France and Germany have quit talks on reforming the World Health Organization in frustration at attempts by the United States to lead the negotiations, despite its decision to leave the WHO, three officials told Reuters. The move is a setback for President Donald Trump as Washington, which holds the rotating chair of the G-7, had hoped to issue a common road map for a sweeping overhaul of the WHO in September, two months before the U.S. presidential election. The United States gave the WHO a year’s notice in July that it is leaving the U.N. agency — which was created to improve health globally — after Trump accused it of being too close to China and having mishandled the coronavirus pandemic. The WHO has dismissed his accusations. European governments have also criticized the WHO but do not go as far as the United States in their criticism, and the decision by Paris and Berlin to leave the talks follows tensions over what they say are Washington’s attempts to dominate the negotiations. FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump speaks prior to signing executive orders on lowering drug prices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, July 24, 2020.”Nobody wants to be dragged into a reform process and getting an outline for it from a country which itself just left the WHO,” a senior European official involved in the talks said. The German and French health ministries confirmed to Reuters that the two countries were opposed to the United States leading the talks after announcing its intention to leave the organization. A spokesman for the Italian health ministry said that work on the reform document was still under way, adding that Italy’s position was in line with those of Paris and Berlin. Asked about the position of France and Germany, a senior Trump administration official said: “All members of the G-7 explicitly supported the substance of the WHO reform ideas.” “Notwithstanding, it is regrettable that Germany and France ultimately chose not to join the group in endorsing the road map,” he said. A spokesman for the British government declined to comment on the latest developments but added that Britain supported the WHO and urged a reform of the body “to ensure it remains flexible and responsive.” The talks on WHO reform began about four months ago. There have been nearly 20 teleconferences between health ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations, and dozens of meetings of diplomats and other officials. A deal by the G-7, which also includes Japan and Canada, would facilitate talks at the G-20 and United Nations, where any changes would have to be agreed upon with China, Russia and other major governments not in the G-7. It is unclear whether a G-7 summit in the United States, at which Trump hopes leaders will endorse the road map, will now go ahead in September as planned. U.S. officials have not said what reforms Washington has sought. But an initial reform road map proposed by Washington was seen by many of its allies as too critical, with one European official involved in the negotiations describing it as “rude.” Despite changes to the original text, Washington’s push remained unacceptable, mainly to Germany, sources familiar with the negotiations said. Funding and ‘politicized management’ In the weeks before the collapse of the talks, negotiators had told Reuters positions were getting closer as Washington softened its approach and European negotiators started to see the reform process as a means to make the WHO more independent from political pressure.European governments had also begun to make skeptical remarks about the WHO in public, with Germany’s health minister urging the WHO to hasten a review of its handling of COVID-19.FILE – Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 28, 2020.In private, some Europeans have supported a tougher line, with some criticizing WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and what they see as politicized management of the pandemic. “Everybody has been critical of Tedros,” a negotiator from a European G-7 country told Reuters. A German government source said: “It must … be ensured in future that the WHO can react neutrally and on the basis of facts to global health events.” But European governments want to make the WHO stronger, better funded and more independent, whereas the U.S. withdrawal of funds is likely to weaken it — Washington is the largest contributor, providing 15% of the budget. Some Europeans see Trump’s criticism of the WHO as an attempt in the run-up to the U.S. election to distract attention from his handling of COVID-19, and Berlin’s ties with Washington have been strained by his decision in July to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Germany. Plans to reform the WHO are unlikely to be definitively shelved, especially if Trump is defeated in the November election. European governments want Washington to remain a WHO member and a financial supporter, and they have shown an interest in boosting their own funding to the body. 
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The director of US intelligence on Friday raised concerns about interference in the 2020 election by China, Russia and Iran.U.S. intelligence has assessed that China is hoping President Donald Trump does not win reelection, Russia is working to denigrate Democrat Joe Biden and Iran is seeking to undermine democratic institutions, said Bill Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence Security Center.In a statement, Evanina provided the U.S. intelligence agencies’ most recent assessment of election threats to the November presidential election.“Many foreign actors have a preference for who wins the election, which they express through a range of overt and private statements; covert influence efforts are rarer,” Evanina said. “We are primarily concerned about the ongoing and potential activity by China, Russia, and Iran.”China views Trump as “unpredictable” and does not want to see him win reelection, Evanina said. China has been expanding its influence efforts ahead of the November election in an effort to shape U.S policy and pressure political figures it sees as against Beijing, he said.“Although China will continue to weigh the risks and benefits of aggressive action, its public rhetoric over the past few months has grown increasingly critical of the current administration’s COVID-19 response, closure of China’s Houston consulate and actions on other issues,” he wrote.On Russia, U.S. intelligence officials assess that Russia is working to “denigrate” Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia “establishment” among his supporters, Evanina said. He said that would track Moscow’s criticism of Biden when he was vice president for his role in Ukraine policies and support of opposition to President Vladimir Putin inside Russia.On Iran, the assessment said Tehran seeks to undermine U.S. democratic institutions as well as Trump and divide America before the election.“Iran’s efforts along these lines probably will focus on on-line influence, such as spreading disinformation on social media and recirculating anti-U.S. content,” Evanina wrote. “Tehran’s motivation to conduct such activities is, in part, driven by a perception that President Trump’s re-election would result in a continuation of U.S. pressure on Iran in an effort to foment regime change.”
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Officials in northwestern Italy have evacuated part of an Alpine resort town and are closely monitoring a glacier which, following days of warm temperatures, is showing signs of breaking apart and could crash into the valley below.Officials Thursday evacuated 75 residents and tourists in the Ferret Valley from their homes and two lodgings in the shadow of the glacier.Aerial views of the Planpincieux Glacier taken Friday show a large section – estimated to be about 500,000 cubic meters in size, breaking away from the rest of the ice field. A regional glacier expert, Valerio Segor, told reporters Friday the section is about the size of a cathedral, or perhaps a soccer field if it were under 80 meters of ice.Segor said the next two or three days will be critical for the glacier, as temperatures are expected to rise during that time. He said water circulation between the ice and rocks beneath will determine if glacier breaks apart.‎The Planpincieux Glacier is located under a group of Alpine peaks on the Italian side of Mont Blanc, near the border with France.
