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COVID-19’s impact on efforts to combat gross human rights violations will be a major focus of the 46th regular session of the U.N. Human Rights Council. The four-week session, which starts Monday in Geneva, will be held virtually because of the pandemic.  It will kick off with a three-day high-level segment when nine heads of state and other dignitaries from more than 130 countries will address the U.N. Human Rights Council by video.     U.N. officials say the vast majority of their statements are expected to focus on COVID-19.  The pandemic also will be the theme of a special panel discussion Monday on the fight against racism and discrimination and its exacerbating effects on these efforts.   Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth says the council should examine how various governments have used the pandemic as a pretext to entrench their power by cracking down on the opposition.   He cites the example of Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, who seized power for a while to rule by decree without parliamentary legislation. ”Another example was the recent elections in Uganda, where President [Yoweri] Musevani used the pandemic as a pretext to preclude campaigning by his main opponent, Bobi Wine,” he said. “The repeated use of deadly violence, the arrest of people, the repeated arrest, the national beating of Bobi Wine.  You know, many of this just using the pandemic as pretext.”   Special panel discussions will be devoted to issues such as the death penalty, children’s rights, and the rights of people with disabilities.  The human rights records of numerous countries will come under council scrutiny.   A scathing report by U.N. Human Rights chief Michele Bachelet on Sri Lanka’s failure to address past violations and impunity for grave human rights violations will be reviewed.   Other highlights include the examination of Myanmar’s military coup, and continuing violations in countries such as Belarus, Venezuela, Iran, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and North Korea.  The list is long.   U.N. and human rights activists welcome U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to rejoin the council, nearly three years after former President Donald Trump’s administration quit the body.    They say they hope the U.S. will use its muscle on the world stage to promote universal fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. 
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A 95-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard was deported from the United States and arrived Saturday in his native Germany, where he was being held by police for questioning, authorities said.The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said in a statement that Friedrich Karl Berger, a German citizen, was sent back to Germany for serving as a guard of a Neuengamme concentration camp subcamp in 1945. The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice.German authorities confirmed Berger arrived Saturday at Frankfurt and was handed over to Hesse state investigators for questioning, the dpa news agency reported.Berger was ordered expelled by a Memphis, Tennessee, court in February 2020.German prosecutors in the city of Celle investigated the possibility of bringing charges against him, but said in December that they had shelved the probe because they had been unable to refute his own account of his service at Neuengamme.Berger admitted to U.S. authorities that he served as a guard at a camp in northwestern Germany, which was a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp, for a few weeks near the end of the war but said he did not observe any abuse or killings, Celle prosecutors said.Celle prosecutors asked for him to be questioned again upon his return to Germany, however, to determine whether accessory to murder charges could be brought, police said.In recent years, German prosecutors have successfully argued that by helping a death camp or concentration camp function, guards can be found guilty of accessory to murder even if there is no evidence of them participating in a specific killing.According to an ICE statement, Berger served at the subcamp near Meppen, Germany, where prisoners — Russian, Polish, Dutch, Jewish and others — were held in “atrocious” conditions and were worked “to the point of exhaustion and death.”Berger admitted that he guarded prisoners to prevent them from escaping. He also accompanied prisoners on the forced evacuation of the camp that resulted in the deaths of 70 prisoners.Berger has been living in the U.S. since 1959.
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Feeling frustrated and stressed out? Brazilians now have a place to vent their anger and fury in the newly opened “Rage Room.”Inside a warehouse on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, people are able to swing giant hammers at old televisions, computers and printers, demolishing the machines and shattering the glass into tiny pieces.Vanderlei Rodrigues, 42, who opened the business a month ago in Cidade Tiradentes, said he had received a fair number of customers wanting to vent, especially during the pandemic.”I think it was the best moment to be able to set this up here in Cidade Tiradentes, related to everything that people are going through, a lot of anxiety, stress,” he said. The “Rage Room” experience costs $4.64.Wearing protective suits and helmets, participants write issues that bother them on the walls — “ex-girlfriends,” “ex-husbands,” “corruption” and “work.” These words become the targets of their anger.Alexandre de Carvalho, 40, who works in advertising and drives two hours back and forth to work, said with worries about health because of the pandemic, “it’s great to come here and release some adrenaline and pent-up feelings.”Luciana Holanda walks in front of the Rage Room, a place where people can vent their anger on everyday items, such as bottles, broken TV sets and other electronic devices, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 19, 2021. Sign reads: “Come break everything.”Luciana Holanda, 35, an unemployed mother of two daughters, said that “with all this accumulated stress, being a mother, having children and not being able to work … it is very good to be able to release some stress and vent. “I am not going to vent my frustrations on my daughters or on anyone, so I really prefer to break things. I love it.”  
