Colombian President Ivan Duque said on Tuesday the government is ready for national dialogue after days of protests led to over 20 deaths and international concern about excessive use of force by police.The protests, set to continue on Wednesday, were originally called in opposition to the government’s now-canceled tax reform plan but have become a broad cry for action against poverty and what demonstrators and advocacy groups say is police violence.All Colombians should work to reject violence, protect the most vulnerable and support COVID-19 vaccination and economic reactivation, Duque said in a video.”I want to announce that we will create a space to listen to citizens and construct solutions oriented toward those goals, where our most profound patriotism, and not political differences, should intercede,” Duque said.Colombian President Ivan Duque holds a press conference with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Italian Filippo Grandi in Bogota on Feb. 8, 2021.Duque’s promise echoed the 2019 creation of a so-called national dialogue after days of anti-government protests.Civil society groups, especially major unions, have said the government has not lived up to those promises and has done little to change deep inequalities in the Andean country.Mass marches and a national strike are planned for Wednesday, where demonstrators will call for a basic income guarantee, the withdrawal of a government health reform proposal and the dissolution of the ESMAD riot police.Duque responded to allegations of police overreach and rejected attacks on officers.”To those who work for the security of Colombians: all our support, and at the same time, all our expectation.”The national police force has said it will investigate more than two dozen allegations of brutality, while the defense minister has accused illegal armed groups of infiltrating the protests to cause violence.The western city of Cali has become the focus of protests since they began almost a week ago and is the site of 11 of the 19 deaths confirmed by the Andean country’s human rights ombudsman as of Monday. Local authorities said five more people were killed during protests there Monday night.Some 87 people have been reported missing nationally since the protests started, according to the ombudsman.Intermittent road blockades are delaying shipments out of the Pacific port city of Buenaventura, according to local authorities.The United Nation’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights urged calm, saying it was “deeply alarmed” by reports of police shootings.The European Union also called for security forces to avoid a heavy-handed response.Protests have so far led to the withdrawal of the original tax reform and the resignation of Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla. The government said the reform, which originally levied sales tax on public services and some food, would shore up the economy.Duque has said his government will draw up another proposal after consultations with lawmakers, civil society and businesses.New Finance Minister Jose Manuel Restrepo will need to convince Colombians, many of whom have seen their incomes battered by coronavirus lockdowns, that reform is vital, former Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas told the Reuters Global Markets Forum on Tuesday.Restrepo “has a huge challenge ahead” Cardenas said.Duque has offered military assistance to protect infrastructure and guarantee access to essential services, though mayors of cities including Bogota and Medellin said it was unnecessary.Duque on Tuesday canceled his nightly television show for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, and the protests forced the South American Football Confederation to move two Copa Libertadores games to Paraguay.
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Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G-7) industrialized nations are meeting in London this week, with climate change, Russia and China among the challenges topping the agenda. It is the first face-to-face G-7 meeting in two years, after the coronavirus pandemic forced the Pittsburgh 2020 foreign ministers’ meeting to be held via video link. Russia was ejected from what was then the G-8 in 2014, after its forceful annexation of Crimea.  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday condemned Moscow’s recent deployment of troops on Ukraine’s border. “We are focused very much on Russia’s actions and what course it chooses to take,” Blinken told reporters in London. “President Biden has been very clear for a long time, including before he was president, that if Russia chooses to act recklessly or aggressively, we’ll respond. But we are not looking to escalate. We would prefer to have a more stable, more predictable relationship.” FILE – Chinese staffers adjust U.S. and Chinese flags before a session of negotiations between U.S. and Chinese trade representatives, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, in Beijing, China, Feb. 14, 2019.China challenge The secretary of state also addressed the challenge posed by China. “It is not our purpose to try to contain China or to hold China down,” said Blinken. “What we are trying to do is to uphold the international rules-based order that our countries have invested so much in over so many decades to the benefit, I would argue, not just of our own citizens but of people around the world, including, by the way, China.”  Chinese state media accused the United States on Tuesday of “deliberately hyping up the so-called ‘China threat”’ and attempting to “sow discord between China and the world.” But the G-7 is simply upholding the principles enshrined at its foundation in 1975, said analyst John Kirton of the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto. Its aim was “to protect within its own members, and promote globally, the values of open democracy and individual liberty. They were very much threatened by an expanding Russia above all in 1975. And they’re still threatened by Russia today, but also China and other authoritarian regimes,” said Kirton.  Britain, which is hosting the meeting, as it holds the rotating presidency of the G-7, also invited foreign ministers from Australia, India, South Africa and South Korea to the talks, a demonstration of London’s focus on the Indo-Pacific region, Kirton said. “What we are seeing is the birth of a broader democratic family. And if they’re willing to put their countries’ names on paper alongside the democratic seven, the G-7 itself, that will be an even more powerful signal,” he noted. FILE – U.S. soldiers load onto a U.S. military plane as they leave Afghanistan, at the U.S. base in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, July 14, 2011.Global conflicts   G-7 foreign ministers also discussed a coordinated response to the military coup in Myanmar and the violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests.   The U.S. and NATO pullout from Afghanistan, which began this month, was also on the agenda. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab denied reports U.S. allies felt ignored by Washington regarding the decision to withdraw. “We’ve had very good consultation on this, and we continue that,” Raab told reporters Monday. “We certainly see the priority is protecting our troops in the period between now and September, making sure that we preserve the ability to deal with counterterrorism, that the gains that were hard-won in Afghanistan are not lost, and also ultimately promoting dialogue and a peace process that benefits all Afghans and leaves Afghanistan as stable as possible, as inclusive as possible.”   The European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell updated delegates on negotiations with Iran over the future of the 2015 nuclear deal, which the Biden administration is considering rejoining.  “I had the opportunity to talk with my colleagues about the situation of the negotiations of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), the nuclear deal with Iran, sharing with Secretary of State Blinken the situation of these negotiations, which are difficult but going on, and from Friday, we’ll start a new round of these negotiations,” Borrell said Tuesday. A patient collapses as she is rushed on a cycle rickshaw outside a Gurudwara (Sikh Temple), which provides free oxygen to patients amid COVID-19 surge in Ghaziabad, India.Pandemic response G-7 foreign ministers also discussed the coronavirus pandemic and issued a statement calling for the recovery to focus on women’s employment and girls’ education. The ministers pledged to invest $15 billion in the next two years to help women in developing countries find jobs, build sustainable businesses and weather the “devastating” economic effects of COVID-19.   “They will also sign up to new global targets to get 40 million more girls into school and 20 million more girls reading by the age of 10 in low and lower middle-income countries by 2026,” the statement said.   Campaigners are calling on the G-7 to ensure that poorer countries get access to coronavirus vaccines. The United Nations says close to 90% of all vaccines administered worldwide have gone to richer nations. The response to the pandemic will be a focus when Britain hosts the G-7 leaders’ summit in June, set to be Joe Biden’s first overseas visit as U.S. president. 