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A Moscow court convicted 7 young Russians on extremism charges Thursday — sentencing several of the group to lengthy prison sentences in a closely watched case that seemed to encapsulate the limits of political youth activism in today’s Russia. Prosecutors argued that the defendants — most in their teens and 20’s — had organized an illegal online extremist chat group called “The New Greatness” with the intent of overthrowing the government in 2018.   The accused all denied the charges and said evidence was fabricated.Indeed, to critics, the case was the latest example of the government’s abuse of Russia’s vague anti-extremism laws — and subservient court system — to crush perceived political rivals through any means necessary. The state’s case was marred by credible accusations of torture and entrapment by Russia’s Federal Security Services, or FSB.  The government’s key witness was an undercover FSB agent named “Ruslan D” who prosecutors say infiltrated the group to learn of their plans. Throughout the trial, the accused countered that the agent himself concocted “The New Greatness” label and pushed a radical political agenda to the other participants in an otherwise largely apolitical group chat. Supporting government evidence came from an additional suspect in the case — Pavel Rebrovsky, who later cut a plea deal with investigators and was given a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence in April 2019.  Rebrovsky has since rescinded his testimony — saying it was given under pressure from state investigators.The judge cited Rebrovsky’s initial confession as proof of the group’s guilt, nonetheless.Authorities also promoted the group’s guilt by releasing a video confession from another defendant, Ruslan Kostylenkov. Kostylenkov, 29, later retracted the statement explaining he had been coerced through torture and rape while in custody.  He was given the harshest sentence — a 7-year prison term.  Two others were given 6.5- and 6-year prison terms. The remaining accused were handed suspended sentences, including Anna Pavlikova, who was a 17-year old high school student when the case began.   Lawyers for all said they would appeal the ruling.  Acquittals are exceedingly rare in Russia, with conviction rates hovering at over 99% in criminal trials.FSB Unbound   Outside the courthouse, several hundred supporters — most of them younger Russians — gathered and shouted chants of “Not guilty!” and “Let them go!”  While inside the courtroom, the defendants were forced to stand for 4 hours as the judge read his verdict in a hushed whisper. The case was widely seen as the latest legal warning shot against youth dabbling in politics — particularly as the Kremlin has increasingly struggled to gain support among a generation that has essentially known one leader, Vladimir Putin, for their entire lives. In February, a court sentenced a group of young leftist activists to lengthy prison terms for running an “anarchist terrorist” cell called “The Network.” The case was similarly tainted by allegations of fabricated evidence and torture at the hands of the federal security services. 
  Russian Leftist Activists Convicted of Terrorism ChargesA military court in the western city of Penza gives seven members of a left-wing group prison terms of up to 18 years on terrorism charges human rights groups call fabricatedAnd, like in The New Greatness trial, the group’s goal was allegedly ending President Vladimir Putin’s rule. The initial arrests in The New Greatness occurred in March 2018, just days before Putin was elected to a new 6-year term. “It was a gift to the president from the FSB,” said Alina Danilina, whose boyfriend, 22-year old law student Vyachaslav Kryukov, was sentenced to six years.   “It’s a catastrophe,” she added about Thursday’s ruling. “The worst happened.” “There is no evidence, no objective reason for my involvement in this case,” wrote Kryukov in a statement provided to VOA ahead of the verdict.  “It feels extremely strange that they accused me of things I’ve always opposed. Extremism stands for hatred and violence — I’ve never been like that.” Indeed, the case seemed to point to a security apparatus untethered — with many voicing suspicion agents were inventing threats simply to justify their continued existence and generous state funding.“These people have to do something to prove their effectiveness. So they forge these fake cases to show there is extremism and they are doing an important job,” said Alexey Minyaylo, 35, a political activist who himself was arrested and faced charges of “inciting riots” against the government during a charged election season in 2019.  “They know how to beat out a confession,” he tells VOA in an interview. “What they don’t know is how to gather evidence. And this is especially true when there is nothing to find.”“It’s a security service out of control,” said Nikolai Svanidze, a veteran journalist who sits on Russia’s Presidential Human Rights Council, in an interview outside the courthouse. “It means any provocateur can give false testimony and make an honest person guilty,” added Svanidze, while noting similarities to the worst of Russia’s Soviet-era repressions. “The scale is different, but the principles are the same.” Torture Allegations  The grim nature of the torture allegations were front and center throughout the trial — even if judge refused to acknowledge them or investigate the charges.  In October of last year, Kostylenkov and Kryukov slit their wrists during a courtroom hearing — the two of them yelling “This is an unfair trial” and “Freedom for political prisoners” before being rushed to hospital. “Their nerves couldn’t handle it anymore,” said Kostylenkov’s lawyer, Svetlana Sidorkina at the time. “All the evidence proves that they didn’t commit a crime.”Kostylenkov later detailed horror at the hands of FSB agents. In a letter written to a friend last March but only released to the media during the final phase of the trial, he said he had been beaten and sexually assaulted with a kitchen mallet to gain his confession.   ndeed, the violence hovering over the case was captured in a stunt before the day’s final verdict: Activists dressed as police slit the throat of a mannequin dressed as Christ — spraying red paint on supporters before being detained by security officers.  Meanwhile, Kira Yegorova, an actress, showed up to give a more low-key performance — she was holding a teddy bear. “The state is destroying our children,” she tells VOA.  And yet — for some — the trial has meant there was also fast growing up to do. Kryukov’s girlfriend, Alina Danilina 23, announced the verdict meant that she and Vyachaslav Kryukov were getting married. “It’s the only way I can visit him in prison,” she tells VOA. “We’ve lost for now,” she added. “But I will fight until the end.” 
