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At Least Seven Dead in Guatemala Prison Riot  

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more than 2,000 inmates.Violence in Guatemala prisons is not uncommon as the facilities are notoriously overcrowded and out of date.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

US, Russia Spar Over Military Build-Up at Arctic Summit

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

Language Barriers, Fear Keep Spain’s Migrants from Getting COVID Vaccine

Spain, one of the early epicenters the COVID pandemic, has been rushing to get its population vaccinated.  Thirty-three percent now have received at least a first dose.  But aid agencies and advocates estimate many of the country’s one million undocumented migrants are not getting vaccinated because of fear. Jonathan Spier narrates this report from Alfonso Beato in Barcelona.Camera: Alfonso Beato
Video editor: Jonathan Spier
 

BBC, Journalist Bashir Criticized Over 1995 Princess Diana Interview 

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

A Record 55 Million People Displaced Last Year

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center reports the number of people displaced inside their own countries because of conflict, violence and weather-related disasters reached an all-time high of 55 million by the end of 2020.Experts tracking these events thought sanity would prevail during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in fewer conflicts and triggering fewer forced displacements.  They also hoped global efforts against climate change to prevent disasters would protect more people.However, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, says the verdict is in and it is not good. He says last year, conflict and disasters caused more than 40 million new displacements, with some people being forced to move many times out of their homes.”Forty million times a child, a woman, or a man was displaced in 2020,” said Egeland. “That is more than one person per second, and it is continuing, so…a lot of people have been displaced also in 2021 while we speak.”The report says Syria has the highest number of internally displaced people, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia. It says sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa generated 90 percent of all new conflict-related displacements.Children displaced by the conflict play on metal railings at the elementary school where they now live with their families in the town of Abi Adi, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)The director of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, Alexandra Bilak, says escalating violence in Ethiopia and strengthening of extremist groups in Mozambique and Burkina Faso fueled some of the world’s fastest growing displacement crises.”In Ethiopia, we are looking at over half a million new displacements that were triggered by violence in the Tigray region alongside, as you know, reports of human rights violations and abuses,” said Bilak. “But across the rest of the continent, we saw how armed groups exploited simmering disputes and expanded their influence across the Sahel, as well as in Nigeria, Somalia and Mozambique.”Weather-related events, primarily storms and floods, were responsible for 98 percent of all new disaster displacements recorded last year. The report says nearly 70 percent took place in South Asia and East Asia, and the Pacific.Elsewhere, it says the Atlantic hurricane season was the most active on record, with 30 main storms. It notes hurricanes Laura, Eta and Iota alone triggered 2.7 million new displacements across 14 Central American and Caribbean countries.It adds 1.7 million displacements were recorded in the United States from devastating wildfires and hurricanes. Authors of the report cite this as an important reminder that high-income countries are just as exposed to disasters as low-and-middle-income countries.

Bulgaria’s Former Leader Battles Corruption Claims as Caretaker Government Starts Clean-Up

Bulgaria’s caretaker government appears poised to approve a series of freedom-of-information requests from the country’s media which are likely to fuel explosive allegations of corruption against former prime minister Boyko Borissov and a group of his business associates, say local journalists.
 
And the caretaker prime minister, Stefan Yanev, who has been in power for just over a week has been quick to shake up the country’s bureaucracy, making key political appointees in ministries, state agencies and public companies long dominated by people with close ties to Borissov, who was in office for all but two years since 2009.
 
“The dismantling of Borissov’s State has begun,” proclaimed this week Kapital, an investigative news site credited with major corruption exposes including of the state-owned Bulgarian Development Bank, which restricted loans in recent years to just eight private companies, all of which are tied to business oligarchs connected to Borissov.  
 
Kapital and other news organizations have inundated the caretaker government with freedom-of-information requests and their editors say they are hopeful of approval.   
 ‘Armani-clad tough guy’Borissov has been dogged by allegations of corruption and ties to organized crime since first emerging in politics in the early 2000s, when then U.S. ambassador John Beyrle warned in a diplomatic cable, which was subsequently leaked, that the bodyguard-turned-politician was “implicated in serious criminal activity.”
 
His predecessor as American envoy to Sofia, James Pardew, dubbed Borissov an “Armani-clad tough guy” in another leaked diplomatic cable.FILE – Bulgaria’s then-prime minister Boyko Borissov puts on a protective face mask as he arrives for the fourth day of an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, July 20, 2020.His three stints as prime minister were roiled by scandals and he was forced from office earlier this month when his conservative GERB party failed to win a majority in parliamentary elections in April and found none of the other parties willing to form a government coalition with him.  
 
His electoral setback is largely put down to the avalanche of corruption allegations that started last year, prompting the rise of major streets protests and the emergence of anti-establishment and anti-corruption parties wanting him gone. Protesters were infuriated when a photograph surfaced showing Borissov in bed with a pistol handy and a stash of 500 euro notes overflowing from a bedside drawer.
 
Earlier this month the Bulgarian parliament heard testimony from an agri-businessman, Svetoslav Ilchovsky, who claimed sectors of the economy are ruled over by businessmen associated with Borissov and they have turned Bulgaria into a ‘captured state.’  
 
Ilchovsky said he was forced to sell grain and other agricultural products at half-price to those close to GERB, helping to boost their profits. Ilchovsky alleged also that the Borissov associates have been busy embezzling European Union funds. “There is not a single EU-funded project in the agricultural sector where some fraud has not happened,” he told the panel.  
 
“I paid money willingly, I lost money, I did everything so I could buy some time and wait until their time [in office] is over,” Ilchovsky added. He told an investigative commission that ministers had personally threatened to damage his business unless he complied. Other businessmen have stepped forward to add to the allegations.
Bulgaria’s president, Rumen Radev, appointed a caretaker government led by Stefan Yanev, a political ally, ahead of rerun parliamentary elections called for July 11. Radev has warned that another inconclusive vote in July risks seeing Bulgaria fall into a “political and constitutional crisis.”Newly-appointed caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev, left, shakes hands with Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev during an official ceremony in Sofia, Bulgaria, May 12, 2021.Borissov has said he won’t run to try to lead the next government, saying he doesn’t want to “divide”the nation, although he has hinted he may be a candidate for the presidency in elections slated for later on the year.  
 Borissov’s defense
 
Borissov last Thursday dismissed allegations that GERB has extorted money from businesses using threats during its time in power. “They have paid people to stand up and say certain things,” Borissov told a press conference. He denies knowing any of the businessmen who accuse him and his party of extortion and fraud, describing the charges as part of a bigger scheme initiated to discredit his party.
 
