Netflix is removing an episode of the History 101 program that says AIDS originated in Haiti.“We have seen the concerns raised and, together with the series creators, have decided to remove the episode while we review the issues involved,” a spokesperson for the online streaming service told VOA via email Saturday. Netflix offers users television shows, movies and documentaries.History 101 is a British TV show produced by ITN productions. It is described on Netflix as “infographics and archival footage [that] deliver bite-size history lessons on scientific breakthroughs, social movements and world-changing discoveries.”The episode sparked outrage among Haitian Americans, who posted their criticism and started a petition on Instagram and Twitter.“The framing of the whole doc lacks in world view,” renowned Haitian American DJ Michael Brun posted on Instagram. “For a disease that has affected Africa the hardest, they had 0 scientists or representation from the continent (or Haiti).”    View this post on Instagram         As the @Netflix History 101 doc has been removed and is currently being revised by their team, I wanted to share what my issues were with their HIV / AIDS episode. The biggest issue is irresponsible framing in regards to black communities worldwide and the inclusion of misinformation. I hope more companies can take note and lead their research with a more balanced world view that doesn’t unfairly stigmatize certain groups of people. If anyone wants sources for anything I mention just let me know and I will be happy to share. The reason this is being reviewed by their team is because of fact based research, not because of anger. Let’s lead with truth.A post shared by Michaël Brun (@michaelbrun) on Jun 6, 2020 at 10:41am PDTAccording to The AIDS Institute, a U.S. nonprofit organization that promotes social change, scientists attribute the HIV infection in humans to a type of chimpanzee found in West Africa.The Haitianroom, a popular Haitian American Instagram account, circulated a petition against the Netflix program that aimed to get 16,000 signatures.  By 4:30 p.m. EDT they had obtained 12,488 signatures.“The lies are part of the reason why many of us had a hard time growing up Haitian!!!” the post said.    View this post on Instagram         Update: they have taken down episode 9 which this was featured in!! We did it guys!!! ✊🏽 The lies are part of the reason why many of us had a hard time growing up Haitian!!!I just signed and donated! Link in my bio if you want to sign the petition (you don’t HAVE to donate but it helps if you do ❤️✊🏽🇭🇹) Also call them and request to remove the documentary… Info down below @netflix @strongblacklead . . We are calling Netflix to act responsibly in this matter and remove the episode immediately. In the first quarter of 2020, Netflix had over 182 million paying streaming subscribers worldwide. Of these subscribers, 69.9 million were from the United States. Misinformation is dangerous. We call ITN Production, the producers and researchers of this episode to step forward and support the immediate removal of this episode from Netflix and any other platform that it may have been published. This content should not be share or presented as fact on any media outlets again. Going forward we ask that this stigma against Haiti and Haitian people be put to rest. It is rooted in racism and should no longer be referenced as factual data by anyone researching HIV/AIDS and is origin. In fact, given all of the funding and research that has gone to support HIV/AIDS research over the past 30 years; is important that major corporations and media giants like Netflix help END THE STIGMA not perpetuate it. 1. Cancel your Netflix subscription. 2. Repost the video shared by @XEAUX on Instagram, Twitter and other social media outlets. 3. Use the hashtag #AIDSdidNOTcomefromHaiti, tag @Netflix and @strongblacklead and post the hashtag in their comment section. 4. Contact Netflix to request removal of the video. Main:(888)638-3549 | Customer Service: (866) 579-7172 | Headquarters: (888) 638-3549. 5. Sign the petition. . . . . . . #thehaitianroom #haitianwomen #haitianmen #haitianpeople #haitian #haitians #haiti #ayiti #netflixA post shared by The Haitian Room 🇭🇹 (@thehaitianroom) on Jun 6, 2020 at 10:58am PDTLunionsuite, another popular Haitian American Instagram account that has 150,000 followers, also posted criticism about the episode. On Saturday afternoon it posted a thank-you to followers for putting pressure on the streaming company.  
 
“Netflix History 101 Episode 9 “AIDS” [has] officially been removed by @netflix on their platform!! Thank you to everyone who came together to make this happen in less than 24 hours!! We Did It!!” the post read.    View this post on Instagram         Netflix History 101 Episode 9 “AIDS” has officially been removed by @netflix!!! Thank you to everyone at @netflix for understanding the importance of removing this episode! We’re waiting on an update on whether they will publicly address it, and our community. — We Did It!!! ❤️🇭🇹⚫️✊🏾 @xeaux @orlandooo7 @michaelbrun @leovolcy — #lunionsuite #wematter #ourstorymatters #haitian #haiti #blacklivesmatterA post shared by #1 Haitian-American Platform (@lunionsuite) on Jun 6, 2020 at 12:25pm PDTThe move comes as thousands worldwide take to the streets to protest racism and to demand justice for George Floyd, an African American man who died in the custody of four police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Netflix is one of several technology, banking, apparel and entertainment firms that have issued messages of support for those demonstrating against police treatment of black people.“To be silent is to be complicit. Black Lives Matter. We have a platform and we have a duty to our Black members, employees, creators and talent to speak up,” the May 30 Netflix post said.    View this post on Instagram           A post shared by Netflix US (@netflix) on May 30, 2020 at 1:36pm PD
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As forces loyal to the internationally recognized Libyan government in Tripoli gain more ground near the capital from forces under eastern military commander General Khalifa Haftar, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sissi called for a cease-fire. Sissi urged both sides to resume dialogue. Tripoli-based Prime Minister Fayez al Sarraj also met Friday with his main backer, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Amateur video broadcast by Arab media showed forces loyal to the Tripoli government capturing Bani Walid Airport, outside Tripoli, after defenders loyal to General Khalifa Haftar withdrew to positions farther to the east of the capital. Other video showed fighters loyal to the Tripoli government consolidating control of the nearby town of Tarhuna, which they captured a day earlier.Arab media reported that several Turkish drones bombed a convoy of vehicles that had left Tarhuna as they were approaching the coastal town of Sirte, which is still under the control of forces loyal to Gen. Haftar. Qatari-owned al Jazeera TV (Arabic) claimed that supporters of the government in Tripoli were preparing to attack Sirte, which is still under Haftar’s control. VOA could not independently confirm the claim.Meanwhile, in Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi met with General Haftar and the head of the Libyan house of representatives, Aquela Salah, and called for a cease-fire beginning Monday, June 8.He says that Egypt’s initiative is based on the respect of all international resolutions and calls for a cease-fire beginning Monday at 6 a.m., in addition to the withdrawal of all foreign mercenaries from the entire country, and the dismantling of all militias to allow the Libyan Army and the security forces to exert control. 
Haftar, speaking at a press conference alongside Sissi, backed Egypt’s cease-fire call and urged the Egyptian president to use his influence to oblige Turkey to withdraw mercenaries it has sent to Libya.He says that Turkey’s military intervention in Libya has increased polarization both among Libyans and among countries which are involved in the conflict and have opposing interests. He urges Sissi to increase efforts to oblige Turkey to stop sending mercenaries and weapons to Libya.
 