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the Group of 7 industrialized nations have vowed to end the 10-year civil war in Syria. My @G7 counterparts and I reaffirmed our commitment to a political resolution for ending the conflict in Syria,” Blinken tweeted as he and other G-7 members attended their first in-person meetings in two years. My U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is greeted on arrival by Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab at the start of the G-7 foreign ministers meeting in London, Britain, May 4, 2021. (Ben Stansall/Pool via Reuters)Blinken met with Raab on Monday and said regarding China the goal is not to “try to contain China or to hold China down.” “What we are trying to do is to uphold the international rules-based order that our countries have invested so much in over so many decades to the benefit, I would argue not just of our own citizens, but of people around the world including, by the way, China,” Blinken told reporters.  Raab said the United States and Britain are also looking for constructive ways to work with China “in a sensible and positive manner” on issues including climate change when possible.    U.S. President Joe Biden has identified competition with China as his administration’s greatest foreign policy challenge. In his first speech to Congress last week, he pledged to maintain a strong U.S. military presence in the Indo-Pacific and boost U.S. technological development.     Last month, Blinken said the United States was concerned about China’s aggressive actions against Taiwan and warned it would be a “serious mistake” for anyone to try to change the status quo in the western Pacific by force.   Elsewhere in the region, the United States said it is ready to engage diplomatically with North Korea to achieve the ultimate goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, following the completion of a months-long U.S. policy review on North Korea.    “What we have now is a policy that calls for a calibrated practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy with North Korea, to try to make practical progress that increases the security of the United States, our allies and our deployed forces,” Blinken said Monday.     Raab said Britain and the United States “share the strategic paradigm,” and both countries will support each other’s efforts.    On Friday, the Biden administration announced it completed the review of North Korean policy, expressing openness to talks with the reclusive communist nation. Biden is also expected to appoint a special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.    North Korea lashed out at the United States and its allies on Sunday in a series of statements, saying recent comments from Washington are proof of a hostile policy.  North Korea Slams Biden’s New Approach to DiplomacyUS policy remains ‘hostile,’ North says A statement by Kwon Jong Gun, head of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s North America Department, warns that Pyongyang would seek “corresponding measures” and that if Washington tries to approach relations with Pyongyang through “outdated and old-school policies” from the perspective of the Cold War, it will face an increasingly unaffordable crisis in the near future.    “I hope that North Korea will take the opportunity to engage diplomatically and to see if there are ways to move forward toward the objective of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. And so, we will look to see not only what North Korea says but what it actually does in the coming days and months,” the top U.S. diplomat added.    Blinken’s remarks followed his separate meetings with Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, where the foreign ministers pledged U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral cooperation toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.  The G-7 ministerial talks are laying the foundation for a summit of leaders from those countries in June, also in Britain.          In addition to Britain and the United States, the G-7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Australia, India, South Africa, South Korea and Brunei are also taking part in this week’s talks.      After the G-7 meetings, Blinken is scheduled to travel to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other senior government officials.      State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that Blinken will “reaffirm unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression.”Chris Hannas   contributed to this report. 
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Foreign ministers representing the Group of 7 industrialized nations have a busy day of meetings Tuesday in London discussing a range of world issues, including relations with China and Russia, the coup in Myanmar, the Syrian conflict, and the situation in Afghanistan. Britain’s foreign office said in Tuesday’s sessions Foreign Secretary Dominic Rabb “will lead discussions on pressing geopolitical issues that threaten to undermine democracy, freedoms and human rights.” Raab said the talks are “an opportunity to bring together open, democratic societies and demonstrate unity at a time when it is much needed to tackle shared challenges and rising threats.” He is expected to urge G-7 members to sanction individuals and entities connected to Myanmar’s military junta, to support arms embargoes and to boost humanitarian aid to the people of Myanmar. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Raab on Monday and said regarding China the goal is not to “try to contain China or to hold China down.” “What we are trying to do is to uphold the international rules-based order that our countries have invested so much in over so many decades to the benefit, I would argue not just of our own citizens, but of people around the world including, by the way, China,” Blinken told reporters.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, walks with Dominic Raab, Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs into Downing Street ahead of a press conference at No 9 Downing Street in London, May 3, 2021.Raab said the United States and Britain are also looking for constructive ways to work with China “in a sensible and positive manner” on issues including climate change when possible.   U.S. President Joe Biden has identified competition with China as his administration’s greatest foreign policy challenge. In his first speech to Congress last week, he pledged to maintain a strong U.S. military presence in the Indo-Pacific and boost U.S. technological development.     Last month, Blinken said the United States was concerned about China’s aggressive actions against Taiwan and warned it would be a “serious mistake” for anyone to try to change the status quo in the western Pacific by force.   Elsewhere in the region, the United States said it is ready to engage diplomatically with North Korea to achieve the ultimate goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, following the completion of a months-long U.S. policy review on North Korea.  “What we have now is a policy that calls for a calibrated practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy with North Korea, to try to make practical progress that increases the security of the United States, our allies and our deployed forces,” Blinken said Monday.     Raab said Britain and the United States “share the strategic paradigm,” and both countries will support each other’s efforts.  On Friday, the Biden administration announced it completed the review of North Korean policy, expressing openness to talks with the reclusive communist nation. Biden is also expected to appoint a special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.  North Korea lashed out at the United States and its allies on Sunday in a series of statements, saying recent comments from Washington are proof of a hostile policy.    A statement by Kwon Jong Gun, head of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s North America Department, warns that Pyongyang would seek “corresponding measures” and that if Washington tries to approach relations with Pyongyang through “outdated and old-school policies” from the perspective of the Cold War, it will face an increasingly unaffordable crisis in the near future.    “I hope that North Korea will take the opportunity to engage diplomatically and to see if there are ways to move forward toward the objective of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. And so, we will look to see not only what North Korea says but what it actually does in the coming days and months,” the top U.S. diplomat added.  Blinken’s remarks followed his separate meetings with Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, where the foreign ministers pledged U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral cooperation toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.  The G-7 ministerial talks are laying the foundation for a summit of leaders from those countries in June, also in Britain.    In addition to Britain and the United States, the G-7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Australia, India, South Africa, South Korea and Brunei are also taking part in this week’s talks.       After the G-7 meetings, Blinken is scheduled to travel to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other senior government officials.    State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that Blinken will “reaffirm unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression.” 
