danger.” That view was echoed by US. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who dubbed the illegal diversion in a statement as “a shocking act.”    Blinken said the “regime endangered the lives of more than 120 passengers, including US citizens. Initial reports suggesting the involvement of the Belarusian security services and the use of Belarusian military aircraft to escort the plane are deeply concerning and require full investigation,” he added.   Fight onboard 
In an online post before leaving Athens, Pratasevich said he was being trailed by KGB agents. “This was some suspicious crap,” he wrote. “When the plane entered Belarus airspace KGB officers initiated a fight with the Ryanair crew, insisting that there was an improvised explosive device onboard,” Tadeusz Giczan, an editor at the activist Telegram site Nexta, tweeted.  “Eventually the crew was forced to send out an SOS, literally moments before the plane would have left Belarusian airspace. A MiG-29 took off and escorted it to Minsk,” he said. There were also local reports that an Mi-24 helicopter gunship was used in the operation. FILE – Opposition blogger and activist Raman Pratasevich, who is accused of participating in an unsanctioned protest at the Kuropaty preserve, arrives for a court hearing in Minsk, Belarus, Apr. 10, 2017.Ryanair said in a statement that the crew was also told by Belarus aviation authorities of a “potential security threat on board” and ordered the plane to Minsk, even though Vilnius was nearer.  On landing, all the passengers were searched and the flight was allowed to resume its journey five hours later. Rynair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, also said he believes that Belarus KGB agents were on board the flight. In an interview Monday with a British radio broadcaster, he said: “It appears the intent of the authorities was to remove a journalist and his traveling companion. We believe there were some KGB agents offloaded at the airport as well.” On Monday, it also emerged that along with Pratasevich and his girlfriend, a Russian citizen studying at the European Humanities University, EHU, in Lithuania, was forced off the flight, too. EHU has demanded her release, saying she was detained by the Minsk Investigative Committee on “groundless and made-up conditions.”  EU response 
EU leaders will discuss the case at a summit Monday, European Council President Charles Michel. “The incident will not remain without consequences,” he added in a statement.  “Possible sanctions” would be on the table, his spokesperson said. They could include barring Belarusian airlines from over-flying EU states or landing at the bloc’s airports and suspending all flights of EU airlines through Belarusian airspace. Ground transit from Belarus into the EU could also be prohibited, say EU officials. FILE – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko takes his oath of office during his inauguration ceremony at the Palace of the Independence in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 23, 2020.Since the August 2020 presidential election in Belarus, which was officially won by Lukashenko but were widely condemned as rigged and sparked huge protests across Belarus, the EU has imposed a series of sanctions on the country.Lithuanian prosecutors say they are launching a criminal investigation into the hijacking and are considering filing terrorism charges. Lithuania’s prime minister told reporters that the prosecutors interviewed passengers and crew on their arrival in Vilnius. “The unprecedented situation will have to be investigated very thoroughly,” Ingrida Simonyte said. Belarus public broadcasters said security officials only discovered Pratasevich was on the flight after his girlfriend sent a photo of him to another activist blogger. Pratasevich, who used to work for the Telegram channel Nexta but switched to another opposition messaging app recently, was in Athens to cover a visit to Greece by Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.  FILE – Belarus exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya poses during an interview with AFP on the sideline of her visit to the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) in Geneva, Switzerland, March 7, 2021.“It is absolutely obvious that this is an operation by the special services to hijack an aircraft in order to detain activist and blogger Raman Pratasevich,” she said. “Not a single person who flies over Belarus can be sure of his safety,” she added in a statement. Of the 171 people who boarded in Athens, only 165 landed in Vilnius, according to Lithuanian authorities. Pratasevich, his girlfriend and the EHU students account for three of the six who did not proceed to Vilnius.   The other three are likely Belarus KGB agents, say Lithuanian officials, but there are also local reports that at least two were Russians, prompting speculation in the Belarus opposition media that they may have been Russian intelligence officers.   
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At least 14 people, including two children, were killed Sunday in northern Italy when a cable car popular among tourists fell 20 meters to the ground. A two-year-old child died instantly, and one nine-year-old died in the hospital after suffering two cardiac arrests. Another child, a five-year-old was seriously injured but conscious and speaking. He is being treated at the Regina Margherita children’s hospital in Turin.   Some passengers were stuck inside the cabin while others were thrown out during the crash. About half the passengers were foreign nationals, Italian authorities said. The Italian ANSA news agency has published the names of the victims.  The Stresa-Mottarone funicular travels between the resort town of Stresa on the shores of Lake Maggiore to the top of Mottarone mountain of Italy’s Piedmont region. The trip takes roughly 20 minutes.  Images from the scene showed a crumped cable car on a slope overlooking the lake. Stresa Mayor Marcella Severino called it a “terrible, terrible scene,” and said the accident may have been caused by a ruptured cable and the emergency brake failed. Severino said the car overturned two or three times after crashing to the ground before being stopped by some trees. Some passengers were stuck inside the cabin while others were thrown out during the crash. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi offered his condolences to the victims “with a particular thought about the seriously injured children and their families.” The Italian government announced later Sunday that it would begin an investigation into the accident. The Stresa-Mottarone cable car was closed for repairs between 2014 and 2016. It only recently began operating after a hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic. The cable car can typically carry about 40 passengers. 
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The singer for Italy’s Eurovision Song Contest winning rockers Maneskin will take a voluntary drug test after denying speculation that he was snorting cocaine during the broadcast, organizers said Sunday. Red lederhosen-clad vocalist Damiano David will be tested after going back to Italy, following viral footage of him leaning over a table in the hospitality area of the competition in Rotterdam.  “We are aware of the speculation surrounding the video clip of the Italian winners of the Eurovision Song Contest in the Green Room last night,” the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in a statement.  “The band have strongly refuted the allegations of drug use and the singer in question will take a voluntary drug test after arriving home,” it added.  “This was requested by them last night but could not be immediately organized by the EBU.”  The Maneskin singer was asked about the footage during the winners’ press conference early on Sunday, and said he had been looking down because guitarist Thomas Raggi had broken a glass.  “I don’t use drugs. Please, guys. Don’t say that really, no cocaine. Please, don’t say that,” David said.  The band later said on their Instagram stories that they were “ready to get tested because we have nothing to hide.”   “We are really shocked about what some people are saying about Damiano doing drugs. We really are AGAINST drugs and we never used cocaine,” they said. The EBU said evidence at the scene backed up David’s account about the glass smashing.  “The band, their management and head of delegation have informed us that no drugs were present in the Green Room and explained that a glass was broken at their table and it was being cleared by the singer,” its statement said.  “The EBU can confirm broken glass was found after an on site check. We are still looking at footage carefully and will update with further information in due course.”  Maneskin fought off stiff competition from France and Switzerland, surging to victory on the back of the public vote to win with 524 points. 
