The brother of a suicide bomber who killed 22 people in 2017 at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 55 years before possibility of parole. “Both brothers bore equal culpability,” said Justice Jeremy Baker, announcing FILE – Hashem Abedi, convicted August 20, 2020, of murder in the 2017 Manchester bombing, is seen in this police mugshot released by the Greater Manchester Police.Manchester-born Hashem Abedi, 23, was convicted in March of murder, attempted murder and conspiring to cause explosions. The sentencing hearing, which he refused to attend, was delayed due to the pandemic. “Although Salman Abedi was directly responsible for detonating the explosive device that evening, it is clear that the defendant had taken an integral part not only in the planning of such an event but in participating in its preparation,” Baker told the court. The youngest of the 22 people killed in the May 22, 2017, blast was 8 years old. Another 260 people were injured, and more suffered psychological effects. Because Hashem Abedi was under 21 at the time of the bombing, the minimum sentence was 30 years. Had he been of age, the starting point would have been life in prison. During sentencing, Baker noted “the substantial degree of premeditation and planning involved” in the attack. He said the motivation behind it was “to advance the ideological cause of Islamism, a matter distinct from and abhorrent to the vast majority of those who follow the Islamic faith.” In a Twitter thread Thursday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the attack a “horrifying and cowardly act of violence which targeted children and families.”  The Manchester Arena attack was a horrifying and cowardly act of violence which targeted children and families. 1/5
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 20, 2020“Those who were taken from us will never be forgotten,” he added, “nor will the spirit of the people of Manchester, who came together to send a clear message to the entire world that terrorists will never prevail.” Those who were taken from us will never be forgotten, nor will the spirit of the people of Manchester who came together to send a clear message to the entire world that terrorists will never prevail. 2/5
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 20, 2020The 1,024 days that Hashem Abedi has spent in custody will be deducted from his sentence, meaning he has just over 52 years left at minimum. Baker said Thursday that he “may never be released.” A public inquiry into the attack will begin next month. It was pushed back because of police delays in providing key evidence.  
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Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and three other teen activists had a 90-minute meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin Thursday to press their demands for tougher action to curb climate change.Along with Thunberg, the young activists included Luisa Neubauer of Germany and Belgians Anuna de Wever van der Heyden and Adélaïde Charlier. During their meeting they presented an open letter they wrote to world leaders last month.The letter calls on leaders to immediately end all fossil fuel subsidies, halt all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction and establish annual, binding carbon budgets. It has since been signed by 125,000 people including NGOs, academics, intellectuals and artists.Germany currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union.Merkel has in the past lauded the youth activists for putting pressure on politicians to act against global warmingFollowing the meeting, Thunberg told reporters she urged Merkel – and all leaders – to start treating the climate situation like a crisis, and get out of their “comfort zones and prioritize the future ahead of the now” and be brave enough to think long-term.The coronavirus outbreak has prevented the Fridays for Future movement that Thunberg inspired from holding its mass rallies in recent months.The young activist first came to world attention in 2018 when she started cutting classes on Fridays to protest outside the Swedish parliament for action on climate. She was soon joined in Sweden by other young activists, and her message quickly spread around the world, prompting young people to follow her example.
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The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Europe office said it has begun discussions with Russia regarding the COVID-19 vaccine that the nation approved last week without the advanced trials normally required to prove a vaccine works.In a virtual news conference from the organization’s Copenhagen office, the WHO Europe’s senior emergency official Catherine Smallwood said there have been several direct discussions between Russia’s teams and the WHO’s pre-qualification colleagues, primarily on how the organization is going to assess the potential vaccine.The WHO Europe’s regional director, Hans Kluge, said that while any potential vaccine is good news, all must go through the same vigorous assessments. Smallwood added “This concern that we have around safety and efficacy is not specifically for the Russia vaccine, it’s for all of the vaccines under development.”  Smallwood acknowledged that the WHO was taking an “accelerated approach” to try to speed development of coronavirus vaccines but said “it’s essential we don’t cut corners in safety or efficacy.”Kluge cautioned that even once a vaccine or vaccines are approved, that will not be the end of the pandemic. “The end of the pandemic will be the day when everyone of us will take the responsibility and have been learning how to behave with the virus. And that depends on us, that day can even be tomorrow.”
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A spokesperson for Russian opposition leader Alexi Navalny said he is in a coma in a Siberian hospital after being poisoned.Kira Yarmysh posted on social media that the 44-year-old Navalny became ill and collapsed as he was flying Thursday from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow. The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk and Navalny was rushed to the hospital, where he was placed on a ventilator.Russia’s TASS news agency said Navalny is in serious condition, quoting the head doctor at the hospital.“We assume Alexi was poisoned with something mixed with his tea,” Yarmysh wrote on her Twitter account, adding it was the only thing he had before the flight. “Doctors say the toxin was absorbed faster through the hot liquid.” She said police have been called to the hospital.Yarmysh compared Thursday’s suspected poisoning to an incident last year when he became ill while serving a brief jail sentence and was rushed to a hospital. A doctor told his wife he suffered an acute allergic reaction that could have resulted from being poisoned with an unknown chemical.Navalny is a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin who has been arrested and jailed numerous times for organizing anti-government protests. He also founded a nonprofit foundation aimed at exposing government corruption.