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Protesters threw bottles at police, set fire to containers and smashed up shops in Barcelona on Saturday in the fifth night of clashes after a rapper was jailed for glorifying terrorism and insulting royalty in his songs.The nine-month sentence of Pablo Hasel, known for his virulently anti-establishment raps, has sparked a debate over freedom of expression in Spain as well as protests that have at times turned violent.Demonstrators hurled projectiles and flares at police, who fired foam bullets to disperse the crowd, the Mossos d’Esquadra, the Catalan regional police, said on Twitter.About 6,000 demonstrators gathered in the Catalan city, local police said.People loot a Versace store during a protest condemning the arrest of rap singer Pablo Hasél in Barcelona, Spain, Feb. 20, 2021.Protesters attacked shops on Barcelona’s most prestigious shopping street, Passeig de Gracia, while newspaper El Pais reported that others had smashed windows in the emblematic Palau de la Musica concert hall.Two people were arrested in Barcelona, local police said.A demonstration in Madrid was peaceful, but in the northern cities of Pamplona and Lleida, police charged protesters.Earlier, Socialist Party President Cristina Narbona condemned the violence that has marked protests over the past four nights.Demonstrators damage the Barcelona Stock Exchange building during a protest condemning the arrest of rap singer Pablo Hasél in Barcelona, Spain, Feb. 20, 2021.”We reiterate our strongest condemnation of violence, which cannot be justified as a defense of the freedom of expression,” she said.During the first three nights of demonstrations, police fired tear gas and foam bullets at demonstrators who set fire to trash containers and motorcycles and looted stores. There were also clashes in Madrid and other cities.Officials said four people were injured in Barcelona on Friday after protesters pelted police with projectiles, attacked two banks and set fire to containers. Protesters caused 128,000 euros ($156,000) in damage, the city council said.More than 60 people have been arrested across Catalonia, police said. One woman lost an eye during clashes in Barcelona, triggering calls from politicians to investigate police tactics.Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem was among artists, celebrities and politicians who called for a change in the law covering freedom of expression. The Spanish government announced last week it would scrap prison sentences for offenses involving cases of freedom of speech. 
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Russia said Saturday that its scientists had detected the world’s first case of transmission of the H5N8 strain of avian flu from birds to humans and had alerted the World Health Organization.In televised remarks, the head of Russia’s health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said scientists at the Vektor laboratory had isolated the strain’s genetic material from seven workers at a poultry farm in southern Russia, where an outbreak was recorded among the birds in December.The workers did not suffer any serious health consequences, she added. They are believed to have caught the virus from poultry on the farm.”Information about the world’s first case of transmission of the avian flu [H5N8] to humans has already been sent to the World Health Organization,” Popova said.There are different subtypes of avian influenza viruses.While the highly contagious strain H5N8 is lethal for birds, it had never before been reported to have spread to humans.Mutations? ‘Time will tell’Popova praised “the important scientific discovery,” saying “time will tell” if the virus can further mutate.”The discovery of these mutations when the virus has not still acquired an ability to transmit from human to human gives us all, the entire world, time to prepare for possible mutations and react in an adequate and timely fashion,” Popova said.The WHO confirmed Saturday that Russia had notified it of the development.”We are in discussion with national authorities to gather more information and assess the public health impact of this event,” a spokesperson said. “If confirmed, this would be the first time H5N8 infects people.”WHO stressed that the Russian workers were asymptomatic and that no onward human-to-human transmission had been reported.People can get infected with avian and swine influenza viruses, such as bird flu subtypes A(H5N1) and A(H7N9) and swine flu subtypes such as A(H1N1).According to the WHO, people usually get infected through direct contact with animals or contaminated environments, and there is no sustained transmission among humans.H5N1 in people can cause severe illness and has a 60% mortality rate.’Tip of the iceberg’Gwenael Vourc’h, head of research at France’s National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, said that influenza viruses are known to evolve “quite quickly” and that there might have been other cases besides those reported in Russia.”This is probably the tip of the iceberg,” she told AFP.Francois Renaud, a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), said, however, that he was “not particularly worried” at this stage.He added that the coronavirus pandemic had taught countries to react quickly to potential health threats.Avian flu has raged in several European countries, including France, where hundreds of thousands of birds have been culled to stop infection.Russia’s Vektor State Virology and Biotechnology Center, which detected the transmission to the poultry farm workers, also developed one of the country’s several coronavirus vaccines.in the Soviet era the lab, located in Koltsovo outside the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, conducted secret biological weapons research.it still stockpiles viruses ranging from Ebola to smallpox.Test kits, vaccineIn televised remarks, Vektor chief Rinat Maksyutov said the lab was ready to begin developing test kits that would help detect potential cases of H5N8 in humans and to begin work on a vaccine.The Soviet Union was a scientific powerhouse and Russia has sought to reclaim a leadership role in vaccine research under President Vladimir Putin.Russia registered coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V in August, months before Western competitors and even before large-scale clinical trials.After initial skepticism in the West, the Lancet journal this month published results showing the Russian vaccine — named after the Soviet-era satellite — to be safe and effective. 
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Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, visited the hospital Saturday where his father Prince Philip is being kept as a precaution after feeling ill, a Reuters photographer at the hospital said.
 