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An elevated section of the Mexico City metro collapsed and sent a subway car plunging toward a busy boulevard late Monday, killing at least 23 people and injuring about 70, city officials said. Rescuers searched a car left dangling from the overpass for hours for anyone who might be trapped.Those efforts were suspended early Tuesday, however, because of safety concerns for those working near the precariously dangling car. A crane was brought in to help shore it up.“We don’t know if they are alive,” Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said of the people possibly trapped inside the car following one of the deadliest accidents in the city’s subway system, which is among the busiest in the world.Rescuers work at a site where an overpass for a metro partially collapsed with train cars on it at Olivos station in Mexico City, Mexico, May 3, 2021.Rescue efforts were briefly interrupted at midnight because the partially dangling train was “very weak.” “We don’t know if they are alive,” Sheinbaum said of the people possibly trapped inside the subway car. Hundreds of police officers and firefighters cordoned off the scene as desperate friends and relatives of people believed to be on the trains gathered outside the security perimeter. Oscar López, 26, was searching for his friend, Adriana Salas, 26. Six months pregnant, she was riding the subway home from her work as a dentist when her phone stopped answering around the time the accident occurred. “We lost contact with her, at 10:50 p.m., there was literally no more contact,” López said. With little information and a still serious coronavirus situation in Mexico City, López said “they are not telling us anything, and people are just crowding together.” The collapse occurred on the newest of the Mexico City subway’s lines, Line 12, which stretches far into the city’s southside. Like many of the city’s dozen subway lines, it runs underground through more central areas of the city of 9 million, but then runs on elevated, pre-formed concrete structures on the city’s outskirts. The collapse could represent a major blow for Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, who was Mexico City’s mayor from 2006 to 2012, when Line 12 was built. Allegations about poor design and construction on the subway line emerged soon after Ebrard left office as mayor. The line had to be partly closed in 2013 so tracks could be repaired. Ebrard wrote on Twitter: “What happened today on the Metro is a terrible tragedy.” “Of course, the causes should be investigated and those responsible should be identified,” he wrote. “I repeat that I am entirely at the disposition of authorities to contribute in whatever way is necessary.” Rescuers transport an injured person on a stretcher at a site where an overpass for a metro partially collapsed with train cars on it at Olivos station in Mexico City, Mexico, May 3, 2021.It was not clear whether a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in 2017 could have affected the subway line. The Mexico City Metro, one of the largest and busiest in the world, has had at least two serious accidents since its inauguration half a century ago. In March of last year, a collision between two trains at the Tacubaya station left one passenger dead and injured 41 people. In 2015, a train that did not stop on time crashed into another at the Oceania station, injuring 12 people. 
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With COVID-19 restrictions easing as new infections decrease in Italy, the Vatican has reopened the majestic doors of its art-filled museums this week to the public. The relaxation of restrictions in place since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy last year has brought good news to the museums and to art lovers who are now able to return after a two-month lockdown.But the museums will not be seeing the crowds of the past for some time.For now, all access to the museums will strictly require booking a specific time slot.  Limited numbers will be allowed in for all time slots available and all those who enter the museums will have their temperature checked at the entrance. All staff working at the Vatican Museums have been vaccinated. A maximum number of 400 visitors will be allowed into the museums every 30 minutes so as to maintain social distancing. Masks are mandatory both inside and in the Vatican gardens.Barbara Jatta, Director of the Vatican Museums, is enthusiastic about the re-opening and eager to welcome visitors back to enjoy the masterpieces that have found a home here. She said that museums are a way to nourish people’s souls.She said this is the time to come to the Vatican Museums, because they are totally safe to visit and without that flow of people that existed in previous years.Gianni Crea, the museum “clavigero”, shows keys to the Vatican Museums following its reopening after weeks of closure, as COVID-19 restrictions ease, at the Vatican, May 3, 2021.With limited foreign travel still and few tourists in the Eternal City, it is mainly Italians at this time who are booking to visit.Antonio, a Rome resident, said he has been wanting to come for a long time and so immediately seized the opportunity. He added that he is delighted and looks forward to the visit.During the closures caused by the pandemic, the only way to see the works in the museums was through free virtual online tours on the museums’ website.  During the closure, staff used the opportunity to carry out maintenance work and improve both its digital services and security.As Italy this year marks 700 years of the death of its famous 14-th century poet, the museums are featuring a special exhibit on Dante Alighieri titled “Dante in the Vatican Museums.”Pre-pandemic, close to an estimated seven million visitors a year visit the Vatican Museums with their magnificent frescoed ceiling of “The Last Judgement” by Renaissance artist Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, its passageway and galleries and the Vatican Gardens. 
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An elevated section of the Mexico City metro collapsed and sent a subway car plunging toward a busy boulevard late Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring about 70, city officials said. A crane was working to hold up one subway car left dangling on the collapsed section so that emergency workers could enter to check the car to see if anyone was still trapped. Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said 49 of the injured were hospitalized, and that seven were in serious condition and undergoing surgery. Sheinbaum said a motorist had been pulled alive from a car that was trapped on the roadway below. Dozens of rescuers continued searching through wreckage from the collapsed, preformed concrete structure. “There are unfortunately children among the dead,” Sheinbaum said, without specifying how many. , The overpass was about 5 meters (16 feet) above the road in the southside borough of Tlahuac, but the train ran above a concrete median strip, which apparently lessened the casualties among motorists on the roadway below. “A support beam gave way,” Sheinbaum said, adding that the beam collapsed just as the train passed over it. Rescue efforts were briefly interrupted at midnight because the partially dangling train was “very weak.” “We don’t know if they are alive,” Sheinbaum said of the people possibly trapped inside the subway car. Hundreds of police officers and firefighters cordoned off the scene as desperate friends and relatives of people believed to be on the trains gathered outside the security perimeter. Oscar López, 26, was searching for his friend, Adriana Salas, 26. Six months pregnant, she was riding the subway home from her work as a dentist when her phone stopped answering around the time the accident occurred. “We lost contact with her, at 10:50 p.m., there was literally no more contact,” López said. With little information and a still serious coronavirus situation in Mexico City, López said “they are not telling us anything, and people are just crowding together.” The collapse occurred on the newest of the Mexico City subway’s lines, Line 12, which stretches far into the city’s southside. Like many of the city’s dozen subway lines, it runs underground through more central areas of the city of 9 million, but then runs on elevated, pre-formed concrete structures on the city’s outskirts. The collapse could represent a major blow for Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, who was Mexico City’s mayor from 2006 to 2012, when Line 12 was built. Allegations about poor design and construction on the subway line emerged soon after Ebrard left office as mayor. The line had to be partly closed in 2013 so tracks could be repaired. Ebrard wrote on Twitter: “What happened today on the Metro is a terrible tragedy.” “Of course, the causes should be investigated and those responsible should be identified,” he wrote. “I repeat that I am entirely at the disposition of authorities to contribute in whatever way is necessary.” It was not clear whether a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in 2017 could have affected the subway line. The Mexico City Metro, one of the largest and busiest in the world, has had at least two serious accidents since its inauguration half a century ago. In March of last year, a collision between two trains at the Tacubaya station left one passenger dead and injured 41 people. In 2015, a train that did not stop on time crashed into another at the Oceania station, injuring 12 people. 
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Foreign ministers representing the Group of 7 industrialized nations have a busy day of meetings Tuesday in London discussing a range of world issues, including relations with China and Russia, the coup in Myanmar, the Syrian conflict, and the situation in Afghanistan. Britain’s foreign office said in Tuesday’s sessions Foreign Secretary Dominic Rabb “will lead discussions on pressing geopolitical issues that threaten to undermine democracy, freedoms and human rights.” Raab said the talks are “an opportunity to bring together open, democratic societies and demonstrate unity at a time when it is much needed to tackle shared challenges and rising threats.” He is expected to urge G-7 members to sanction individuals and entities connected to Myanmar’s military junta, to support arms embargoes and to boost humanitarian aid to the people of Myanmar. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Raab on Monday and said regarding China the goal is not to “try to contain China or to hold China down.” “What we are trying to do is to uphold the international rules-based order that our countries have invested so much in over so many decades to the benefit, I would argue not just of our own citizens, but of people around the world including, by the way, China,” Blinken told reporters.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, walks with Dominic Raab, Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs into Downing Street ahead of a press conference at No 9 Downing Street in London, May 3, 2021.Raab said the United States and Britain are also looking for constructive ways to work with China “in a sensible and positive manner” on issues including climate change when possible.   