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Bail for the leader of a Mexican megachurch nearly doubled to $90 million after prosecutors expanded charges against him, including child rape, and possession of child pornography.The new bail ruling by a Los Angeles judge ensures Naason Joaquin Garcia, of the Guadalajara-based La Luz del Mundo church (Light of the World church) will remain in custody until his trial.Garcia, who says he has a million followers worldwide, was initially jailed on sex crimes charges last year with a $50 million bail.The attorney general’s office of California filed dozens of new felony charges, including rape, against Garcia and two co-defendants last week 
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Russia boasts that it’s about to become the first country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, with mass vaccinations planned as early as October using shots that are yet to complete clinical trials — and scientists worldwide are sounding the alarm that the headlong rush could backfire.Moscow sees a Sputnik-like propaganda victory, recalling the Soviet Union’s launch of the world’s first satellite in 1957. But the experimental COVID-19 shots began first-in-human testing on a few dozen people less than two months ago, and there’s no published scientific evidence yet backing Russia’s late entry to the global vaccine race, much less explaining why it should be considered a front-runner.“I’m worried that Russia is cutting corners so that the vaccine that will come out may be not just ineffective, but also unsafe,” said Lawrence Gostin, a global public health law expert at Georgetown University. “It doesn’t work that way. … Trials come first. That’s really important.”According to Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s Direct Investment Fund that bankrolled the effort, a vaccine developed by the Gamaleya research institute in Moscow may be approved in days, before scientists complete what’s called a Phase 3 study. That final-stage study, usually involving tens of thousands of people, is the only way to prove if an experimental vaccine is safe and really works.Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said members of “risk groups,” such as medical workers, may be offered the vaccine this month. He didn’t clarify whether they would be part of the Phase 3 study that is said to be completed after the vaccine receives “conditional approval.”Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova promised to start “industrial production” in September, and Murashko said mass vaccination may begin as early as October.In this photo made from footage provided by the Russian Defense Ministry on July 15, 2020, a group of volunteers participating in a coronavirus vaccine trial pose for a photo as they leave the Budenko Main Military Hospital outside Moscow, Russia.Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease specialist, questioned the fast-track approach last week. “I do hope that the Chinese and the Russians are actually testing a vaccine before they are administering the vaccine to anyone, because claims of having a vaccine ready to distribute before you do testing I think is problematic at best,” he said.Questions about this vaccine candidate come after the U.S., Britain and Canada last month accused Russia of using hackers to steal vaccine research from Western labs.Delivering a vaccine first is a matter of national prestige for the Kremlin as it tries to assert the image of Russia as a global power capable of competing with the U.S. and China. The notion of being “the first in the world” dominated state news coverage of the effort, with government officials praising reports of the first-step testing.In April, President Vladimir Putin ordered state officials to shorten the time of clinical trials for a variety of drugs, including potential coronavirus vaccines.According to Russia’s Association of Clinical Trials Organizations, the order set “an unattainable bar” for scientists who, as a result, “joined in on the mad race, hoping to please those at power.”The association first raised concern in late May, when professor Alexander Gintsburg, head of the Gamaleya institute, said he and other researchers tried the vaccine on themselves.The move was a “crude violation of the very foundations of clinical research, Russian law and universally accepted international regulations” the group said in an open letter to the government, urging scientists and health officials to adhere to clinical research standards.But a month later, the Health Ministry authorized clinical trials of the Gamaleya product, with what appeared to be another ethical issue.Human studies started June 17 among 76 volunteers. Half were injected with a vaccine in liquid form and the other half with a vaccine that came as soluble powder. Some in the first half were recruited from the military, which raised concerns that servicemen may have been pressured to participate.Some experts said their desire to perform well would affect the findings. “It’s no coincidence media reports we see about the trials among the military said no one had any side effects, while the (other group) reported some,” said Vasily Vlassov, a public health expert with Moscow’s Higher School of Economics.As the trials were declared completed and looming regulatory approval was announced last week, questions arose about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness. Government assurances the drug produced the desired immune response and caused no significant side effects were hardly convincing without published scientific data describing the findings.The World Health Organization said all vaccine candidates should go through full stages of testing before being rolled out. “There are established practices and there are guidelines out,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said Tuesday. “Between finding or having a clue of maybe having a vaccine that works, and having gone through all the stages, is a big difference.”In this photo made from footage provided by the Russian Defense Ministry on July 15, 2020, medical workers look at volunteers participating in a coronavirus vaccine trial as they leave the Budenko Main Military Hospital outside Moscow, Russia.Offering an unsafe compound to medical workers on the front lines of the outbreak could make things worse, Georgetown’s Gostin said, adding: “What if the vaccine started killing them or making them very ill?”Vaccines that are not properly tested can cause harm in many ways — from a negative impact on health to creating a false sense of security or undermining trust in vaccinations, said Thomas Bollyky, director of the global health program at the Council on Foreign Relations.“It takes several years to develop any drug,” said Svetlana Zavidova, executive director of Russia’s Association of Clinical Trials Organizations. “Selling something the Gamaleya (institute) tested on 76 volunteers during Phase 1-2 trials as a finished product is just not serious.”Russia has not yet published any scientific data from its first clinical trials. The WHO’s list of vaccine candidates in human testing still lists the Gamaleya product as in Phase 1 trials.It uses a different virus — the common cold-causing adenovirus — that’s been modified to carry genes for the “spike” protein that coats the coronavirus, as a way to prime the body to recognize if a real COVID-19 infection comes along. That’s like vaccines being developed by China’s CanSino Biologics and Britain’s Oxford University and AstraZeneca.It’s not the first controversial vaccine Russia developed. Putin mentioned earlier this year that Russian scientists delivered an Ebola vaccine that “proved to be the most effective in the world” and “made a real contribution to fighting the Ebola fever in Africa.”Russia’s Health Ministry authorized two Ebola vaccines for domestic use — one in 2015 and another one in 2018 — but there is little evidence either was widely used in Africa.People wearing face masks and gloves to protect against coronavirus come through passages equipped with disinfectant sprays at a shopping mall entrance in Moscow, Russia, Aug. 3, 2020.In 2019, the WHO considered the 2015 vaccine along with several others for use in Congo but didn’t pick it. It pointed out that it had been approved for emergency use after Phase 1 and 2 trials, but not Phase 3. According to ClinicalTrials.Gov, a website maintained by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, a study among 2,000 people in Guinea and Russia was still ongoing last month.The 2018 Ebola vaccine, according to the WHO, was tested on 300 volunteers in Russia and completed all three phases. The Associated Press couldn’t find any records of the studies in the Health Ministry’s registry of approved clinical trials. As of 2019, both Ebola vaccines were listed by the WHO as “candidate vaccines.”Russia’s Health Ministry did not respond to numerous requests for comment, and the Gamaleya institute referred an interview request to the ministry.It remains unclear whether Phase 3 trials, said to be carried out after the COVID-19 vaccine receives “conditional approval,” will wrap up by October, when health officials plan to start mass vaccinations, and how trustworthy the results will be. The study will supposedly involve 1,600 participants — 800 for each of the two forms of the vaccine; in comparison, a similar Phase 3 trial in the U.S. includes 30,000 people.According to Dmitriev, countries including Brazil and India have expressed interest in the vaccine.For Lawrence Gostin, this is another cause for concern.“There may be many people in the world who don’t care about the ethics and just want the vaccine,” he said.  