Charles arrived at the back of the London hospital where Philip, the 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth, has spent four nights. Charles was at the hospital for just over half an hour before departing.FILE – Prince Philip is pictured June 9, 2020, at Windsor Castle ahead of his 99th birthday on June 10.Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was admitted to the hospital Tuesday as a precautionary measure after feeling ill with an ailment that is not related to COVID-19. He is expected to remain in the hospital until next week, a royal source said Friday, adding that doctors were acting out of an abundance of caution and the duke remained in good spirits.
Both Philip and the 94-year-old queen received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in January. He spent four nights at the same hospital at the end of 2019 while being treated for a pre-existing condition.
 
Philip is now rarely seen in public. He stepped down from official engagements in August 2017 after completing more than 22,000 solo events and thousands more alongside the queen.
 
A former naval officer renowned for his sometimes brusque manner and humor, Philip married Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she became queen. He is now by far the longest-serving consort of any British monarch.
 
In an apparent tribute to the duke, one of his granddaughters, Princess Eugenie, and her husband Jack Brooksbank said on Saturday they had named their first son August Philip Hawke Brooksbank.
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Every Tuesday evening, Moroccan student Chaimae Irfaq hands out food parcels to dozens of hard-up students in the foyer of her Paris university residence and takes one home for herself.
 
Irfaq arrived in France in October to complete her business studies degree and had expected to work part-time jobs to supplement the 700 euros a month her father gives her.
 
But she said the coronavirus crisis meant there were few jobs going, with bars and restaurants closed and businesses feeling the pinch from COVID-19 restrictions.
 
“If I had work, I wouldn’t need the [handouts],” she said as she volunteered for the charity Les Restos du Coeur (Restaurants of the Heart).
 
In her parcel there is rice, pasta, dairy products, fruit, vegetables and some meat. Once a month, shampoo and sanitary products are added.
 
Students around the world have been hit by a lack of the part-time jobs, including as baristas, waiters and shop workers, many rely on to pay tuition fees, rent and living expenses.
 
The half-dozen charities distributing food in Paris say the number of students seeking help has jumped since the government put France back under lockdown and then a nightly curfew late last year. Tens of thousands of food parcels are handed out each week in the greater Paris region alone and it is a similar situation elsewhere, they say.
 
The government has extended a publicly funded scheme providing one-euro meals to those on grants and made it available to all students.
 
Irfaq said she arrived in Paris dreaming of enriching encounters in one of the world’s most beautiful cities. Instead, she has been left following lectures online from the confines of her small room.
 
“To be honest, during the whole week, I’m just waiting for Tuesday to come around. It changes my routine a bit,” she said.
 
The combination of remote-learning and curfew, which runs from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., was taking a heavy toll on the mental well-being of her and her friends, Irfaq said.
 
Three in every four French students felt alone some or all of the time, one opinion poll showed last month.
 
Students have protested a government they say has abandoned them. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal this week said the poorest students had received emergency grants, money had been released for psychological counselling and the president wanted all students to be able to attend lectures in person one day a week.
 
Irfaq said the COVID-19 crisis had sapped her of energy and motivation.
 
“Now, when I see my friends, they are depressed and feel lonely,” she said. “Even when we are together, we feel lonely and anxious.”
 
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The 518-year-old Mona Lisa has seen many things in her life on a wall, but rarely this: Almost four months with no Louvre visitors.
 
As she stares out through bulletproof glass into the silent Salle des Etats, in what was once the world’s most-visited museum, her celebrated smile could almost denote relief.  
 
A bit further on, the white marble Venus de Milo is for once free of her girdle of picture-snapping visitors.
 
It’s uncertain when the Paris museum will reopen, after being closed on Oct. 30 in line with the French government’s virus containment measures. But those lucky enough to get in benefit from a rare private look at collections covering 9,000 years of human history — with plenty of space to breathe.  
 