U.S. President Joe Biden has identified competition with China as his administration’s greatest foreign policy challenge. In his first speech to Congress last week, he pledged to maintain a strong U.S. military presence in the Indo-Pacific and boost U.S. technological development.     Last month, Blinken said the United States was concerned about China’s aggressive actions against Taiwan and warned it would be a “serious mistake” for anyone to try to change the status quo in the western Pacific by force.   Elsewhere in the region, the United States said it is ready to engage diplomatically with North Korea to achieve the ultimate goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, following the completion of a months-long U.S. policy review on North Korea.  “What we have now is a policy that calls for a calibrated practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy with North Korea, to try to make practical progress that increases the security of the United States, our allies and our deployed forces,” Blinken said Monday.     Raab said Britain and the United States “share the strategic paradigm,” and both countries will support each other’s efforts.  On Friday, the Biden administration announced it completed the review of North Korean policy, expressing openness to talks with the reclusive communist nation. Biden is also expected to appoint a special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.  North Korea lashed out at the United States and its allies on Sunday in a series of statements, saying recent comments from Washington are proof of a hostile policy.    A statement by Kwon Jong Gun, head of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s North America Department, warns that Pyongyang would seek “corresponding measures” and that if Washington tries to approach relations with Pyongyang through “outdated and old-school policies” from the perspective of the Cold War, it will face an increasingly unaffordable crisis in the near future.    “I hope that North Korea will take the opportunity to engage diplomatically and to see if there are ways to move forward toward the objective of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. And so, we will look to see not only what North Korea says but what it actually does in the coming days and months,” the top U.S. diplomat added.  Blinken’s remarks followed his separate meetings with Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, where the foreign ministers pledged U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral cooperation toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.  The G-7 ministerial talks are laying the foundation for a summit of leaders from those countries in June, also in Britain.    In addition to Britain and the United States, the G-7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Australia, India, South Africa, South Korea and Brunei are also taking part in this week’s talks.       After the G-7 meetings, Blinken is scheduled to travel to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other senior government officials.    State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that Blinken will “reaffirm unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression.” 
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Colombia’s finance minister resigned on Monday following five days of protests over a tax reform proposal that left at least 17 dead.Alberto Carrasquilla’s resignation comes a day after President Ivan Duque withdrew the tax plan from congress in response to the protests, which have included riots and violent clashes with police.According to Colombia’s human rights ombudsman, 16 protesters have been killed since Wednesday as well as a policeman who was stabbed to death.Carrasquilla had designed the tax reform, which was aimed at raising $6.7 billion for Colombia’s government as it struggles to pay debts while attempting to provide poor families with subsidies to mitigate the pandemic’s impact.The finance minister’s plan included a 19% sales tax on gasoline as well as an effort to expand the country’s tax base by charging income taxes to people making $700 a month or more.Carrasquilla had also proposed a 19% sales tax on utilities in middle-class neighborhoods, and a wealth tax for individuals with a net worth of $1.3 million or more.The government said it needs the money to pay for health care improvements and to continue implementing a basic income scheme that started during the pandemic.But the tax plan was rejected by most political parties, which are currently preparing for elections in 2021, and had also angered unions, student groups and small-business leaders whose incomes have been affected by the pandemic. Protesters asked the government to raise corporate taxes and decrease military spending instead of taxing the middle class.Sergio Guzmán, a political analyst in Bogota, said Carrasquilla’s resignation could “embolden” protesters to stay in the streets until the government meets other demands such as reforming the police or stopping plans to fumigate illegal coca crops with a chemical that could cause cancer. He pointed out that Colombia’s president now has few options but to start negotiations over taxes with different political and social groups.”The problem is that Duque has little credibility now,” Guzmán said.Colombia’s president on Sunday encouraged politicians to come together and design another tax plan.”Withdrawing this tax reform or not is not what should be debated,” Duque said in a nationally televised speech. “The real debate is how to guarantee the continuation of social programs.” 
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A medical report on the death of Diego Maradona given to prosecutors Monday said the Argentine soccer legend agonized for more than 12 hours, did not receive adequate treatment and could still be alive if he had been properly hospitalized.The medical panel worked for two months on the report, which was written by more than 20 doctors. Maradona, who led Argentina to a 1986 World Cup, is considered one of the greatest soccer players ever.The document further complicates the defense of seven people under investigation in the case, including brain surgeon Leopoldo Luque and psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, both of whom worked for Maradona.The 60-year-old Maradona died of a heart attack at a rented residence outside Buenos Aires following a November 3 brain operation.The medical report said, “the patient’s signs of risk of life were ignored,” adding that Maradona “showed unequivocal signs of a prolonged agony period” of at least 12 hours.The document also said the attention Maradona was getting at the rented house “did not fulfill the minimum requirements” for a patient with his medical history. It said the Argentine star would not have died with “adequate hospitalization.”Maradona had suffered a series of medical problems, some the result of excesses of drugs and alcohol. He was reportedly near death in 2000 and 2004.Julio Rivas, a lawyer for Luque, said he will try to annul the medical forensics of the report.”They have made a biased report, a bad one, with no scientific foundation,” he said.
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France’s centrist government has released a video ahead of Wednesday’s vote on the so-called Climate and Resilience bill, with Ecological Transition Minister Barbara Pompili explaining how it will lead to cleaner air, more insulated buildings and a greener France overall.Polls find many French citizens support the spirit of the massive legislation, which aims to meet the country’s goal of cutting greenhouse gases by 40% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. A recent report by the EU’s climate service found 2020 was Europe’s hottest year on record, and the region was warming faster than the rest of the world.The French bill’s dozens of measures include limiting the most polluting vehicles in urban areas, slapping ecotaxes on truck transport, banning heated restaurant terraces and capping rent on insulated housing.The National Assembly is expected to pass the legislation before it heads to the Senate.But the bill is deeply controversial, with industry saying it’s too constraining, and green groups saying it doesn’t go far enough.Graffiti near the Place de la Bastille in Paris calling for climate action. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)Chloe Gerbier, legal officer for environmental NGO Notre Affaire a Tous (Our Shared Responsibility), said the legislation in no way meets the urgency of the climate crisis. She and others said it drastically waters down proposals made by a citizens’ climate convention set up by President Emmanuel Macron.Earlier wording in the bill, for example, that made serious environmental abuses a crime now tags them as lesser misdemeanors. Green groups also want a bigger category of short-haul domestic flights banned in favor of train transport.France’s airline industry, hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, doesn’t want any flight bans. Nicolas Paulissen, managing director of the Union of French Airports, says it doesn’t make sense to penalize French airlines, when much of the industry’s growth is happening in Africa and Asia.Paris climate protesters before France’s rolling coronavirus lockdowns. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)“We do rather believe in the greening of aviation through technological innovation, for instance, and that’s why we encourage the French government to finance the research for new technologies allowing the aviation to be greener than in the future,” Paulissen said.Pompili acknowledges a slew of criticism, but says the legislation is balancing sharply opposing interests to bring everyone on board.Earlier this year, a Paris court convicted the French state of failing to address the climate crisis and for not keeping its promises to tackle greenhouses emissions. The government is appealing the ruling. 