“I know every step they’ll take and I am preparing to respond with even greater force,” Borissov said. He added: “Every single person who has ever attacked me has lost.”  
 
EU officials are taking note of the claims of widespread defrauding of agricultural projects funded by Brussels. How the dismantling of so-called ‘Borissov’s State’ fares could well have repercussions for what conditions they place on the 18.3 billion dollars Bulgaria is scheduled to get the country from COVID recovery funds, an official told VOA.
 
In March, when congratulating Bulgarians on their National Day, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed that Bulgaria was an enduring friend but emphasized in his remarks the importance of a “commitment to freedom, human rights, democratic and accountable institutions.” In recent weeks the U.S. State Department has focused on the security aspects of its relationship with Bulgaria, a NATO member.  Veronica Anghel of the European University Institute says the Biden administration is likely to seek “to balance security interests and the rule of law in Central and Eastern Europe.”
 

Top US, Russian Diplomats Meet Face-to-Face at Arctic Summit

Climate change and cooperation among Arctic states are among the topics of discussion Thursday in Reykjavik, Iceland, as the Arctic Council holds a ministerial meeting.“We value our strong international cooperation through the Council to address the climate crisis and keep the Arctic region peaceful,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ahead of Thursday’s talks.Earlier in the week, Blinken urged the global community to avoid militarizing the Arctic, and said Russia has advanced “unlawful maritime claims” in the region.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this week that Western countries should not claim rights to the Arctic, and that Russia is responsible for ensuring its Arctic coast is safe.The Arctic dispute is over the so-called Northern Sea Route, a shipping lane that runs through Russia’s northern coast in the Arctic. Russia considers the Northern Sea Route vital to its economic and military interests and requires foreign vessels to obtain permission from Moscow to navigate it. The United States has dismissed Russia’s claims of jurisdiction over parts of the route as illegitimate.Russia is taking over the chairmanship of the Arctic Council, and has set goals for highlighting sustainable economic development and promoting Indigenous cultures and languages.On the sidelines of the Arctic Council gathering, the big focus Wednesday was on a meeting between Blinken and Lavrov.Blinken said the United States is ready to work with Russia to advance areas where the two nations have “intersecting interests,” while continuing to defend U.S. interests and respond if Moscow acts aggressively against Washington and its allies.”There are many areas where our interests intersect and overlap, and we believe that we can work together and indeed build on those interests — whether it is dealing with COVID-19 and the pandemic, combating climate change, dealing with the nuclear programs” in Iran and North Korea, as well as the peace process in Afghanistan, Blinken said Wednesday.”Our position is clear: We are prepared to discuss all issues on the table with an understanding that our discussions would be honest, factual and with mutual respect,” Lavrov said, adding he is ready to discuss “the Russian (diplomatic) missions in the U.S. and the U.S. missions in Russia.”It was the first face-to-face meeting for the top U.S. and Russian diplomats and comes at a time of heightened tension between their countries. The meeting also set the stage for a planned summit next month between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, holds a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, not pictured, at the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, May 19, 2021.The meeting between Blinken and Lavrov lasted about an hour and 45 minutes, said to be longer than expected.“The Secretary made clear that Russia should release American citizens Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed so they can return home to their families,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement, adding that Blinken also raised “deep concerns” over Russia’s continued military deployments in and near Ukraine, and the health of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and the repression of opposition organizations.European energy security is at the top of the U.S. agenda as Russia’s controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which connects Russia and Germany, nears completion.Wednesday, the State Department announced its plan to sanction Russian vessels and entities involved in the building of Nord Stream 2.But the U.S. is waiving sanctions on the company in charge of the project, Nord Stream 2 AG, and CEO Matthias Warnig, a German national, citing U.S. national interest.The move is seen as a bid to improve relations with Germany. The Biden administration has been seeking to strengthen U.S.-German bonds and the transatlantic relationship.”I think our actions today have demonstrated that we continue to oppose the pipeline projects but that we also are cognizant of the president’s commitment to rebuild relations with our European allies and partners,” a senior U.S. official said.German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas praised the decision.”We see this as a constructive step which we are happy to further discuss with our partners in Washington,” he said Wednesday during a press conference.Russia has previously defended the project as economically feasible.The U.S. has been warning about the security risks of Russian energy export pipelines, in particular Nord Stream 2.  U.S. officials said if they were completed, those projects would undermine European security and strengthen Russia’s ability to use its energy resources to coerce the United States’ European partners and allies.Russian officials said Wednesday the latest U.S. decision to waive sanctions would normalize ties between Moscow and Washington.Donald Jensen, director for Russia and strategic stability at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said he does not believe the State Department’s announcement to waive sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO “was taken primarily with an eye toward improving the atmosphere around the Blinken-Lavrov meeting.”“I expect that the U.S. administration still intends to take a tough line on Russia’s threatening behavior toward Ukraine, interference in our elections and other areas,” Jensen said. “Nevertheless, the favorable reaction in Moscow to the decision suggests the Kremlin sees the pipeline decision as a concession which it will hope to repeat in other areas.”

Top US, Russian Diplomats Meet in Iceland to Cooperate on ‘Intersecting Interests’