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A Belarusian journalist wanted by the government of Alexander Lukashenko was arrested after the plane he was traveling on made an unscheduled landing in Minsk on May 23 after what appears to have been a false bomb threat.Raman Pratasevich was taken away by police shortly after the Ryanair flight, which was on a scheduled route from Athens to Vilnius, landed in the Belarusian capital.No bomb was found, according to Belarussian media reports. No further details were immediately available. It was unclear who had reported the bomb threat. The headquarters of Belarusian opposition leader Svaitlana Tsikhanouskaya reported that the Ryanair flight crew received a message about a bomb on board the plane and that a MiG-29 military fighter was dispatched to escort the passenger jet to the airport in Minsk.Tsikhanouskaya’s office said the flight was near the border with Lithuania when the message was received. It was closer to the airport in Vilnius but instead it headed to Minsk.Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said it was an “unprecedented event” that a civilian passenger plane flying to Vilnius was forced to land in Minsk.”Flag of Belarus regime is behind the abhorrent action. I demand to free Roman Protasevic urgently!” Nauseda said on Twitter.Pratasevich was a key administrator of the Telegram channel NEXTA Live, which has been covering the protests that broke out in Belarus following the country’s disputed presidential election last August.In November, Belarusian authorities announced that Pratasevich, along with Stsyapan Putsila — also a NEXTA Live administrator — were being investigated on suspicions of organizing mass disorder, disrupting the social order, and inciting social hatred.Belarus has been rocked by protests since Lukashenka, in power since 1994, was declared the landslide winner of the poll amid allegations of vote-rigging. Since then, more than 30,000 people have been detained, hundreds beaten or tortured, and journalists targeted in the crackdown by Lukashenka, whose government has been hit by Western sanctions.In October, a court in Minsk designated the NEXTA Live channel and its logo as extremist and instructed the Information Ministry to restrict access to information resources using the name and logo of the Telegram channel, as well as their distribution in the Belarusian segment of the Internet.NEXTA Live then changed its name and logo, switching from the Latin transliteration of its name to a Cyrillic one.Fearing prosecution, Pratasevich and Putsila fled the country and their whereabouts have not been known.In October, Putsila, along with several Belarusian activists, received the European Parliament’s 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.Media in Belarus have been targeted by the Lukashenka government in the ongoing crackdown. The watchdog Reporters Without Borders has designated Belarus as the most dangerous spot in Europe for journalists.On May 21, Belarusian security forces raided a Minsk studio used by a Polish-based TV station that has produced investigations critical of Lukashenka and his associates.Belsat said uniformed officers broke into a studio on May 21 used for producing a talk show, detaining six people, including four cameramen.In April, the channel published an investigation into the business dealings of Lukashenka’s daughter-in-law and others associated with him.Earlier this year, two journalists for Belsat were handed what their lawyers called an “absurd” sentence of two years in prison each for reporting live from a rally in Minsk in November.Earlier this week, police launched a probe of the country’s largest independent online media outlet, Tut.by, searching the homes of several of its editors and blocking its website.Meanwhile, a Minsk court on May 21 sentenced another reporter who covered the police raid on Tut.by to a 15-day prison sentence, a media advocacy group said.The Belarusian Association of Journalists said 27 media workers are currently behind bars, either awaiting trial or serving sentences. 
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The United States will expand Haitian eligibility for a humanitarian program that grants deportation relief and work permits to immigrants who cannot safely return to their home countries, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told lawmakers in an email Saturday.A new designation of so-called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will cover an estimated 150,000 Haitians living in the United States, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez said in a written statement.Democratic lawmakers and pro-immigrant advocates had pressed the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to expand deportation relief for Haitians. Former President Donald Trump, a Republican, sought to end most TPS enrollment, including that of Haitians, but was stymied by federal courts.The TPS program grants deportation relief and work permits to immigrants whose home countries experience a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event.Haitians were granted TPS in 2010 following a devastating earthquake in the Caribbean nation, but the latest move would expand the program to Haitians in the United States as of May 21.”Haiti is currently experiencing serious security concerns, social unrest, an increase in human rights abuses, crippling poverty, and lack of basic resources, which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in an email to lawmakers obtained by Reuters.“After careful consideration, we determined that we must do what we can to support Haitian nationals in the United States until conditions in Haiti improve so they may safely return home.”
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Move over sequins, disco beats and power ballads. A four-piece band of Italian rockers won the Eurovision Song Contest in the early hours of Sunday.Maneskin’s win was only the third victory for Italy in the immensely popular contest and the first since Toto Cutugno took the honor in 1990.Italy, the bookmakers’ favorite, trailed Switzerland, France and Malta after the national juries delivered their votes but were propelled to victory by votes from the viewing public.Ahead of the show, crowds gathered outside the Ahoy arena in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. Drag queens mingled with families as a man in a gold suit waited to get into the venue.The hugely popular music festival that oozes flamboyance is seen as a significant step toward a post-pandemic return to live entertainment, but not everybody managed to avoid the virus.The popular Icelandic band Dadi og Gagnamagnid, known for its kitsch dance moves and green leisurewear costumes, is in the final, but can’t perform live because one member tested positive for the virus earlier in the week. Instead, viewers will see a recording of one of the band’s dress rehearsals.”The point was to go and actually experience how it was to compete in Eurovision, and that’s just really not happening,” lead singer Dadi Freyr said from isolation in Rotterdam.While the entertainment world has changed in the pandemic, the Eurovision final formula familiar to its worldwide legion of fans has not. The event is being hosted as usual by the last winner, the Netherlands, except that it won in 2019.After acts from 26 countries perform their songs Saturday night, they are awarded points by panels of music industry experts and by members of the public voting by phone, text message or via the contest’s app. The winner takes home a glass microphone trophy and a potential career boost.For the fans, there is still plenty of the over-the-top spectacle that has become Eurovision’s trademark.Norwegian singer Andreas Haukeland, whose stage name TIX is a reference to growing up with Tourette syndrome, sings his song “Fallen Angel” in a pair of giant white wings while chained to four prancing devils.Cyprus’ Elena Tsagrinou is flanked by four dancers in skintight red costumes as she performs “El Diablo,” a song that ignited protests among Orthodox Christians in the Mediterranean island nation who claim it glorifies satanic worship. Tsagrinou says it’s about an abusive relationship.San Marino has enlisted the help of U.S. rapper Flo Rida to join performer Senhit in her bid to win the title for the first time for the tiny city-state surrounded by Italy.
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Tony Hall, who was director of BBC news and current affairs at the time of the public broadcaster’s explosive 1995 interview with Princess Diana, resigned Saturday as board chairman of Britain’s National Gallery.Hall, who subsequently rose to the top job at the BBC, was heavily criticized in a report this week for a botched inquiry into how journalist Martin Bashir obtained the blockbuster interview.In a statement, the 70-year-old said his continued presence at the gallery would be a “distraction to an institution I care deeply about.”“As I said two days ago, I am very sorry for the events of 25 years ago and I believe leadership means taking responsibility,” said Hall, who served as the BBC’s director-general from 2013 until 2020.John Kingman, the deputy chair of the National Gallery’s board of trustees, will assume Hall’s role for the time being. He said the gallery is “extremely sorry” to lose Hall but that “we entirely understand and respect his decision.”The 126-page report by retired Judge John Dyson, published Thursday, found the internal BBC investigation had covered up “deceitful behavior” by Bashir, who was little-known as a journalist when he interviewed Diana.The BBC also has faced questions about why Bashir was rehired in 2016 as the broadcaster’s religious affairs correspondent.Diana’s sons, Princes William and Harry, have excoriated the BBC since the report’s publication, saying there was a direct link between the 1995 interview and their mother’s death in a traffic accident two years later as she and a companion were being pursued by paparazzi.The BBC commissioned the report after Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, complained that Bashir used false documents and other dishonest tactics to persuade Diana to grant the interview.In the interview, Diana said her marriage to Prince Charles had failed because he was still in love with former lover Camilla Parker Bowles, whom Charles would go on to marry a decade later.Diana, then 34, said she was devastated when she found out in 1986 — five years after her marriage — that Charles had renewed his relationship with Camilla. Diana said she was so depressed that she deliberately hurt herself in a desperate bid for help.“There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” Diana famously remarked.The fallout from the report has raised serious doubts about the BBC’s integrity, while the British government has said it would review the rules governing the oversight of the editorially independent national broadcaster.The BBC, which was founded in 1922, is funded by a license fee payable by everyone. The rules governing its operations are set out in a royal charter that requires the corporation to be impartial, act in the public interest and be open, transparent and accountable. A mid-term review of the BBC’s governance is scheduled to begin next year.
 