Responding to the cease-fire call, Khaled al Meshri, head of the Tripoli government’s “presidential council,” told al Jazeera TV that “Libya doesn’t need another peace initiative,” and he claimed that Haftar’s forces now have “suffered defeat and should not be trying to dictate the terms of an agreement.”
 
Fayez al Sarraj, who heads the Tripoli-based “National Unity Government” met Friday with the Turkish prime minister in Ankara. Some Arab media report that Turkey has sent close to 10,000 Syrian mercenaries to fight in Libya. VOA could not independently confirm the figure.
 
Both the UAE and Jordan, which support General Haftar, indicated Saturday that they would support Egypt’s call for a cease-fire.  
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The Inter-Parliamentary Union condemns the imprisonment of 43 Members of Parliament around the world, saying they lack legal recourse to attain justice. The IPU is focusing especially on MPs detained in overcrowded, cramped cells in Venezuela, Ivory Coast and Turkey. The IPU says they are at particular risk of infection from COVID-19 and should be released immediately. An IPU human rights committee is monitoring the cases of 139 Members of Parliament in Venezuela. It says they have been subjected to intimidation, harassment, detention and attacks by government security forces because of their opposition to the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. In the last few months, the committee reports at least 17 MPs have gone into exile, others have sought protection of foreign embassies in the capital Caracas, and many others have gone into hiding.  Manager of the IPU Human Rights Program, Rogier Huizenga, says five MPs in detention are of particular concern. He says they have been imprisoned without regard for parliamentary immunity and due process. He says their conditions of confinement expose them to the deadly coronavirus.  He tells VOA information gathered from complainants, as well as international and regional bodies, indicate the MPs have been arrested on trumped up charges.“We have asked time and time again the Venezuelan authorities to provide us with details on the facts that would support the charges that have been brought against these MPs,”  Huizenga said. “And, these details are still sorely lacking. So, there is nothing right now that can dispel our concerns that these MPs are, in fact, being prosecuted hereto for having exercised their political mandates.”  In Turkey, the IPU is examining alleged human rights violations against 57 current or former parliamentarians, 27 of whom are women. They all belong to the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party or HDP. Over 600 criminal and terrorism charges have been brought against them since 2015. Seven MPs currently are still in prison.Huizenga says the IPU is in regular contact with Turkish authorities about these cases.  However, he adds they do not always see eye-to-eye on some of the underlying issues.“The Turkish authorities are quick to respond that the HDP opposition MPs are working in tandem with the PKK [the Kurdistan Workers’ Party] in what they see as the terrorist organization; whereas, the information that we have clearly shows that these MPs are in fact being prosecuted for having exercised their freedom of expression,”  Huizenga said.The IPU currently is scrutinizing the cases of 10 opposition MPs in the Ivory Coast.  They allegedly have had their fundamental rights violated since 2018, including arbitrary arrest and detention.   The IPU committee is particularly worried about the situation of five parliamentarians in detention, one of whom is in ill health and reportedly being denied a visit by his personal physician.
 