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Some inmates in Peru’s most populated prison are now acting as health care monitors, alerting doctors to possible new coronavirus infections.Just four month ago, inmates at the Lurigancho prison were demanding improvements for protection against the coronavirus when the protest ended with nine people dead and dozens more wounded.Rafael Castillo, vice president of the National Penitentiary Council said, the intent is to create an epidemiological containment ring within the prison facility.  He says this would  prevent thousands of inmates from overcrowding hospitals outside the prison.Prior to the inmates’ demand for sanitary improvements, some 2,500 prisoners had become infected with the coronavirus and 33 others died of the disease.Nationwide Peru has the third-highest coronavirus totals in Latin America behind Brazil and Mexico, with more than 500,000 coronavirus infections and more than 26,000 deaths.    
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Forecasters are keeping a close watch on Hurricane Genevieve in the Pacific, which generated rough seas and where authorities said two people drowned.The U.S. National Hurricane Center said a hurricane warning is in effect for parts of the Mexican peninsula, including the resorts of Los Cabos and the town of Todos Santos.Civil protection officials in Los Cabos are urging people to remain at home.The hurricane center said the center of Genevieve is expected to move into the vicinity of the Baja, California, peninsula Thursday.A tropical storm warning is in effect for the west coast of the Baja, California, peninsula from north of Todos Santos to Cabo San Lazaro.U.S. forecasters warn heavy rainfall from Genevieve could produce life threatening conditions, including flooding, mudslides, and rip currents in the southern end of Baja, California Sur.Genevieve formed into a tropical storm Sunday night and quickly grew into a Category 4 hurricane before losing some intensity.     
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Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley is beginning his second term as the island’s leader Thursday, a day after he and his revamped Cabinet were sworn in.The ceremony at President’s House in St. Ann’s was delayed because of requests for recounts of the ballots from the August 10 general election.The fifth and final recount was completed on Monday night and Prime Minister Rowley’s ruling People’s National Movement party won 22 seats, while the opposition United National Congress gained 19 seats.Aside from bridging the divisions, which grew out of the contentious general election, Rowley’s immediate challenges continues to be curtailing the spread of the coronavirus.Trinidad and Tobago has confirmed more than 680 coronavirus cases and at least 12 deaths.
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s warm reception in Prague last week reflects welcomed U.S. investment in the country and shared democratic values. Shortcomings in both areas, meanwhile, are seen as contributing to the decline of a once-promising relationship between Prague and Beijing. Just a few years ago, relations between Beijing and Prague were full of promises, marked by frequent visits by heads of state to each other’s capitals. When Xi Jinping arrived in Prague in March 2016, he was a given a 21-gun salute and an elaborate welcome. FILE – Czech Republic’s President Milos Zeman, right, welcomes his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, March 29, 2016.At the height of relations between the two governments, Ye Jianming, the head of China’s investment operations in Prague, had an office in the Czech presidential office compound. But the relationship soured when Ye left the country amid a high-profile international scandal, leaving Czech companies claiming he owed them huge sums. Last week, speaking alongside Pompeo, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis complained the Chinese have “not invested in the Czech Republic in the way I would imagine they should.” By contrast, he said, “there are something like 2,500 U.S. investors here in the Czech Republic who gave jobs to more than 55,000 people.” FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, and the Prime Minister of Czech Republic Andrej Babis address the media during a press conference as part of a meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, Aug. 12, 2020.Hynek Kmonicek, the Czech Ambassador in Washington, expanded on Czech frustrations with China in written replies to questions from VOA. “Chinese investments in the Czech Republic currently are not significant, yet much talked about,” Kmonicek wrote. “Screening of investment for the future is a topic, and there we work closely with our U.S. allies.” Kmonicek said the Czech Republic and the U.S. both value “the principles of democracy and human rights,” which he called “one of the pillars” of his country’s foreign policy. The legacy of Vaclav Havel, the dissident who led the anti-communist movement and became the country’s first popularly elected president, remains “vital” when it comes to the Czech Republic’s “self-definition,” the ambassador said. The sentiment was emphasized at Pompeo’s joint press conference with Babis, who expressed shock over developments in nearby Belarus, where protesters have flooded the streets for days over what they see as a fraudulent reelection of longtime President Alexander Lukashenko. FILE – Belarusian opposition supporters gather for a protest rally in front of the government building at Independent Square in Minsk, Belarus, with Soviet-era sculptures in the foreground, Aug. 18, 2020.“I could not imagine that something like that could happen in Europe, so close to us,” the prime minister said. He called on the European Union to take concrete measures to help ensure that “the [Belarusians] have the same right to be free as we have.” China, in contrast, appears to be backing the man sometimes described as Europe’s last dictator. What appeared to be images of the protests on state-run China Central Television this week were described as an outpouring of support for Lukashenko. The incident caused an outrage on Chinese-language social media. A popular commentator posted the CCTV clip on Twitter, describing her reaction as “speechless.”这这这….都能一本正经地造谣？我已经找不出任何语言来形容他们！ pic.twitter.com/0sOTGzJX7y— 冰玉IceJade (@bingyuicejade) August 17, 2020The Communist Party-controlled Global Times, meanwhile, lamented that Europeans have made China an outcast in spite of what it has done for the continent. The author urged countries in Europe to refuse to be the America’s “diplomatic pawn and strategic vassal.” Asked to comment on the notion that the U.S. is using the Czechs to advance its own goals, Kmonicek said “the only statement of that sort we have noticed came from the chairman of the Czech Communist Party.” The people of then-Czechoslovakia swept the communists from power 30 years ago as the Soviet empire unraveled. The communist party still existing in the country occupies no seat in the Czech senate and their numbers in the lower house of parliament have shrunk in recent years. 
 