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The United States formally blacklisted more than a dozen Russian ships involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, days after exempting the pipeline’s Russian operator and CEO.The widely expected move, announced late on May 21 by the U.S. Treasury Department, came amid vehement criticism from congressional Republicans about the White House’s earlier announcement that it would not include the pipeline’s Russian-owned operator in the new sanctions.Nearly complete, the Baltic Sea pipeline will bring Russian gas directly to Germany, bypassing land routes through Ukraine, Belarus, and other countries.Critics said it will increase German dependence on Russian energy supplies and make Berlin more susceptible to Russian politics. It will also deprive Ukraine and other countries of lucrative transit fees.However, the pipeline has been backed by the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Political observers said President Joe Biden appeared to not want to pick a fight with a U.S. ally over the issue.The State Department earlier this week announced the intention not to sanction the pipeline’s Russian-owned operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, or its CEO, Matthias Warnig, who is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.Republican senators say they will introduce legislation to reinstate the sanctions.”I don’t understand. Do they not want to make Putin mad? I don’t get that. Do they not want to get Germany mad?” Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters on May 20.Some information for this report came from Reuters.
 
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Amnesty International named one of Cuba’s leading dissidents a “prisoner of conscience” on Friday, saying state security appeared to have him under supervision and incommunicado at the hospital where authorities admitted him nearly three weeks ago.Artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, 33, had been staging a hunger and thirst strike for seven days at his home in Old Havana to protest what he called state harassment when health officials transferred him to hospital on May 2.The Cuban health department said at the time that doctors found no sign of malnutrition and that Otero Alcantara was in stable condition.Supporters question why he remains in hospital and incommunicado, adding that police have blocked them from visiting him. Otero Alcantara did not reply to attempts by Reuters to contact him by phone and social media.Videos of him in hospital posted online by pro-government accounts, including one on Thursday in which he appeared thinner and hunched over, have further fueled supporters’ fears.Hospitals in Cuba are state-run and the International Press Center, which fields all requests from foreign journalists for comment from state entities, did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Otero Alcantara’s status.“Luis Manuel must not spend one more day under state custody,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. “It is time for the Cuban authorities to recognize that they cannot silence all the independent voices in the country.”Otero Alcantara is the head of the San Isidro Movement, a group of a few dozen artists, writers and activists that has protested restrictions in Cuba on civil liberties for the last few years, often through provocative performances.Since it sparked a rare protest in front of the culture ministry in November, authorities have taken to state-run media to denounce its members and allies as agitators working with the United States to destabilize the government as Cuba’s economy goes through its worst crisis in decades.The movement denies the charges. Meanwhile the U.S. State Department declined last month to directly address a Reuters’ question about financing Cuban dissidents but said it supported those in civil society worldwide defending their rights.Exiled rights group Cubalex said five Cubans who were arrested in Old Havana on April 30 for protesting in support of Otero Alcantara remained in custody on Friday on charges of resisting authority and public disorder.
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The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is pulling aid from El Salvador’s national police and a public information institute and will instead redirect the funding to civil society groups, the agency’s head said in a statement Friday.The statement cited concerns over votes earlier this month by legislative allies of President Nayib Bukele to oust the attorney general and top judges.USAID Administrator Samantha Power expressed “deep concerns” with the dismissals as well as “larger concerns about transparency and accountability” in the Central American country.The earmarked funds will now go to “promoting transparency, combating corruption and monitoring human rights” in concert with local civil society groups, the statement said, without specifying the amount of money in question.In an apparent response to Power, Bukele heaped scorn on the civil society groups that were poised to benefit from the shift in U.S. funding in a post on Twitter minutes after the announcement.”It’s good they receive foreign financing, because they will not receive a cent from the Salvadoran people,” Bukele wrote.USAID, the international development arm of the U.S. government, provides funding to a wide variety of programs in mostly poor countries across the globe.”Respect for an independent judiciary, a commitment to the separation of powers and a strong civil society are essential components of any democracy,” it said in its statement.Growing disputeIt is the latest salvo in an intensifying spat between the two countries. On Tuesday, the U.S. government released a list of allegedly corrupt Central American politicians, including a couple with close ties to Bukele. That prompted the Salvadoran leader to praise China, in an apparent swipe at Washington.Bukele, 39, who is popular at home, has argued that the high-profile dismissals were justified and legal.Bukele’s party accused the five ousted judges of impeding the government’s health strategy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the attorney general of lacking independence.The abrupt votes to remove them were criticized as a dangerous power grab by the tiny opposition to Bukele in El Salvador, as well as the U.S. government and international rights groups like Amnesty International.Bukele’s critics also accuse him of misusing the national police and the public information institute for political ends.El Salvador, which has an economy closely tied to the United States by trade and a large migrant population, is negotiating a more than $1 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where Washington wields significant influence.The IMF earlier this week cited progress in the ongoing talks.
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The sanctioning of Albania’s former leader for “significant corruption” is being cast as part of a drive by the new U.S. administration to fight corruption and promote democracy worldwide. But some analysts are questioning the wisdom of punishing a foreign politician for actions not directly affecting the United States. In announcing the sanctions on Sali Berisha and members of his family this week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Berisha “was involved in corrupt acts” during his term as prime minister of Albania, including “misappropriation of public funds and interfering with public processes.” FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, May 20, 2021.Blinken added that Berisha had used power “for his own benefit and to enrich his political allies and his family members at the expense of the Albanian public’s confidence in their government institutions and public officials.”   Under the sanctions, Berisha, his wife, Liri Berisha, his son, Shkëlzen Berisha, and his daughter, Argita Berisha Malltezi, are barred from travel to the United States.   Berisha, who resigned as leader of his conservative party but remained in Parliament after being defeated as prime minister in 2013, rejected the allegations during a press conference Thursday. “There is no one in Albania or the world that can say that I am implicated in any corrupt affair,” he said. Dominant figure  Berisha has been Albania’s dominant political figure since the end of more than four decades of Stalinist rule in 1991. He is the historical leader of the right-wing Democratic Party, which emerged from a popular revolt in Albania that brought the era of pluralism to the country.   