That’s normally sorely lacking in a museum that’s blighted by its own success: Before the pandemic, staff walked out complaining they couldn’t handle the overcrowding, with up to 30,000-40,000 visitors a day.
 
The forced closure has also granted museum officials a golden opportunity to carry out long-overdue refurbishments that were simply not possible with nearly 10 million visitors a year.  
 
Unlike the first lockdown, which brought all Louvre activities to a halt, the second has seen some 250 of the museum employees remain fully operational.
 
An army of curators, restorers and workers are cleaning sculptures, reordering artifacts, checking inventories, reorganizing entrances and conducting restorations, including in the Egyptian Wing and the Grande Galerie, the museum’s largest hall that is being fully renovated.
 
“We’re taking advantage of the museum’s closure to carry out a number of major works, speed up maintenance operations and start repair works that are difficult to schedule when the museum is operating normally,” Laurent le Guedart, the Louvre’s Architectural Heritage and Gardens Director told AP from inside the Grande Galerie.
 
As le Guedart spoke, restorers were standing atop scaffolds taking scientific probes of the walls in preparation for a planned restoration, travelling back to the 18th century through layer after layer of paint.  
 
Around the corner the sound of carpenters taking up floorboards was faintly audible. They were putting in the cables for a new security system.  
 
Previously, these jobs could only be done on a Tuesday, the Louvre’s only closed day in the week. Now hammers are tapping, machines drilling and brushes scrubbing to a full week schedule, slowed down only slightly by social distancing measures.
 
In total, ten large-scale projects that were on hold since last March are underway — and progressing fast.  
 
This includes works in the Etruscan and Italian Halls, and the gilded Salon Carre. A major restoration of the ancient Egyptian tomb chapel of Akhethotep from 2400BC is also underway.  
 
“When the museum reopens, everything will be perfect for its visitors — this Sleeping Beauty will have had the time to powder her nose,” said Elisabeth Antoine-Konig, Artifacts Department Curator. “Visitors will be happy to see again these now well-lit rooms with polished floors and remodeled display cases.”
 
Initially, only visitors with pre-booked reservations will be granted entry in line with virus safety precautions.
 
Those who cannot wait are still able to see the Louvre’s treasure trove of art in virtual tours online.
 
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A Moscow court Saturday rejected opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s appeal of a three-year prison sentence for allegedly violating the parole terms of a 2014 suspended sentence on embezzlement charges.Navalny, the Kremlin’s most prominent critic, maintains that the case against him is politically motivated. He asked the judge to order his release, referring to a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights that the case was baseless and ordering Russia to free him. Moscow dismissed that request as unlawful.The appeal court judge, Dmitry Balashov, however, decided to count the six weeks of Navalny’s house arrest as time served. Navalny will serve the rest of the sentence, just over 2½ years, in a penal colony.Later Saturday, Navalny is also scheduled to appear in court in a defamation case, for allegedly slandering a World War II veteran. If convicted, he would face a fine or community service.Navalny was arrested Jan. 17 upon his return to Moscow from Germany following a lengthy recuperation from a near-lethal poisoning attack he and Western nations have blamed on the government of President Vladimir Putin.Russian authorities have denied any involvement in the incident, and have refused to investigate the assassination attempt, citing a lack of evidence.Navalny’s detention has prompted thousands of his supporters to take to the streets across Russia to demand his immediate release. Russian police have arrested several thousand protesters.The United States and its European allies have condemned Navalny’s detention and the aggressive Russian response against demonstrators.   
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The Kremlin’s most prominent opponent, Alexey Navalny, faces two court decisions Saturday that could seal a judge’s ruling to jail him for several years, after he returned to Russia following a poisoning attack.A Moscow court is due to rule on Navalny’s appeal of a decision this month to imprison him for nearly three years for violating the terms of a suspended sentence on embezzlement charges.But if Navalny wins his appeal Saturday, his victory could be short-lived.Prosecutors in a separate trial have called for him to be fined the equivalent of $13,000 for calling a World War II veteran a “traitor” on Twitter last year, with a verdict also expected Saturday.They have also asked Navalny, 44, to be jailed on the same fraud conviction, saying his tweet referencing the veteran was posted during the probation period for the suspended sentence.Backers see bid to silence himSupporters of the outspoken opposition figure say the rulings and several other cases against him are a pretext to silence his corruption exposes and quash his political ambitions.He was given the nearly three-year sentence on February 2 for breaching parole terms of an embezzlement conviction while in Germany recovering from the poisoning.That ruling stemmed from a suspended sentence he was given in 2014 for embezzlement, a ruling the European Court of Human Rights deemed arbitrary.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with government members via a videoconference at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, Jan. 28, 2021.The 94-year-old veteran at the center of the defamation trial appeared in a video that was derided by Navalny for promoting constitutional reforms that passed last year and could allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036.A series of theatrical hearings in the case ended Tuesday with Navalny asking if the judge could recommend a recipe for pickles, since it is “pointless to talk about the law” with her.Putin came under pressure to release Navalny when he was detained upon arrival at a Moscow airport in January.The arrest sparked large protests across the county that saw more than 10,000 people detained, while the European Union threatened to impose new sanctions on Russia.Europe’s rights court ruled this week that Russia must immediately release Navalny, in a motion swiftly brushed off by the Kremlin.Navalny’s allies believe Russia’s noncompliance with the ruling could lead to its expulsion from the Council of Europe and exacerbate a crisis in Moscow’s ties with Europe that began with the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.Meeting with EU ministersEU member Lithuania’s foreign ministry said Friday that a group of EU foreign ministers would meet with two top Navalny aides in Brussels on Sunday.Navalny aides in talks with EU representatives this month urged the bloc to hit people close to Putin with sanctions.Another Moscow court this week rejected Navalny’s appeal of a fine of 3.3 million rubles (36,825 euros, $44,649) that he was ordered to pay a catering company in another defamation lawsuit.Those charges were levied at the opposition figure by businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, nicknamed “Putin’s chef” because his company Concord catered for the Kremlin.The 59-year-old businessman, who is under U.S. and European sanctions, has two pending cases against Navalny that will be considered in March. 
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Group of Seven leaders, who control a little under half of the world’s economy, on Friday sought to look beyond the COVID-19 pandemic toward rebuilding their battered economies with free trade and to countering China’s “non-market oriented” policies.
 