The United States says it is ready to work with Russia to advance areas where the two nations have “intersecting interests,” while continuing to defend U.S. interests and respond if Moscow acts aggressively against Washington and its allies.”There are many areas where our interests intersect and overlap, and we believe that we can work together and indeed build on those interests — whether it is dealing with COVID-19 and the pandemic, climate change, the nuclear programs” in Iran and North Korea, or the peace process in Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met on the sidelines of the Arctic Council Ministerial session in Reykjavik, Iceland.”Our position is clear: We are prepared to discuss all issues on the table with an understanding that our discussions would be honest, factual and with mutual respect,” Lavrov said, adding he is ready to discuss “the Russian [diplomatic] missions in the U.S. and the U.S. missions in Russia.”It was the first face-to-face meeting for the top U.S. and Russian diplomats and came at a time of heightened tension between their countries. The meeting also set the stage for a planned summit next month between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.The meeting between Blinken and Lavrov lasted about one hour and 45 minutes, said to be longer than expected.“The Secretary made clear that Russia should release American citizens Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed so they can return home to their families,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement, adding that Blinken also raised “deep concerns” over Russia’s continued military deployments in and near Ukraine, the health of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and the repression of opposition organizations.Role of sanctionsEuropean energy security was at the top of the U.S. agenda as Russia’s controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which connects Russia and Germany, nears completion.Wednesday, the State Department announced its plan to sanction Russian vessels and entities involved in the building of Nord Stream 2.But the U.S. is waiving sanctions on the company in charge of the project, Nord Stream 2 AG, and CEO Matthias Warnig, a German national, citing U.S. national interest.The move is seen as a bid to improve relations with Germany. The Biden administration has been seeking to strengthen U.S.-German bonds and the transatlantic relationship.”I think our actions today have demonstrated that we continue to oppose the pipeline projects but that we also are cognizant of the president’s commitment to rebuild relations with our European allies and partners,” a senior U.S. official said.German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas praised the decision.”We see this as a constructive step which we are happy to further discuss with our partners in Washington,” he said Wednesday during a press conference.Russia has previously defended the project as economically feasible.The U.S. has been warning about the security risks of Russian energy export pipelines, in particular Nord Stream 2.  U.S. officials said if they were completed, those projects would undermine European security and strengthen Russia’s ability to use its energy resources to coerce the United States’ European partners and allies.Russian officials said Wednesday that the latest U.S. decision to waive sanctions would normalize ties between Moscow and Washington.Donald Jensen, director for Russia and strategic stability at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said he did not believe the State Department’s announcement to waive sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO “was taken primarily with an eye toward improving the atmosphere around the Blinken-Lavrov meeting.”“I expect that the U.S. administration still intends to take a tough line on Russia’s threatening behavior toward Ukraine, interference in our elections and other areas,” Jensen said. “Nevertheless, the favorable reaction in Moscow to the decision suggests the Kremlin sees the pipeline decision as a concession which it will hope to repeat in other areas.”

Havana Act Proposes Aid to US Diplomats Who Suffered Mysterious Illness

American lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation providing aid to diplomats who suffered a mysterious illness known as the Havana Syndrome while posted in Cuba. The so-called Havana Act would authorize the government to provide injured employees with additional financial support for brain injuries resulting from what the Trump administration termed a “sonic attack.” Over 40 American diplomats serving in Cuba in 2016 said they suffered persistent ear pain, headaches, and problems with memory, concentration, balance, sleeping and more. Employees at the time reported hearing loud buzzing, “piercing squeals” and “mechanical-sounding” noises. “As we work to identify the adversary responsible, we must support the victims,” Senator Susan Collins, a co-sponsor of the bill, said Wednesday. As we work to identify the adversary responsible, we must support the victims. A bill I introduced would provide them with additional financial support.https://t.co/HlF5xAnhNq— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) May 19, 2021Scientists studying the attacks theorized that weapons emitting damaging sound or microwaves caused the symptoms, though some later argued the strange sounds came from a loud species of cricket found in Cuba. Another group of researchers found the sounds could be caused by ultrasound signals from everyday devices crossed with signals from a surveillance system.’Havana Syndrome:’ Scans Show Differences in Affected Diplomat’s BrainsNearly three years after diplomats connected debilitating symptoms with strange noises, a new study looks at diplomats’ brains for answers During the uproar, the State Department cut staff at the embassy by more than half. VOA’s Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.

Brazil Environment Minister Investigated on Suspicion of Illegal Timber Exports

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Wednesday authorized an investigation into Environmental Minister Ricardo Salles and members of his agency on suspicion of running a timber trafficking ring that sent illegal exports to the United States and Europe.In a statement, the Federal Police said the court issued 35 search-and-seizure warrants carried out by 160 federal officers in the country’s Federal District and in São Paulo and Pará states.The police statement says the court also ordered several officials suspended from their duties at Brazil’s Environment Ministry and its administrative arm, the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, known as IBAMA. IBAMA chief Eduardo Bim was among the officials suspended. The environmental minister was not.Media reports say investigations began in January, based on information obtained from foreign authorities reporting possible misconduct by Brazilian public servants in timber exporting.Salles has been one of the most controversial figures in far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s government. The environmental minister has overseen a surge of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest since taking the post in 2019, and activists accuse him of dismantling Brazil’s environmental protection programs.When confronted by reporters about the raids earlier in the day, Salles denied any wrongdoing. He said that there was no substance to the accusations and that the investigation would demonstrate the environment ministry and IBAMA “have always sought to act according to the rules.”Salles has been in negotiations with the Biden administration in the U.S., seeking international funding for efforts to protect Brazil’s Amazon rainforests. President Joe Biden directly called on Brazil to take more action. 

US Waives Sanctions on Firm Working on Germany-Russia Pipeline  

The U.S. will waive sanctions against the German company leading construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, according to a State Department report sent to Congress on Wednesday. The report noted that while the German firm Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO had violated U.S. law in their work with Russia to build the natural gas pipeline linking the two countries, it was in U.S. national interest to waive the sanctions. The report noted that sanctions would be imposed on several Russian ships and companies for their work on the project. Russia and some U.S. lawmakers reacted to the decision before it was officially announced. FILE – The Nord Stream 2 gas line landfall facility is seen in Lubmin, Germany, Sept. 7, 2020.Nord Stream 2 is a multibillion-dollar underwater gas pipeline project linking Russia to Germany. Work on the pipeline was suspended in December 2019 after it became a source of contention between Russia and the West. Nord Stream officials said Russia resumed construction on the gas pipeline in December. The United States has opposed the joint international project because of possible threats to Europe’s energy security. Nord Stream 2 is intended to double the annual gas capacity of an existing Nord Stream pipeline.   In a statement Wednesday, U.S. Senator Jim Risch, a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the decision wrong and contradictory.  “The administration seems to be suggesting it is somehow in the United States’ best interest to allow this Russian malign influence project to be completed,” the statement said. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in his confirmation hearing earlier this year that he was “determined to do whatever we can to prevent that completion.” The Biden administration has placed increased sanctions on many Russian officials, particularly after the arrest of opposition leader Alexey Navalny. But when asked about the pipeline last month, Biden called it a “complicated” issue that was “still in play.”US Further Punishes Russia for Cyberattacks, Election Meddling   Action taken by the Biden administration includes expelling 10 Russian suspected spies   The Kremlin responded to the Axios report before the official announcement, calling it a “positive signal.” “The appearance of such publications is quite positive in itself,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call. “It’s much better than reading that new sanctions are on their way.” 
 