Berisha served as president from 1992 to 1997, after the fall of communism in Albania, and as prime minister from 2005 to 2013. He was credited with taking Albania into NATO in 2009 and onto the first rung of EU membership.  Berisha’s opponents, however, accused him of undermining democracy and allowing graft and organized crime to flourish.   Differing opinions  The U.S. designation comes on the heels of the ruling left-wing Socialist Party’s third win in parliamentary elections and a time of reckoning for the Democratic Party. Berisha’s successor, Lulzim Basha, has been under pressure to resign from within the party, and some have called on him to cut ties with Berisha, who has retreated from leading roles since 2013.  Some American analysts are questioning the decision to act against Berisha eight years after he left high office. “The timing is not good,” said Janusz Bugajski of the Jamestown Foundation, a defense policy research group.   “I don’t understand why a former political leader who’s no longer in office is being singled out. I mean, this should be something that needs to be done domestically at home. If there’s hard evidence, they should push for some sort of trial for some sort of investigations and so on and so forth,” he told VOA Albanian.   FILE – Matthew Palmer, U.S. special representative for the Western Balkans, attends a press conference in Belgrade, Nov. 4, 2019.But Matthew Palmer, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, with responsibility for the Western Balkans, said one should not “read too much into the timing of this.”  “What I would do is, is underscore the seriousness with which the United States takes the issue of public corruption,” he told VOA. “This is a demonstration of our commitment to using those instruments that we have available, including sanctions, as appropriate, in order to reinforce the fight against public corruption and to ensure that there is accountability for those who abuse the public trust.” Thomas Countryman, a former senior State Department official who held Palmer’s position in 2010-2011, said the administration has used the authority given it by the U.S. Congress to deny entry visas “in hundreds of cases.”   FILE – Thomas Countryman, then-assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill, Dec. 17, 2015.”Certainly not just in southeast Europe, but from Ukraine, from Russia, from Latin America, from Africa,” he said.   The United States has barred three other top Albanian officials from entering the United States on the ground of corruption, but Berisha is the highest-profile one.  Countryman sees the move as reflecting new foreign policy priorities for the United States under President Joe Biden. “I think the Biden administration has made clear that fighting global corruption is going to be a priority and it has already made several designations similar to that affecting Mr. Berisha in other cases,” he said. He said the news did not surprise him.  “I don’t think that the audience in Albania is unaware of the degree of public corruption that has affected politicians from multiple parties, so there is a factual basis for the designation,” Countryman said.  Bugajski, however, worries that Washington will be seen as taking sides in Albania’s domestic politics. “Is this now going to include other political leaders? I mean, there’s been a lot of discussion actually about the current Albanian government, the prime minister, the president. What are their positions going to be? What about neighboring countries?” Bugajski asked.   But Countryman maintains that the action against Berisha “is not a partisan step” by the United States. “It should be seen as a clear signal that continued corruption by any party in Albania, by any party in other countries, has consequences that go beyond the immediate local consequences that affect the relationship with the United States as well,” he said.  A 2020 report on human rights by the U.S. State Department said corruption in Albania is “pervasive in all branches of government.” The latest Nations in Transit report issued last month by Freedom House ranks the country as a transitional or hybrid regime and registered declines in its overall democracy score.     Ilir Ikonomi and Milena Durdic contributed to this report.
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Desperate teenagers and jobless men from Morocco’s coastal towns, its mountainous east or even farther away converged on the border town of Fnideq this week, part of an extraordinary mass effort to swim or scale barbed-wire fences to get into Spain for a chance at a new life.More than 8,000 migrants made it into the city of Ceuta, an enclave in North Africa that is separated from the rest of Spain by the Mediterranean — but for most of them, it was a short-lived success.The extraordinary surge of migrants crossing from Morocco into Spain came amid the chaos of a diplomatic spat between the two countries.Spanish troops forced over half of them back to Fnideq, putting additional strain on the Moroccan town whose limited resources are overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic.”We will keep trying. We will find one way or another, even if the ocean turns into ice!” said  Badreddine, 27.He and his fellow Moroccans — Salah, 22, and  Hosam, 24 — all have diplomas but no jobs. Like most seeking to get into Spain, they spoke on condition their last names not be published for fear of their security because they are risking illegal migration.Being stuck in Morocco “is like being dead, so why not risk your life anyway? We’re currently living on streets, sleeping in the cold. Our parents know that we’re here, they pray for us. They told us, ‘Go, may Gold help you,’ ” Salah said.Sleeping outside, eating handoutsThey and others sleep in Fnideq’s parks, on benches and outside mosques. Some hang out near hotels and restaurants, begging for food and whatever people can spare. Volunteers hand out bread and sandwiches.Some have fled the impoverished countries of sub-Saharan Africa, but most are from Morocco, generally seen as one of the continent’s economic engines that has made strides in lowering poverty in recent years.Still, inequality is rife, the pandemic has worsened unemployment and average incomes are a small fraction of those in Europe, which sits tantalizingly close — just across the Fnideq-Ceuta fence.Minors who crossed into Spain take shelter inside an abandoned building in Ceuta, May 21, 2021.Amid tighter security by Spain in recent years, some would-be migrants have abandoned the effort, but others are determined to find a way around the security checkpoints or battle bad weather at sea.”We want to leave [Morocco] because there is nothing left for us in the country, nothing to do, no future. We go to school but don’t want to stay here,” said Khalid, 15.This week, many of them saw an opportunity as word spread quickly in Morocco about the tensions with Spain.When the government in Madrid gave medical treatment to a Western Saharan independence fighter that Morocco considers a terrorist, the decision led to chaos in Ceuta. The port city has always drawn those seeking to cross into Europe, but thousands were seen streaming toward Fnideq on highways and through forests and hills.On the march”Spain, here we come!” a group of Moroccans cried as they marched, singing soccer chants and hurling expletives at their native country. In central Fnideq, thousands lined the corniche that looks toward Ceuta, and they ended up swimming or taking small boats around breakwaters separating the countries.While Moroccan security forces normally are spread out on the beach and in nearby hills patrolling a wide perimeter, there seemed to be fewer guards earlier this week. As large groups of youths scaled the fence and wrapped clothes on their hands to get over the barbed wire, Associated Press reporters saw border police standing by idly.While Morocco has said little about the relaxed border controls, it was widely seen as retaliation for Madrid’s allowing militant leader Brahim Ghali to receive medical treatment inside Spain. Two Moroccan officials