Poland’s justice minister says it would be unacceptable for the European Union to force the conservative country to legalize gay marriage so it can get EU financial aid. “There is a real risk that we may find ourselves in a situation where the EC (European Commission) will effectively force us to introduce the so-called homosexual marriages with the right to adopt children,” Zbigniew Ziobro told a news conference Monday, Reuters reports. “We cannot agree to this under any circumstances.” Some EU leaders at the tough budget talks in Brussels have demanded member states adhere to so-called democratic values or payment would be blocked. Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice Party and President Andrzej Duda were reelected last week in part because of their pledges to ban gay couples from adopting children and forbidding schools from teaching about civil rights for homosexuals. Duda has called gay rights an “ideology” worse than communism. Polish gay rights activist Alicja Sienkiewicz says Duda is treating the LGBT community as the enemies of the state.  “This is bizarre. If you want to get these (EU) funds, you should automatically accept how the EU expects them to be spent, because adhering to the rule of law means adhering to basic human rights, and it is about respecting them,” she said. Poland could lose billions of dollars in COVID-19 recovery money and other aid if it fails to live up to what the EU regards as democratic standards.  
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The United States on Monday slapped sanctions on the regional strongman leader of Russia’s republic of Chechnya over human rights violations including torture and extrajudicial killings. Ramzan Kadyrov, 43, has run Chechnya like his personal fiefdom, relying on his security forces to quash dissent. International human rights groups have accused Kadyrov and his lieutenants of abductions, torture and killings of their opponents. Rights defenders also hold the Chechen authorities responsible for a sweeping crackdown on gays over the past few years that has seen more than 100 people arrested, subjected to torture, with some of them killed. Chechen authorities have denied those accusations, and federal authorities said a probe found nothing to support the charges. In a statement announcing the sanctions, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointed at “extensive credible information that Kadyrov is responsible for numerous gross violations of human rights dating back more than a decade, including torture and extrajudicial killings.” Pompeo said the restrictions will apply to Kadyrov’s wife and two daughters and he encouraged U.S. allies to take similar measures. Kadyrov responded on his blog, posting a picture of himself standing in a weapons storage room with a smile on his face and a machine gun in each hand. “Pompeo, we accept the fight. It’s going to be even more fun down the road,” he said. Russian lawmakers said that Moscow will find a way to reciprocate to the U.S. sanctions against Kadyrov, but wouldn’t say what a possible response could be.  The Kremlin has relied on Kadyrov to stabilize Chechnya after two separatist wars, providing generous federal subsidies and dismissing international criticism of his rule. The Kremlin also has stood by Kadyrov amid Russian opposition claims of his involvement in the 2015 killing of prominent Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, which the Chechen leader has rejected. An officer in Chechnya’s security forces was convicted of shooting Nemtsov on a bridge adjacent to the Kremlin and received a 20-year prison term.  
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The World Health Organization expressed concern Monday about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Indigenous populations in the Americas. Speaking at his regular briefing from agency headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while COVID-19 is a risk for all of the world’s Indigenous people, the agency is deeply concerned about the impact of the virus on Indigenous people in the Americas, the current epicenter of the pandemic. Tedros reports that as of the July 6, more than 70,000 cases have been reported among Indigenous people in the Americas and more than 2,000 deaths. He was specifically concerned about COVID-19 cases among Peru’s Amazonian Nahua people. WHO’s regional Office for the Americas recently published recommendations for preventing and responding to COVID-19 among Indigenous people. The agency is also working with the coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin to step up the fight against the coronavirus. Tedros also stressed the need for contact tracing to keep the coronavirus from spreading in all communities.   “Contact tracing is essential for every country, in every situation,” Tedros said. “It can prevent individual cases from becoming clusters, and clusters turning into community transmission.” As of Monday, WHO reports 14,263,202 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with 602,244 deaths. The Americas remains the region with the largest total number of cases with 7,517,712. The United States continues to lead the world with 3,618,497 cases. Brazil is second, with 2,074,860 cases.    
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Britain’s government suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong on Monday and blocked arms sales to the former British territory, after China imposed a tough new national security law.
As tensions grow with Beijing, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he had concerns about the new law and about alleged human rights abuses in China in particularly in regard to the treatment of the Uighur minority. He described the measures being taken Monday as “reasonable and proportionate.”
“We will protect our vital interests,” Raab said. “We will stand up for our values and we will hold China to its international obligations.
Raab followed the example of the United States, Australia and Canada by suspending extradition arrangements with the territory.
The arms embargo extends a measure in place for China since 1989. It means that Britain will allow no exports of potentially lethal weapons, their components or ammunition as well as equipment that might be used for internal repression such as shackles, firearms and smoke grenades.
The review of the extradition measures comes only days after Britain backtracked on plans to give Chinese telecommunications company Huawei a role in the U.K.’s new high-speed mobile phone network amid security concerns fueled by rising tensions between Beijing and Western powers.
Johnson’s government has already criticized China’s decision to impose a sweeping new national security law on Hong Kong. The U.K. has accused the Beijing government of a serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration under which the U.K. returned control of Hong Kong to China in 1997, and announced it would open a special route to citizenship for up to 3 million eligible residents of the community.
Beijing has objected to the move. China’s ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, recently described the offer as “gross interference” in Chinese affairs.  
Liu told the BBC’s Andrew Marr on Sunday that Britain was “dancing to the tune” of the U.S. and rejected the allegations of human rights abuses against the mainly-Muslim Uighur people.
He accused Western countries of trying to foment trouble with China.  
“People say China (is) becoming very aggressive. That’s totally wrong,” he told the BBC “China has not changed. It’s Western countries, headed by United States — they started this so-called new Cold War on China.” 
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Officials in the Bahamas say that starting Wednesday, it will ban travelers from the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic. Officials say the large increase in COVID-19 cases throughout the United States and other countries is the reason for the ban; however, some international travel will be permitted, although it will be confined to Canada, Britain, and the European Union. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus. The ban marks a sudden shift from the Bahamas’ decision three weeks ago to reopen to virtually all international tourism. Those still permitted to travel to the Bahamas under the new requirements must test negative for COVID-19 from an accredited lab 10 or fewer days before traveling, or otherwise quarantine themselves for 14 days. “Regrettably, the situation here at home has already deteriorated since we began the reopening of our domestic economy,” Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said Sunday. “It has deteriorated at an exponential rate since we reopened our international borders.” The prime minister also said, “Our current situation demands decisive action if we are to avoid being overrun and defeated by this virus.” He said these strong actions were being taken to “save lives.” Bahamas’ airline, Bahamasair, is halting all flights to and from the United States. The new travel bans are an attempt to halt the increase of the virus in the Bahamas. According to the Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 dashboard, the Bahamas has 153 confirmed cases with 11 deaths.   “We cannot risk the death of Bahamians and residents. We must be resolved in our collective willingness to save lives,” said Minnis.   
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Police and security officials in Frankfurt, Germany, announced Monday they have banned late gatherings in that city’s opera square after a party there turned violent over the weekend, resulting in 39 arrests.The square – known locally as the “Opernplatz” – had become a popular gathering place for what locals called “corona parties” as German clubs and bars remain closed because of the COVID pandemic.  Officials say as many as 3,000 people attended such a gathering Saturday and it was mostly peaceful through the night. But Frankfurt police chief Gerhard Beres said in early hours of Sunday, a brawl broke out and as police moved to stop it and help a bleeding man, the crowd turned on them, pelting them with bottles.Beres said police arrested 39 suspected bottle-throwers, eight of whom were still in custody Sunday. Police said 29 of the 39 suspects arrested came to Frankfurt from outside.At a news conference in Frankfurt Monday, Beres, and Frankfurt Security Chief Markus Frank condemned the actions of those who committed the violence and announced the square would now be closed after midnight Fridays and Saturdays. He said the goal was to send a signal to “troublemakers” that “it is just not worth it to come to Frankfurt.” 