U.S. President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi debuted at the G-7 virtual leaders’ meeting, which was chaired by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
 
The leaders called for stronger defenses against a future pandemic, including exploring a global health treaty, but the focus was on a green recovery — on the same day that the United States rejoined the Paris climate agreement.
 
“Jobs and growth is what we’re going to need after this pandemic,” Johnson told the opening of the meeting.
 
An official communique said the G-7 would champion open economies, “data free flow with trust” and work on “a modernized, freer and fairer rules-based multilateral trading system.”
 
After Facebook cut news feeds in Australia, French President Emmanuel Macron raised the role social media platforms should have in preserving freedom of speech and how to regulate them, a French official said Friday.
 
G-7 leaders also supported the commitment of Japan to hold the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 this summer.
 
In a clear reference to China, they said they “will consult with each other on collective approaches to address non-market-oriented policies and practices.”
 
But the tone of the G-7 was distinctly cooperative and collective — as Biden tried to project a message of re-engagement with the world and with global institutions after four years of Donald Trump’s “America First” policies.
 
The COVID-19 pandemic has killed 2.4 million people, tipped the global economy into its worst peacetime slump since the Great Depression and upended normal life for billions.Britian’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosts a virtual meeting of G-7 world leaders, at Downing Street in London, Feb. 19, 2021. ‘Mute Angela’
 
Even at the virtual top table of world politics, the “mute curse,” which has stilted video calls for millions of businesses and families over the past months of COVID-19 lockdown, struck.
 
As Johnson began the meeting, a German voice suddenly interrupted him.
 
“Can you hear us Angela,” Johnson quipped to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, chuckling. “I think you need to mute.”
 
Johnson also claimed that Biden had “nicked” — British slang for stolen — his slogan “build back better,” though Johnson said that he himself had probably stolen it from somewhere else.
 
Once the mute problems were over, leaders pledged billions of dollars to COVAX, a coronavirus vaccination program for poorer countries.
 
“COVID-19 shows that the world needs stronger defenses against future risks to global health security,” the G-7 said. “We will continue to support our economies to protect jobs and support a strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive recovery.”
 
Though Biden has cast China as the “most serious competitor” of the United States, China was mentioned only once in the communiques.
 
Johnson said the G-7— as “like-minded liberal free-trading democracies” — stood together on issues such as condemnation of the coup in Myanmar and the detention of Alexei Navalny in Russia.
 
The G-7 of the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada has a combined gross domestic product of about $40 trillion — a bit less than half of the global economy.
 
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Ahead of France’s 2022 presidential election, the government says it will seek to modify electoral laws to allow early voting on electronic machines. But the proposal is meeting backlash from the opposition.    
 
With the topic looming large among lawmakers, political parties in the Senate were clashing this week over the latest draft amendment by the government to modify electoral laws.  
 