made that link in comments Wednesday.Mattresses and belongings of migrants sit atop a hill in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, near the border of Morocco and Spain, May 21, 2021.Spain eventually sent in military forces and pushed most of the migrants back to Morocco. The Red Cross says one young man died and dozens were treated for hypothermia.Khalid, 15, and Amin, 16, came to Fnideq on Sunday in a bus with about 40 others from Temara, a coastal town outside the capital, Rabat. They said they crossed into Spain three times, but were pushed back. The last time, they were forced to swim back along the shore back to Morocco.Back on dutyBy Thursday, Moroccan border guards seemed to be back in their positions, but hundreds of youths have remained, and the men and boys in Fnideq haven’t lost hope of crossing over.”I am the eldest of my brothers. My mother sells vegetables in the market” and can’t afford to support them, said Ayoub, in his early 20s, who arrived Thursday from the inland city of Meknes. “I had to try and help my mother.”While Morocco’s government has focused on the Western Sahara in its limited public statements this week, it hasn’t addressed the poverty and despair that is driving so many to want to leave the country.Fnideq, meanwhile, is suffering under the sudden influx of would-be migrants.The town relied heavily on trade with Ceuta before the pandemic, but Morocco’s strict border closure since March 2020 has deprived residents of livelihoods and access to Spain. Protests broke out earlier this year by residents demanding government aid or an open border.Human rights groups and opposition lawmakers accused the Moroccan government of using migrants as pawns instead of solving their problems. The opposition Istiqlal party urged “an economic alternative that guarantees the population their constitutional right to the necessities of a decent living.”Despite the scenes of tear gas and troops on the border this week, the dream of getting out of Morocco remains strong for many struggling youths, even in the relatively prosperous capital.”If you ask anyone in Rabat … that person will tell you that he wants to go to Europe,” said street vendor Mohammed Ouhaddou. “…Politicians are not doing anything. They are asleep and no one listens to us.”
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James E. Pepper bourbon is as old as America itself.”Originally founded during the American Revolution,” says its current owner, Amir Peay, who adds that since it was established in 1780, this distinct brand of bourbon made in Kentucky has passed the lips of many prominent Americans. “The favorite brand of Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and many, many others.”The distillery closed in the 1960s after the Pepper family left the business and sales tanked. But Peay saw an opportunity to relaunch the historic brand in 2008. Today, the spirit is as popular as ever, both at home and abroad.After spending millions of dollars getting some initial barrels to mature and renovating the distillery, which reopened in 2017, Peay set his sights on increasing the brand’s international market share.”While it only accounted for about 10% of our business in 2017, we saw a lot of opportunity to expand,” Peay told VOA. “In fact, we thought we could grow it to about 20% of our business in 2018 and 2019.”To do so, he invested even more, creating a 700-milliliter bottling line targeted for Europe, which the president of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, Eric Gregory, says was a lucrative export market at the time.”Our exports grew from 2010 to 2017 by 98%,” Gregory explained during a recent interview. “Most of that was going to the EU, which was our largest export market. We were averaging between 20% and 30% growth every year to the EU.”Peay says that no trade barriers were on his radar at the time, and he had no reason to think that would change. “In late 2017, there were no tariffs on American whiskey in Europe and most markets around the world.”But his dreams of continued expansion would be shattered by a trade war that erupted during the former Trump administration.”The United States put tariffs on steel and aluminum products from a number of countries, including (some in) the European Union, and the European Union decided to respond with tariffs on a number of products,” he said.Targeted U.S. products included bourbon, which since 2018 has been subject to a 25% tariff in Europe.”Crippling,” Gregory said. “This is something we never saw coming.”Tariff troublesAbout 95% of bourbon is made in Kentucky. The $8 billion industry in the state employs more than 20,000 people.Global sales dropped by 35% after the tariffs were imposed, sending a shockwave through the industry. And it was set to get worse. EU tariffs were scheduled to double from 25% to 50% June 1, but the increase is on pause as the Biden administration negotiates a broader trade agreement.”The problem we face right now is, all the whiskey imports coming into the United States are tariff-free for the next four months. Meanwhile, we are facing still 25% on our exports,” said Gregory, who hopes negotiations lead to a return to zero tariffs. “For us, it’s about getting back to free and fair trade. We just want people to sit down at a table and work this thing out.”Until then, Peay is trying to manage the uncertainty the trade war continues to create for his business, which relies on long-term planning.”Even during the challenging year with the pandemic, domestically we’ve had a very strong performance. Internationally, we’ve been decimated because of the trade war,” he told VOA. “The longer it goes on, the more damage it’s going to do.”Distilling whiskey, Peay explained, is a lengthy and costly process. Market certainty is critical.”You don’t want send over product — and this is especially true for a small business like mine — that sits in a warehouse and doesn’t sell, because that’s a lot of money we’ve tied up in producing that whiskey, and there’s no guarantee that’s going to sell,” he said. “How will we get it back here to the United States? We can’t sell it over here (once it’s returned), so it’s very risky to do that.”An end to the dispute with the EU over steel tariffs that led to the bourbon tariffs isn’t clear. Steel groups in the United States support the tariffs, which have helped rekindle a long-languishing industry.Trade cooperation will be on the agenda during President Joe Biden’s first foreign trip, a U.S.-EU summit slated for June in Brussels.
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German health officials said Friday the nation has broken the third wave of COVID-19 infections, but cautioned the pandemic is far from over.German Health Minster Jens Spahn, joined by Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases (RKI) President Lothar Wieler, said the nation as a whole — and most of Germany’s 400 cities and counties — had weekly infection rates below the threshold of 100 per 100,000 inhabitants that triggered strict lockdown measures.Spahn credited German citizens for minding social guidelines and suffering through recurring lockdowns for progress that has been made. “It was exactly this combination of confidence and caution, vaccination and taking care of each other, which was important to break the third wave. We did it together.”Spahn said Germany’s vaccination program was progressing well, with about 40% of the German population having received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and about 13% fully vaccinated. He said the decline in coronavirus cases and the steady rise in vaccination rates were encouraging signs.Wieler said a recent RKI survey showed 73% of the population wanted to be vaccinated, which shows “vaccination readiness is very high” in Germany.But he and Spahn both cautioned the pandemic is not over. Spahn urged people to use caution, as beer gardens, cafes and restaurants in Berlin and elsewhere were preparing to serve customers outdoors Friday for the first time in months, provided they prove they had a negative COVID-19 test or present a vaccination certificate.“The danger has not yet been averted,” Wieler said. “Let’s make the best use of the summer and continue to take good care of each other, with as few sick people as possible. If we continue to stick together, we will together overpower this virus.”
 