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The United States will not seek the death penalty for two British members of an Islamic State execution squad nicknamed the “Beatles,” whose extradition the Justice Department is seeking, Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday.In a letter this week to Priti Patel, Britain’s interior minister, Barr said if Britain granted an extradition request for Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, U.S. prosecutors would not seek the death penalty and would not carry out executions if they were to be imposed.Barr said Kotey and Elsheikh, captured in 2019, were being held by the U.S. military in an unidentified overseas location but that it was becoming untenable to continue to hold them.The pair were members of a four-person group in Islamic State that was known as the Beatles because they spoke English. The group is alleged to have detained or killed Western hostages in Syria, including U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.The Justice Department is asking British authorities to turn over evidence on Kotey and Elsheikh to allow them to be tried in the United States.Barr said if Britain did not turn over evidence by October 15, the United States would turn the men over for prosecution in the Iraqi justice system.
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German authorities said Wednesday that the multiple attacks on motorcyclists riding on a Berlin highway Tuesday could be religiously motivated.
 
“An Islamist attack cannot be ruled out,” Berlin police and prosecutors said in a joint statement.
 
The 30-year-old suspect, who authorities say is an Iraqi citizen, allegedly hit several motorcycles intentionally with his vehicle. Six people were injured, three severely, in the rush-hour attack. At least one victim has suffered life-threatening injuries.
 
According to police, the suspect allegedly got out of his black Opel Astra after the third crash and placed an ammunition box on top of his car, claiming it contained explosives. When specialists opened the box with a jet of water, they found only tools inside.
 
The suspect was taken into police custody and questioned. Local media identified him as Sarmad D. He will be brought before a magistrate Wednesday for three cases of attempted murder.
 
“Statements by the accused after his actions suggest a religious-Islamist motivation,” German authorities said in the statement. “There are also indications of psychological instability.”
 
Authorities noted that the investigation had not found evidence that the suspect was a member of a terrorist organization. Prosecutors said they were investigating if the man had contacts with extremists.
 
Part of the highway remained closed Wednesday morning but was reopened in the afternoon after the investigation concluded.
 
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The European Union said Wednesday it does not recognize the results of Belarus’s August 9 election that detractors of President Alexander Lukashenko say was rigged to extend his 26 years in office. The EU also said it would move forward with sanctions on Belarus.
 
“The EU will impose shortly sanctions on a substantial number of individuals responsible for violence, repression and electoral fraud,” European Council President Charles Michel said after an EU emergency summit to discuss the crisis in Belarus.
 
Unrest in Belarus further escalated Wednesday when Lukashenko ordered his police to suppress protests in the capital, Minsk, days after a severe crackdown on peaceful protesters that resulted in the deaths of at least two people, the injuring of hundreds of others and the detention of nearly 7,000 people.
 
“There should no longer be any disorder in Minsk of any kind,” the official Belta news agency reported Lukashenko as saying.Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko chairs a Security Council meeting in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 18, 2020.Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has offered military assistance to Lukashenko, warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron Tuesday not to interfere in Belarusian affairs. Putin’s warning came as he spoke by phone with Merkel, Macron and Michel.
 
A political opponent of Lukashenko urged EU leaders before the emergency summit not to recognize the presidential election, declaring it was rigged in Lukashenko’s favor. Lukashenko denies the accusation.  
 
Political opponent Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya issued the appeal from exile in neighboring Lithuania. “I call on you not to recognize these fraudulent elections,” Tsikhanouskaya said. “Mr.  Lukashenko has lost all legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world.”
 