The government says it wants to allow early voting on electronic machines up to five days before Election Day to increase voter participation.The political opposition says there’s no need to change the law on such short notice.
 
Stephane Le Rudulier, a conservative senator with the Republican Party, says he opposes the possibility of voters casting their ballots before Election Day because he thinks that voters could miss important updates or breaking news that might change their vote and therefore voters would not be equals. And that, he thinks, would deny legitimacy to any elected candidates.
 
In a Thursday night vote, the proposal was massively rejected by 321 senators. Only 23 senators loyal to President Emmanuel Macron’s party voted in favor.  
 
But that does not mean that the idea of early voting is not popular among French politicians.Patrick Kanner, a Socialist Party senator, describes abstention as a bad poison for any democracy that favors populism and far right movements. He says he supports any initiative to improve voter participation, and sees regular voting, early voting and voting by mail like in the United States as modern tools in the electoral process.
 
In the era of COVID-19, with sanitary measures and social distancing, the debate is open in France to adapt electoral laws to avoid long crowds at polling stations. However, the latest U.S. election and its failure to get fast results in some states set a bad example and hurt public opinion.
 
Jean-Claude Beaujour, a lawyer and vice-president of the France-Ameriques association, says the French want to keep the process simple.
     
“French voters are always concerned with limiting any risk of fraud. There is always the question of the transit of paper ballot. The recent American debate on election fraud has strengthened the feeling the French have about having the most simple and reliable electoral mechanism,” said Beaujour.
 
The French government could revisit its plan to modify the electoral law later this year.
  
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Buckingham Palace confirmed Friday that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, will not be returning to royal duties, and Harry will give up his honorary military titles — a decision that makes formal, and final, the couple’s split from the royal family.When Harry and Meghan stepped away from full-time royal life in early 2020, it was agreed the situation would be reviewed after a year.Now it has, and the palace said in a statement that the couple, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have verified “they will not be returning as working members of The Royal Family. “It said Queen Elizabeth II had spoken to Harry and confirmed “that in stepping away from the work of the Royal Family, it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.”The palace said Harry’s appointment as captain general of the Royal Marines and titles with other military groups would revert to the queen before being distributed to other members of the family.Harry, who served in the British army for a decade and has a close bond with the military, founded the Invictus Games competition for wounded troops.”While all are saddened by their decision, the Duke and Duchess remain much loved members of the family,” the palace statement said.American actress Meghan Markle, a former star of the TV legal drama “Suits,” married Harry, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, at Windsor Castle in May 2018. Their son, Archie, was born a year later.In early 2020, Meghan and Harry announced they were quitting royal duties and moving to North America, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media. They live in Santa Barbara, California and are expecting their second child.They recently announced that they will speak to Oprah Winfrey in a TV special to be broadcast next month.A spokesperson for the couple hit back at suggestions that Meghan and Harry were not devoted to duty.”As evidenced by their work over the past year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service to the U.K. and around the world, and have offered their continued support to the organizations they have represented regardless of official role,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.” 
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The United States on Friday officially rejoined the 2015 Paris Agreement, reversing a Trump administration decision to leave the climate pact aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions.“The Paris Agreement is an unprecedented framework for global action — we know because we helped design it and make it a reality,” U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement. “Its purpose is both simple and expansive: to help us all avoid catastrophic planetary warming and to build resilience around the world to the impacts from climate change we already see.”In 2017, then-president Donald Trump announced the U.S. would pull out of the landmark agreement, saying it was in the United States’ “economic interest to do so.” But terms for leaving the accord meant it did not go into effect until Nov. 4, 2020 – one day after the U.S. presidential election won by Joe Biden.On Jan. 20, shortly after being sworn-in, President Biden signed a stack of executive orders, including the instrument to re-join the Paris Agreement. It was sent to the United Nations, where treaties and agreements are “deposited” with the secretary-general, and now, after a 30-day wait, the U.S. officially becomes a party to the agreement once again.FILE – President Joe Biden signs a series of executive orders, in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, Jan. 28, 2021.The 2015 Paris agreement, signed by virtually every country in the world, aims to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and limit the planet’s temperature increase during this century to 2 degrees Celsius, while working to limit the increase even further to 1.5 degrees.
 
Speaking a day before Washington’s official return, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that the U.S. decision “strengthens global action” on mitigating global warming.
 
“President Biden’s commitment to net zero emissions means that countries producing now two-thirds of global carbon pollution are pursuing the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050,” Guterres said.Currently, the United States is not on track to meet its Paris pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025.
 