US-Canada Border Closure Extended at Least Another Month

The U.S.-Canada border will remain closed to nonessential travel until at least June 21, according to news reports. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday a decision to reopen the nearly 9,000-kilometer-long border would depend on vaccination rates. “We’re all eager to get back to normal. But we know that before we get back to normal, cases need to be under control, and over 75% of people need to be vaccinated for us to start loosening things in Canada,” he said, according to CTV Television Network. CTV reports that just over 46% of Canadians have received a first vaccine dose. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday that 60% of Americans had received at least one dose of a vaccine. The border has been closed since March 21, 2020. Further details regarding reopening the border are being discussed, according to James Cudmore, director of communications for the minister of public safety, CTV reported. He said the two sides are in “regular contact.” “Until the conditions on both sides of the border change very substantively, the measures at our borders will remain intact,” he said in an email to CTV. 
 

Thousands Join Paris Police Rally Against Violence, Insecurity  

After protests against police violence in France, tens of thousands of officers and their supporters staged their own rally Wednesday in Paris, demanding tougher measures against violence and insecurity that have targeted their ranks.Police, politicians and ordinary Parisians braved a mix of sun and pelting rain to protest outside France’s National Assembly.Loren Bazan, 29, whose parents are in the military, said he wanted to show solidarity with the police — who have died just doing their daily jobs, because they were police.Earlier this month, an officer was killed during an anti-drug operation in Nice. Another worker was killed as she entered the police station outside Paris in a suspected Islamist terrorist attack — one of several such attacks targeting French police in recent years.Police aren’t the only ones raising alarm about growing insecurity in France. Members of France’s military community – active and retired – have published a pair of open letters recently, warning of what they allege could be a brewing civil war fueled by growing Islamism.One officer who agreed to be interviewed but declined to give his name, said France’s police force is committed to protecting citizens but isn’t treated the way it deserves. He worries peace is unraveling in France.Police keep order at Worker Day demonstrations in Paris, where they were booed, May 1, 2021. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)The demonstration offered a counterpoint to allegations of police violence and racial profiling that have surged with the Black Lives Matter movement.Politicians from a rainbow of parties were out in force — ahead of regional elections next month and presidential and legislative ones next year. But the welcome wasn’t always warm. Some booed French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin as he arrived.Darmanin said he was simply there to support the officers during a difficult time. There’s nothing more normal, he added, than supporting officers in a republic.A supporter of the May 19, 2021, police protest holds a sign in Paris. Translated, it reads, “Illegitimate violence of delinquents forces the legitimate force of police.” (Lisa Bryant/VOA)Not everyone agreed with that sentiment. Some French experts said it was highly unusual for him to be present.But one demonstrator, Ludovic, said he believed Darmanin came as an ordinary citizen. He said police needed more political support.Members of France’s main opposition party, the far-right National Rally, were also present, along with leftist politicians. But the far left France Unbowed party refused to attend, saying it did not share the police demands.

Nicola Sturgeon Sworn in Again as Scotland’s First Minister

Nicola Sturgeon took the oath of office Wednesday to return as Scotland’s first minister following an election earlier this month that saw her Scottish National Party (SNP) win a resounding election victory, allowing her to push ahead with plans for a second independence referendum. The SNP won 64 seats in the Scottish parliament, just one short of an overall majority. But the Green Party, which also supports independence, won eight seats, more than enough to allow Sturgeon and her party to control the political agenda in Scotland. In a statement issued following her swearing in and the announcement of her Cabinet, Sturgeon called the coming parliamentary term “unquestionably the most important one the nation has faced since devolution, (when Scotland was allowed to form its own parliament) more than 20 years ago.”  She said recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, the “ongoing tests posed by Brexit,” and climate change are among her top priorities. But, she added, “As I have made clear, when the crisis is over and the time is right, Scotland must and will have the chance to choose its future in line with the unquestionable democratic mandate for that choice.”   Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the weekly question time debate in Parliament in London, Britain, May 19, 2021, in this screen grab taken from video. (Reuters TV via Reuters)British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his ruling Conservative Party, which is in the minority in Scotland, strongly oppose a referendum, saying the issue was settled in 2014 when Scots voted against independence, by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent. But issues such as Brexit, which a majority in Scotland opposes, and Johnson’s overall unpopularity in Scotland have brought the topic back in recent years. Sturgeon believes the recent elections give her a mandate to pursue it.  Under the 1998 Scotland Act — which created the Scottish parliament and devolved some powers to Edinburgh from London — all matters relating to the “Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England” are reserved for the U.K. parliament. Under the act, the U.K. parliament can grant the Scottish government authority to hold a referendum, a process that was used to allow the 2014 plebiscite to go ahead and which Sturgeon said should unfold again for a new referendum. A poll conducted for the Scotsman newspaper shows 49 percent of those surveyed would not support Scottish Independence, with 42 percent saying they would. Eight percent were undecided. 
 

Venezuela Court Seizes El Nacional Media Building in Civil Defamation Case

One of Venezuela’s oldest newspapers was evicted from its own building Friday, after members of the National Guard, accompanied by a judge, executed a court order.
 
The Caracas offices of El Nacional were seized as part of a civil defamation case in which a court ordered the media outlet to pay more than US $13 million to Diosdado Cabello, a high-ranking official in Venezuela’s ruling Socialist Party and former president of the National Assembly.   
 
Miguel Henrique Otero, the paper’s editor-in-chief who lives in exile in Madrid, Spain, compared the court order to “a robbery” and said it was proof that freedom of the press no longer exists in Venezuela.  
 
In April, Venezuela’s Civil Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice ordered El Nacional to pay damages to Cabello as part of a civil defamation complaint filed after the outlet republished an article by Spanish news outlet ABC.
 
Cabello has denied any links to drug trafficking.  
 
Otero said the seizure was “worse than expropriation” — where a government takes ownership of a property for public benefit — because it did not involve any legal procedure.
 
Lawyers for El Nacional plan to appeal. Because the media group publishes only online, it is still able to produce news content.
 
“The value of the building has nothing to do with the compensation,” Otero said, adding that he believes the damages are “an arbitrary figure” that is unjustified.  
 