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Hundreds of Catalan independence supporters protested the visit of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia on Monday to the northeastern region as part of a royal tour across Spain that is meant to bolster spirits amid the coronavirus pandemic. The visit came as a barrage of media leaks accuse the king’s father, former monarch Juan Carlos I, of allegedly hiding millions of untaxed euros in offshore funds.  Prosecutors in the country’s Supreme Court are determining whether the king emeritus can be investigated for receiving the funds from Saudi Arabia, possibly as kickbacks for a high-speed railway project. Juan Carlos hasn’t publicly addressed the allegations against him. The scandal is the latest to rock the Spanish royal family. In mid-March, it prompted Felipe to renounce any inheritance he could receive from his father and stripped him of the annual stipend as king emeritus. Juan Carlos abdicated on behalf of his son in 2014. With that backdrop, the royal couple launched a visit to all of Spain’s 17 regions that was designed as a show of support for the citizens and the economy as it recovers from the first wave of the pandemic.  The Catalan leg of the tour was initially planned for last week covering several towns and Barcelona, but the monarchy said it had postponed it and scaled it back to a short visit to a monastery because of the spike in virus cases in and around the regional capital. Protesters on Monday carried photos of Felipe upside down and letters completing the sentence “Catalonia doesn’t have a king” during a march organized by ANC, the region’s largest pro-independence civil society group.  The march was headed to the Royal Monastery of Poblet, where the king and the queen were visiting, but police blocked access at the main road. Some of the activists tried to reach the monastery by venturing into nearby vineyards. Spain’s Health Minister Salvador Illa, left, Spain’s King Felipe VI, third left, and Queen Letizia, third right, visit the Royal Monastery of Poblet, northeastern Spain, July 20, 2020.High-speed and regular trains in and out of the northern Catalan city of Girona were also delayed or cancelled due to “acts of vandalism,” according to a tweet by Spain’s railway infrastructure operator, ADIF. A photo circulated on messaging apps showed tires burning on railways next to a sign showing a crossed out upside down image of a crown. Tensions between separatists in Catalonia, which has a population of 7.5 million, and those in support of Spanish unity came to a head in late 2017 following a banned referendum met with police violence that led to the prosecution of top elected officials and activists.  
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European Union leaders took a break Monday morning on their fourth day of talks aimed at agreeing on a $2 trillion budget and funding to help member states cope with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The negotiations, which were originally meant to run only through Saturday, were due to resume Monday afternoon. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the leaders were making progress, and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that while the negotiations have been tough, “we can be very satisfied with today’s result.”EU leaders summit in Brussels, July 19, 2020.The past few days have been defined by a divide that has pitted five wealthy northern European countries – Austria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden – against southern nations that have been hit hardest by the coronavirus and which have the support of Germany and France. The northern countries have advocated instituting strict spending controls as part of any deal, while others such as Italy and Spain have sought to minimize such conditions. EU nations have experienced 135,000 deaths from COVID-19, with Italy, France and Spain having among the highest death tolls in the world. The lockdown orders instituted by many governments to stop the spread of the virus have hurt the EU economy, with economists forecasting an 8.3% contraction this year. 
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Canada’s Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the flight data recorders from a Ukrainian passenger plane downed by an Iranian missile are in Paris where they are expected to be taken to France’s Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authority for analysis Monday. Champagne said on Twitter that officials from Canada’s Transportation Safety Board will be present for the investigation. Most of the 176 people on board the plane were Canadian citizens or residents, or were traveling to Canada.People gather for a candlelight vigil to honor the victims of the Ukraine plane crash, at the gate of Amrikabir University, where some of the victims were former students, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 11, 2020.Iran says its military accidentally shot down the Ukraine Airlines plane in January, shortly after it took off from Tehran’s airport, mistaking it for an incoming missile. The incident happened during a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the United States, just after Iran had launched missiles at several bases in Iraq in response to the U.S. killing of top Iranian general Qassim Soleimani. Canada, Ukraine and other nations whose nationals were on board the plane have demanded a thorough investigation, and the analysis of the so-called black box recorders recovered from the wreckage has been the subject of negotiation. The plane was manufactured by Boeing, a U.S. company, and due to U.S. sanctions on Iran the United States rejected sending Iran a piece of equipment needed to recover the data from the recorders. 
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The coronavirus outbreak in Florida grew more dire Sunday as nearly 50 hospitals throughout the state say they have no available beds in their intensive care units. The state is not only the COVID epicenter in the United States, it is one of the world’s hot spots, with more than 12,000 new cases reported Sunday – the fifth straight day that number exceeded 10,000. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is making mask wearing in public mandatory. Starting Monday, anyone without a face covering gets an immediate $50 fine. A third offense brings a $500 fine. Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber has issued an 8pm curfew for the famed South Beach area, home to countless bars and nightclubs.  “There has been some adherence to the mask rules, not nearly enough. At some points, it was resembling a bit of a party, an outdoor party. We can’t have anything resembling Bourbon Street (in New Orleans) right now in our community,” said Gelber.  In Europe, the focus is on recovery from the pandemic.   European Council President Charles Michel said Sunday that European leaders need to overcome their differences and agree on a budget and a continentwide COVID-19 recovery fund. The 27 European Union leaders appeared to be at an impasse Sunday night on a $2.1 trillion budget that includes $858 billion specifically earmarked to help businesses and others affected by the coronavirus pandemic. “Are the 27 EU leaders capable of building European unity and trust or, because of a deep rift, will we present ourselves as a weak Europe, undermined by distrust,” he implored, telling the leaders to think about the more than 600,000 COVID deaths worldwide.EU leaders meet on the sidelines of an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, July 19, 2020.Europe has more than 3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus as of Sunday, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), and more than 200,000 deaths. The coronavirus has pushed the EU into a deep recession, with economists predicting the bloc’s economy will shrink a staggering 8.3% this year. Reporters in Brussels say the dispute is between five wealthier northern EU nations, dubbed “the frugals,” who want stricter controls on spending than southern nations hit hardest by the pandemic, including Italy and Spain, are willing to accept. In the United States, where new COVID-19 case number records are set nearly every day, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says he is “on the brink” of issuing another stay-at-home order in the country’s second biggest city. This would be the third time since March he made such a decision. Garcetti blames the White House for what he calls a lack of national leadership in battling the disease. “This was politicized when it should have been unified. We were left on our own when we should have had help,” he told CNN Sunday. “We know this will be a marathon. Stop telling people this will be over soon. … If we don’t come together as a nation with national leadership, we will see more people die.”  California Governor Gavin Newsome last week again closed bars and restaurants across the state because of the surge in new cases.  The U.S. reported 67,574 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of nearly 3.7 million confirmed cases, and nearly 140,000 deaths, according to data Sunday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  The president of Chile, the world’s largest producer of copper, has announced a five-part plan to reopen the country he calls “Step by Step.” “These five weeks of improvement allow us to start a new stage today,” President Sebastian Pinera said Sunday. “This plan, which will be step by step, cautiously, prudently, will be applied gradually and flexibly,” he said. Pinera announced plans to reopen Chile after some of the country’s regions have shown improvement in the rate of infections. According to the WHO, Chile had 2,300 new cases Sunday, more than 328,000 confirmed cases and nearly 8,500 deaths as of Sunday. Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama announced he has COVID-19 after his fourth test for the virus came back positive. He said he went for the test at the first sign of a throat irritation. He joins more than 36,000 of his countrymen who have tested positive, according to WHO data. Nearly 800 Nigerians have died of the disease, the WHO data says. Onyeama said he is going to be isolated in a health facility, but did not sound too worried, tweeting Sunday “That is life. Win some, lose some.”  One of life’s biggest winners revealed Sunday that he and his wife had COVID-19 when the pandemic started to take hold in April. Golf legend Jack Nicklaus told the TV audience watching the PGA Memorial tournament that he and his wife, Barbara, tested positive for the coronavirus but were “done with it” by the third week in April.  “It didn’t last very long, and we were very, very fortunate, very lucky,” Nicklaus said. “Barbara and I are both of the age, both of us 80 years old, that is an at-risk age. Our hearts go out to the people who did lose their lives and their families. We were just a couple of the lucky ones.” 
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Britain and China issued new salvos of criticism against each other Sunday, with the U.K. foreign secretary hinting that he may suspend the U.K.’s extradition arrangements with Hong Kong over China’s moves against the city-state.  
 