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“All changed, changed utterly,” Ireland’s WB Yeats once lamented in a poem. Being caught between the past and something as yet undefined being born is indeed discomfiting. Everything is familiar yet different. Yeats came to mind during my two-day journey this month back to my European home from the United States.I am not sure I want to repeat the experience.The halcyon pre-COVID days of international travel are over — at least for the time being, and maybe for longer than we are willing to accept.“I call it COVID-crazy,” a JetBlue pilot lamented the night before I flew out from New York’s JFK airport. He agreed with President Joe Biden’s recent remark that the U.S. is on the move again — but he had a different perspective on it.Many shops at New York’s JFK airport remain shuttered but some outlets are trying to drum up business. (Jamie Dettmer/VOA)“There are a lot of people traveling who don’t normally travel and don’t now how to behave. There were fisticuffs at my gate today,” he added. Apparently passengers were over-keen to board first so they could grab seats near the front, presumably so they could be among the first to disembark at the destination.Airport hotels have seen a surge in bookings the past month. The Hilton hotel at JFK is running at around 50 percent occupancy during the week and is fully booked at weekends. “People just want to travel,” a receptionist told me.But while domestic U.S. travel may be picking up now that isn’t the case yet with international travel. The EU still has a ban in place for leisure travel form the U.S., although several south European countries are planning re-opening for vaccinated American tourists.America is on the move — domestic travel is picking up at New York’s JFK airport. (Jamie Dettmer/VOA)The upside to my journey from the wilds of West Virginia to Rome was in fact the scarcity of other passengers. The Airbus was empty. The downside was virtually everything else, including the form-filling and database registrations to enter New York, the European Union and Italy.I had opted for a so-called COVID-safety flight to Rome with Delta Air Lines from New York, which meant I wouldn’t have to endure a period of quarantine on arrival. But that entailed having three COVID tests: a PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before departure at a cost of $220, a rapid antigen test taken no more than 4.5 hours before boarding, and then another antigen test on arrival at Rome’s  airport.With complicated pandemic restrictions international flights remain empty. (Jamie Dettmer/VOA)The journey also involved carrying more paperwork than I recall having to have in past times when entering the document-obsessed Soviet Union or any of its equally guarded communist satellites in Central Europe. At JFK airport we all struggled — passengers and staff included — with the forms and database requirements.The EU’s passenger locator form, which had to be completed online, challenged everyone’s efforts to tell the truth. The database gleefully rejected passport numbers and the details of residency cards and driving licenses. Phone numbers and addresses were also blocked routinely for being erroneous. Head-scratching Italians and non-Italians, baffled residents and non-residents alike, were all stumped by a computer that just wanted to say, “no.”Rome’s airport remains deserted and silent. (Jamie Dettmer/VOA)In the end as the line of desperate passengers became ever more agitated we struck on the idea that we needed to be economical with the truth and offer anything we could come up with to coax affirmative reactions. The struggle with the malfunctioning database doesn’t augur well for when (and if) the EU’s fractious member states strike an agreement on digital vaccine passports, something that has so far eluded them.Everyone had their own story to tell about why they were traveling — from work demands to celebrating a landmark birthday of an elderly relative who they hadn’t seen for more than a year. Retirees who had bought houses just before the pandemic had lost patience with a long delay to their carefully planned post-work lives.Others had more immediately gloomy reasons for the trip. “I am trying to get to Sardinia to see my 89-year-old mom before she dies from COVID,” confided Carmella, a dark-haired Italian woman. She only just made the flight having to secure a hurried PCR test and a rapid antigen test at the same time at the gate.With few arriving passengers at Rome’s airport, taxi and limousine drivers are disconsolate. (Jamie Dettmer/VOA)On arrival Rome’s normally crowded airport was eerily deserted and silent. The process for our rapid antigen tests took about an hour — and there was yet another encounter with a database, this time a trouble-free one run by the regional Lazio health authority. In the immigration hall, bored officials almost competed for the few passengers to process. Outside in the bright sunshine we were heavily outnumbered by taxi drivers anxiously touting for a fare.Not the end yetItalians — especially those in the hospitality and tourism sectors — are desperate for foreign travel to start up again. But while the average number of cases and deaths reported each day has fallen the last few weeks, with infections 35% of the peak reported in November, the country is still struggling to finish with a devastating third wave of infections.A view of the Alitalia check-in counter at Fiumicino International Airport as talks between Italy and the European Commission over the revamp of Alitalia are due to enter a key phase, in Rome, Italy, April 15, 2021.Italian authorities reported 144 coronavirus-related deaths Sunday with a daily tally of new infections of 9,148. That is down from the day before when more than 12,000 new cases were reported. Hardly surprisingly authorities are highly cautious. Italy has registered 121,177 deaths linked to COVID-19 since the pandemic’s outbreak last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the seventh highest in the world.The coalition government led by Mario Draghi has begun relaxing some of its pandemic restrictions after a stringent lockdown over Easter, but not for well regions. The rate of infections still remains stubbornly high in the south of the country and six regions, including Calabria and Puglia, remain under lockdowns, being deemed red zones.And despite protests and lobbying by cash-strapped tourism-related businesses, the government has so far refused to relax strict rules on international travel and other trips deemed non-essential.A near empty bar is seen in Capri, a southern Italian island that relies heavily on foreign tourism, despite the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions in much of the country, April 27, 2021.An ordinance last month extended quarantine requirements for travelers arriving from other EU countries and tightened the rules on people arriving from the pandemic-hit Indian sub-continent.Government ministers say they hope to allow tourism to resume by early next month, but they stress it will all depend on the progress of the vaccination campaign, which as in the rest of the EU has been sluggish.The risks of international travel remain clear. While all the passengers from my U.S. flight proved negative on arrival, that wasn’t the case last week with two flights from India. On Wednesday, 23 passengers on a flight from New Delhi tested positive on arrival and on Thursday 30 passengers and two crew members tested positive from an Air India flight from Amritsar.Italy has now tightened restrictions on all travel from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Under the new rules, only Italian citizens who live permanently in Italy are allowed to enter from any of the three countries. Previously foreign nationals resident in Italy had also been allowed to return.And anyone allowed to enter from those three countries must now spend ten days in a so-called “COVID hotel” where they are monitored by local health authorities. 
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in London for talks with his counterparts from G-7 nations, with the coronavirus pandemic, Russia and China among likely agenda items during three days of formal meetings and side discussions. Iran and North Korea, two nations whose nuclear programs have been the focus of negotiations in recent years, are set to be discussed at a working welcome dinner Monday night. South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Monday he was “grateful to have this opportunity to have in-depth discussions with the U.S. after the conclusion of your policy review towards North Korea,” as he met with Blinken. On Friday, the Biden administration announced a strategy toward North Korea that expresses openness to talks with the reclusive communist nation.US readout of meeting between Yael Lempert, Charge d’Affaires of the US embassy, left, and John Holloway, UK representative from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office greet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, in northeast of London on May 2, 2021.Britain’s Foreign Office said Raab and Blinken would be consulting on Afghanistan, Iran, China and trade in their meeting. The G-7 ministerial talks are laying the foundation for a summit of leaders from those countries in June, also in Britain. The U.S. State Department said this week’s meetings would be a chance to discuss “advancing economic growth, human rights, food security, gender equality, and women’s and girls’ empowerment.” In addition to Britain and the United States, the G-7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Australia, India, South Africa, South Korea and Brunei are also taking part in this week’s talks. After the G-7 meetings, Blinken is due to travel to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other senior government officials.  State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that Blinken will “reaffirm unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression.” 
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Germany has shut down “one of the biggest darknet child pornography platforms in the world” and arrested four of its members, authorities said on Monday.
 