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The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday called on Belarus to immediately release a blogger arrested a week ago and allow him and other reporters to “freely and safely” cover Sunday’s presidential elections.The organization’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator in New York, Gulnoza Said, said President Aleksandr Lukashenko “wants an election to put a veneer of legitimacy on his longstanding leadership, but he is achieving the reverse by harassing and detaining journalists up and down the country who are trying to cover his opposition.”Belarusian police arrested Evgeniy Vasilkov, who also works as a mechanic, at his garage in Khoiniki July 31 and took him to a police station, local media reported.He was accused of writing a slogan used by Lukashenko critics on road signs.Vasilkov has denied the charge, saying his arrest was retaliatory because of his support for an opposition candidate.He appeared before a local judge who sentenced him to 10 days of detention for “disobeying” police, for allegedly refusing to show them the identification at his arrest.On July 31, Belarusian police also detained five reporters, working for Belsat, an independent satellite broadcaster, while they were livestreaming rallies in support of the opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.Her supporters had taken to the streets in large numbers at rallies in the capital, Minsk, and other Belarusian cities.Tikhanovskaya, 37, entered the race with the promise to free political prisoners and call new elections after the arrest in May of her husband, opposition blogger and presidential hopeful, Sergei Tikhanovsky. He was charged with attacking a police officer, a claim he rejected as a provocation.Lukashenko is campaigning for a sixth term amid an increase in opposition protests against his autocratic rule and economic difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
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A Panamanian judge has ordered 12 Haitian migrants detained for trial for their roles in a protest Saturday during which rocks were thrown at Panamanian border service officers and supply tents set on fire.The migrants face multiple charges, including injuring the officers and arson.The migrants have challenged Panamanian authorities for not allowing them to move freely through the country on the way to the U.S. border.Haitians make up the vast majority of those at remote camps in Panama’s southern Darien province, which also has Cuban and African migrants.COVID-19 travel restrictions have complicated migrants’ efforts.In an apparent effort to ease tensions at the border, Panama is proposing to provide some Haitians flights home.
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Lebanon’s Chernobyl.  That is how some are describing the mammoth blast that shook the capital city Beirut  and left thousands injured. At least 300,000 people lost their homes and a number of hospitals also bore the brunt.  Among the signs of international support was a visit by French President Emmanual Macron, who got a firsthand look at the worst-affected neighborhood. Anchal Vohra reports from Beirut.
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A 37-year-old teacher with no political experience has become an unlikely challenger to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko — widely known in the West as ‘Europe’s last dictator’. As Henry Ridgwell reports, huge crowds have turned out to support the opposition presidential candidate in recent weeks — but it’s unclear if the show of ‘people power’ will be reflected in the election on Sunday.Camera: Henry Ridgwell    Produced by Henry Ridgwell
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In select circles in Madrid, the rumor had been making the rounds for weeks: Beset by a financial scandal that would not go away, former King Juan Carlos I was preparing to go into exile.The whispers were proven right in spectacular fashion when the ex-monarch left Spain this week.In a letter published on the royal family’s website, Juan Carlos told his son, King Felipe VI, he was leaving the country due to the “public repercussions of certain episodes of my past private life”.Stunned Spaniards were left to play a guessing game as to the whereabouts of the man who had reigned over them for nearly 40 years until he abdicated in 2014.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
A newsrack displays copies of El Nacional newspaper with a page one headline that reads in Spanish: “The whereabouts of King Juan Carlos are unknown, but it is said that he is in the DR,” Aug. 4, 2020.Reigniting an old debateIn the wake of Juan Carlos’ abrupt departure, it has prompted a surge in republican sentiment in a country which has historically maintained a complex relationship with the institution of monarchy.Across the country there are 637 squares, streets or other public edifices named after Juan Carlos but since the 82-year-old’s departure, many of these were at the center of public anger towards the royal family.Students in Madrid called for the King Juan Carlos University to change its name, with an online petition garnering over 41,000 signatures by Wednesday.“Corruption cases surrounding the royal family keep appearing, torpedoing the image of a monarchy that had been presented to us as ‘wholesome’ and ‘humble,’” the petition read.In Gijón, in northern Spain, authorities said they would change the name of its Juan Carlos I avenue because they said the name of the former monarch “does not represent the institutional, moral and democratic values of our society anymore”, according to spokeswoman Marina Pineda.Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s Socialist prime minister, said the departure of Juan Carlos would allow King Felipe to reign in a better way as the country confronted a period of instability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.However, Pablo Iglesias, leader of the far-left Unidas Podemos, the junior partner in the coalition government with the Socialists, condemned the former king’s exit while he faced a possible investigation in Spain.