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also accused Beijing of “gross and egregious” human rights abuses against its Uighur population in China’s western province of Xinjiang.
 
In response, the Chinese ambassador to Britain warned that China will deliver a “resolute response” to any move by Britain to sanction officials over the alleged rights abuses.  
 
The comments were the latest signs of sharply increased tensions between the U.K. and China. Issues include China’s treatment of its Uighur minority and a new, sweeping national security law that China imposed on Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous territory that Britain handed over to China in 1997.
 
Britain’s recent decision to prohibit Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from being involved in the U.K.’s superfast 5G mobile network has further frayed bilateral relations.  
 
Raab said Sunday that Britain’s government has reviewed its extradition arrangements with Hong Kong and that he plans to make a statement Monday in parliament on the topic.
 
Earlier this month, Australia suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in response to China’s imposition of security legislation on the semi-autonomous territory. Critics see the new law as a further erosion of the rule of law and freedoms that Hong Kong was promised when it reverted to Chinese rule.
 
Raab added that while Britain wants good relations with China, it could not stand by amid reports of forced sterilization and mass education camps targeting the Uighur population in Xinjiang.
 
“It is clear that there are gross, egregious human rights abuses going on. We are working with our international partners on this. It is deeply, deeply troubling,” he told the BBC.  
 
Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador, denied there were concentration camps in Xinjiang during an interview with the BBC and insisted there are “no so-called restriction of the population.” When confronted with drone footage that appeared to show Uighurs being blindfolded and led onto trains, Liu claimed there are many “fake accusations” against China.
 
Beijing was ready to respond in kind should Britain impose sanctions on Chinese officials, Liu added.  
 
“If the U.K. goes that far to impose sanctions on any individuals in China, China will certainly make a resolute response to it,” he said. “You have seen what happened between China (and) the United States … I do not want to see this tit-for-tat between China-U.S. happen in China-U.K. relations.”
 
Liu also said Britain “should have its own independent foreign policy, rather than dance to the tune of the Americans like what happened to Huawei.”  
 