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International exports of bourbon, an American whiskey mostly made in the southern state of Kentucky, have dropped dramatically as a result of the trade war that began during former President Donald Trump’s administration. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, tariffs imposed by the EU on bourbon continue to hurt Kentucky’s $8 billion industry which employs more than 20,000 people.
Camera: Kane Farabaugh      Producer: Kane Farabaugh
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James E. Pepper bourbon is as old as America itself.”Originally founded during the American Revolution,” says its current owner, Amir Peay, who adds that since it was established in 1780, this distinct brand of bourbon made in Kentucky has passed the lips of many prominent Americans. “The favorite brand of Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and many, many others.”The distillery closed in the 1960s after the Pepper family left the business and sales tanked. But Peay saw an opportunity to relaunch the historic brand in 2008. Today, the spirit is as popular as ever, both at home and abroad.After spending millions of dollars getting some initial barrels to mature and renovating the distillery, which reopened in 2017, Peay set his sights on increasing the brand’s international market share.”While it only accounted for about 10% of our business in 2017, we saw a lot of opportunity to expand,” Peay told VOA. “In fact, we thought we could grow it to about 20% of our business in 2018 and 2019.”To do so, he invested even more, creating a 700-milliliter bottling line targeted for Europe, which the president of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, Eric Gregory, says was a lucrative export market at the time.”Our exports grew from 2010 to 2017 by 98%,” Gregory explained during a recent interview. “Most of that was going to the EU, which was our largest export market. We were averaging between 20% and 30% growth every year to the EU.”Peay says that no trade barriers were on his radar at the time, and he had no reason to think that would change. “In late 2017, there were no tariffs on American whiskey in Europe and most markets around the world.”But his dreams of continued expansion would be shattered by a trade war that erupted during the former Trump administration.”The United States put tariffs on steel and aluminum products from a number of countries, including (some in) the European Union, and the European Union decided to respond with tariffs on a number of products,” he said.Targeted U.S. products included bourbon, which since 2018 has been subject to a 25% tariff in Europe.”Crippling,” Gregory said. “This is something we never saw coming.”Tariff troublesAbout 95% of bourbon is made in Kentucky. The $8 billion industry in the state employs more than 20,000 people.Global sales dropped by 35% after the tariffs were imposed, sending a shockwave through the industry. And it was set to get worse. EU tariffs were scheduled to double from 25% to 50% June 1, but the increase is on pause as the Biden administration negotiates a broader trade agreement.”The problem we face right now is, all the whiskey imports coming into the United States are tariff-free for the next four months. Meanwhile, we are facing still 25% on our exports,” said Gregory, who hopes negotiations lead to a return to zero tariffs. “For us, it’s about getting back to free and fair trade. We just want people to sit down at a table and work this thing out.”Until then, Peay is trying to manage the uncertainty the trade war continues to create for his business, which relies on long-term planning.”Even during the challenging year with the pandemic, domestically we’ve had a very strong performance. Internationally, we’ve been decimated because of the trade war,” he told VOA. “The longer it goes on, the more damage it’s going to do.”Distilling whiskey, Peay explained, is a lengthy and costly process. Market certainty is critical.”You don’t want send over product — and this is especially true for a small business like mine — that sits in a warehouse and doesn’t sell, because that’s a lot of money we’ve tied up in producing that whiskey, and there’s no guarantee that’s going to sell,” he said. “How will we get it back here to the United States? We can’t sell it over here (once it’s returned), so it’s very risky to do that.”An end to the dispute with the EU over steel tariffs that led to the bourbon tariffs isn’t clear. Steel groups in the United States support the tariffs, which have helped rekindle a long-languishing industry.Trade cooperation will be on the agenda during President Joe Biden’s first foreign trip, a U.S.-EU summit slated for June in Brussels.
…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced alarm at Russia’s military build up in the Arctic region, at a summit of the Arctic Council in Iceland late Thursday.  
 