“Sooner or later, young people in our country will start a republic in Spain,” he added.A poll for the right-wing ABC newspaper, which supports the monarchy, found 68% thought Juan Carlos was wrong to leave the country.Javier Sanchez-Junco, a lawyer for the former king, said his client was not trying to escape justice by going into exile and would remain available to prosecutors. A view of the Royal Palace is pictured in Madrid, Spain, Aug. 4, 2020.Scandals The fall of a monarch who is respected by some in Spain for ushering in democracy after the death of longtime ruler General Francisco Franco began in 2018 in Switzerland when a prosecutor started an investigation into the ex-king’s murky finances.The prosecutor opened an investigation into Juan Carlos’ ex-mistress Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and the former king’s lawyer and financial adviser, who are both based in Geneva. All deny any wrongdoing. The former king maintained a relationship with Sayn-Wittgenstein, a London businesswoman, between 2005 and 2009.The Swiss investigation, probing possible money laundering relating to a $100 million ‘gift’ to Juan Carlos, from the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2008, is ongoing. Juan Carlos is also being investigated for the first time by Spain’s Supreme Court over his role in alleged kickbacks to a high-speed train deal in Saudi Arabia.In March, after British newspaper The Daily Telegraph revealed that Juan Carlos and his son were both named as beneficiaries of a Panama-based fund started in 2008 with $100 million-dollars described as a “donation” from Saudi Arabia, King Felipe released a statement renouncing any financial inheritance from his father. Juan Carlos was also stripped of his royal allowance.Amid an almost daily drip feed of media revelations about his father, Felipe VI was coming under increasing pressure from Spain’s left-wing government to distance himself from the ex-monarch. Finally a deal was struck.Kings going into exile is nothing new in a country where Spaniards have long maintained an uneasy relationship with their monarchs. Alfonso XIII, Juan Carlos’ grandfather was forced into exile in 1931 after Spaniards voted for the Second Republic. The former monarch lived part of his young life in Italy, then Portugal before returning to Spain to become the nominated successor to General Francisco Franco.A man wearing a face mask walks past a graffiti by artist El Primo de Bansky of former Spanish King Juan Carlos in a street of Valencia, on Aug. 6, 2020.Popular figure Juan Carlos was lauded for helping to uphold a fragile new democracy after the death of Franco in 1975.In 1981, when armed police fired shots over the heads of terrified MPs in the Spanish parliament in an attempted coup d’etat, Juan Carlos made a televised address to the nation backing democracy and faced down the plotters. The coup failed.Despite his love of bullfighting, yachts and women to whom he was not married, the king was a popular figure.All this started to go wrong in 2012 when Juan Carlos had to be flown back to Spain after injuring himself during a secret elephant hunting safari in Botswana while in the company of Sayn-Wittgenstein. It caused outrage in a country struggling to survive a deep recession.A resident waves a Spanish Republican flag against Spain’s former monarch, King Juan Carlos I, in Pamplona, northern Spain, Aug. 5, 2020.However, El País, the left-wing newspaper, said this was not the moment for Spain to suffer a seismic shake-up by abolishing its monarchy.”Those who take advantage of the fall from grace of Juan Carlos I to reopen the debate on the monarchy must ask themselves whether beyond the legitimacy of the republican demand it now has sufficient parliamentary consensus to translate into a constitutional reform. The data indicates otherwise,” it said in an editorial.Some commentators believe a republic would not be the answer for a country riven by divisive politics.“I think the monarchy is not under threat because the alternative – a Third Republic – would be much worse,” William Chislett, a journalist who interviewed Juan Carlos’ father Don Juan in 1977, told VOA.“Spain is such a polarized country that a conservative or socialist president would be a disaster. What may happen next is Juan Carlos may give back some of the money which is involved in this but that will not happen soon.”Pilar Eyre, a writer and royal expert, doubted Spain would become a republic because the country’s two main parties supported the monarchy.“The two main parties, the Socialists and the (conservative) People’s Party are in favor of the monarchy and it needs their support to change the constitution and allow a referendum on a republic,” she told VOA.A spokesperson for the royal household declined to comment.When Felipe came to the throne in 2014, he promised a “renewed monarchy for new times” and vowing to “listen, understand, warn and advise”.The Spanish king faces an uphill struggle to convince many of his subjects of the validity of a monarchy.   
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Two RFE/RL journalists were assaulted at a rally for Bulgaria’s ruling GERB party in Sofia, where Prime Minister Boyko Borisov was speaking. RFE/RL has called for an investigation and for Bulgarian authorities to condemn the incident.
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Spain’s former King Juan Carlos the First left his country this week as he faces possible accusations of financial wrongdoing.  The besieged monarch, who handed the crown to his son, Felipe, six years ago, is not formally under investigation.  In this report narrated by Jonathan Spier, Alfonso Beato in Barcelona reports the former king’s scandals – and his exile – have reignited questions on whether Spain should keep its monarchy.PRODUCER: Jon Spier
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With its airports closed to commercial flights and its economy tanking, Cuba has launched the first in a series of long-promised reforms meant to bolster the country’s struggling private sector.
The island’s thousands of restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts, auto mechanics and dozens of other types of private businesses have operated for years without the ability to import, export or buy supplies in wholesale markets.While the communist government began allowing widespread private enterprise a decade ago, it maintained a state monopoly on imports, exports and wholesale transactions.
As a result, the country’s roughly 613,000 private business owners have been forced to compete for scarce goods in Cuba’s understocked retail outlets or buy on the black market. That has limited the private sector’s growth and made entrepreneurs a constant target of criminal investigation.