The criticism echoed comments this week by a Chinese government spokeswoman who accused Britain of colluding with Washington to hurt Huawei and “discriminate, suppress and exclude Chinese companies.” 
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Turkey has suspended flights to Iran and Afghanistan as part of measures against the coronavirus outbreak, the Transport Ministry said on Sunday.   Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that 25 million people may have been infected with the coronavirus in Iran, although health officials later sought to play down the estimate.   Turkish Airlines had gradually restarted international flights as of June 11. 
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Authorities in Catalonia on Sunday urged more than 96,000 people in three towns to stay at home, as coronavirus cases continued to rise in one of Spain’s worst-hit regions.This is in addition to some four million people in the region, including in its capital Barcelona, that were on Friday urged to stay at home as regional authorities toughened their response to the crisis.In a statement on Sunday, authorities urged people living in Figueres and Vilafant, in the province of Girona, and Sant Feliu de Llobregat, near Barcelona, to stay at home except for essential journeys.The latest figures from Catalonia’s regional health ministry on Saturday showed a daily increase of 1,226 cases.The stay-home call stops short of imposing a mandatory lockdown, but is the strongest measure taken to returning people to home confinement since Spain emerged from a nationwide lockdown last month.New measures include a ban on meetings of over 10 people. Bars and restaurants will be allowed to open, but at 50% capacity inside and with a 2-metre (6.5-foot) distance between tables outside.Spain, one of Europe’s hardest-hit countries with more than 28,000 COVID-19 deaths, emerged from a strict national lockdown on June 21. But since then more than 170 infection clusters have sprung up, prompting regional authorities to impose a patchwork of local restrictions. 
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For all its ancient glory, marvelous monuments and historic core, Athens is largely an ugly, 20th-century metropolis that grew rapidly and lawlessly in recent decades. Its population has tripled and the fleet of cars on its streets has surged to over 2 million, or about 20 times more than the tiny European capital’s roads can hold.But now, authorities are striking back, using the novel coronavirus pandemic to free up space and eliminate gas-guzzling cars, hoping to recreate Europe’s most ancient city while facilitating social distancing.Dubbed the Great Walk of Athens, the ambitious plan intends to reclaim almost half of the city’s main car lanes, turning them into about 7 kilometers of car-free pedestrian walkways and 3 kilometers of bicycle lanes, linking them to the capital’s main monuments, including the greatest landmark: the Acropolis.“For some 35 years there has been talk about the need to transform Athens,” said Mayor Kostas Bakoyiannis. “It took us a generation of efforts, but it is high time to actually do it.”“The project will not only enhance the city’s physical appeal, but most importantly, alter the lives of its residents,” he added.With Greece now open to international travelers, the project — among the largest urban initiatives in a European capital — is key to the country’s desperate drive to lure back tourists.Robust action and nationwide lockdowns taken by Greece at the start of the pandemic helped authorities quash the spread of the coronavirus, making this sun-soaked country a stunning success story in the way it handled the global health crisis.With just over 3,983 confirmed cases and 194 deaths, according to state statistics issued Sunday, the country’s casualty toll from COVID-19 is far lower than that of its European peers, positioning Greece as a safe choice for holiday travel.“From Berlin to Bogota, cities across the globe are dealing with a series of emergency measures to deal with the pandemic,” Bakoyannis said. “This is our answer, also, to the pressing need of helping safeguard public health.”By freeing up space, authorities anticipate the project will help avoid congestion in the Greek capital, allowing walkers to keep proper distance, containing the spread of the deadly virus.Under any other circumstance, most Athenians would be balking at the plan. But after rediscovering their city and the delight of taking morning, noon or afternoon strolls during the two-month-long lockdown, many seem receptive to the sustainable mobility project.Still, the $57 million price tag, including a spray of $5,700 steel benches, has come under fierce fire, with critics largely complaining about excessive costs and expenses that they anticipate will balloon as the project proceeds.What is more, critics accuse planners of proceeding with insufficient foresight, ultimately adding to, rather than alleviating, traffic congestion in Athens, home to half of the country’s population of 11 million.“No one objects to the need for more walkways and bicycle lanes,” said Nikos Sofianos, a leftist-leaning member of the Athens municipal council. “But this is clearly a hasty, slapdash decision planned and whipped up without a thorough study — all for the sake of serving the needs of Athens’ tourist image.”“The impacts are dire,” said Sofianos. “Businesses are suffering, unable to load their goods because of the traffic restrictions. Workers, too, are unable to get to their jobs.”Critics have also decried a lack of provisions for the handicapped after a cyclist rammed a blind man, injuring him seriously.While 30 percent more Athenians have gone afoot since the launch of the project last month, a study by the country’s top engineering school showed this week that the plan’s first-month trial run was having little immediate impact.Forecasts of a 30 percent increase in the use in public transport was met only by a 2 percent rise, while traffic congestion soared by as much 30 percent.“The first steps of every project are difficult,” said Giorgos Yiannis, a leading transportation expert. “Every change has a cost.”But, he said, planners anticipate congestion to ease up significantly by the end of the three-month trial period.Even so, municipal council members like Sofianos insist the mayor should pull the plug on the project entirely – a move Bakoyiannis has ruled out.The mayor has instead invited critics to help tweak the contentious plan, vowing to give Athens a long-overdue makeover by 2022. 
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Paris Plages (Paris Beaches) opened this year with an outdoor movie showing on the banks of the River Seine, as the city is coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.MK2 Cinemas partnered with the city of Paris to organize this year’s event.”It’s been years, we’re creating operations to take the cinema out of the cinema rooms as a promotion tool, and after the few months of confinement, we thought we needed a way to tell to the people and to tell to the world that cinemas are open in Paris, that Paris is one of the worldwide capital of cinema, and also to create a way for them to enjoy with their families a magnificent night, said Elisha Karmitz, CEO of MK2 Cinemas.On Saturday people watched the 2018 French comedy “Le grand bain” from boats or on deck chairs on the Seine’s banks. Some said they felt safer at an open-air screening.”I already went back to the cinema once, wearing a mask, but I have to admit there is still some apprehension to go back to cinema,” said Luc Bouvier, an attendee. “But here, since it is an open-air screening, there are less doubts, we feel safer.”Paris Plages is an annual event held in July and August during which roads along the River Seine are closed to turn the waterfront into beach front.The event was initiated in 2002 by the newly elected Socialist Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë, to help people cope with the hot summer in the city. 
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European Union leaders met face-to-face Friday in Brussels for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic emerged on the continent five months ago, but they didn’t see eye-to-eye, and most seasoned observers don’t think they will, even if the summit drags on until Sunday.
 