 
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Greece is preparing to reopen to international tourism in the coming days, a move expected to bring in as many as 10 million travelers from several countries. The re-start is vital for the weak Greek economy that relies heavily on tourism. However, health officials fear tourism could fan a flare-up in COVID-19 and have grave repercussions for Greece, after a decade of financial recession.Health concerns have surged after a flight from Doha this week brought in 19 cases of the coronavirus.The number may seem small but, matched up against the near-zero infections that Greece has been showing for weeks now, infectious disease experts such as Haralambos Gogos are worried.We are on alert, he says, monitoring the situation and holding one meeting after another to best tackle this matter without having to shut down flights and tourism before they actually kick off.Health concerns have also arisen from a recent report by Greece’s National Public Health Organization showing a startling 36% rise in imported COVID-19 cases in the last 10 days. That’s almost twice as many as the country recorded in total from the start of the pandemic here five months ago.However alarming, officials in Athens say, Greece’s tourism re-launch will proceed as planned on June 15, when the first wave of travelers is due to fly in from 29 countries.Those countries are currently showing low rates of COVID-19 infection. Beginning July 1, though, Athens hopes to include several more countries, opening its doors to between 6 million and 10 million foreign travelers.Emmanouil Dermitzakis, a professor of genetics at the medical school at the University of Geneva , says that means thousands of COVID-19 cases hitting Greece.A rough estimate, he says, shows that about 10% of those incoming travelers will be carriers, and of them, as many as 700 will show symptoms and require treatment.For a nation counting less than 3,000 infections and 180 deaths from the pandemic, the predicted figures look daunting.Dermitzakis says Greece’s random testing capabilities have significantly increased in recent months.The situation, he says, is manageable. But the spread of the virus during the summer will ultimately come down to how Greeks themselves comply with social distancing rules — or not. Since lockdown measures eased here in May, thousands of Greeks have taken to public places, defying social distancing rules in ways that have experts like Demitzakis concerned.It’s understandable that after months of lockdown, Greeks are out and about, but this does not justify and warrant the defiance we are currently seeing, he says.Ultimately, DermitzakIs says, Greek will have to make a stark choice between altering those behaviors to suit the demands of this different summer or suffer unemployment and a financial crisis if the pandemic roils out of control, forcing Greece to shut down again.
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A ceremony to honor the sacrifice of those who lost their lives in the D-Day landings in 1944 was held on Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-Sur-Mer in France Saturday.Due to the coronavirus restrictions, the commemoration was much smaller than previous annual events, when tens of thousands or people congregated on the northern French beaches of Normandy.Billie Bishop, from San Jose, California, holds a photo of his uncle, WWII soldier Billie Bishop, as he prepares to lay a rose in the sea during a D-Day 76th anniversary ceremony in Saint Laurent sur Mer, Normandy, France, June 6, 2020.France, however, would not let the day pass unnoticed, Philippe Laillier, mayor of the city said, where he led the ceremony around the Omaha Beach monument.”We couldn’t imagine doing nothing! So yes, we figured that there would be people on the beach this morning even if nothing was organized – we knew because it’s a ritual and when we say we won’t forget, we mean it, we don’t forget,” said Philippe Laillier, Mayor of Saint-Laurent-Sur-Mer. “Last night, I exchanged with Americans who couldn’t be here, and with us – in thoughts. Whatever happens, on June 6th in Normandy, we can’t forget.”A bigger and more flamboyant event would have posed a threat to the surviving D-Day veterans, most of whom are now in their late nineties, or to other elderly persons who had participated in previous years ceremonies.On Sad Anniversary, Few to Mourn the D-Day Dead in NormandySaturday’s anniversary will be one of the loneliest remembrances ever for the June 6, 1944 D-Day landings in NormandyFrench soldiers jointed some 160,000 of their counterparts from the United States, Britain, Canada and other countries who landed on the beaches on June 6, 1944 and continued the fight to force the Nazis to surrender almost one year later.
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French military forces killed al-Qaida’s North Africa chief, Abdelmalek Droukdel, during an operation in Mali, officials said Friday.”On June 3, French army forces, with the support of their local partners, killed the emir of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, Abdelmalek Droukdel, and several of his closest collaborators, during an operation in northern Mali,” French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly wrote on Twitter.French forces had been hunting Droukdel, a key Islamist fighter, for more than seven years, officials said.The French-led operation against Droukdel was aided by U.S. forces, which provided intelligence and surveillance support to “fix the target,” according to U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).”This mission is a collective win,” AFRICOM spokesman Col. Chris Karns told VOA.”This was a great example of cooperation and partnership to get after a common threat,” he said, praising France’s commitment to fighting both al-Qaida and Islamic State-linked terror groups in West Africa.Officials said Droukdel, who was known to be involved in all aspects al-Qaida’s operations in the region, had been seeking to expand the amount of territory under his control and increase the number of attacks.“This definitely is a blow to AQIM and certainly degrades their ability to plan and carry out operations,” Karns added.Fighting IS-linked militantsThe announcement of the death of Droukdel comes almost six months after former colonial power France and regional states combined their military forces under one command structure to focus on fighting IS-linked militants in the border regions of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, according to a Reuters report.Droukdel, among North Africa’s most experienced militants, took part in an Islamist militant takeover of northern Mali. In 2013, a French military intervention pushed them back and scattered the fighters across the Sahel region.Droukdel was believed to be hiding in the mountains of northern Algeria, according to a Reuters report. Al-Qaida North Africa was the dominant jihadist force in the region, staging several high-profile deadly attacks until 2013, when it fractured as many militants flocked to the more extremist IS as it seized territory in Iraq, Syria and Libya, according to the news service.It remained active in North Africa’s largely desert and often scarcely governed Sahel region. In Mali, it focused its activities to the north in Libya and Tunisia. As IS waned, it sought to lure new talent from among IS veterans.Parly said that French forces, which number about 5,100 in the region, had also on May 19 captured Mohamed el Mrabat, a fighter she identified as a veteran militant in the region and a member of IS in the Greater Sahara, a Reuters report said.”Our forces, in cooperation with their local partners … will continue to track these (people) down without respite,” Parly said, according to Reuters.Militants strengthen footholdCritics in the region have increasingly scorned Paris for failing to restore stability. Anti-French sentiment has grown as militants have strengthened their foothold, making large swathes of territory ungovernable and stoking ethnic violence.Parly told Reuters that earlier this week about 100 special forces from other European countries would be deployed to the region to support French and regional troops.Both France and the United States have been calling on other European countries to contribute more to the fight against terror groups in Africa, especially as the U.S. military looks to move forces to counter threats posed by powers like Russia and China.Members of the global coalition to defeat IS have also expressed a desire to focus additional efforts in Africa, but planning has been delayed due to the global coronavirus pandemic.In a communique issued following a virtual meeting Thursday, coalition members promised to move ahead with those efforts, with a focus on “capacity building … upon the request and prior consent of the countries concerned and be coordinated with existing efforts and initiatives.”French officials, however, have urged the U.S. to keep some forces in Africa, stressing that some U.S. capabilities, especially in the areas of intelligence and surveillance, cannot be replaced.VOA’s Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. Some information for this report also came from Reuters.   
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France said Friday that its military forces had killed al-Qaida’s North Africa chief, Abdelmalek Droukdel, a key Islamist fighter whom its forces had been hunting for more than seven years, during an operation in Mali.”On June 3, French army forces, with the support of their local partners, killed the emir of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, Abdelmalek Droukdel, and several of his closest collaborators, during an operation in northern Mali,” French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly wrote on Twitter.The announcement of the death of Droukdel came almost six months after former colonial power France and regional states combined their military forces under one command structure to focus on fighting Islamic State-linked militants in the border regions of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.Droukdel was among North Africa’s most experienced militants. He took part in an Islamist militant takeover of northern Mali before a French military intervention in 2013 drove them back and scattered fighters across the Sahel region.Once a dominant forceDroukdel was believed to be hiding in the mountains of northern Algeria. Al-Qaida North Africa was the dominant jihadist force in the region until 2013, when it fractured as many militants flocked to the more extremist Islamic State.It remained active in North Africa’s largely desert and often scarcely governed Sahel region. In Mali, it focused its activities to the north in Libya and Tunisia. As Islamic State waned, it has sought to lure new talent from among IS veterans.Parly said that French forces, which number about 5,100 in the region, had also on May 19 captured Mohamed el Mrabat, a fighter she identified as a veteran militant in the region and member of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.”Our forces, in cooperation with their local partners… will continue to track these [people] down without respite,” Parly said.Critics in the region have increasingly scorned Paris for failing to restore stability. Anti-French sentiment has grown as militants have strengthened their foothold, making large swaths of territory ungovernable and stoking ethnic violence.Parly said earlier this week that about 100 special forces from other European countries would be deployed to the region to support French and regional troops.