The journalist compared the case to when Venezuela expropriated the studios of Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) in 2007. The then government of Hugo Chavez refused to renew the broadcaster’s license and a court ordered the military to seize control of RCTV’s equipment and installations, Reuters reported at the time.FILE – The last print edition of El Nacional, one of Venezuela’s oldest newspapers, is seen in a December 2018 photo. (VOA/Adriana Nuñez Rabascall and Alvaro Algarra)RCTV was replaced by the state-run TVES television channel, but in El Nacional’s case, Otero said, his building was turned over to Cabello. “They make him a millionaire,” he said.  
 
Cabello was cited on May 12 as saying on Twitter that the El Nacional building is not for the Venezuela government, and demanded that Otero pay the damages ordered by the court. “You can pay me in cash, or by check (with verified funds) I’ll use the money to buy vaccines. If not, I will have to seize your properties,” Cabello was cited as saying. 
 
The lawmaker said that he intends to use the building for a university of communications.
 
“The U.S. and media rights groups have condemned the actions against El Nacional.
 
Julie Chung, acting assistant secretary for the U.S. State Department’s bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, said on Twitter, “The raid on [El Nacional] is not against a building or property, but against freedom of the press. This responsibility for this violation falls directly on the regime.”
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) described the court order as “the latest step in a long and arbitrary process of judicial harassment and abuses” against El Nacional for its reporting on corruption.   
 
“By taking control of the headquarters of one of the most influential outlets in the country, Venezuelan authorities have shown they will go to extraordinary lengths to suppress independent news,” Natalie Southwick, who heads CPJ’s South and Central America program said in a statement.
 
Venezuela has a poor press freedom record, scoring 148 out of 180 counties, where 1 is the most free, according to an annual index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The media watchdog cites harassment of independent media, arbitrary arrests and a “tense climate” that has led many journalists to flee.
 
Founded in 1943, El Nacional is one of Venezuela’s oldest newspapers. Under Nicolás Maduro’s government, it has faced obstacles to its reporting, including administration officials who refuse to speak to its staff, government advertising being pulled, and a shortage of paper forcing the daily to eventually move online.  
 
As part of the Cabello lawsuit, a court in 2015 imposed a travel ban on Otero and around 20 other journalists, staff and shareholders at the paper, according to the CPJ.
 
Otero told VOA that the newspaper’s archives “are outside” of the building. Venezuelan analysts, intellectuals and journalists say that with nearly 80 years’ history, El Nacional has one of the largest and more complete archives in the country.
 This article originated in VOA’s Spanish-language division. 

US to Distribute 80 Million Vaccine Doses Globally, on Basis of Need  

The United States announced this week that it will share an additional 20 million coronavirus vaccine doses with other countries, in addition to the 60 million it has already committed. The unanswered question: where will the vaccines go?U.S. State Department Coordinator for Global COVID Response Gayle Smith sidestepped that issue Wednesday during a rapid-fire teleconference, despite repeated, urgent inquires from journalists in the Caribbean, India, Brazil, Africa, East Asia, and the European Union. However, Smith emphasized the U.S. is working closely with the global COVAX facility to determine where the vaccines are needed most, and how they can be most equitably distributed.    FILE – Gayle Smith, State Department Coordinator for Global COVID-19 Response and Health Security, speaks about U.S. leadership in fighting the coronavirus pandemic at the State Department in Washington, April 5, 2021.“We have not made the decisions on allocations yet,” she said, repeatedly. “We’ll have that information for you sometime in the near term. What we are doing is looking at every region in the world and we are well aware of the extremely low vaccine coverage on the African continent.”  Health experts at the United Nations estimate that of the 1.4 billion doses administered worldwide, only 24 million have reached Africa — less than 2%. The other point Smith emphasized: Despite the fact that the U.S.’s top adversaries, China and Russia, are ramping up their own vaccine donations around the world, this move by the U.S. is not a case of “vaccine diplomacy.” Smith stressed repeatedly that the U.S. will distribute according to need, and not to curry favor.      “Our view, with respect to vaccine diplomacy — and I think a really important point here — is that vaccines are tools for public health,” she said. “They are the means for bringing this pandemic to an end. We do not see them, do not intend to use them as a means for influence or pressure. And our decisions will be made on the basis of need, public health data and again, collaboration with key partners, absolutely including COVAX.”   However, Smith did note that the U.S. is the biggest donor of vaccines to the COVAX facility, and urged other wealthy nations to step up. She also noted that this vaccine donation will be accompanied by investments in vaccine manufacturing sites around the world, and U.S. assistance to improve other countries’ access to therapeutics and testing.     In making the donation announcement earlier this week, President Joe Biden explained his rationale for sending these vaccines, which were funded in large part by U.S. taxpayers, across the planet. “There’s a lot of talk about Russia and China influencing the world with vaccines,” he said. “We want to lead the world with our values, with this illustration of our innovation and ingenuity, and the fundamental decency of American people. Just as in World War II, America was the arsenal of democracy, in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic our nation is going to be the arsenal of vaccines for the rest of the world.” 

International Team to Study Columbus DNA to Determine His Origin

An international team of scientists gathering in Spain Wednesday will launch a project to determine once and for all where famed explorer Christopher Columbus came from by examining his DNA.While Columbus has long been claimed by Italy, there is also speculation he may have been Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian or even Polish. There is little known about his early history, and the project is designed to settle the question.In 2003, a team from the Spanish University of Granada’s medical school established, through DNA research, that bones in a tomb in the cathedral of Seville were those of Columbus, settling a dispute with the Dominican Republic which claimed his body was buried there.  At that time DNA technology was not advanced enough to determine much else.  Breakthroughs in the technology since then, however, have made it possible to now roughly ascertain the area of person’s ancestry.  The bones of Columbus, his son Hernando and his brother Diego are to be examined at Granada University, with genetic material sent to laboratories in Italy and the United States.To kick off the project, the University of Granada is hosting a gathering what it is calling the first world meeting of Columbus researchers, who are presenting evidence for their different theories about the explorer’s origins. The scientists and historians brought with them documentation, artifacts and reportedly even some genetic material.Columbus’s four transatlantic voyages on behalf of Spanish monarchs between 1492 and 1504 opened a door to Europe’s colonization of the Americas, then known as the New World.Columbus died on May 20, 1506, and was buried in the Spanish city of Valladolid.