The need to maintain physical distance meant there could be no public back-slapping, no shaking of hands, no friendly hugs as the leaders wrangled — and face masks were de rigueur at the largest gathering of heads of government and state since the start of the global pandemic.
 EU Leaders Resume ‘Grumpy’ Summit on Budget, Virus FundTensions are running high, and a full day and night of discussions by the 27 leaders on Friday only added to the irritations over how the huge sums should be spent and what strings should be attachedThe absence of the normal bonhomie at EU summits further underscored the cracks in a 27-member alliance that still has not managed to bridge deep rifts triggered by the 2008 financial crash, the subsequent migration crisis, and ongoing disputes over rule-of-law standards that have seen Brussels clash repeatedly over the judicial reforms being pursued by populist governments in Poland and Hungary.Now the pandemic has widened some of those rifts and has given rise to new ones, as member states squabble over how best to recover from a virus that’s roiled the continent, left tens of thousands of dead, wrecked economies and left millions fearing for their livelihoods. The EU economy is projected to contract by 8.3 percent this year.
 European Union leaders during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, July 17, 2020. 
On Friday agreement remained elusive on a proposed €1 trillion ($1.1 million) seven-year budget for the EU and on an ambitious €750 billion ($826.5 billion) economic rescue plan for the hardest-hit countries. The recovery package is aimed at managing the biggest economic shock the bloc has ever had to confront in its history. In the run-up to the summit, negotiations over the plan, which were conducted for weeks via bilateral and group video conferences, became increasingly fraught.
 
Earlier this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her doubts about a deal being struck at the summit, predicting negotiations would have to continue for weeks after the summiteers had packed their bags and headed back to their capitals.
 
And as Saturday dragged on, her gloomy forecast seemed likely as negotiations faltered, undermined the complex crisscrossing of rival regional and national economic and political priorities. That is complicating the European Commission’s bid, backed by Germany and France, to secure a mandate to borrow billions of euros on capital markets for the first time and to mutualize the debt. This is so all member states share responsibility to pay back the money funded mainly by future EU taxes, in addition to the customs duties and a small share of national sales taxes Brussels already receives.At its heart, the division this time pits a group of four small north European countries, nicknamed the frugal four, against the powerhouses of Germany and France, whose leaders, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, along with the hard-hit countries of southern Europe, are pushing for a recovery plan that would see states, mainly the southerners but also France, bailed out with grants drawn from the proposed $750 billion recovery fund.  
 Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, left, speaks with Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, right, and Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela, second right, during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, July 18, 2020.For weeks The Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden have argued that the fund is too large and the hard-hit countries should only receive repayable loans rather than grants. The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, also wants a veto on how the money is spent by the recipients, and all four states blocking a deal want structural reform conditions placed on the cash received and for its expenditure to be heavily monitored and policed by the finance ministers of the bloc.
“I’m doing this for the whole of Europe, because it is also in the interest of Spain and Italy that they emerge from this crisis with strength,” Rutte told reporters Saturday. European Council President Charles Michel, who is chairing the summit, circulated amended proposals overnight Friday trying to squeeze out a compromise, especially over the conditions the frugal four want attached to any financial assistance. A Dutch diplomat told Reuters: “The proposal on governance as put forward by Michel is a serious step in the right direction.” But he cautioned, “in the end, this is a package and there are many more issues to solve.” His boss, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte  repeatedly has told reporters that he believes there is a less than 50 percent chance of reaching an agreement on the recovery fund by Sunday.
 
For France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece, the likely main recipients, the frugal four’s demands amount to an incursion into their own national sovereign rights. Their diplomats warn that the summit is emphasizing the lack of European solidarity. “It is getting harder to believe the EU will ever live up to the motto of the Three Musketeers — all for one and one for all,” an Italian diplomat, and a member his country’s negotiating team at Brussels, told VOA.
 
Hungary, backed by its populist nationalist ally Poland, has been threatening to veto the whole recovery package because of a proposed condition that would see countries perceived as flouting democratic principles blocked from any bail-out cash. Poland and Hungary are in the doghouse in Brussels because of judicial reforms they are enacting that the EC and some other member states view as eroding the independence of judges.  
 
Hungary and Poland and some other central European states also fear that they will be short-changed and that Italy, France and Spain, the three European countries hardest hit by the virus, will receive the lion’s share of the grant money. They note all three have bigger economies than they do.
 
Some analysts — as well as some national leaders — insist a deal is essential for the bloc’s long-term survival. A view seemingly shared by Michel, who told the national leaders Friday the substance of the debate wasn’t just about money but of the future and unity of Europe.
 
Ill-natured squabbling leading up to the summit has prompted warnings from Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte that the EU project itself could be placed in jeopardy unless the richer northern states are generous in helping those in the south. His country is seeing a marked change in public attitudes toward the EU with many Italians expressing anger at the lack of support they received from their neighbors as the pandemic took its toll of Italians in the north of the country.
 From left, Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Belgium’s Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, July 17, 2020.Far from bringing Europe together in solidarity, the pandemic and its economic impact risk deepening fissures in a bloc already split over foreign, defense and migration policies and states’ rights. Economic inequality between member states also is likely to increase — whether the recovery package is agreed upon or not.
 
Richer states have been doling out huge amounts of state aid and subsidies to support their pandemic-struck businesses, giving them an even greater competitive edge over rivals in poorer countries, who can’t match the subsidies. That will aggravate, analysts say, the endemic imbalance within the eurozone between creditor countries in the north and debtor countries in the south.  
 