Tsikhanouskaya says she is the winner of the vote and has called for new elections under international supervision.Belarusian Opposition Leader Flees to Lithuania Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya tells supporters she feared for her children’s safety on 3rd straight night of violent anti-government protestsWorkers in Belarus began striking in recent days as part of a campaign to oust the authoritarian president.
 
Unrest began to escalate after Lukashenko dismissed demands to resign following a severe police clampdown on peaceful protesters.
 
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde has offered to visit Belarus as the incoming head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which frequently mediates disputes on the continent. Western nations and former states of the Soviet Union are members of the OSCE. 
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The massive American warship, the USS Hershel Woody Williams, has arrived in the Greek island of Crete, on a mission to keep an eye on escalating tensions between NATO allies Greece and Turkey over energy rights in the eastern Mediterranean. The US vessel joins others from the European Union and Russia, raising concerns among some in Greece about what a military buildup could mean.Military experts describe the USS Hershel Woody Williams as a floating base, the second of a new class of massive ships the US Navy is now using as fast transport and support centers for military operations.The 230-meter-long ship, about the size of some skyscrapers, was earlier in Naples, Italy, for a routine logistics stop before it was sent to Crete where it is on standby as Greece and Turkey remain locked in a standoff.  Greek and Turkish battleships have been gathering in the region since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered a research vessel to the eastern Mediterranean to survey for gas and oil.Greek foreign minister Nikos Dendias, left, and Cyprus’ foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides talk during a press conference after their meeting at the Cyprus’ foreign ministry in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Aug. 18, 2020.Cyprus Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulidis says forces from other EU nations and countries in the region are likely to arrive and join the effort.   He says it is something Greek officials are expecting to build up as we they try to find a diplomatic solution, he says. He praised the buildup as vivid proof of the West’s resolve to block what he said is Turkey’s growing influence in the region.Analyst Kostas Ifandis, a professor of military studies and diplomatic relations, doubts the show of force will change things very much.He says that if the situation gets dicey, we may see other countries like Egypt mobilizing. But from the EU’s standpoint, he says, it is unlikely that this buildup will impact Turkey because its biggest trading partner and closest ally, Germany, is unlikely to join in such a maneuver.German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a press conference at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Aug. 19, 2020 following a video meeting of the european council.Currently chairing the EU’s rotating presidency, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been trying to convince Athens and Ankara to enter into negotiations over the conflicting claims each side has to air and sea rights in the region.Germany has been reluctant to support stiff sanctions against Turkey, but it has advised the government in Ankara to pull back its survey vessel from the disputed waters.Turkey has said it will continue to survey the contested region through next week.But the buildup of vessels, submarines and even combat aircraft in the region, has experts fearing an accident that could spark a bigger confrontation between Greece and Turkey.In a recent incident, Greek Defense Ministry officials said a Greek frigate collided with the rear of a Turkish ship as the Greek vessel moved to intercept it.  There was no damage to either vessel but the incident prompted armed forces on both sides to be on heightened alert.
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A political opponent of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko urged European Union leaders Wednesday not to recognize the country’s recent presidential election, declaring it was rigged in favor of Lukashenko.Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya issued the appeal from exile in neighboring Lithuania before European Union leaders hold an emergency summit to discuss the Belarus crisis. “I call on you not to recognize these fraudulent elections,” Tsikhanouskaya said. “Mr.  Lukashenko has lost all legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world.”Tsikhanouskaya says she is the winner of the election and has called for new elections under international supervision.Workers in Belarus began striking in recent days as part of a campaign to oust the authoritarian president after he extended his 26-year term in an election detractors contend was rigged. Lukashenko denies manipulating the election.Lukashenko Declared Winner in Belarus Election for 6th Straight Term   Protests erupted challenging the results; rights groups say one person was killed, dozens injured, and several hundred arrests were made Unrest in the country began to escalate after Lukashenko dismissed demands to resign following a severe police crackdown on peaceful protesters days after the August 9 election.EU members have suggested they would place sanctions on Belarusian officials they consider responsible for election fraud and a crackdown on protests that resulted in the deaths of at least two people, the injuring of hundreds of others and the detention of nearly 7,000 people.Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered military assistance to Lukashenko, a close ally. Putin spoke by phone Tuesday with European Council President Charles Michel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.Putin warned Merkel and Macron not to interfere in Belarusian affairs.Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde has offered to visit Belarus as the incoming head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which frequently mediates disputes on the continent. Western nations and former states of the Soviet Union are members of the OSCE.
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Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has called on the European Union to not recognize what she called “fraudulent elections” last week in which she lost to longtime President Alexander Lukashenko. In a video message ahead of an emergency EU summit on the issue Wednesday, Tsikhanouskaya said, “Lukashenko has lost all legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world.”In this Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020 file photo Belarusian opposition supporters gather for a protest rally in front of the government building at Independent Square in Minsk, Belarus, with a Soviet era sculptures in the foreground.Official election results showed Lukashenko winning with 80% of the votes, and he has denied allegations that the voting was rigged. Tsikhanouskaya rejected the results, as did protesters who have gathered for mass rallies across the country to voice their opposition to Lukashenko. 
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Firefighters in Brazil say strong winds and hot dry weather are making it difficult to battle thousands of blazes burning in the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said it spotted more than 3,100 fires in the first two weeks of August — five times as many as the same period last year. “We saw hundreds of fires along the journey throughout the day,” Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said Tuesday. “Places where the planes and firemen have fought the fires directly without stopping, but still the fires are causing great damage to fauna, flora and to the Pantanal region.”  The Pantanal is 10 times the size of Florida’s Everglades. The World Wildlife Fund says it is home to more than 4,700 plant and animal species, including some threatened animals. Experts blame the fires, in part, to higher than average temperatures and below average rainfall since mid-July.  