With the essential tourism business cut off by the novel coronavirus and the government running desperately low on hard currency, the government last month announced that it would allow private restaurants to buy wholesale for the first time. Ministers also announced that private businesspeople could sign contracts to import and export goods through dozens of state-run companies with import/export licenses.
Within four days of its opening to private business, 213 restaurant owners signed up to buy beer, flour, yeast, shrimp, sugar, rum and cooking oil at a 20 percent discount off retail at the Mercabal wholesale market in Havana, state media reported. A similar market has been opened to entrepreneurs in the eastern city of Holguin, according to state media.
Government officials have not said how many import/export contracts have been signed.
Private business owners said they welcomed their new wholesale access, although some said they were skeptical given Cuba’s long history of failing to follow through on economic reforms, or of periodically launching crackdowns on what it considers illicit or excessive private sector wealth.
“It’s a really good initiative,” said Tony Baró, the 51-year-old owner of a restaurant in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood who was signing up to purchase in the market last week. “It’s not meeting all the expectations yet, but we hope that it will in the future.”
Along with limited wholesale, importing and exporting, the government has promised to allow the formation of small and mid-sized private business. Until now, the only legal category of private work has been a license for self-employed people, even though in many cases the self-employed are in fact owners of flourishing businesses with numerous employees.
The government also said it would allow extensive business between private and state-run enterprises, allowing private business to buy and sell from state companies.
Many such measures have been discussed or approved for years, without government action, or withered over time.
“With these measures endure? Is it a temporary patch that they’ll undo later, as they’ve done before?” said Camilo Condis, a 34-year-old self-employed businessman.
The Cuban government has been the target of years of increased sanctions by the Trump administration, although the shutdown of commercial flights under coronavirus has had a far more dramatic effect in less than five months. The government has managed to maintain a low rate of infection but the economy is estimated to drop 8% this year after years of near-zero growth.
”This is positive,” 59-year-old cafeteria owner Elba Zaldívar said outside the Havana wholesale market. ”I think there are will be more products in the future. … In the end, it’s the Cuban people who win.”
 
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Over the past month, protests have roiled Russia’s Far East, where locals have come out against the arrest of a popular local governor. As Charles Maynes reports from Moscow, public anger is increasingly directed at President Vladimir Putin.VIDEOGRAPHER: Ricardo Marquina
PRODUCER: Barry Unger
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Poland’s conservative president, Andrzej Duda, has been sworn in for a second term before parliament members.Most opposition parliamentarians and some former leaders did not attend the ceremony Thursday, both because of COVID-19 restrictions and to show their disapproval of what they call Duda’s disregard for the constitution during his first term, and his almost total acceptance of the ruling right-wing party’s policies that have put Poland at odds with European Union leaders.In a speech to lawmakers after taking the oath of office, Duda said Poland should strengthen Euro-Atlantic ties and cooperate with NATO allies, in particular the United States.Last week, Poland’s Defense Ministry announced the U.S. would establish a permanent military presence in Poland by deploying around 1,000 troops.Many seats for opposition lawmakers were empty, except for several members who wore outfits and masks in rainbow colors and held up copies of the Polish constitution at the end of Duda’s speech.Duda won 51.03% of votes in the July 12 election runoff while his challenger, liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, received 48.97% votes. 
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Some people in a Brazil hotspot for the coronavirus are taking extraordinary steps to receive a free coronavirus test in Sao Paulo state, the hardest hit region in the country. A day after missing her test because the supply ran out, Manuela Souza said, she secured her place in line and slept in the car with her children overnight to make sure she got tested. The drive-thru tests are being administered by the Butantan Institute for Biological Research. Juliana Carvalhal, the project manager at Butantan Institute said, their goal is to identify asymptomatic people carrying the virus. Carvalhal said, people unaware they are infected continue to socialize and potentially infect others.Brazil aims to test up to 400 people in Sao Paulo daily through next Monday. Sao Paulo state has confirmed 585,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 24,000 deaths. Brazil leads all of Latin America with more than 2,860,000 cases and more than 97,400 deaths. 
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Colombian media outlets say that former President Alvaro Uribe is self-quarantining with the coronavirus Thursday. The local media reported Wednesday that Uribe was infected with the virus, a day after the Supreme Court ordered that he be placed on house arrest. The court is investigating if Uribe was involved in a plot to bribe witnesses in a case involving former members of paramilitary death squads. Uribe, one of the most influential politicians in Colombia, is said to be in good health with no symptoms of the virus at his ranch in Córdoba. Bogotá’s El Tiempo newspaper says Uribe is expressing concern for his wife’s well-being, with their sons Jerónimo and Tomás also infected with the coronavirus. The status of the couple’s sons is unclear.   Colombia has confirmed more than 345,700 cases of the coronavirus and more than 11,000 deaths. 
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Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said it will decide by next week whether to leave a European treaty to protect women against domestic violence, a move that has angered many Turkish women, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s daughter.Turkey was the first country to ratify the Istanbul Convention in 2012, followed by 33 other European nations.It is called the first binding agreement that declares violence against women a human rights violation and “creates a comprehensive legal framework and approach to combat violence against women,” including protecting victims and prosecuting violent suspects.But Turkey’s conservative government says it wants to withdraw from the pact because opponents say it undermines Turkish families and so-called traditional values that already protect women from violence.A 2016 U.N. report said that 38 percent of Turkish women had experienced “physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence.”  And, according to an authoritative Istanbul-based advocacy group, We Will Stop Femicide, the number of women murdered, usually by their partners, has been increasing, with 121 women murdered in 2011 and in 2018, 440, according to an NPR report.The possible withdrawal is pitting Erdogan’s son and daughter against each other.“It is our religion which determines our fundamental values, our view of the family,” the Turkish Youth Foundation said. Erdogan’s son, Bilal Erdogan, is a member of the foundation’s board.But Erdogan’s daughter Sumeyye Erdogan is the deputy head of Turkey’s Women and Democracy Association.“We can no longer talk about ‘family’ … in a relationship where one side is oppressed and subject to violence,” the association said. “Marital rape is not normal in a healthy relationship. Bullying is in opposition to human dignity and Islamic value judgments.”The deputy chairman of the AKP, Numan Kurtulmus, said Turkey’s LGBTQ community has “taken refuge” behind the convention to push for equal treatment.Those who support Turkey remaining in the agreement said dropping out would be contrary to European values and be considered a step back from Turkey’s long campaign to join the European Union.  