Additionally, an uneven economic recovery across the bloc risks fueling populist anger and anti-EU sentiment in the countries that lose out. The recovery package may help to blunt that, but an overly generous bail-out risks triggering a backlash in northern states, with taxpayers in the frugal four countries and Germany questioning why their money is heading south.
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European Union leaders hunted for compromises Saturday on the second day of a summit to reach a deal on an unprecedented 1.85 trillion euro ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund, with tensions running high among leaders weary after months of battling the pandemic in their countries.A full day and night of discussions by the 27 leaders on Friday only added to the irritations over how the huge sums should be spent and what strings should be attached.The atmosphere “was grumpier” as the talks went on, Dutch Prime Minister Rutte said after Friday’s marathon talks. “This is going to take a while, I think.”EU Leaders to Meet Face-to-Face at Summit to Carve Up $2.1 TrillionMeeting will be first direct encounter for 27 heads of state or government since February despite dangers of coronavirus pandemicThe EU executive has proposed a 750-billion euro fund, partly based on common borrowing, to be sent as loans and grants to the most needy countries. That comes on top of the seven-year 1-trillion-euro EU budget that leaders were fighting over when COVID-19 slammed their continent.The summit broke up around lunchtime Saturday so that each delegation could discuss the new proposals from host Charles Michel, according to a European diplomat.The new proposals reduce the proportion of straight-out grants in the rescue package and raise the proportion of loans that will need to be paid back, in an apparent nod to a grouping of “frugal” nations led by the Netherlands, the diplomat said.But the issue of how to track the rescue money remains the key sticking point, the diplomat said. Michel proposed a measure that would stop short of allowing any country a veto on how governments spend the money.Another diplomat described Michel’s new proposals as just the first step in what could be a long journey to agreement. Both diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the closed-door negotiations.Rutte is seen as a leader of four “frugal” nations that want conditions such as economic reforms attached to EU handouts to help countries recover from the hammer blow of the coronavirus.He met Saturday ahead of the summit for crisis talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Giuseppe Conte as well as the leader of the EU’s executive, Ursula von der Leyen, and Michel.One of Rutte’s allies, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, said the talks were not totally stalled. “There is more and more movement in our direction,” he told ORF television.The pandemic sent the EU into a tailspin with 27-nation bloc’s economy contracting by 8.3% this year, according to the latest predictions. Around 135,000 of its citizens have died from COVID-19.As leaders met in person for the first time since February, they wore face masks, bumped elbows and sat in a cavernous meeting hall so they could maintain social distancing. Many of their negotiating positions were further apart than their chairs.After two fruitless sessions Friday, summit host and European Council President Charles Michel met key players – Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron and Hungary’s Viktor Orban – in an attempt to narrow the gaps between them. Orban does not want strings attached to EU funds, Rutte does and Macron is arguing that Europe must show solidarity to claw its way out of the crisis.Michel is expected to present leaders with possible compromises when the summit resumes, though it remains to be seen if they can reach agreement or will have to schedule another meeting.Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis was pessimistic after the first day.  “I don’t have the impression that we are getting close to an agreement,” he said.Rutte, however, said that despite the mounting acrimony, the talks were creeping forward.”You make a bit of progress during the day,” he said. “For a start, it helps if you better understand each other’s positions, then you can search for possible compromises.”
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Protesters are marching in a Paris suburb Saturday to mark the fourth anniversary of the death of a Black man in police custody, whose case has mobilized broad anger against police brutality and racial injustice.The demonstration in Beaumont-sur-Oise is honoring Adama Traoré, who died on his 24th birthday in July 2016 after an arrest in circumstances that remain unclear. But it’s also about broader anti-government grievances, and climate activists are co-organizing this year’s protest.Since George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police in May, campaigning by Traore’s family and other French activists against police violence targeting minorities has gained renewed attention and mobilized thousands in protests around France.On July 19, 2016, gendarmes approached Traore and his brother for an identity check in Beaumont-sur-Oise north of Paris. Traore ran away because he didn’t have his ID, but the gendarmes arrested him. Within hours he was declared dead.One gendarme initially said three officers jumped on Traoré to pin him down, but the gendarme later denied that. A dozen court-ordered medical reports found various cardiac diseases were responsible. The Traoré family countered those with an independent autopsy and medical reports pointing to asphyxiation.  The case is still under investigation, and lawyers for the officers deny police were at fault. No one has been charged.Traoré’s case has also shed light on the struggle of other French families who have lost a loved one in police custody, notably Black and North African men, who French researchers have found are disproportionately targeted by police. According to a nationwide tally by news website Basta Mag, at least 101 police-related deaths are under investigation in France.Traore’s sister Assa has led the family’s efforts for justice, and has been touring struggling French suburbs where most of the population is immigrant or non-white, and organized activists across racial, geographical and economic lines to try to get France to rethink its policing.”There’s a movement today. We call it the Adama generation, these people who are not afraid anymore, and these youth who will not shut up,” Assa Traoré, whose family is of Malian origin, told The Associated Press this week.She called for banning dangerous techniques that police use to immobilize people and wants France to scrap police oversight agencies, which are currently composed of police themselves, in favor of independent bodies. 
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Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the Russian city of Khabarovsk Saturday to protest the arrest of the region’s governor on charges related to multiple murders in 2004 and 2005.Local media reported that 15,000 to 50,000 people joined the rally in the Far East city, 6100 kilometers from Moscow.The protests of the arrest of Sergei Furgal have taken place every day this week in the city of 590,000 residents.Many of the demonstrators believe the charges are politically motivated. They have questioned why investigators waited so long to accuse a public official.Furgal, the popular Khabarovsk region governor and a member of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, has denied the charges. He was arrested two weeks ago and flown to Moscow where he was ordered jailed for two months.Russia’s Investigative Committee said he was suspected of involvement in several murders of businessmen, before his political career began.Furgal was elected governor in 2018. His unexpected victory was seen as a challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s policies and the main Kremlin party, United Russia.   