In a series of raids in mid-April, German police arrested three men between the ages of 40 and 64 while and another suspect was detained in Paraguay on the request of German authorities, Frankfurt prosecutors said in a joint statement with the Federal Criminal Police Office.
 
The website, known as “Boystown,” world’s largest for child pornography with more than 400,000 users, had existed since at least mid-2019. It was “set up for the worldwide exchange of child pornography, in particular images of the abuse of boys,” the statement said.
 
The darknet forum allowed users to communicate with others and share graphic image and video content which included “serious sexual abuse of toddlers.”
 
A German police task force, in coordination with Europol and supported by law enforcement authorities from the United States, Canada, Australia, Netherlands and Sweden, had investigated the “Boystown” platform, its administrators and users for months.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in London for talks with his counterparts from G-7 nations, with the coronavirus pandemic, Russia and China among likely agenda items during two days of formal meetings and side discussions. Iran and North Korea, two nations whose nuclear programs have been the focus of negotiations in recent years, are set to be discussed at a working welcome dinner Monday night. Blinken’s sideline meetings Monday include talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, Bruneian Foreign Minister II Dato Erywan Yusof, Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishanka and British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. “It was eight years ago that the U.K. (United Kingdom), our indispensable Ally, last hosted the G-7 Presidency,” Blinken tweeted after arriving in Britain. “It’s good to be back among partners and allies for these discussions.”Yael Lempert, Charge d’Affaires of the US embassy, left, and John Holloway, UK representative from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office greet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, in northeast of London on May 2, 2021.Britain’s Foreign Office said Raab and Blinken would be consulting on Afghanistan, Iran, China and trade in their meeting. The G-7 ministerial talks are laying the foundation for a summit of leaders from those countries in June, also in Britain. The U.S. State Department said this week’s meetings would be a chance to discuss “advancing economic growth, human rights, food security, gender equality, and women’s and girls’ empowerment.” In addition to Britain and the United States, the G-7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Australia, India, South Africa, South Korea and Brunei are also taking part in this week’s talks. After the G-7 meetings, Blinken is due to travel to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other senior government officials.  State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that Blinken will “reaffirm unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression.” 
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Cuba’s government put an end Sunday to a weeklong hunger strike staged by a leading dissident, the head of a group that has protested state censorship of artistic works. He was reported by authorities to be in stable condition.
 