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The Trump administration’s campaign to keep Chinese tech giant Huawei out of its allies’ 5G networks appears to be gaining ground in Britain.  Last year the British government concluded that although Huawei posed a “significantly increased risk” to British communications, the government decided to ban Huawei only from the country’s so-called network “core,” but otherwise allow it to attain up to 35% of Britain’s  5G network market.  That position changed after months of lobbying by U.S. officials, when British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last month that the country was examining possibilities for completely excluding Huawei from its 5G network by 2023.  Now, British officials are trying to Mobile network phone masts are visible in front of St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London, Jan. 28, 2020.Experts say Britain’s change of attitude is partly due to concerns that refusing to cooperate with the U.S. on Huawei will pose a threat to intelligence sharing and joint defense capabilities with its major ally.  Others caution it’s unlikely that the new alliance will become a reality since telecom operators in European countries are unwilling to “rip and replace” Huawei components from their communications systems because of the high cost, and are lobbying their own governments to make sure Huawei remains an approved vendor.’D10′ club of democratic partners The countries in the group are the G7 countries — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S. — plus Australia, South Korea and India. The proposal includes providing financial support to tech companies within the alliance.Justin Sherman, a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative, said that Huawei’s major competitors, Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson, are both unable to attract enough capital to compete with Huawei’s massive 5G network infrastructure division, which gets financial support from the Chinese government.  “So there are lots of fronts on which this democratic coalition could presumably work, including more robust government investment in 5G research and development projects domestically, greater advocacy for open 5G standards in international bodies to contest the proprietary standards that Huawei continues to advance, or even the development of some kind of industrial policy to help promote 5G innovation,” Sherman  told VOA Mandarin.   FILE – Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee nomination hearing for Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 5, 2020.U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican who is one of Huawei’s leading critics in Washington, warned the British Parliament on Tuesday that China was trying to use the telecom equipment maker “to drive a high-tech wedge between us.”  He added that the U.S., Britain and other allies could team up to develop their own superior 5G technologies. Meanwhile, the White House launched a major review of Chinese penetration of Huawei’s 5G Product Line President, Yang Chaobin, speaks during a 5G event in London, on Feb. 20, 2020.Lee-Makiyama added that telecom operators in Europe are owned by financial institutions, pension funds or governments, which means they are not as interested in investing in new networks or reinvesting in high-end networks.  “5G for them is just a cost,” he said.   He also pointed out that compared to the U.S. and Asian countries, the demand of European telecom users is not as high. “Consumers are not demanding higher speed. Shareholders prefer to see dividends rather than investments in the networks,” said Lee-Makiyama. “So, all in all, they are big fans of Chinese suppliers and they are lobbying very hard against their governments to make sure that Huawei continues to be allowed in the European markets.” Chuanqi Xu and Lin Yang contributed to this report.
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All too many have been, for 76 years since that fateful June 6 on France’s Normandy beaches, when allied troops in 1944 turned the course of World War II and went on to defeat fascism in Europe in one of the most remarkable feats in military history.Forgotten they will never be. Revered, yes. But Saturday’s anniversary will be one of the loneliest remembrances ever, as the coronavirus pandemic is keeping almost everyone away — from government leaders to frail veterans who might not get another chance for a final farewell to their unlucky comrades.  Rain and wind are also forecast, after weeks of warm, sunny weather.”The sadness is almost too much, because there is no one,” said local guide Adeline James. “Plus you have their stories. The history is sad and it’s even more overwhelming now between the weather, the (virus) situation and, and, and.”The locals in this northwestern part of France have come out year after year to show their gratitude for the soldiers from the United States, Britain, Canada and other countries who liberated them from Adolf Hitler’s Nazi forces.Despite the lack of international crowds, David Pottier still went out to raise American flags in the Calvados village of Mosles, population 356, which was liberated by allied troops the day after the landing on five Normandy beachheads.  In a forlorn scene, a gardener tended to the parched grass around the small monument for the war dead, while Pottier, the local mayor, was getting the French tricolor to flutter next to the Stars and Stripes.  “We have to recognize that they came to die in a foreign land,” Pottier said. “We miss the GIs,” he said of the U.S. soldiers.  The pandemic has wreaked havoc across the world, infecting 6.6 million people, killing over 391,000 and devastating economies. It poses a particular threat to the elderly  — like the surviving D-Day veterans who are in their late nineties or older.  It has also affected the younger generations who turn out every year to mark the occasion. Most have been barred from traveling to the windswept coasts of Normandy.  Some 160,000 soldiers made the perilous crossing from England that day in atrocious conditions, storming dunes which they knew were heavily defended by German troops determined to hold their positions.  Somehow, they succeeded. Yet they left a trail of thousands of casualties who have been mourned for generations since.  Last year stood out, with U.S. President Donald Trump joining his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach. A smattering of veterans were honored with the highest accolades. All across the beaches of Normandy tens of thousands came from across the globe to pay their respects to the dead and laud the surviving soldiers.  The acrid smell of wartime-era jeep exhaust fumes and the rumble of old tanks filled the air as parades of vintages vehicles went from village to village. The tiny roads between the dunes, hedges and apple orchards were clogged for hours, if not days.Heading into the D-Day remembrance weekend this year, only the salty brine coming off the ocean on Omaha Beach hits the nostrils, the shrieks of seagulls pierce the ears and a sense of desolation hangs across the region’s country roads.  “Last year this place was full with jeeps, trucks, people dressed up as soldiers,” said Eric Angely, who sat on a seawall, dressed in a World War II uniform after taking his restored U.S. Army jeep out for a ride.  “This year, there is nothing. It’s just me now, my dog and my jeep,” the local Frenchman said.Three quarters of a century and the horrific wartime slaughter of D-Day help put things in perspective. Someday the COVID-19 pandemic, too, will pass, and people will turn out to remember both events that shook the world.”We don’t have a short memory around here,” Pottier said with a wistful smile. 
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Protesters in Mexico clashed with police Thursday evening over the beating death of a 30-year-old man found hours after police arrested him for not wearing a face mask in public.Video showed protesters in Guadalajara breaking through the government palace door, while others torched police cars.Police fired tear gas and used batons to try and control protesters.Video that emerged Wednesday of Giovanni López’s arrest on May 4 shows police officers forcing López into a police vehicle as bystanders begged for his release.The anti-police sentiment in Mexico follows a week of protests across the United States over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.         
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Tropical Storm Cristobal weakened overnight Thursday after dumping heavy rainfall and causing potentially deadly flooding in parts of Mexico.Campeche state Civil Protection Secretary Edgar Hernandez said the most affected municipalities were Hopelchen and Calakmul.He said Thursday evening that authorities could not yet give an assessment on damages but that more than 300 people reportedly sought temporary shelter.Meanwhile, the U.S-based National Hurricane Center said the storm is expected to reenergize over the Gulf of Mexico on Friday on its way toward the United States.Forecasters anticipate the storm could become a menace for the U.S. Gulf Coast region by Sunday.Some people in St. Tammany Parish, in the state of Louisiana, were preparing sandbags Thursday in anticipation of Cristobal’s arrival.Cristobal developed Tuesday from the remnants of Tropical Storm Amanda, which formed in the Pacific Ocean and caused severe flooding and landslides in Central America. At least 22 deaths have been reported in El Salvador and Guatemala because of the storm.
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Officials in Norway say eight structures were swept into the sea by a landslide near the Norwegian Arctic town of Alta.A local resident, Jan Egil Bakkedal, captured the event on video Wednesday in the village of Kraakneset. He told the Associated Press he ran for his life when he realized what was happening. Among houses that were lost was his own.Police estimate the landslide was between 650 meters and 800 meters wide and up to 40 meters high. Officials did not know what caused the slide.Several minor landslides followed, and nearby houses were temporarily evacuated as a precaution.No injuries were reported. A dog that was washed into the sea was able to swim back to land. 
 