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Turkey’s decision to revert the historic landmark, Hagia Sophia, to a mosque has sparked global outrage. But perhaps more than anywhere else, it has touched a nerve in Greece. The government in Athens is trying to mobilize international support for sanctions to be imposed against Turkey.The Greek government has billed the move to turn Hagia Sophia a mosque again a provocation and a grave historic mistake. Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said leading diplomats are scrambling to block Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s decision and that the coming week will be pivotal in that pursuit.Dendias said it’s becoming increasingly clear that Erdogan is bent on reviving the Ottoman era, asserting himself and Turkey as the kingmaker of the region, and defying both international law and codes of conduct.He said Greek diplomats would be teaming up in a round of crisis talks in the next few days, to chart out a course of action on the recasting of Hagia Sophia.An architectural masterpiece, the massive 1,500-year-old structure was the seat of Eastern Christianity for a thousand years before Ottoman Turks conquered its host city, then known as Constantinople.The conquest marks one of the darkest moments of Greek history, leading to the persecution of thousands of Christian Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks. Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque and many of its stunning religious mosaics were removed or painted over.Helene Ahrweiler, a Greek and world authority on Byzantine history said history is repeating itself.Erdogan’s decision, she said, marks a second fall of the Byzantine empire. Ahrweiler said the move is such an affront to Christianity that she would not be shocked to learn that the marvelous mosaics left on the temple’s walls have started shedding tears over it.From Pope Francis in the Vatican to Patriarch Kirill in Russia, to the White House, to the Kremlin, the move has sparked a huge outcry.But Greece is going a step further, trying to rally international support for sanctions against Erdogan and his government.Constantinos Filis, an expert in international relations, said it’s unlikely Athens will find the backing it wants from its U.S. and EU allies.He said it’s a Turkish domestic decision. And while Greeks may feel offended by it, he said, Athens cannot take any form of unilateral action — it needs a bloc of allies by its side.Fillis said it’s questionable whether the European Union or U.S. President Donald Trump would be willing to go to bat for Greece on this issue and risk a rift with Turkey’s leader.In recent days, though, leading European leaders have started to consider Greece’s call for sanctions, as Erdogan announced plans to proceed with controversial energy drilling in the eastern Mediterranean.Turkey said it may start the drilling in the next few days, just before it opens Hagia Sophia for public prayers.Greek government sources told VOA that Germany is trying to defuse the growing tensions by trying to bring Greek and Turkish representatives to the negotiating table.But the stakes remain high, and Greece isn’t taking any chances. Foreign Minister Dendias said the Greek military is already on high alert, fearing even a spark of conflict from Turkey.Greece is ready to defend its rights and sovereignty to the full, he said, adding that it’s not a matter for negotiation.  
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Argentine President Alberto Fernández announced Friday that COVID-19 lockdown restrictions will be gradually lift starting Saturday.Fernández spoke at an official event, accompanied by Axel Kicillof, governor of Buenos Aires province and Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, mayor of Buenos Aires.”Between July 18 and August 2 we will be trying to return to normal life in this new world, in this different world that requires different care and we will do it gradually,” he said.Fernández warned, however, that the country had not yet won the battle against the coronavirus pandemic that has so far infected more than 110,000 people in Argentina and killed about 2,100.Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta said that the situation in the Argentine capital was encouraging, adding that in the last 25 days the average number of infections remained stable between 900 and 1,000 per day.”We are going to enable activities progressively,” he said. “In terms of work, we are going to reopen shops gradually starting with neighborhood business. We will also open some personal services such as hairdressing salons and some professional activities such as lawyers.”Argentina’s COVID-19 lockdown began on March 20 and has been one of the longest in the region.Lifting the restrictions consists of a six-stage plan, the first of which will cover the next two weeks.Meanwhile, schools remain closed and public transportation will continue to be available to essential workers in the food, safety, and health sectors.
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A Haitian judge sentenced Mexican nationals Juan Jose Avila, 38, and Andres Vargas Flores, 43, to five years in prison Wednesday after convicting them of drug trafficking. The men were also fined 2 million Haitian gourdes each.Avila and Vargas Flores were arrested in November 2019 in Haiti’s southern seaport city of Les Cayes, hours after crash-landing in the rural town of Saint Jean du Sud, about 24 kilometers, or a 45-minute drive, away. The men told local residents who surrounded the plane that they had experienced engine trouble while flying over the region. Inside the plane, local police found weapons, gallons of gasoline and thousands of U.S. dollars.”Both men, pilots by profession, are hereby found guilty of drug trafficking,” pronounced Judge Robert Jourdain, who presided over the case. He said the Haitian government would confiscate their plane.The men were handcuffed, clean shaven, wearing polo shirts and black face masks as they stood in court to hear the verdict.The backstoryIn an interview with VOA Creole shortly after the arrest, the chief prosecutor for Les Cayes, Ronald Richmond, said the men told him they had flown to Haiti from Belize and were headed to Venezuela, where they were instructed to pick up 900 kilos of cocaine that they would then transport to Guatemala.Richmond told VOA the men were working for a Mexican drug trafficker named “Lubo.” They had loaded the plane with gallons of gasoline to avoid having to land to refuel.The prosecutor said the men told him they had been paid $10,000 in cash for expenses. Upon returning to Mexico, they were to receive an additional $150,000 U.S. dollars each.How they got caughtRichmond said the men had used their expense money to pay off some residents who helped them flee the crash scene and brought them to a house in Les Cayes where the pilots could wait for driver who would help them leave the country.Instead, law enforcement was tipped off about their whereabouts and arrived at the house and arrested them just as they were getting ready to leave. The prosecutor declined to identify the informant, saying only the person was a member of their “intelligence network.”Reaction to verdictAfter the verdict was read, Richmond told VOA he is not thrilled with the outcome.”I’m not satisfied,” he said, “because these men came from Mexico. They were picking up 900 kilos of cocaine in Venezuela that they were transporting to Guatemala.“So, five years’ prison time is minor; they should have been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison,” he said.Asked if he intends to appeal the sentence, the prosecutor said he did not.It is unclear where the men will serve their sentences. Human rights activists have expressed concern about the current situation in Haiti’s overcrowded prisons at a time when the coronavirus pandemic is spreading nationwide.The latest figures released by Haiti’s ministry of public health indicate a total of 6,948 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 145 deaths.Matiado Vilme contributed to this story.