President Biden has pledged to take robust action to meet those goals. He appointed former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry – who helped negotiate the Paris deal in 2015 – as the first-ever presidential envoy on climate and made him a part of his National Security Council.Today’s the day. We’re officially back in the Paris Agreement – again part of the global climate effort. No country can fight this fight on its own. We look forward to a productive year and a successful #COP26 in Glasgow. #GoodToBeBack— Special Presidential Envoy John Kerry (@ClimateEnvoy) February 19, 2021Kerry will join the U.N. chief on Friday for an event to mark the U.S. return to the pact.Biden has also said his administration will hold a Leaders’ Climate Summit on Earth Day, April 22, as part of its climate diplomacy. 
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Investigations are now under way into the Peruvian coronavirus vaccination scandal, in which hundreds of people, many well-connected, were given shots although they did not participate in trials for the Sinopharm vaccine to determine its efficacy.Heath Minister Oscar Ugarte said 3,200 vaccines were given, including 1,200 that went to the Chinese Embassy. He said of the other 2,000 doses, investigators are looking into where they are and who was vaccinated.The state-run Andina news agency reported Peru’s Congress also launched a committee to investigate the scandal, amid a public uproar over how privileged people were able to jump ahead of front-line health workers for vaccinations.Fernando Carbone, the head of the commission investigating those benefiting from the shots is guaranteeing impartiality in the probe, with a threat of sanctions against those involved.Carbone spoke publicly about not being compromised after the Peruvian Medical College called for him to step aside, citing his association with former Health Minister Pilar Mazetti, who was among those improperly receiving vaccinations.Peru’s foreign minister Elizabeth Astete resigned Sunday after revealing she had received the vaccine before health care personnel.The public anger over the scandal has been exacerbated by Peru having one of the highest coronavirus tallies in Latin America, with more than 1.2 million infections and more than 44,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
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Venezuela began its immunization program against the COVID-19 virus by vaccinating front-line health care personnel Thursday, less than a week after receiving the first batch of 100,000 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V.”Fortunately, the strategic cooperation between Russia and Venezuela has allowed us to have access to one of the best vaccines in the world, with an efficacy of 91.6%,” Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said.Venezuela participated in trials of the Sputnik V vaccine trials before signing a purchase agreement with Russia in December.The Latin American country hopes to begin vaccinating the general public in April.Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said officials aim to vaccinate 70% of the population this year in order to achieve herd immunity.Venezuela has so far confirmed more than 134,000 COVID-19 cases and 1,297 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
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Haiti has responded to a tweet by Julie Chung, the U.S. acting assistant secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, expressing alarm at “authoritarian and undemocratic acts” by President Jovenel Moise.Chung’s tweet on Wednesday also said, “Respect for democratic norms is vital and non-negotiable.”The United States will not be silent when democratic institutions and civil society are attacked.We condemn all attempts to undermine democracy by violence, suppression of civic freedoms, or intimidation.2/3— Julie Chung (@WHAAsstSecty) February 17, 2021Haiti Ambassador to the United States Bocchit Edmond announced on Twitter early Thursday that he had a “constructive meeting” with Chung about the situation in the country.”We’re determined to create a better environment for free, fair & transparent elections under robust international observations,” Edmond tweeted.2/2) I also spoke with @WHAAsstSecty about the steps taken by the Electoral Council to prepare for the Constitutional referendum and the elections. We’re determined to create a better environment for free, fair & transparent elections under a robust international observations.— Bocchit Edmond (@BocchitEdmond) February 18, 2021Chung’s tweet also said, “The United States will not be silent when democratic institutions and civil society are attacked.” It also cited “unilateral removals and appointments of Supreme Court Justices” and attacks on the media.Addressing Chung’s concerns about attacks on the press, Edmond tweeted: “I reassured her that the Govt of Haiti has no intentions of targeting journalists.”1/2) I had a constructive meeting with @WHAAsstSecty Julie Chung about the current situation in Haiti. I reassured her that the Govt of Haiti has no intentions of targeting journalists. We are deeply devoted to respecting freedom of the Press & improve our ranking 83 on 189 PFGI.— Bocchit Edmond (@BocchitEdmond) February 18, 2021On the night of Feb. 12, President Moise tweeted that he had appointed three new Supreme Court Justices, to replace the justices he retired last week.J’ai nommé à la Cour de Cassation trois juges issus d’une liste préalablement soumise par le sénat de la République, conformément aux dispositions de l’art 175 de la Constitution.