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday he would visit Poland and three other European countries next week, as the United States announced plans to reposition troops outside of Germany. During this tour, which will begin Aug. 11, the U.S. top diplomat will also visit the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Austria. “It will be a very important and productive trip,” he said, announcing the tour during a press conference. Polish President Andrzej Duda, a populist conservative, was narrowly reelected to a new five-year term last month after a highly polarizing campaign in which he was notably received into the White House by Donald Trump. FILE – Poland’s President Andrzej Duda listens to U.S. President Donald Trump during a joint news conference in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, June 24, 2020.The American president, who has a terrible relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has decided to withdraw thousands of American soldiers from Germany to reposition some of them in Poland. The Pentagon announced last week that the United States would deploy 1,000 additional troops to Poland in rotations, thanks to an agreement reached with Warsaw on their status in the country. They will be added to the 4,500 American soldiers already deployed by rotations in the country. The tour should also be placed under the sign of China, as Pompeo, who seeks to reduce Beijing’s influence in the world, urges U.S. allies to avoid Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.  
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Canadian researchers have discovered the first known case of cancer in a dinosaur, according to a study published in the August issue of the scientific journal The Lancet Oncology.A leg bone from a Centrosaurus was discovered by paleontologists in 1989 in the Canadian province of Alberta.Experts initially believed that the deformed bone had suffered a fracture that healed.But recent examinations, under a microscope and using advanced technologies, such as high-resolution tomography, revealed that a lump on the bone, the size of an apple, was in fact a cancerous tumor.”The dinosaurs did not have an easy life, many of them had healing fractures, or bone infections,” one of the study’s authors, Mark Crowther, told AFP.On such ancient bones, “finding evidence of cancer is difficult”, he emphasizes: most tumors develop in soft tissue, poorly preserved by fossilization.Fine analysis of the bone of the prehistoric herbivore revealed a surprise: “oddly, under the microscope, it looked a lot like human osteosarcoma,” a malignant tumor of the bones, says Crowther.”It’s fascinating to see that this cancer existed tens of millions of years ago and still exists,” notes the researcher, who heads the faculty of medicine at McMaster University in Ontario.The tumor of this Centrosaurus, a horned herbivore that lived 76 to 77 million years ago, probably caused metastases that made this giant lizard limp, say the study’s authors.However, the researchers believe that it was not this cancer that killed the Centrosaurus: the bone of its leg was found among a hundred bones in the same herd, probably swept away by a sudden disaster, such as a flood.“The discovery of this cancer makes dinosaurs more real,” says Crowther. “We often imagine them as mythical creatures, walking with a heavy and robust step, but (…) they suffered from diseases like humans.””By discovering an example dating back more than 75 million years, we realize that (cancer) is part of life,” he concludes. “You have an animal that surely did not smoke, so this shows that cancer is not a recent invention, and that it is not exclusively linked to our environment.” 
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Russia is continuing to create and amplify false narratives in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election, with the goal of undermining democratic values and the credibility of the United States and its allies, a government report said.The report from the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) exposed Russia’s tactics of spreading disinformation through official government communications, state-funded global messaging, cultivation of proxy sources, weaponization of social media and cyber-enabled disinformation.“Beijing has also taken a page from Russia’s playbook, leveraging conspiracy websites and proxy channels to push disinformation and propaganda, with the goal of undermining democratic norms,” Lea Gabrielle, special envoy and coordinator of the GEC, said during a phone briefing.“The threat of both China and Russia disinformation is real,” she added.This came as the U.S. is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who works with or for a foreign government for the purpose of interfering with U.S. elections through certain illegal cyber activities.“The U.S. government will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections,” Gabrielle told VOA. “The GEC works with our partners worldwide who share information on election interference and the tactics that they’ve seen used by Russia and others.”Seven Kremlin-aligned disinformation proxy sites and organizations, including the Strategic Culture Foundation website and the Katehon think tank, were also profiled in GEC’s report. Those proxies amplified narratives critical of the U.S. while embracing Russian positions, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak.The report said Russia’s general aims are “questioning the value of democratic institutions” and “weakening the international credibility and international cohesion of the United States and its allies and partners.”But a counterdisinformation community made up of governments, civil society, academia, the press, the private sector and citizens is pushing back, the State Department said.Senior Russian officials and pro-Russian media have sought to capitalize on the fear and confusion surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic by actively promulgating conspiracy theories, the report said.