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The British government’s decision to ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G telecom network beginning in 2027 is only the “opening salvo” of what is to come, according to a leading expert on U.S.-British relations. Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, thinks there is a “higher than 50% chance” that Huawei’s exit date will come two or even three years ahead of the announced date. The same hardline lawmakers in the governing Conservative Party who pushed for the rejection of Huawei consider seven years to be too long a period to completely disengage from the company, Gardiner said in a telephone interview, adding that these lawmakers may be able to push through legislation that would shorten the timeline. He pointed to statements made Tuesday by member of parliament Iain Duncan Smith immediately after the decision to cut Huawei out of the nation’s 5G plans was announced. FILE – Former leader of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party Iain Duncan Smith arrives for a meeting in London, February 4, 2019.“The head of [British Telecom] said ‘seven years, yes, but we can do it in five.’ So now let’s bring it forward to five and make sure it happens quickly; there’s no reason why they can’t,” Duncan Smith said in the House of Commons.  The former cabinet minister also urged the government to remove Huawei equipment from existing 3G and 4G infrastructure to prevent a scenario where the company’s software keeps getting upgraded, posing a continuing threat. “If they’re a risk in 5G, why are they not a risk to us generally?” he asked. Duncan Smith continued his urging with an op-ed the next day, in which he wrote, “Removing Huawei makes sense. Waiting seven years to do it does not.” Much of the concern about Huawei has centered on fears that its technology could be used by China to spy on countries that install it. In his op-ed, Duncan Smith wrote that “the bigger problem is the aggressive behavior of China and its crackdown on dissidents in China and elsewhere. We have become far too dependent on this powerful communist state and the free world needs to come together to resolve this issue.” He added: “End [Huawei’s] involvement earlier, in 2025 at the latest.” Gardiner, who predicted that Britain’s action would influence decision-making in other European capitals, believes the vision put forth by Duncan Smith could very well be realized. The cabinet is expected to introduce legislation, known as the Telecom Security Bill, to legalize the terms guiding the nation’s 5G network. Duncan Smith and “about 60” like-minded lawmakers in the Conservative Party, along with supporters in the opposition Labor Party, could attach amendments to the bill to advance the deadline for British companies to divest from Huawei, he said. Gardiner added that the legislators could set a date as early as 2024, when the next general election is due. Roger Garside, a former British diplomat whose postings included Beijing, told VOA from his home in London that he was “profoundly relieved that the British government is coming to its senses over Huawei.” “There has been a fundamental failure under successive British governments to appreciate the threat posed to our fundamental interests by the [People’s Republic of China]. Now we appear to wakening from that dream state.” Beijing, for its part, says it is “seriously evaluating the situation” before responding to the British decision. Huawei’s executives have denied they are obligated to share information with the Chinese government. Gardiner said British leaders were fully aware of the risk of retaliation when they made their decision, which he sees as a severe blow to both Huawei and its Communist Party backers, especially given “the vast inroads” the company had made in “the upper echelon” of British society and “vast amount of resources” Beijing poured into lobbying for Huawei to remain in Britain. He credits the sea change in British public opinion to a “perfect storm” created by China’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its response to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Had Margaret Thatcher, his former boss, “still been with us today, I’m in no doubt she would be standing up to Beijing, standing up for the rights of the people in Hong Kong,” he said. 
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EU leaders failed Friday to make headway in negotiations over a massive stimulus plan to breathe life into economies ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, returning to their Brussels hotels shortly before midnight to rest and try again in the morning.Many of the 27 heads declared on arrival for their first face-to-face summit for five months that a deal was crucial to rescue economies in free fall and shore up faith in the European Union, which has lurched for years from crisis to crisis.But officials said a thrifty camp of wealthy northern states led by the Netherlands stood its ground on access to the recovery fund, in the face of opposition from Germany, France, southern nations Italy and Spain, and eastern European states.The proposed sums under discussion include the EU’s 2021-27 budget of more than 1 trillion euros and the recovery fund worth 750 billion euros that will be funneled mostly to Mediterranean coast countries worst affected by the pandemic.Diplomats said the 27 remained at odds over the overall size of the package, the split between grants and repayable loans in the recovery fund and rule-of-law strings attached to it.But the main stumbling block was over vetting procedures to access aid, an EU official said, with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte demanding that one country could block payouts from the fund if member states backslide on economic reform.”If they want loans and even grants then I think it’s only logical that I can explain to people in the Netherlands … that in return those reforms have taken place,” Rutte said, estimating the chances for a deal at 50-50.Polish premier Mateusz Morawiecki was even more gloomy.As the leaders broke up for the day, he tweeted that they were divided by a bundle of issues and said it was “highly probable” that they would fail to reach a deal on Saturday or even on Sunday if the summit drags past its scheduled two days.German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who celebrated her 66th birthday around the negotiating table in Brussels, was also cautious on chances for an agreement, envisaging “very, very difficult negotiations.”After initial elbow bumps between the leaders – all wearing face masks – and birthday gifts for Merkel and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, tense meetings followed in the evening with Rutte and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.The world is watchingOrban, who critics accuse of stifling the media, academics and NGOs, threatened to veto the entire plan over a mechanism that would freeze out countries that fail to live up to democratic standards.With EU economies deep in recession and immediate relief measures such as short-time work schemes running out, the specter of an autumn of hardship and discontent is looming.The EU is already grappling with the protracted saga of Britain’s exit from the bloc and is bruised by past crises, from the financial meltdown of 2008 to feuds over migration.Another economic shock could expose it to more eurosceptic, nationalist and protectionist forces, and weaken its standing against China, the United States or Russia.”The stakes couldn’t be higher,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “The whole world is watching us.”Despite wrangling over medicines, medical gear, border closures and money, the EU has managed to agree a half-a-trillion-euro scheme to cushion the first hit of the crisis.Mediterranean countries now want the recovery financing to prevent their economies taking on ever-greater burdens of debt.”The big picture is that we are faced with the biggest economic depression since World War Two,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said. “We need … an ambitious solution because our citizens expect nothing less from us.” 
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