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A Washington, D.C.-based political analyst faces an uncertain future in Belarus – where he remains in prison charged with inciting mass unrest in the run-up to rigged elections that triggered a wave of protests in challenge to strongman Alexander Lukashenko’s 26-year rule. Vitali Shkliarov, 44, is a Belarus native married to an American who news reports say works at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. He was arrested July 29 while visiting his parents in his hometown of Grodno.  KGB agents detained him as he went out to the store to buy a watermelon for his son.  He managed to issue one quick message on his popular Telegram channel: “FILE – Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, candidate for the presidential elections, reacts during a meeting with her supporters in Minsk, Belarus, July 19, 2020.Foreign interference conspiracies The elections — which Lukashenko claims he won in a landslide over Tikhanovskaya despite evidence of mass vote rigging — have led to the largest protests in Belarus since the fall of the Soviet Union.  A state crackdown on demonstrators in the wake of the vote has only fueled public anger, with widespread reports of torture and abuse at the hands of police and security forces.  Authorities report nearly 7,000 arrests.   But as discontent with Lukashenko swelled even before the election, Lukashenko warned of foreign plots to overthrow his government.  Enter Shkliarov.  “Some people were detained with American passports, married to Americans, working in the State Department,” said Lukashenko, in what appeared to be comments directed at Shkliarov’s arrest in particular.  “Vitaly’s become a convenient scapegoat for Lukashenko’s security forces,” said Skliarov’s lawyer, Anton Gashinsky, in an interview with VOA.  “He ideally fits the picture that they’re trying to draw: foreigners came from abroad to organize a revolution.” Workers of the Minsk Tractor Works Plant leave after their work shift as activists with old Belarusian national flags greet them in Minsk, Belarus, August 18, 2020.Shkliarov denies he was active in Tikhanovsky’s campaign and says he is being punished for writing critically about the government in the run-up to the election.  A prolific political commentator on events in America and the former Soviet Union, Shkliarov’s writings have appeared in Foreign Policy magazine and Russia’s independent Novaya Gazeta among other publications. He has also advised on presidential campaigns in Russia, Georgia and the United States —  where he worked as a field staff organizer for former President Barack Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.  The Belarusian human rights group Viasna has recognized him as a political prisoner.  The European Federation of Journalists, EFJ, is also demanding his release.   If found guilty of charges, Shkliarov faces up to three years in prison and fines.   Conditions inside  Shkliarov has detailed a grim existence since his detention last month.  “Like any person daring to criticize an authoritarian regime, I understood you can’t swear off prison. But when they arrested me, I didn’t expect that I would fall into a totalitarian torture chamber,” Shkliarov wrote in a statement released to Novaya Gazeta Monday.  “No, they don’t beat me. But they’re trying to break me. With everything they have,” he added.  Shkliarov said he was put in a dirty, overcrowded cell with no hot water despite increasingly brisk temperatures in Belarus.  Inmates are forced to shave with a dull razor and given one shower weekly – prompting skin breakouts. Patriotic Soviet music blasts through the prison from morning until night. Prisoners are forbidden to lay down throughout the day.   He said he has also been denied contact with family members through mail, and that his writings and letters are read and confiscated by authorities.   Complaints led to a six-hour stint in the stakan – Russian for “the glass” – a vertical isolation cell with no room to sit while deprived of food and water.  “He’s constantly under psychological pressure,” his lawyer, Gashinsky, said to VOA.  “He’s living in conditions he considers inhuman to try and break him psychologically.”   “It shouldn’t be this way. This isn’t 1937,” added Gashinsky in a reference to the height of the Soviet-era repressions. Responding to inquiries from VOA, the U.S. Embassy in Minsk acknowledged a consular officer had been granted access to Shkliarov on August 13 after “repeatedly” raising concerns. “We continue to press for fair treatment, judicial transparency, and regular visits by U.S. consular officials,” read the statement.  “We have no higher priority than the safety and welfare of U.S. citizens abroad,” it said. Other US lawmakers say they, too, are paying attention. U.S. Department of State officials have not responded to VOA requests for comment on Shkliarov’s case.  But some U.S. lawmakers say they are paying attention.  “The government’s ongoing crackdown on the democratic opposition, as well as the arrest of American citizen Vitaly Shkliarov, is a calamity and completely unacceptable,” said Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a statement.  “Now more than ever, the international community must not waver in our steadfast support for democracy, human rights and the aspirations of the Belarusian people.”  It is a message Shkliarov came to identify with during his own experiences on the campaign trail in America.  In an interview with Public Radio International’s The World in 2018, he recalled his experiences urging Americans who were reluctant to vote in the U.S. presidential elections during cold-calls over the phone. “I grew up in a country where nobody asked us. Nobody asked me what president I would love to elect or even who I am. Nobody cared,” Shlkiarov said he would tell people.   “And here you have this democracy. You can actively voice your opinion and influence the decision-making. This is amazing. You guys don’t understand what you have.”   Most, said Shkliarov, promised to cast their ballots.    
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More workers joined a growing strike Tuesday to oust authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko after he extended his 26-year term in an election that detractors contend was rigged.Thousands of workers began walking off the job Monday at state-controlled facilities, joining actors and broadcasters. Unrest began to escalate after Lukashenko dismissed demands to resign following a severe police crackdown on peaceful protesters days after the August 9 election.Workers of the Minsk Tractor Works Plant leave after their work shift as activists with old Belarusian national flags greet them in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 18, 2020.The first government official to challenge Lukashenko was the ambassador to Slovakia, who said in a video Saturday before he resigned that he supported the protests.The ambassador to Spain, Pavel Pustav, posted a statement Tuesday on Facebook urging a vote recount and the prosecution of those who beat peaceful protesters.Officials from Western countries have refused to recognize the election as free and fair, and they have denounced the police crackdown.The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to discuss Belarus in a closed-door session Tuesday, one day before European Union leaders are to discuss the matter.
 