EU Slams Belarus For Shutting Independent News Site

The European Union has slammed Belarus for its closure of the country’s biggest independent online news publication, Tut.by, as one of its reporters left prison after serving six months for her reporting on the death of a protester killed during a crackdown on demonstrations against authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka. In a statement on May 19, an EU spokesman called the blocking a day earlier of the popular news site an “act of continued repression and intimidation” against independent media. Belarusian authorities also raided Tut.by’s offices in Minsk and other regions, and the homes of its journalists and employees, breaking the door leading to the apartment of Maryna Zolatava, the site’s editor in chief. The Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human rights group said on May 19 that 12 women and two men who worked for the publication had been detained. “The harassment of journalists must stop and all those detained must be immediately released, together with all political prisoners,” EU spokesman Peter Stano said in the statement. “The EU continues to stand by the people of Belarus in their call for respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms and will continue to support civil society and independent media,” he added. The EU statement came hours after Katsyaryna Barysevich was released from a penal colony in the southeastern city of Homel on May 19 after serving her sentence for articles she wrote on the death of Roman Bandarenka, who was protesting against Lukashenka’s victory claim in an August 9 presidential election that the opposition says was rigged. The articles included medical details that contradicted official statements that Bandarenka was drunk at the time of his death.Barysevich told journalists after her release that her incarceration “failed to break” her and that she looked at the absurdities of her situation to ease her mind.”I learned to look calmly at all of the crazy things around me. I cannot say that somebody broke me, or that I entered a jail in November as one person and left it as a different one. To my big surprise, it turned out that I am a very strong person…. There was a moment on the first day [of my arrest] when I wanted to cry but when I saw 19- and 20-year-old students in my cell… I understood that crying is not an option for me,” Barysevich said. 
“I had a brown card that is given to individuals with the status of ‘inclined to extremism,’ so I was transported handcuffed along with two women sentenced to nine years and 10 years in prison for murder. They were laughing that they were not handcuffed, while I was!” she said. The doctor, Artsyom Sarokin, was handed a suspended two-year prison term and ordered to pay a fine of 1,450 rubles ($555) for disclosing the information to Barysevich. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists condemned the raids on the offices of Tut.by and its affiliates across the country, as well as the homes of the company’s editors. A total of 14 employees from the media group were detained as suspects in an alleged tax evasion case. “It’s clear that authorities’ only real motive is to censor Belarus’ premier independent news website out of fear of its reporting. Authorities must release all Tut.by employees immediately and without charge, and should allow the outlet to work freely,” Gulnoza Said, the New York-based watchdog’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, said in a statement. A co-owner of Tut.by, Yulia Charnyauskaya, also was detained on May 18 but rushed to a Minsk hospital with heart problems, where she spent several hours. Her current whereabouts are unknown, Vyasna says. A Tut.by co-founder, Kiryl Valoshin, told Current Time on May 18 that there is sizeable support in Belarus for the publication, which has over 3 million online users. But he said he doubted that an escalating crackdown on the media and civil society in the country following protests over a disputed presidential election last August will stop any time soon. “Unfortunately, let us admit that the level of violence and lawlessness in the country is so high that even the possible closure of Tut.by will not make its supporters do something more than express their thoughts on social networks,” Valoshin said, adding that he hopes Tut.by will be able to continue operating in some form. Belarusian authorities have stepped up their repression of journalists and bloggers ever since the start of mass protests sparked by the presidential election. Tut.by has been under pressure for months. Outrage over what was seen as a rigged vote to hand Lukashenka a sixth term in office brought tens of thousands onto the streets to protest the outcome. Security officials have cracked down hard on the demonstrators, arresting thousands, including dozens of journalists who covered the rallies, and pushing most of the top opposition figures out of the country. Some rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture being used by security officials against some of those detained. Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994, has denied any wrongdoing with regard to the election and refuses to negotiate with the opposition on stepping down and holding new elections. The European Union, United States, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka, 66, as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have slapped him and senior Belarusian officials with sanctions in response to the “falsification” of the vote and postelection crackdown. 

Grand Day for the French: Cafe and Bistro Terraces Reopens

It’s a grand day for the French. Cafe and restaurant terraces reopened Wednesday after a six-month coronavirus shutdown deprived residents of the essence of French life — sipping coffee and wine with friends. The French government is lifting restrictions incrementally to stave off a resurgence of COVID-19 and to give citizens back some of their signature “joie de vivre.” As part of the plan’s first stage, France’s 7 p.m. nightly curfew was pushed back to 9 p.m. and museums, theaters and cinemas reopened along with outdoor cafe terraces. President Emmanuel Macron, among the first to take a seat at a cafe terrace, was seen chatting with Prime Minister Jean Castex, who was attending a movie later in the day. Actress Emmanuel Beart went to a movie theater opening in the center of Paris where her latest film “L’Etreinte” (“The Embrace”) was showing — among the scores of movies produced during the shutdown.Parisians wait for the early first cinema screening and one year delay premiere of ‘Mandibules’ by French director Quentin Dupieux in Paris, May, 19, 2021.France is not the first European country to start getting back a semblance of social and cultural life. Italy, Belgium, Hungary and other nations already have started allowing outdoor dining, while drinking and eating indoors began Monday in Britain’s pubs. Eateries in France have been closed since the end of October, the longest time of any European country except Poland, where bars and restaurants reopened Saturday for outdoor service after being closed for seven months. Some French cafe and restaurant owners have spent days preparing for Wednesday’s milestone, even though rain is forecast for large swaths of the country, including Paris. Still, the government has put limits on how much fun can be had. Restaurants are can fill only 50% of their outdoor seating areas and put no more than six people at a table. Movie theaters can only seat 35% of capacity, while museums must restrict entries so there is 8 square meters of space (86 square feet) per visitor. Starting June 9, the French government plans to extend the curfew until 11 p.m. and to permit indoor dining at restaurants and bistros starting. The final phase of the three-stage reopening plan is scheduled for June 30, when the curfew will end and all other restrictions will be lifted, if pandemic conditions allow. France has recorded more than 108,000 deaths due to COVID-19, among the highest tolls in Europe. But deaths, admissions to critical care units and the coronavirus infection rate are now on the decline. “What counts is the dynamic,” Health Minister Olivier Veran told BFMTV. Vaccinations “have changed the givens.” About 40% of France’s adult population has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Rain or shine, restrictions or not, a good number of people are expected to take advantage of their new freedom on Wednesday. At least that’s what Jérôme Haeffelin, the owner of Le Ponthieu, a Right Bank bistro in a crowded district of Paris, hopes. He invested 20,000 euros ($24,000) to create an outdoor terrace. “We’ll try hard to enforce (the rules), to stack the odds in our favor and stay open in the long run,” Haeffelin said. 