A note published by the Havana Department of Public Health said Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara was “referred” to a local hospital early Sunday for “self-imposed food deprivation” and arrived by ambulance “and walking without difficulty.” He had spent seven days without food or fluids.
 
The San Isidro Movement led by Otero Alcantara, a performance artist, is a dissident group that includes a few dozen artists, writers and activists.
 
The health department said the hospital had found no sign of malnutrition or other chemical imbalances but said Otero Alcantara had been admitted, was in stable condition and was being attended to by physicians.
 
Members of the San Isidro movement said state security had forced Otero Alcantara from his home and that he was in custody, presumably at the hospital. They questioned the report and demanded more information.
 
“How is it possible he has no signs of malnutrition or dehydration after being on a hunger and thirst strike for more than 7 days?” the group asked in a post on Twitter.
Otero Alcantara’s home had been surrounded by police for days with no one allowed in or out during his hunger strike.
 
The U.S. State Department, in a post on Twitter Saturday, had expressed concern over Otero Alcantara’s health and urged “the Cuban government to take immediate steps to protect his life and health.”
 
Members of the San Isidro Movement in November had staged a hunger strike against censorship and harassment of independent creators and activists by the communist government. Police ended the hunger strike, prompting a rare protest by about 300 people in front of the Culture Ministry in Havana.
 
Authorities since then have vilified members of the group as outside agitators working with the United States. Its members repeatedly have been temporarily detained and often told they cannot leave their homes, with communications cut.
 
Otero Alcantara was arrested a few weeks ago as he protested a Communist Party congress by sitting in a garrote. Authorities seized or destroyed some of his art.
 
In his hunger strike, Otero Alcantara was demanding a return of his art, compensation, freedom of expression and an end to police harassment. The dissident group has been appealing for support since his hunger strike began, gaining little traction in Cuba but some notice abroad including from human rights organizations and the U.S. government.
 
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The vote by El Salvador’s new congress to remove the magistrates of the Supreme Court’s constitutional chamber and the attorney general on the newly elected legislative body’s very first day drew concern and condemnation from multinational groups and the United States.U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday about the previous day’s vote, saying “that an independent judiciary is essential to democratic governance,” the State Department said.  Bukele’s New Ideas party won 56 out of the 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly in February elections that pushed aside the country’s traditional parties, weakened by corruption scandals.The dominant electoral performance raised concerns that Bukele would seek to change the court, which along with the previous congress, had been the only obstacles that the very popular leader faced. The vote Saturday to remove the five magistrates was 64 lawmakers in favor, 19 opposed and one abstention.Now with effective control of the congress and the high court, few if any checks remain on Bukele’s power.He swept into office in 2019 as a break from the country’s corrupt and troubled traditional parties, though his political career had started in the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front.  Even before the assembly was in his sway, Bukele sought to bully and intimidate El Salvador’s other democratic institutions. In February 2020, he sent heavily armed soldiers to surround the congress when it delayed voting on a security loan he had sought.Bukele clashed repeatedly with the constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court during the pandemic. When it ruled his obligatory stay-at-home order unconstitutional last June, Bukele said, “The court has just ordered us to murder dozens of thousands of Salvadorans within five days.”Blinken also expressed concern about the removal of Attorney General Raúl Melara, saying he was fighting corruption and has been “an effective partner of efforts to combat crime in both the United States and El Salvador,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. Melara had been selected by the previous congress and was an outspoken Bukele critic.Blinken said the U.S. is committed to supporting democratic institutions in El Salvador.  In a statement, the general secretariat of the Organization of American States criticized the dismissal of the magistrates and the attorney general.  Bukele appeared to be unmoved. He said he felt very satisfied with the congress’ first session and said it was beginning of the change he had promised for the country.”I know they can’t do it all in a day,” Bukele said via Twitter. “I know that most of the Salvadoran people eagerly await the second session.”Juan Sánchez Toledo, an unemployed man in the capital, San Salvador, backed Bukele.”I was already hoping for it,” he said of the vote. “They promised to get rid of all of the corrupt. We’ll see if they do it. I hope that things change for the good of the people.”During the Trump administration, Bukele’s tendencies toward disrespecting the separation of powers was largely ignored as El Salvador’s homicide rate dropped and fewer Salvadorans tried to migrate to the United States.But the administration of President Joe Biden has appeared more wary. When Bukele made an unannounced trip to Washington in February, administration officials declined to meet with him. Bukele said he had not sought a meeting.Bukele appeared to respond in kind last month when he refused to meet with a visiting senior U.S. diplomat.  Governing party lawmakers defended the decision, saying the court had put private interests above the health and welfare of the people. The opposition called it a power grab by a president seeking total control.The magistrates’ replacements and new Attorney General Rodolfo Antonio Delgado assumed their new positions under police protection Saturday.El Salvador’s constitution states that the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice may be removed by the Legislative Assembly for specific causes established by law. Both the election and dismissal of its magistrates must have the support of two-thirds of the lawmakers.  Aldo Cader Camilot, one of the ousted magistrates, published a resignation letter hours after the vote on social media. In it, he rejected any suggestion that he was tied to a political party or doing the bidding of economic interests.Diego García-Sayán, the United Nations’ special investigator on the independence of legal systems, was blunt: “I condemn the steps the political power is taking to dismantle and weaken the judicial independence of the magistrates by removing the members of the constitutional chamber.”The Jesuit-led Central American University José Simeón Cañas said in a statement that “in this dark hour for our already weak democracy, the UCA calls for the defense of what was built after the war at the cost of so much effort and so many lives: a society where saying ‘no’ to power is not a fantasy.”Civil society groups under the umbrella of “Salvadorans against authoritarianism” called for public demonstrations to condemn the congressional action.
 
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It’s probably best if you prepare yourself before you look down from the Arouca Bridge.The narrow footbridge suspended across a river canyon in northern Portugal claims to be the world’s longest pedestrian bridge and was officially inaugurated Sunday.The Arouca Bridge offers a half-kilometer (almost 1,700-foot) walk across its span, along a metal walkway suspended from cables. Some 175 meters (574 feet) below, the Paiva River flows through a waterfall.Arouca lies 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of Lisbon, the Portuguese capital. Local residents took a first walk on the bridge last week. Many were thrilled — even as some admitted it was a little unnerving to feel so high up and exposed.Guinness World Records says on its website that the world’s longest suspension bridge for pedestrians is Japan’s Kokonoe Yume Bridge, which opened in 2006 and spans 390 meters (1,280 feet). But the Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge, which opened in the Swiss Alps in 2017, challenges that mark at 494 meters (1,621 feet).The Arouca Bridge cost 2.3 million euros ($2.8 million) to build. Children younger than 6 are not allowed on it and all visits will be accompanied by guides. 
 