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel Tuesday urged citizens to wear masks and abide by social distancing and other COVID-19 prevention rules if they want to see restrictions lifted in the country. Speaking with reporters in Dusseldorf where she attended the North Rhine-Westphalia state cabinet meeting, Merkel said the number of new cases in Germany has doubled in three weeks and cannot continue. She noted that the surge is likely due to people traveling during the summer holidays and more intermingling. Merkel said she cannot further lift COVID-19 restrictions with the rising new infections and appealed to the public to adhere to the rules.  “If the infection numbers go down, then we can open up more,”” Merkel said. “If they don’t go down or if they go up, then you have to consider what might be necessary.” Merkel said she discussed the COVID-19 pandemic with the state cabinet. Germany’s 16 states largely set their own rules, often leading to a mishmash of differing regional regulations that have prompted confusion and frustration in the country of 83 million. Merkel said she was in favor of a more uniform approach. Germany’s disease control agency on Tuesday reported 1,390 new confirmed coronavirus cases. 
 
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Judges at a U.N.-backed tribunal have found one man guilty in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and acquitted three others charged in the case.   
 
The presiding judge at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon declared that Salim Jamil Ayyash was guilty on all counts, including conspiracy to commit a terrorist act using explosives and intentional homicide of Hariri, the 21 bystanders who were killed in the massive explosion, as well as the attempted murder of the 226 injured persons.
 
But the court said it could not find beyond a reasonable doubt that Hassan Habib Merhi, Hussein Hassan Oneissi, and Assad Hassan Sabra were guilty of being part of the conspiracy.
 
All four defendants were tried “in absentia” and have not been seen in years.
 
The men were low-level operatives with the Lebanese group Hezbollah.  
 A woman holds images, some showing former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, outside the U.N.-backed Lebanon Special Tribunal in Leidschendam, Netherlands, Aug. 18, 2020.Much of the prosecution’s case centered around phone records of the four Hezbollah operatives charged with planning and carrying out the attack and the ensuing attempt to cover it up.
The defense argued that the evidence was circumstantial and unreliable.  
 
A tribunal judge said Tuesday that while Syria and Hezbollah “may have had motives to eliminate” Hariri, the judges found no evidence that either was involved in Hariri’s assassination.      
   
Syria and Hezbollah were not on trial, but in the aftermath of the assassination, fingers were pointed at Damascus. Massive national protests led to Syria’s troop withdrawal from Lebanon.   
   
The judges said it is beyond a reasonable doubt that a suicide bomber set off the explosion, but they could not make any finding regarding the bomber’s identity.   
    
A U.N. Security Council resolution established the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in 2007, following a request to the United Nations by the Lebanese government.Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri speaks to the media after a U.N.-backed tribunal handed down a verdict in the 2005 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 other people, in Leidschendam, Netherlands, Aug. 18, 2020.The trial, which began in 2014, involved 297 witnesses and 3,000 exhibits of evidence.  
 