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British Prime Minister Prime Minister Boris Johnson Thursday opened the Global Vaccine Summit, a virtual gathering of more that 50 countries, to raise funds for the U.N.-backed public-private health alliance known as GAVI, with the goal of ensuring vaccines are available to all.The summit hopes to raise more than $7.5 billion for the development and equitable world-wide distribution of COVID-19 and other vaccines.In his remarks from London, Johnson pledged Britain will contribute just over $2 billion to the GAVI vaccine alliance over the next five years.  Along with creation of a COVID-19 vaccine, Johnson also called on nations to replenish funding for vaccines that already exist.In a recorded video message, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for global solidarity to ensure every person everywhere has access to any COVID-19 vaccine that is produced, and for the network that is used to share that vaccine be used to deliver a range of basic health services.Using data provided by governments around the world, Johns Hopkins University reports the COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 386,000 worldwide and crippled economies. Restrictions imposed to prevent the virus from spreading have further hampered efforts to deliver regular vaccinations and other health services around the world.
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BRUSSELS/COPENHAGEN — As bars across Europe gradually reopen, up to a million free or pre-paid beers are waiting to lure back wary consumers. 
  
Beer makers from global giant Anheuser-Busch InBev to smaller craft brewers have set up schemes for consumers to buy drinks in advance to support shuttered bars with, in some cases, the reward of free beer when the doors reopen. 
  
AB InBev launched its first scheme “Cafe Courage” in Belgium and has since sold over 200,000 Stella Artois, Jupiler and other brands. It also started similar schemes in 20 other markets across Europe and from Brazil to Hong Kong, raising over $6 million for pubs, bars and restaurants. 
  