“We’re committed to advancing a peaceful Arctic region where cooperation prevails on climate, the environment, science and safety and where sustainable economic development benefits the people of the region,” Blinken told delegates gathered in Reykjavik.
 
Moscow’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, questioned NATO’s motives in deploying bombers and submarines to the area. “Problems linked to the escalation of military-political tension remain, because of foreign troops in Norway and in the Baltic region,” Lavrov said at a press conference after the summit.
 
Russia is also pushing for Arctic states to resume high-level military meetings amid growing tension in the region, a move opposed by Washington.  
 
“It is important to extend the positive relations that we have within the Arctic Council to encompass the military sphere as well,” Lavrov said.  
Annual meetings between armed forces chiefs from Arctic states were halted in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.  
 
Russia assumed the rotating chairmanship of the Arctic Council from Iceland Thursday. The organization, founded in 1996, aims to facilitate dialogue over issues of common interest and has eight members with sovereignty over lands within the Arctic Circle:  Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. The council’s mandate explicitly excludes military matters. Other states, including China, are pushing for official observer status at the forum.
 Arctic expansion
 
Russia has significantly expanded its military bases in the Arctic region in recent years. The Nagurskoye base in Franz Josef Land, Moscow’s northernmost military base, lying just 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole, can handle nuclear-capable strategic bombers.  
 
NATO has also increased its military activity in the Arctic. U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers have been training with Norwegian Air Force F-35A jets in recent months, and the U.S. is building facilities at three Norwegian airfields and a naval base.FILE – A group of soldiers stand near the “Arctic Trefoil” on the Alexandra Land island near Nagurskoye, Russia, May 17, 2021. Once a desolate home mostly to polar bears, it now houses Russia’s northernmost military outpost.The military activity in the Arctic poses an increasing risk, says analyst Katarina Kertysova, a policy fellow at the London-based European Leadership Network.  
 
“In the absence of military-to-military dialogue or an appropriate forum where such concerns could be discussed, the likelihood of miscalculation or misreading of intentions and accidental escalation is growing,” said Kertysova.
 
And the warming climate has opened new shipping routes through the Arctic, alongside new fishing, drilling and mining opportunities. Secretary Blinken urged other council members to oppose Moscow’s plans set maritime rules in the Northern Sea Route, which runs from Norway to Alaska.
 Climate focus
 
Russia says it aims to use its two-year chairmanship to focus on sustainable development, protecting the indigenous communities in the Arctic, and on climate change.
 
Scientists say the Arctic is warming twice as fast as other regions, with dramatic effects. Fires ripped across Siberia amid a summer heatwave in 2020. Melting permafrost was blamed for a huge oil leak in the Russian Arctic. Some 20,000 tons of diesel leaked into lakes and rivers near the northern city of Norilsk in May last year, when a fuel reservoir collapsed at a power plant.
 
“Russia acknowledges that there is a problem,” said Kertysova. “But it really focuses its efforts on the adaptation side, you know, adapting to the physical impacts of climate change rather than mitigating strategies that would address their causes.”FILE – An officer stands near Bastion anti-ship missile systems on the Alexandra Land island near Nagurskoye, Russia, May 17, 2021.US-Russia ties
 
On the sidelines of the summit Wednesday, Secretary Blinken held a bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart, Lavrov. He said the United States seeks a predictable, stable relationship with Russia.
 
“It’s also no secret that we have our differences. And when it comes to those differences, as President Biden has also shared with President Putin, if Russia acts aggressively against us, our partners, our allies, we will respond. And President Biden has demonstrated that in both word and deed, not for purposes of escalation, not to seek conflict, but to defend our interests,” said Blinken.
 
“But having said that, there are many areas where our interests intersect and overlap and we believe that we can work together and indeed build on those interests, whether it is dealing with COVID-19 and the pandemic, combating climate change, dealing with the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, Afghanistan,” he added.
 
Lavrov said Russia was ready to build relations with Washington.  “We have serious differences in the assessment of the international situation, we have serious differences in the approaches to the tasks which have to be solved for its normalization. Our position is very simple: We are ready to discuss all the issues without exception, but under perception that the discussion will be honest, with the facts on the table, and of course on the basis of mutual respect,” Lavrov told reporters.
 
‘We need to cooperate in the areas where our interests match and where we can achieve positive results on either conflict situations or most important on the issues of strategic stability,” he added.
 
A summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, first proposed by Washington, could take place in coming weeks. There has yet to be an official confirmation.
 
…

Officials in Guatemala said Thursday that at least seven people were dead after clashes involving rival gangs escalated into a riot in a western Quetzaltenango state prison.Guatemalan Penitentiary System Director Luis Rodolfo Escobar told reporters the clashes began Wednesday at the prison, in Cantel, about 205 kilometers west of Guatemala City, when one gang learned of the death of the wife of one of its members.Escober said Thursday that security teams had taken control of the prison and were doing a head count to make sure no one had escaped.Police said at least six of the victims from the riot were found beheaded on a patio in the prison. The officials said the prison was built to house 500 prisoners, but The Associated Press reported it currently holds more than 2,000 inmates.Violence in Guatemala prisons is not uncommon as the facilities are notoriously overcrowded and out of date. Meanwhile, gang violence in Guatemala is among the worst in the world. The U.S. State Department recommends that citizens not travel to the country because gang violence and crime are common.Last month, the State Department imposed sanctions on a current member of Guatemala’s congress and a former presidential aide, for corruption.
…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced alarm at Russia’s military build up in the Arctic region, at a summit of the Arctic Council in Iceland late Thursday.  
 
“We’re committed to advancing a peaceful Arctic region where cooperation prevails on climate, the environment, science and safety and where sustainable economic development benefits the people of the region,” Blinken told delegates gathered in Reykjavik.
 
Moscow’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, questioned NATO’s motives in deploying bombers and submarines to the area. “Problems linked to the escalation of military-political tension remain, because of foreign troops in Norway and in the Baltic region,” Lavrov said at a press conference after the summit.
 