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Anti-ownership protests by Manchester United fans forced the postponement of Sunday’s Premier League game against Liverpool as supporters stormed the stadium and reached the pitch, while thousands of others gathered outside the Old Trafford pitch to demand the Glazer family ownership sell the club.Long-running anger against the American owners has boiled over after they were part of the failed attempt to take United into the European Super League. Supporters have been kept out of games due to the coronavirus pandemic.United and Liverpool players were unable to travel to the stadium where there were clashes briefly between fans and the police under a shower of glass bottles as flares were sent off.  Although the crowds were later dispersed around the time the game was due to start, United said the game was postponed “due to safety and security considerations around the protest” after discussions with police, authorities and the league.”Our fans are passionate about Manchester United, and we completely acknowledge the right to free expression and peaceful protest,” United said in a statement. “However, we regret the disruption to the team and actions which put other fans, staff, and the police in danger. We thank the police for their support and will assist them in any subsequent investigations.”The Premier League, which was yet to announce a new date for the match, expressed concern about the disorder.”The security and safety of everyone at Old Trafford remains of paramount importance,” the Premier League said in a statement. “We understand and respect the strength of feeling but condemn all acts of violence, criminal damage and trespass, especially given the associated COVID-19 breaches. Fans have many channels by which to make their views known, but the actions of a minority seen today have no justification.”We sympathize with the police and stewards who had to deal with a dangerous situation that should have no place in football.”The Glazers, who also own the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have declined to engage with fans since buying United in 2005 in a leveraged takeover that loaded debt onto the club.”Get out of our club,” fans chanted as flares were set off. “We want Glazers out.”Fans found a way into the stadium and also climbed onto vantage points next to turnstile entrances.Supporters wore green-and-gold scarves and also set off flares in the colors of the club’s 1878 formation. More than 100 fans got inside the stadium and some could be seen from windows waving down to protesters. Corner flags were held aloft and one supporter was seen throwing a tripod from the interview zone.Police on horseback later cleared protesting fans from outside the stadium, with glass bottles being thrown in brief clashes. Some fans moved back to a main road near the stadium with police forming a line to stop them returning.If United had lost the planned game, Manchester City would have won the Premier League title. United is the record 20-time English champion but hasn’t lifted the trophy since 2013.United and Liverpool were among six Premier League clubs that tried to form an exclusive European Super League along with three clubs each from Spain and Italy. Widespread opposition quickly ended the project, with all six English teams backing out within 48 hours of the announcement.The “Big 6” clubs have been in damage control since, offering various forms of apologies and statements of regret, while fans long frustrated with billionaire owners have called for wholesale changes.
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Two young Senegalese men met on a Europe-bound migrant boat in 2006, a year that saw a record influx of Africans to Spain’s Canary Islands. Since then, one died of a heart attack running away from Spanish police and the other is running in a polarized election Tuesday for a seat in Madrid’s regional assembly.Serigne Mbaye not only wants to fight what he considers to be “structural racism” against African migrants but also to defy a history of underrepresentation of the Black community and other people of color in Spanish politics.“That’s where all discrimination begins,” the 45-year-old told The Associated Press.In 2018, having failed to secure legal work and a residence permit, the man he met on the boat — Mame Mbaye, no relation — died of a heart attack eluding a police crackdown on street vendors.After that, Serigne Mbaye, who at the time represented a group of mostly Black African hawkers, became one of the most vocal voices against Spain’s Alien Law, saying it ties migrants arriving unlawfully to the underground economy. The regulation also punishes them with jail for committing minor offenses, leaving them with a criminal record that weighs against their chances of getting a residence permit.“His image at night when we were on the boat always haunts me,” said Serigne Mbaye, who is now a Spanish citizen. “The sole fact that he is dead and I’m alive is because of an unjust law that condemns and punishes us. Some of us make it. Some can spend 20 years in a vicious circle without papers.”Mbaye is running on a ticket with the anti-austerity United We Can party, the junior partner in the country’s ruling, Socialist-led coalition.Only a handful of Black people have succeeded in at the top level of Spanish politics. Equatorial Guinea-born Rita Bosaho, now the director of racial and ethnic diversity at Spain’s Equality Ministry, in 2015 became the first Black national lawmaker in four decades of democratic rule. Luc André Diouf, who also migrated from Senegal, also won a seat in Spain’s Lower House in 2019. At a lower, regional level, Mbaye wants to show that “Madrid is diverse.”“That a Black person is running in the lists has surprised many. In that way, this is making many people think,” he said.Vox, the country’s increasingly influential far-right party, has responded to Mbaye’s candidacy with an Instagram post vowing to deport him, even though that’s impossible because the far-left candidate is a Spanish citizen. With its mixture of patriotism and populist provocation, Vox has become the third force in the national parliament and might emerge as the kingmaker in Madrid’s May 4 election.“They are basically saying that because I’m Black there is no place for me here,” said Mbaye. “These are the kind of messages that criminalize us and that we continue receiving.”Vox has also made waves with large subway ads citing inaccurate figures comparing Madrid’s alleged public spending on unaccompanied foreign minors with the alleged average stipend for a retiree. The party blames the minors — a total of 269 people in the region’s population of 6.7 million — for increased insecurity.Judges have ruled that the billboards fall under free speech. But when Vox is accused by opponents of being racist, the party says its crusade is only against illegal migration and that a racist party wouldn’t have a mixed-race spokesman in northeastern Catalonia’s regional parliament. That’s Rafael Garriga, a dentist of Belgian and Equatorial Guinean descent.“By surrounding themselves with what they see as some kind of respectability, they try to legitimize clearly racist speech while not crossing certain legal lines,” said Antumi Toasijé, a historian who heads the National Council Against Ethnic and Racial Discrimination.The ascent of the far-right and the polarization in social media has normalized hate speech in Spain, he said.The Black Lives Matter movement led last year to some of the largest protests against racism seen in Spain. But while many condemned the murder of Black citizens by police in the United States, few reflected on domestic racism or Spain’s own history of colonialism, slavery and, according to Toasijé, “a long tradition of attempts to conduct ethnic cleansing.”In a country where the census doesn’t ask about race or ethnicity, like in much of Europe, a recent government study put the number of Black people in Spain at just over 700,000.Toasijé’s own estimation elevates the figure to at least 1.3 million “visibly” Black people, including sub-Saharan Africans, Black Latin Americans and Afro-descendants born in Spain. That would be 2.7% of the population, or at least nine Black lawmakers if the 350-seat Congress of Deputies reflected the country’s diversity. There is currently one Black lawmaker.Still, quotas or other measures that would help address racial inequality aren’t even part of the debate, said Toasijé.That underrepresentation also affects Spain’s Roma people, a community of 700,000 that scored a historic victory in 2019 by snatching four parliamentary seats, close to the 1.5% share it represents in the total population. But one of them failed to retain his seat in a repeated election. The situation isn’t better for descendants of Latin Americans or Moroccans, who represent some of the largest groups of non-white Spaniards, or the more than 11% of foreign-born residents who can’t even run in regional or national elections.Moha Gerehou, a Spanish journalist and anti-racism activist, said “structural racism” is inbred in Spanish life.“It has a lot to do with education, because the main bottleneck is in access to universities, leaving low-paid and precarious employment like domestic work or harvesting, where there is rampant exploitation,” he said.Barring sports figures and some artists, people of color are pretty much invisible in high-powered Spanish circles from academia to big business, said Gerehou, who just published a book on growing up as a Black person in a provincial northern Spanish capital.His description is of a largely white country that considers itself non-racist and welcoming to migrants, even when numerous studies have captured rampant discrimination against people of color, especially in jobs or housing.”The problem is that the debate of racial representation is still on the fringes,” Gerehou said. “We need to go much faster.” 
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