World number two Heineken put the number of drinks sold through its various voucher schemes at 270,000. 
  
Now the bars are opening, consumers have had their first chance to redeem coupons or vouchers. 
  
Danish friends Arendse Rohland and Thomas Hoffner Lovgren were among those to profit from free beers after bars re-opened there on May 18. 
  
Danish brewer Carlsberg offered lagers in a bar to consumers who bought bottles or cans from stores in its “Adopt a Keg” scheme. The idea was to lure drinkers back with free drinks and hope that they would then buy more. Hoffner Lovgren and Rohland both seemed willing to do so. 
  
“I rarely only drink one beer,” Roland said after collecting a free drink at Carl’s Ol & Spisehus in a Copenhagen suburb. 
  
Drinkers elsewhere are now in line. France became the latest country on Tuesday to allow bars and restaurants to operate after the Netherlands on Monday. Ireland and Belgium are expected to follow later this month, with Britain in July. 
  
Julian Marsili, Carlsberg global brand director, said its campaign would even continue into the summer. 
  
“Travel will not be massive, at least outside Denmark, so we are encouraging people who want to adopt kegs to explore Denmark further in bars in the tourist places,” he said. 
  
The schemes have helped, but not made up the shortfall. In Britain, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said pubs could have recorded their best April in a decade, selling 745 million pints in unseasonably warm and sunny weather. 
  
The issue is acute for brewers, with about a third of beer typically consumed in pubs, bars or cafes. In value terms, that can rise to 60-65%, according to Pierre-Olivier Bergeron, secretary general of the Brewers of Europe. 
  
Beer sales in stores have risen, but well below the rate of wine and spirits and not enough to make up for the loss of on-premise drinking, according to U.S. data from marketing research firm Nielsen.   
  Will they come?
  
Reopened bars and restaurants will clearly not operate as they did before the coronavirus closures, with limited time at the bar or table service, shorter hours and measures to minimize contact between staff and customers and to keep customers apart. 
  
Emma McClarkin, BBPA chief executive, said the social distancing gap made a big difference. Two meters, currently used in Britain, might only allow only a third of Britain’s 47,000 pubs to reopen while a one-meter rule, deemed safe by the World Health Organization, would allow 75% to operate, she said. 
  
Brewers have also been helping with some of the new hardware involved and learning from China, where restaurants and bars reopened from March. 
  
Jan Craps, chief executive of Budweiser Brewing Co APAC, said the AB InBev Asian subsidiary had sent “welcome kits” including hand sanitizer, gloves, masks and advice to 50,000 bars and restaurants across China and 1,000 plastic screens to help smaller venues separate groups of customers. 
  
Craps said the kits were being replicated in many other countries, such as the Americas where the brewer has its largest markets. 
  
A study for the brewer of British pub-goers found 93% were keen to revisit their local and over a third intend to visit within a week of reopening. A majority also wanted to keep 2 meters away from strangers. 
  
Business will not resume as before. Belgian cafe and restaurant owners expect on average 45% fewer customers as a result of social distancing measures and consumer wariness. 
  
“It’s not a back to normal situation… establishments now reopening will be reopening under pretty special conditions,” Bergeron said. 
 
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Images of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of African-American George Floyd, who then died, have sparked protests from Amsterdam to Nairobi, but they also expose deeper grievances among demonstrators over strained race relations in their own countries.
 
With violent clashes between protesters and authorities raging in the United States, anti-police-brutality activists gathered by the thousands in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in various European and African cities.
 Peaceful protesters highlighted allegations of abuse of black prisoners by their jailers, social and economic inequality, and institutional racism lingering from the colonial pasts of the Netherlands, Britain and France.
 
“If you want to believe that we in the Netherlands do not have a problem with race, you should go ahead and go home,” Jennifer Tosch, founder of Black Heritage Amsterdam Tours, told a crowd in Amsterdam, from where the Dutch West India Company operated ships estimated to have traded 500,000 slaves in the 1600s and 1700s.
 
Tosch and others drew a comparison between Floyd’s death and the treatment of slaves centuries ago. “We have seen this image before as white persecutors and enslavers held down the enslaved and branded them with an iron.”
 People take part in a Black Lives Matter protest in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Monday, June 1, 2020, to protest against the recent killing of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis, U.S.A., after being restrained by police…In London, a protester held a placard reading “The UK isn’t innocent,” while in Berlin around 2,000 people protested outside the U.S. embassy and two Bundesliga soccer players wore “Justice for George Floyd” shirts on Monday.
 
A similar message came from Dominique Sopo, president of French NGO SOS Racisme, which organized a small protest outside the U.S. embassy in Paris on Monday.
 
“This issue of police racism is also, albeit with a lower level of violence, an issue that concerns France,” he said.
 
Police in northern Paris fired tear gas on Tuesday to disperse demonstrators protesting over the 2016 death of a young black Frenchman in police custody – an incident that has drawn parallels with Floyd’s killing.
 
Adama Traore’s family have blamed excessive force used during his arrest, when the 24-year-old was pinned down by three gendarmes. Successive pathology reports have reached conflicting conclusions over whether his death two hours later resulted from asphyxiation or other factors including pre-existing conditions.
 
Amid a coronavirus lockdown, French activists also say there have been a number of police brutality cases in low-income neighborhoods where many originate from Africa.
 Turkish police officers, in riot gear, and wearing face masks for protections against the spread of the coronavirus, scuffle with protesters during a demonstration in Istanbul, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, against the recent killing of George Floyd in…Clashes in Turkey
 
In Istanbul, more than 50 people clashed with police officers minutes after beginning a protest over Floyd and what they called police brutality in Turkey.
 
At least five people were detained after scuffles with officers holding shields, after which other protesters gave speeches denouncing lethal police force and bans on demonstrations in Turkey during the pandemic.
 