Hariri was killed Feb. 14, 2005, as his convoy drove along the Beirut seafront. The judges determined that an unidentified suicide bomber detonated the small truck loaded with 2,500 to 3,000 kilograms of a TNT-like explosive.  
 
A number of victims attended the session at the court, located in a suburb of The Hague, including Hariri’s son, Saad, who is also a former prime minister.  
 
Presiding Judge David Re said he hoped the court’s verdict gives the victims and their families some form of closure.    
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A movement that denies the existence of COVID-19 has split Spanish society as the country is battling to control the highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe.  
 
Stop Confinamiento España, one of the groups behind the movement, has said it will hold a protest next month in Madrid, calling it a “peaceful demonstration against the measures imposed in connection with the false health crisis caused by COVID-19.”
 
The strength of feeling among those who claim coronavirus is an invention by a ruling elite to control the masses was demonstrated when an estimated 2,500 people staged a protest in Madrid on Sunday.   
 
The movement has gained ground thanks in part to the support of high profile celebrity supporters like Miguel Bosé, a popular Spanish singer.  
 
Bosé has used his social media platforms in recent weeks to promote what some describe as conspiracy theories about COVID-19, and he claimed a planned vaccine was a pretext to control the world’s population using 5G mobile phone technology.
 
Sunday’s demonstration echoed those in June staged in cities across Spain by mainly right wing groups that were protesting restrictions imposed on personal freedoms by the left wing coalition government in order to curtail a rising number of coronavirus cases.   
 
Spain last week announced a nationwide ban on smoking and drinking in public if social distancing cannot be guaranteed.
 
The COVID-19 denial movement in Spain echoes similar libertarian movements that have sprung up in the U.S., France, Britain and Germany.
 
The controversial cause has divided Spaniards, with recent polls showing a quarter of the population objects to the obligatory use of face masks across the country.A police officer confronts a protester at a rally against the use of protective masks amid the coronavirus pandemic, in Madrid, Spain, Aug. 16, 2020.The emergence of the movement comes at a delicate time, as Spain has seen a sharp rise in coronavirus cases since emerging from lockdown in June and now has the highest number of people diagnosed with the pathogen in Europe with 359,082 cases, according to health ministry data on August 17.
 
People were urged to join Sunday’s protest by an animated video featuring the Beatles’ song Revolution.  
 
The video urged demonstrators to wear masks to the protest in order to avoid arrest or police action and to allow “the elderly and those with health conditions to attend”.
 
However, the vast majority of those who turned up were not wearing masks and were shouting “We want to see the virus” and “5G is the real killer.”
 
Josep Pàmies, a farmer from Catalonia in northeast Spain who is an anti-vaccination activist, was among the speakers at the Madrid demonstration.
 
He said the pathogen could be cured with “kisses, hugs, medicinal plants and confidence. With this we can stop the madness of our politicians”. Ouka Leele, a poet and photographer, told demonstrators “We can’t live like zombies with masks on in the streets.”
 
Spain’s official death toll from coronavirus stands at just over 28,600 but the real figure, including those undiagnosed, is believed to be around 44,000, including 20,000 elderly residents of care homes, according to an investigation by the El País newspaper, which collated data from regional authorities and health studies.A man smokes a cigarette with his eyes covered by a face mask as he takes part in a protest against the use of protective masks amid the coronavirus pandemic, in Madrid, Spain, Aug. 16, 2020.The Madrid demonstration prompted angry condemnation from authorities and doctors.
 
José Manuel Franco, Madrid’s regional security chief, said he will launch an investigation and take measures including fining organizers of the face mask protest.
 
Demonstrators were accused of breaching social distancing rules and crowding together as well as refusing to wear face coverings.
 
“There are always brainless people — in this case quite a few — who unfortunately do not comply with the law,” Franco told Cadena Ser radio network.
 
“I want to make it clear that this will be punished with the full force of the law.” Organizers could face heavier fines of up to $71,414 if they are found guilty of serious breach of public health measures.
 
Franco insisted his office had been duped into allowing the demonstration on false pretenses.
 
He said the organizers had not said the protest was against face masks, Franco claimed, but about censorship and freedom.
 
He also said that organizers insisted that social distancing would be observed, none of which happened.
 
Belén Padilla, a doctor and vice-president of the Madrid College of Physicians, said she felt “anger and sadness” when she saw the television images of the demonstration.  “To deny the scientific evidence is absurd,” she said.
 
Pablo Simón, a political scientist from the University Carlos III in Madrid, told VOA, “conspiracy theories can be found in lots of places. The most recent poll found about 20-25% believe in them in Spain. Social media is very important in propagating these movements.”
 
A survey for the La Vanguardia newspaper found 74.96% of those who took part said they agreed with wearing masks, while 25.04% disagreed. By Monday night, 330,068 had voted.
 