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Five years ago, Serbia’s Anti-Corruption Agency opened a money laundering investigation into Sinisa Mali, who was then mayor of the capital, Belgrade.  The Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK) —a Serbian investigative journalism outlet — had reported on FILE – Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic gestures at Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) headquarters during a national election, the first in Europe since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, in Belgrade, Serbia, June 21, 2020.Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic denied the probe is retaliation against critics, telling a press conference, “everyone should be equal before the law.”  But local journalists and rights groups questioned the Finance Ministry’s motive. Some said the probe appears to be an attempt to intimidate reporters and civil society groups who are holding powerful officials to account and another signal of rising hostility facing Serbia’s media. FILE – Stevan Dojcinovic, an editor of Serbia’s investigative web portal Krik, known for its reports on corruption and organized crime, poses for a picture in Belgrade, Serbia, Dec. 18, 2019.Stevan Dojcinovic, an award-winning journalist and editor-in-chief at KRIK, said the inquiry is part of the government’s pressure on independent journalism.  “I am not surprised that we were on the list. We, as well as our colleagues, have been targeted for years by various government agencies used to pressure journalists,” Dojcinovic told VOA.  Dojcinovic said the move was concerning because investigative journalists play a critical role in ensuring transparency and exposing government corruption, a chronic problem in Serbia. Multiple investigative outlets in the region work to scrutinize the dealings of those in power and their handling of multi-million-dollar public contracts, among other accountability matters. Their exposes sometimes trigger official investigations, although convictions are rare.  In Mali’s case, for example, KRIK reported that companies he owned bought Bulgarian apartments through two offshore firms, and that Mali failed to report ownership as required.  When the Anti-Corruption Agency looked into the allegations it found Mali received large sums, including from an offshore company under his control. But prosecutors dismissed the case and said they saw no evidence of wrongdoing. KRIK said the prosecutor’s office declined to provide further justification for its decision. Similarly, an official investigation into Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin’s purchase of a Belgrade home was dismissed in 2017 by the Prosecutor for Organized Crime, for lack of evidence. In that case, KRIK reported that Vulin failed to report bringing about $240,000 into the country. The law requires that foreign transactions of about $11,000 or more must be reported.  In another case, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) revealed in 2015 that the state-owned electric company had mismanaged a public contract bidding process for a $17 million contract to pump floodwater from a mine, leading to project delays and budget overruns.  Grist for reporting In a June background document, the European Commission said Serbia has not done enough to fight corruption and organized crime, or to protect the media. The commission in an earlier report said official corruption was prevalent and that, despite some improvement, “There is a need for strong political will to effectively address corruption issues, as well as a robust criminal justice response to high-level corruption.”  The report, part of the country’s Stabilization and Association Agreement as a candidate country for European Union membership, also described lack of progress on freedom of expression as a “serious concern” and reported an increase in political and economic pressure on journalists.  Dragana Zarkovic Obradovic, director of BIRN, which is also on the Anti-Money Laundering Unit target list, said the investigation appeared to be a way for the government to track the source of funding for journalists and NGOs, and how much money is granted.   Some of those on the target list told VOA that officials failed to provide a clear answer when asked about the basis for the investigation.   Serbia’s Ministry of Finance referred VOA to the Anti-Money Laundering Unit, which did not respond to an email requesting comment.  The ministry has denied in news reports that the money laundering probe is meant to criminalize the news media and other organizations. But it has not publicly given a reason for looking into the NGOs and news outlets.  “These are regular activities, not politically motivated,” Mali told the privately owned media company Pink TV.  A statement from the Anti-Money Laundering Unit, carried by the state-run Tanjug news agency, said it has also investigated ministers and that non-governmental groups named for scrutiny should not be treated as “sacred cows.”  President Vucic said, “everyone should be equal before the law” and suggested those named for investigation were trying to profit from it.   “Let’s make noise about how endangered we are so we can get more money from donors,” Vucic said of the NGOs during a July 30 press conference. “That’s been the practice for 30 years.”  Erosion of rights International human rights groups and media watchdogs have been criticized what they see as Vucic’s increasingly autocratic rule.  In its 2020 Freedom in the World Report, the U.S. monitoring group Freedom House said Vucic’s government had “steadily eroded political rights and civil liberties, putting pressure on independent media, the political opposition, and civil society organizations.” Sofya Orlosky, program manager for Eurasia at Freedom House, told VOA that targeting rights groups and independent journalists on allegations of money laundering and financing terrorism has become a “common practice” for regimes in the region. “By abusing the anti-money-laundering mechanism to intimidate civil society, the Serbian authorities show clear disregard for their own commitment to eradicating corruption,” Orloski said. “Instead of threats, the authorities should engage in an honest dialogue.”  
 
The United States and the European Union each raised concerns.   A statement by the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade said the U.S. was ready to assist Serbia on its path toward EU membership.  “However, the impression that official Belgrade wants to suppress civil society or the freedom of the media will damage Serbia’s reputation and make it more difficult to make progress toward this goal of great value,” the statement said.   International rights groups, including Amnesty International, described the probe as an intimidation act.  In a statement, Amnesty said, “The targeting of journalists and NGOs on absurd allegations of money laundering and financing terror is a blatant act of intimidation and the latest in an ongoing campaign by Serbian authorities to silence critics.” Meanwhile, journalists working for media organizations named in the money laundering inquiry say the pressure will only sharpen their focus.  “This government action will not make us question our resolve and purpose,” BIRN Director Zarkovic said. “We will continue to reveal government corruption and expose those involved.” This article originated in VOA’s Serbian service. 
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World Health Organization officials Wednesday urged young people to fight the urge to go parties and other gatherings to help prevent new outbreaks of COVID-19.During a virtual question and answer session from WHO headquarters in Geneva, WHO health emergencies chief Mike Ryan and WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said young people need to play a role in helping to slow or stop the spread of virus.FILE PHOTO: Executive Director of the World Health Organization’s emergencies program Mike Ryan speaks at a news conference on the novel coronavirus in Geneva, Feb. 6, 2020.Countries around the world, even those which had the virus relatively under control, have seen COVID cases surge in night life hotspots, bars, or other areas where young people like to gather.They said this is especially true in the Northern Hemisphere, where it is summer and young people are tired of lockdowns and eager to enjoy the nice weather.Ryan said young people need to ask themselves: “Do I really need to go to that party? Do I really need to be there?” He said younger people have a “huge opportunity to drive down transmission with their behavior.”WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove attends a news conference at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, July 3, 2020.The virus “transmits in clusters, it likes people that come together,” said Van Kerkhove, explaining that the virus, if present, will transmit from person to person any time communities provide the opportunity.WHO officials have seen cases surge among college age people not just at bars and parties, but at places where people gather to watch sporting events, said Van Kerkhove, who urged people to continue practicing physical distancing.What has not been widely discussed, she added, is that not everyone who has the virus spreads it to someone else. Between 10 and 20 of all cases are responsible for about 80% of viral transmissions. Gatherings provide those “spreaders” the best chance to transmit the virus to the most people, she said. 
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