In Nairobi, protesters at the American embassy held signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Stop Extrajudicial Killings”.
 
“The system that allows police brutality to happen in Kenya is based on class. In America, it’s race and class.”
 What Is Black Lives Matter?Origins of the movement opposing police violence against black AmericansProtests are planned in coming days in Gambia, Britain, Spain and Portugal.
 
In Spain, protesters will mark the death of Floyd and “all sisters and brothers who have died at the hands of institutional racism on our streets,” the African and Afro-descendant Community CNAAE said.
 
Portugal’s gathering will address “the myth that Portugal is not a racist country.”
 
But not all in Europe side with the protesters.
 
Spain’s far-right Vox party and the Netherlands’ anti-Islam Freedom Party called those protesting Floyd’s death “terrorists” and backed U.S. President Donald Trump.
 
“Our support for Trump and the Americans who are seeing their Nation attacked by street terrorists backed by progressive millionaires,” Vox wrote in a Tweet.
 
In the Netherlands, the Freedom Party’s Geert Wilders tweeted: “White House under attack. This is no protest but anarchy by #AntifaTerrorists.”
 
Even amid such racial division, Linda Nooitmeer, who heads the National Institute for the Study of Dutch Slavery and its Legacy, drew hope from Monday’s protest in Amsterdam. 
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Authorities say Chile, which has one of the highest totals for coronavirus cases in Latin America, confirmed 87 deaths from the virus in one day Wednesday, the largest single-day spike since the outbreak began more than two months ago.A surge in coronavirus cases in Chile has overwhelmed the country’s healthcare system.The increase in cases and deaths prompted authorities to extend a quarantine in Santiago for a fourth week.So far, Chile has confirmed more than 113,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 1,200 deaths.Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Haiti, Argentina and Bolivia comprise the Latin American countries with the largest caseloads.Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO’s executive director, told reporters earlier this week, Central and South America have become the intense zones of transmission for the coronavirus.Ryan said he does not believe the region has reached its peak in transmission and that he could not predict when the peak will occur.He is calling for support and international solidarity for countries in the region.
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Former Ecuadorian President Abdalá Bucaram is under arrest in connection with a corruption investigation linked to the coronavirus pandemic.Police arrested Bucaram on Wednesday after locating an unlicensed gun during a raid on his home in Guayaquil, the coastal city where some of the first coronavirus cases were confirmed in Latin America.Police said they also found thousands of coronavirus test kits and face masks as part of their criminal probe.Authorities said the raid was part of their investigation into suspected embezzlement at a large public hospital.The police carried out more than two dozen raids in Guayaquil and the city of Quito, but there were no immediate reports of additional arrests. 
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Sweden’s chief epidemiologist Wednesday defended his country’s controversial “soft” COVID-19 strategy, in which Sweden never totally shut down, but admitted the country could have done some things better.Unlike its European neighbors and much of the rest of the world, Sweden relied on its citizens’ sense of civic duty.  Authorities advised people to practice social distancing, but schools, bars and restaurants have been kept open the entire time. Only gatherings of more than 50 people have been banned.The strategy resulted in one of the highest per capita COVID-19 death rates in the world.At a news briefing, Swedish Public Health Agency epidemiologist Anders Tegnell acknowledged that there would always be “aspects where we could have handled this situation even better than we do today, now, as we learn more and more things.”But he said Swedish authorities still thought theirs was the right strategy. Tegnell said it has worked very well in terms of containing the spread of the disease to a level that the Swedish health care system could handle. It has made it possible to keep schools open, which he said was very important for their society.He acknowledged the “unfortunate” death toll, which he said was mainly in long-term care facilities.  In a Swedish radio interview earlier in the day, Tegnell admitted the death toll had made him reconsider his approach to the pandemic.According to the national health agency, the nation of 10.2 million people has seen 4,542 deaths linked to COVID-19, far more than its neighboring Nordic countries and one of the world’s highest per capita death rates.Denmark has had 580 coronavirus deaths, Finland 320 and Norway 237, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
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Sweden’s chief epidemiologist on Wednesday defended his country’s controversial coronavirus strategy, which avoided a lockdown but resulted in one of the highest per capita COVID-19 death rates in the world.
Anders Tegnell of the Public Health Agency denied that “the Swedish strategy was wrong and should be changed. That’s not the case.”  
“We still believe that our strategy is good, but there is always room for improvement. … You can always get better at this job,” Tegnell told a news conference in Stockholm.  
Sweden has stood out among European nations and the world for the way it has handled the pandemic, not shutting down the country or the economy like other nations but relying on citizens’ sense of civic duty. Swedish authorities have advised people to practice social distancing, but schools, bars and restaurants have been kept open the entire time. Only gatherings of more than 50 people have been banned.
Tegnell’s statement to reporters came after more contrite comments earlier in the day to Swedish radio in which he said “I think there is potential for improvement in what we have done in Sweden, quite clearly.”  
Asked if the country’s high death toll has made him reconsider his unique approach to the pandemic, Tegnell told Swedish radio “yes, absolutely.”
According to the national health agency, Sweden, a nation of 10.2 million people, has seen 4,542 deaths linked to COVID-19, which is far more than its Nordic neighbors and one of the highest per capita death rates in the world. Denmark has had 580 coronavirus deaths, Finland has seen 320 and Norway has had 237, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
“If we were to encounter the same disease again, knowing precisely what we know about it today, I think we would settle on doing something in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done,” Tegnell, considered the architect of the unique Swedish pandemic approach, told SR.
Still, authorities in Sweden, including Tegnell, have been criticized — and some have apologized — for failing to protect the country’s elderly and nursing home residents.  
But Tegnell said Wednesday it was still unclear what the country should have done differently. He also said other nations are unable to tell exactly what measures affected the outcomes of their outbreaks because they threw everything at the crisis at once.