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Panama is resuming the gradual reopening of businesses and places of worship after five months of lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. An elderly parishioner at the Iglesia del Carmen, in Panama City told the French News Press that she was overjoyed to have mass in person for the first time in five months. On Monday, churches, hair salons, retail shops and car lots also reopened.  The hair salons and barbershops will operate with appointments only and at 50% of their capacity, as the country tries to reenergize the sluggish economy.  The government has also allowed public and private construction projects to resume and reopened non-governmental organizations to resume operations.  Panama has confirmed more than 82,000 coronavirus cases and more than 1,700 deaths. 
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Haiti school children are returning to class for the first time in five months after the government closed schools because of the coronavirus outbreak. One parent told the Associated Press, Monday’s reopening of school was good for the future of children, citing education as the basis of development for all countries. President Jovenel Moise ordered schools, airports, factories and seaports closed in late March after two people tested positive for the coronavirus.Principal Jean Marc Charles delivers face masks to pupils, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease, before attending to the first day of school after holidays, at Lycee National de Petion Ville, in Port au Prince, Aug. 10, 2020.The United Nations says the limited availability of clean water makes it difficult for people to follow recommendations of health experts to frequently wash their hands to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.  So far, Haiti has confirmed more than 7,800 coronavirus cases and more than 190 deaths.  
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France’s two biggest cities, Paris and Marseille, have tipped back into the highest-risk coronavirus red zone — with the French capital seeing a sixfold rise in cases in just two weeks.French authorities have widened mask-wearing requirements in outdoor spaces, following a troubling increase in cases. For two days in a row, the country has registered more than 3,000 daily cases — a level not seen in months. Violators of the mask rules face a $160 fine.Even so, not all French are following them. Here in Paris, the patchwork of regulations can be confusing.“It’s like super complicated. It’s like one street you’re supposed to, the other you’re not.” Antoni Calmon is a doctor. He’s not wearing a mask, although the Paris street he’s on requires it.”I think we should all wear the mask, everywhere.”The Paris riverside book stands are back in action after lockdown – so are old habits that can help spread the virus, the government says. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)Down the same street, Lea and Pierre—who decline to give their last names — are also violating mask rules. With streets so quiet they say — with many Parisians away on summer holiday — what’s the point?France has had one of Europe’s highest coronavirus caseloads—totaling more than 240,000 since the start of the pandemic, and more than 30,000 deaths. Like much of the region, it managed to flatten the curve after weeks of lockdown.Now the numbers are rebounding. Late last week, Britain added France to its quarantine list — and France reciprocated.Experts say young people, out partying after extensive confinements, account for a major source of the increase. The workplace is another.Spain, Britain and Germany are also seeing resurging caseloads — and new restrictions. Coronavirus cases are also growing in Greece and Romania, relatively spared until now.A man crosses the street near Paris’ Parmentier metro station – mask half down, although it is required in this area. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)Here in France, authorities want to avoid another costly lockdown. Health Director Jerome Salomon told local radio the fate of the virus was in French hands. He urged massive testing.But in Paris, Calmon says he worries people aren’t taking that advice seriously enough. He recently recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.“I have to say even when I was sick, I sent a message to all the people I was in contact with … and not even 50% of the people took the test,” Calmon said.He believes France still has a tough road ahead.  
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Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau on Monday announced his resignation from the government amid mounting tensions with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over spending against the pandemic. “While we are entering a new phase in the fight against the pandemic (…), it is time for a new Minister of Finance to be able to carry out this project,” Morneau said during a press conference.  “This is why I am resigning from my functions as minister of finance and member of Parliament,” he added after a meeting with Trudeau.  Morneau, who had held this post since 2015, announced that he intended to run for the post of Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). For the past week, several Canadian media have reported deep differences between Morneau and the prime minister on how to revive the Canadian economy, weakened by the coronavirus pandemic, without jeopardizing public finances while the expected deficit has reached more than 340 billion dollars (216 billion euros). The minister of finance is also the target of an investigation by the Canadian Ethics Commissioner into his links with a charity that employed his daughter, and to which the government had awarded a major contract without a call for other bids. This investigation also targets Trudeau, several of his family members have also been paid by this association. Morneau revealed last month that he had reimbursed more than $41,000 in travel expenses covered by the We Charity association (United in French), shortly before being heard on the matter by a committee of the House of Communes. The Federal Ethics Commissioner has opened an investigation into Trudeau and Morneau after the government awarded a major contract to the association to manage a nearly $1 billion student scholarship program, despite ties between the families of the two leaders and the association.  This program has since been withdrawn, without ending the controversy. United had admitted having paid nearly $300,000 (189,000 euros) to Trudeau’s mother and brother for speeches in recent years. Trudeau’s wife reportedly received $1,500 (around $1,000) for an event in 2012, before Trudeau became leader of the Liberal Party.  Morneau for his part acknowledged that two of his daughters collaborate with the association, one of whom is as an employee. He apologized for participating in the discussions on the award of the government contract to the association. 
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