Russia is also pushing for Arctic states to resume high-level military meetings amid growing tension in the region, a move opposed by Washington.  
 
“It is important to extend the positive relations that we have within the Arctic Council to encompass the military sphere as well,” Lavrov said.  
Annual meetings between armed forces chiefs from Arctic states were halted in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.  
 
Russia assumed the rotating chairmanship of the Arctic Council from Iceland Thursday. The organization, founded in 1996, aims to facilitate dialogue over issues of common interest and has eight members with sovereignty over lands within the Arctic Circle:  Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. The council’s mandate explicitly excludes military matters. Other states, including China, are pushing for official observer status at the forum.
 Arctic expansion
 
Russia has significantly expanded its military bases in the Arctic region in recent years. The Nagurskoye base in Franz Josef Land, Moscow’s northernmost military base, lying just 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole, can handle nuclear-capable strategic bombers.  
 
NATO has also increased its military activity in the Arctic. U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers have been training with Norwegian Air Force F-35A jets in recent months, and the U.S. is building facilities at three Norwegian airfields and a naval base.FILE – A group of soldiers stand near the “Arctic Trefoil” on the Alexandra Land island near Nagurskoye, Russia, May 17, 2021. Once a desolate home mostly to polar bears, it now houses Russia’s northernmost military outpost.The military activity in the Arctic poses an increasing risk, says analyst Katarina Kertysova, a policy fellow at the London-based European Leadership Network.  
 
“In the absence of military-to-military dialogue or an appropriate forum where such concerns could be discussed, the likelihood of miscalculation or misreading of intentions and accidental escalation is growing,” said Kertysova.
 
And the warming climate has opened new shipping routes through the Arctic, alongside new fishing, drilling and mining opportunities. Secretary Blinken urged other council members to oppose Moscow’s plans set maritime rules in the Northern Sea Route, which runs from Norway to Alaska.
 Climate focus
 
Russia says it aims to use its two-year chairmanship to focus on sustainable development, protecting the indigenous communities in the Arctic, and on climate change.
 
Scientists say the Arctic is warming twice as fast as other regions, with dramatic effects. Fires ripped across Siberia amid a summer heatwave in 2020. Melting permafrost was blamed for a huge oil leak in the Russian Arctic. Some 20,000 tons of diesel leaked into lakes and rivers near the northern city of Norilsk in May last year, when a fuel reservoir collapsed at a power plant.
 
“Russia acknowledges that there is a problem,” said Kertysova. “But it really focuses its efforts on the adaptation side, you know, adapting to the physical impacts of climate change rather than mitigating strategies that would address their causes.”FILE – An officer stands near Bastion anti-ship missile systems on the Alexandra Land island near Nagurskoye, Russia, May 17, 2021.US-Russia ties
 
On the sidelines of the summit Wednesday, Secretary Blinken held a bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart, Lavrov. He said the United States seeks a predictable, stable relationship with Russia.
 
“It’s also no secret that we have our differences. And when it comes to those differences, as President Biden has also shared with President Putin, if Russia acts aggressively against us, our partners, our allies, we will respond. And President Biden has demonstrated that in both word and deed, not for purposes of escalation, not to seek conflict, but to defend our interests,” said Blinken.
 
“But having said that, there are many areas where our interests intersect and overlap and we believe that we can work together and indeed build on those interests, whether it is dealing with COVID-19 and the pandemic, combating climate change, dealing with the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, Afghanistan,” he added.
 
Lavrov said Russia was ready to build relations with Washington.  “We have serious differences in the assessment of the international situation, we have serious differences in the approaches to the tasks which have to be solved for its normalization. Our position is very simple: We are ready to discuss all the issues without exception, but under perception that the discussion will be honest, with the facts on the table, and of course on the basis of mutual respect,” Lavrov told reporters.
 
‘We need to cooperate in the areas where our interests match and where we can achieve positive results on either conflict situations or most important on the issues of strategic stability,” he added.
 
A summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, first proposed by Washington, could take place in coming weeks. There has yet to be an official confirmation.
 
…

Spain, one of the early epicenters the COVID pandemic, has been rushing to get its population vaccinated.  Thirty-three percent now have received at least a first dose.  But aid agencies and advocates estimate many of the country’s one million undocumented migrants are not getting vaccinated because of fear. Jonathan Spier narrates this report from Alfonso Beato in Barcelona.Camera: Alfonso Beato
Video editor: Jonathan Spier
 
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An inquiry into how the BBC secured the 1995 interview with Britain’s Princess Diana in which she disclosed intimate details of her failed marriage concluded on Thursday that the journalist involved had acted deceitfully. The BBC set up the investigation, headed by former senior Court judge John Dyson, in November following allegations from Diana’s brother Charles Spencer that forged documents and “other deceit” were used to trick him to introduce Diana to journalist Martin Bashir. FILE – Martin Bashir, then one of the anchors of the ABC news program ‘Nightline’, taking part in a panel discussion at the ABC television network Summer press tour for television critics in Beverly Hills, California, July 26, 2007. ​Dyson’s report found that Bashir, then a little known reporter, had shown Spencer fake bank statements to induce him to arrange a meeting with Diana. “Mr Bashir acted inappropriately and in serious breach of the 1993 edition of the Producers’ Guidelines on straight dealing,” the report said. He also concluded the BBC had fallen short of “the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark” in its response to allegations of impropriety. During the explosive interview, watched by more than 20 million viewers in Britain, Diana shocked the nation by admitting to an affair and sharing details of her marriage to the heir to the throne, Prince Charles. It came at a nadir for the royal family and was the first time Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997, had made public comments about her doomed marriage. Her remark that “there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded” — a reference to Charles rekindling his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, now his second wife — was particularly damaging to the Windsors. Last week, the BBC announced that Bashir was leaving his current job as the publicly-funded broadcaster’s religious affairs editor because of ill health. Bashir apologized but said he did not believe the faked statements had prompted Diana to give the interview, PA Media reported. Spencer says Bashir had persuaded him to get his sister to agree to the interview by telling him Diana was being bugged by the security services and that two senior aides were being paid to provide information about her. Both Diana’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, have welcomed the investigation as a chance to find out the truth of what had happened. “While the BBC cannot turn back the clock after a quarter of a century, we can make a full and unconditional apology. The BBC offers that today,” BBC director-general, Tim Davie, said in a statement. 
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