“Maybe we know that now, when you start easing the measures, we could get some kind of lesson about what else, besides what we did, you could do without a total shutdown,” Tegnell said in the radio interview.
At the news conference, Tegnell made it clear that his previous statement “was an admission that we always can become better. I’m sure my colleagues all over the world would say the same thing. There are always aspects which we could have handled this situation even better than we do today, now, as we learn more and more things,” he told The Associated Press.
“Sometimes I feel like a personal punchbag, but that’s OK. I can live with that,” Tegnell added.  
Sweden’s COVID-19 infection rate of 43.2 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants is lower than Spain’s (58.1) and Italy’s (55.4), but is higher than reported rates in the United States (32.1) and Brazil (14.3), according to Johns Hopkins University.  
Last week, the country’s former state epidemiologist, Annika Linde, said in retrospect she believes an early lockdown could have saved lives in Sweden. Political pressure has also forced the Swedish government to speed up an investigation into the handling of the pandemic.
Ordinary Swedes are not sure what to think.
“I’m not walking around thinking that we have a real disaster here in Sweden,” Jan Arpi, a 58-year-old sales executive, told The Associated Press. “I think we have it more or less under control, but we have to be even more careful now after we learned how the virus is spread, especially among elderly people.”  
Tegnell’s pandemic tactics made Sweden a bit of a local pariah in the Nordics and didn’t spare the Swedish economy.  
Sweden’s economy, which relies heavily on exports, is expected to shrink 7% in 2020 and the finance minister says the Scandinavian country is headed for “a very deep economic crisis.”  
More than 76,000 people have been made redundant since the outbreak began and unemployment, which now stands at 7.9%, is expected to climb higher.
On the travel front, neighboring Norway and Denmark said they were dropping mutual border controls but would keep Sweden out of a Nordic “travel bubble.”  
The Danes said they will reopen the border next month to residents of Germany, Norway and Iceland as the country eased its coronavirus lockdown. But Denmark, which has a bridge that goes directly into Sweden, has postponed a decision reopening to Swedish visitors until after the summer. 
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Britain this week eased its lockdown rules, with some pupils returning to school and many families allowed to meet for the first time since March, when measures were implemented to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Britain was one of the slowest countries to lock down and is now one of the worst-hit, with almost 50,000 COVID-19 deaths. Some scientists are now warning that relaxing lockdown rules could trigger a second wave of the pandemic. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.Camera: Henry Ridgwell    Produced by: Jon Spier 
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Brazil announced Tuesday that it has recorded another one-day record of coronavirus deaths. The Health Ministry said it had confirmed another 1,262 COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total death toll to 31,199, with the number of total confirmed cases now at 555,383, second only to the United States, which has more than 1.8 million total cases. Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, wearing a face mask amid the new coronavirus pandemic, stands amid supporters taking pictures with cell phones as he leaves his official residence of Alvorada palace in Brasilia, May 25, 2020.Despite the escalating spread of the virus and the growing death toll, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro continues to dismiss the severity of the outbreak as nothing more than “a little flu.”  He told supporters outside the presidential palace in Brasilia that he regrets each of the deaths, “but that’s everyone’s destiny.” According to Johns Hopkins University, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases now stands at 6,395,327 around the world, with 380,580 deaths.  More than 106,000 confirmed deaths have been recorded in the United States. JapanElsewhere Tuesday, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike issued a warning for a possible resurgence of the coronavirus in the city.   Tuesday’s warning came after 34 new cases were reported, the highest total in a month, and just days after the city lifted its state of emergency.  Only a handful of new cases were reported at the end of May.  A public screen shows Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaking at a press conference, May 25, 2020, in Tokyo.Koike said she is not ready yet to reimpose an official citywide alert, but said if the number rises to at least 50 new cases a day, she will again order businesses to shut down.  The governor said she suspects the new infections were brought on by the return of Japanese nightlife, including in karaoke bars.   Health experts around the world have been warning of a spike in new cases if governments and businesses reopen too soon.   South Africa
South African officials say the number of cases there has doubled every two weeks and now stands at more than 35,000.  Some businesses in Bolivia, Mexico, and Venezuela started reopening this week even after the WHO declared Latin America and the Caribbean the world’s coronavirus epicenter.  FILE – Medical workers look over paperwork at the entrance to the COVID-19 triage area at the Mexico General Hospital, in Mexico City, May 12, 2020.“Clearly the situation in many South American countries is far from stable. There is a rapid increase in cases and those systems are coming under increasing pressure,” WHO Emergencies Director Dr. Mike Ryan said Tuesday.   The experts also warn of a possible resurgence in the United States, where thousands have been protesting in the streets against racial violence, ignoring the social distancing warnings and urgings to wear masks.   Britain
A new British report Tuesday say minorities in Britain have died of COVID-19 at rates higher than whites.  The Public Health England report says ethnic Bangladeshis are at risk of death at a rate twice as high as white Britons. Britons of other Asian backgrounds, including Chinese, Indian, and Pakistani, and black Caribbean ethnicities have a 10% to 50% greater chance of dying from COVID-19.   The report just stated the findings and did not give any recommendations on how to reduce these alarming numbers.   
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it cannot be disputed that blacks and other minorities are at greater risk of death, but also expressed some dismay at the lack of guidance at this time.  “This is a particularly timely publication because right across the world people are angry about racial injustice. I totally understand the urgency, the importance and the sensitivity of getting this right,” Hancock said, referring to the uproar over the death of African American George Floyd in the United States while in police custody in Minneapolis. “I get that. Black lives matter,” he said.  
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