Top US, Russian Diplomats to Meet in Iceland

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are set to meet Wednesday on the sidelines of the Arctic Council ministerial in Reykjavik, Iceland. It will be the first face-to-face meeting for the top U.S. and Russian diplomats and comes at a time of heightened tension between their countries.  The meeting will also set the stage for a planned summit next month between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The U.S. State Department said Wednesday afternoon’s session “will provide an opportunity to test the proposition of whether we can achieve a relationship with Moscow that is more stable and predictable.” Blinken on Tuesday urged the global community to avoid militarizing the Arctic.  The United States has previously accused Russia of requiring foreign ships to seek permission to pass through the region and to allow Russian maritime pilots to board the vessels while threatening violence against noncompliant ships.   “We’ve seen Russia advance unlawful maritime claims, particularly its regulation of foreign vessels transiting the Northern Sea route, which are inconsistent with international law,” Blinken said at a joint media briefing with Iceland’s foreign minister.  Blinken’s remarks came a day after Lavrov warned Western countries not to claim rights to the Arctic.  “It has been absolutely clear for everyone for a long time that this is our territory, this is our land,” Lavrov told reporters in Moscow. “We are responsible for ensuring our Arctic coast is safe.”  As climate change accelerates the melting of the Arctic’s ice sheet, the Arctic becomes more accessible.  In recent years, Putin has made Russia’s Arctic region a higher strategic priority, raising tensions with Arctic Council members over its investments in military infrastructure and mineral extraction.  The United States has recently been at odds with Russia over Moscow’s jailing of Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, Russia’s buildup of military forces near Ukraine, and a cyberattack on the largest U.S. gas pipeline by hackers believed to be in Russia.  Russia says its government was not involved in the cyberattack. It has accused the United States of trying to interfere in its domestic issues, including the jailing of Navalny. 

Africa Financing Summit in Paris Ends With Calls for Funding, Vaccines

A Paris summit on supporting African nations hard-hit by COVID-19’s fallout wrapped up Tuesday with sweeping calls for massive financial and vaccination support for Africa — and a broader sea change in relations between donor nations and the continent. French President Emmanuel Macron called earlier for a new deal for Africa. Among the goals he and other leaders outlined were doubling COVID-19 vaccination targets for Africa by the end of 2021 under the COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme; persuading International Monetary Fund member states to triple so-called special drawing rights monetary reserves for Africa to $100 billion; and giving Africa the ability to produce and distribute COVID-19 shots at home.  Macron said this moment could be seized to respond to broader, long-standing — and, so far, unaddressed — challenges facing Africa. He said an economic and strategic new deal with Africa would not happen overnight, but the talks had triggered a new dynamic.  French President Emmanuel Macron holds a news conference with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Senegal’s President Macky Sall and President of Congo Democratic Republic Felix Tshisekedi in Paris, May 18, 2021.The same message was heard from Senegal’s President Macky Sall. He said a paradigm shift is under way in Africa’s relationship with richer nations — from having programs imposed on it to co-constructing what is needed. That offers hope, he said, because Africans know their problems better than anyone.  More than a year in the making, this meeting — gathering leaders from Africa, Europe and global financial institutions — was backdropped by a series of bleak statistics on the pandemic’s toll on Africa. If the continent has been less hard hit by the pandemic than other places, it is suffering in many other ways, with tourism and other revenues drying up.  Africa’s economy is expected to grow just over 3 percent this year — about half the world average. It faces a nearly $300 billion spending shortfall over the next few years. Experts fear millions more Africans may tip into poverty — and less than 3 percent of Africans have been vaccinated against the virus.  There is no durable exit from the continent’s economic crisis, IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva said, without beating the health crisis. She said ramping up the vaccination campaign will generate trillions of dollars in additional output benefiting not only Africa but also richer economies.  “We have worked on the pathway to accelerate the exit from the health crisis, and to sum it up, it would require 40 percent vaccinations of everyone everywhere by 2021 — that is very important for Africa — 60 percent vaccinations by the middle of 2022. And then we have a hope of turning this page,” Georgieva said.Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, who is also African Union chair, said having Africans manufacture and supply COVID-19 vaccines could help overcome the reluctance among some of being inoculated with foreign shots.He called for greater debt relief and market access for the continent — and for international financing to take into account its fight on terror. But he also said African governments need to do their share by establishing good governance, fighting corruption and supporting Africa’s youth.  Tuesday’s financing summit wraps up two days of high-level talks on Africa. On Monday, IMF members states agreed to clear billions of dollars Sudan owes the institution as part of broader support for Khartoum’s democratic transition, and Macron announced scrapping Sudan’s $5 billion debt to France.
 

Macron Plans First Visit to Rwanda this Month

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday he would make his first visit to Rwanda at the end of this month, a possible breakthrough in relations overshadowed by France’s role during the 1994 genocide. “I confirm I am going to Rwanda at the end of the month. The visit will be one of politics and remembrance but also economic,” Macron said at the end of an Africa summit in Paris. He added he had agreed with his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame, whom he met on the sidelines of a summit meeting on Monday, “to write a new page in relations”. His visit will be the first trip by a French president since Nicolas Sarkozy visited the country in 2010. Kagame told journalists from the France 24 television channel and RFI radio Monday that Rwanda and France have a “good basis” to create a relationship after a landmark report acknowledged France bore overwhelming responsibilities over the 1994 genocide. “We are in the process of normalization,” he added. Macron moved to repair ties with Rwanda by commissioning a report by historians into the role of French troops in the genocide, in which about 800,000 people were killed.  It concluded in March that France had been “blind” to preparations for the massacres of members of the Tutsi ethnic group by the Hutu regime, which was backed by France. Kagame has in the past accused France of “participating” in the genocide, but he said he accepted the findings of the French commission that Paris was not complicit in the killings. “It’s not up to me to conclude that this is what they should have said,” Kagame said. “It is something that I can accommodate.”  

Top US Diplomat Against Militarizing Arctic

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the global community Tuesday to avoid militarizing the Arctic region, one day after Russia warned the West against making territorial claims in the area. Blinken is in Reykjavik, Iceland, for talks on climate change and to take part in an Arctic Council ministerial meeting. The United States has previously accused Russia of requiring foreign ships to seek permission to pass through the region and to allow Russian maritime pilots to board the vessels while threating violence against noncompliant ships.  “We’ve seen Russia advance unlawful maritime claims, particularly its regulation of foreign vessels transiting the Northern Sea route, which are inconsistent with international law,” Blinken said at a joint media briefing with Iceland’s foreign minister. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir hold a meeting at the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, May 18, 2021.Blinken’s remarks came a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Western countries not to claim rights to the Arctic. “It has been absolutely clear for everyone for a long time that this is our territory, this is our land,” Lavrov told reporters in Moscow. “We are responsible for ensuring our Arctic coast is safe.” As climate change accelerates the melting of the Arctic’s ice sheet, the Arctic becomes more accessible. In recent years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made Russia’s Arctic region a higher strategic priority, raising tensions with Arctic Council members over its investments in military infrastructure and mineral extraction. The U.S. State Department said earlier the leaders would discuss “the global community’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the need for greater climate action, promoting women’s rights and equality, and Arctic security.”  Blinken lauded U.S. President Joe Biden’s return to the Paris climate agreement and resolve to fight combat climate change during a meeting with Icelandic President Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson and Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir.  Blinken also toured a geothermal plant in Reykjavik. Talks with RussiaOn the sidelines of the Arctic Council ministerial meeting Wednesday, Blinken will hold his first face-to-face encounter with Lavrov. The meeting comes at a time of heightened tension between the U.S. and Russia and will set the stage for a planned summit next month between U.S. President Joe Biden and Putin. The State Department said the meeting between Blinken and Lavrov is an opportunity to discuss building a “more predictable relationship with Russia” and “working on areas where we have mutual interests.” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to employees at the U.S. Embassy in Reykjavik, Iceland, May 18, 2021.A senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Blinken that the Biden administration has made progress in its relationship with Russia with respect to reaching an agreement to extend the START nuclear weapons treaty, but that it has also faced areas of difficulties.  “We were able to do the extension of the important New START Treaty for five years right off the bat, but we also look at areas where Russia has behaved aggressively and undertaken malign efforts for which, as the president said, there will be a cost,” the official said.  The United States has recently been at odds with Russia over Moscow’s jailing of Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, Russia’s buildup of military forces near Ukraine, and a cyberattack on the largest U.S. gas pipeline by hackers believed to be in Russia. Russia says its government was not involved in the cyberattack. It has accused the United States of trying to interfere in its domestic issues, including the jailing of Navalny. Trip to DenmarkBefore traveling to Iceland, Blinken was in Denmark, where he held talks about economic, security and climate issues, as well as the Biden administration’s ongoing push to boost ties with U.S. allies. “Looking forward to deepening our partnership on mutual goals, including combating the climate crisis, enhancing defense cooperation, ensuring energy security and partnering in the Arctic,” Blinken said after meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.  Great visit today with @Statsmin Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen. Looking forward to deepening our partnership on mutual goals including combatting the climate crisis, enhancing defense cooperation, ensuring energy security, and partnering in the Arctic. pic.twitter.com/g5D9tRVGUn— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 17, 2021After the meeting, Frederiksen said the Biden administration is taking a different approach from the Trump administration.   “That means a desire for cooperation around the Arctic region, where changes are taking place,” she said.  Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said, “Today, America is back. … And let me tell you, America has been missed.” Blinken said the United States is determined “to reinvigorate its alliances and partnerships and also our engagement with international institutions.” The Biden administration has renewed emphasis on international organizations, including rejoining the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement and reengaging with the United Nations Human Rights Council. 
 

Spain Says Flood of Migrants from Morocco is ‘Serious Crisis’  

Spain’s prime minister flew to the country’s North African enclave Tuesday to contain a migration crisis with neighboring Morocco after 6,000 migrants swam or walked over the border.  Spain deployed troops and extra police to repel crowds who were trying to get around security fences from Morocco into the tiny Spanish territory after a huge incursion of migrants the day before.   Videos emerged that appeared to show Moroccan soldiers opening security gates to let migrants through to the Spanish port city.  “This sudden arrival of irregular migrants is a serious crisis for Spain and Europe,” said Pedro Sanchez in a televised address to the nation before travelling to Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish enclave bordering Morocco.   European Union leaders backed Spain, saying the mass incursion in Ceuta was a breach of the bloc’s borders.  European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas called for a “strong protection of our borders.”  Experts suggested this huge influx, which included entire families, was an attempt by Morocco to pressure Spain to alter its policy toward Western Sahara, the disputed territory to which Rabat lays claim.   Morocco and Spain have been mired in a diplomatic dispute over the presence in Spain of a Polisario Front leader, whose movement has fought for the independence of Western Sahara.  The leader, Brahim Ghali, is receiving treatment at a hospital in Logroño in northern Spain, after he was diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.    FILE – Brahim Ghali attends celebrations marking the 45th anniversary of the creation of the SARD, on Feb. 27, 2021, at a refugee camp, near Tindouf, Algeria.The Polisario Front fought a long war against Morocco to win the independence of the disputed Western Saharan territory, which was a Spanish colony until 1975.   Rabat claims the territory as part of Morocco partly as it contains important deposits of phosphates, but the Polisario Front has demanded an independence referendum.  Ignacio Cembrero, a Spanish journalist who writes frequently on Morocco, said Rabat had relaxed security measures on the border with Ceuta to try to force Madrid to change its stance on Western Sahara.  “The Moroccan foreign minister, Naser Burita, said in January that Rabat wanted Spain to change its policy to support Moroccan claims over Western Sahara. This is how it puts pressure on Madrid,” he told VOA.  Spain has long maintained a solution to the dispute can only come from an agreement brokered by the United Nations.  Moroccan Foreign Minister Naser Burita asked last week whether Spain wanted to “sacrifice relations with Morocco” by failing to inform Rabat of Ghali’s presence in Spain.    Analysts said it appeared Morocco was playing a familiar game by relaxing its border controls to prove a political point against its neighbor Spain.  “What has happened in Ceuta is another example of how Morocco plays with migration as a manner to pursue its own interests. The EU should not give ground faced with this pressure,” Estrella Galan, director of the non-profit Spanish Commission to Aid Refugees, told VOA.  Spain’s foreign minister, Arancha González Laya, dismissed claims the arrival of thousands of Moroccans in Ceuta was linked to the row over Ghali.  “I cannot speak for Morocco, but what they told us a few hours ago, this afternoon, is that this is not due to the disagreement over Ghali,” she told Cadena Ser, a Spanish radio station.  “Spain has been very clear and detailed about the (Ghali) case. It is simply a humanitarian issue.”