— Président Jovenel Moïse (@moisejovenel) February 13, 2021He also issued an “Arrete,” an official announcement, saying he had chosen a new secretary of state for communications, secretary of state for public security and a new delegate for the Artibonite Department.The announcements came hours after a statement by U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Michele Sison expressing concern about Moise’s unilateral moves.”What troubles us is governance by decree, governance by presidential decree that has been going on in Haiti for a period that is not normal and is ongoing,” Sison told VOA in an exclusive interview on Feb. 12.At least two journalists have died due to their interactions with law enforcement during protests so far this year. Others have been severely injured and hospitalized.Chung’s tweets about Haiti, which the U.S. Embassy in Haiti retweeted on its official Twitter account and translated into French and Creole, echo what Ambassador Sison told VOA.”Elections are essential to end the political paralysis that exists in Haiti since a long time. For more than a year,” Sison said. “Haitians should have their say, so they can realize their own vision for their country.”Laurent Weil, a country analyst for The Economist magazine’s Intelligence Unit who specializes in Latin America and the Caribbean, told VOA elections are central to an improvement in Haiti’s situation in 2021.”The best-case scenario is that you have an elected parliament. You have an elected president that takes office following this long and uncertain process,” Weil told VOA. “There is a generalized sentiment on the ground that things need to change.”
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Popular cruises up Canada’s scenic Pacific coast to Alaska have become the latest victim of the coronavirus pandemic, creating a new source of friction between Canada and the United States.Canada’s Transport Ministry announced last week it was extending a prohibition of passenger cruise vessels carrying more than 100 people visiting its ports through the end of February 2022, effectively canceling the 2021 Alaska cruise season and cutting off an important source of revenue to the northernmost U.S. state.The reaction from Alaska was swift and predictable. In a terse statement, the state’s two U.S. senators and sole member of the House of Representatives charged that the decision was made arbitrarily with no consultation or advance notice. The statement also said it was made with no consideration for Alaska or its economy.The cruises, which weave through a network of coastal islands amid glaciers, fjords and towering pristine forests, are highly popular. According to the Alaska Travel Industry Association, the cruises accounted for 1,331,600 or 60% of all visitors to the state in 2019.Cruise ships near downtown Juneau, Alaska, in May 2019, in this view from from Mount Juneau.Last year, the state had projected a further 5% increase in cruise passengers before all sailings were canceled. Alaska tourism has been further set back by a closing of land borders between Canada and the United States.Sarah Leonard, CEO of the Alaska Travel Industry Association, told VOA she was not surprised to see the ban on the cruises extended but had not expected it to last for so long.She called for U.S. government assistance to heavily impacted businesses and workers and suggested a temporary waiver to the Passenger Vessel Services Act that will allow cruise ships to sail from American ports, like Seattle, directly to Alaska without stopping at Canadian ports.The act, established in 1886, prohibits cruise ships from sailing directly between American ports. This means Alaska-bound cruise ships must embark from Canada or stop at a Canadian port like Vancouver.“We’ve long advocated since the beginning of the pandemic for a potential temporary waiver of that federal legislation, which would again potentially allow large ship cruise passengers or large ship cruise operations to travel to Alaska,” Leonard said.One of the major stops for the cruise ships is the small town of Skagway, Alaska, with a population of 1,000 people. Located within the so-called Inside Passage on the Alaska panhandle, it often sees upwards of 20,000 cruise visitors a day during the travel season.According to the Alaska Visitor Volume Report, more than 1 million cruise passengers visited Skagway during the summer of 2019.Skagway Mayor Andrew Cremata says cruise passengers normally account for 95% of the local economy, representing some $160 million in revenue for local businesses. He says writing a strongly worded letter to the Canadian government is not going to help Skagway.“There’s nobody living here in Skagway that isn’t feeling the effects in some way,” said Cremata, who, besides being mayor, works as a part-time tour guide during the cruise season.“I mean, there are people, you know — my wife has a full-time job still and I have a lot of work, I’m able to get online — but we were definitely impacted,” he told VOA. “Some people, if they made their primary income from tourism, you know, they’re devastated.”Like Leonard, Cremata would like to see more federal stimulus money from the U.S. government and a waiver to the Passenger Vessel Services Act.It is not only Alaska that will feel the loss of the passenger cruises. The Canadian city of Vancouver is the main starting point for most ships heading to ports of call in Alaska, with nearby Seattle providing competition.According to the Port of Vancouver, 2019 was a record-breaking year with more than 288 cruise ship visits — a 22% increase from the previous year. The season for Alaska-bound cruise ships usually runs from the beginning of April to the end of October.FILE – In this July 28, 2014, file photo, a cruise ship passenger takes photos of Alaska’s Inside Passage. The Canadian government has extended a ban on cruise ships through February 2022.Walt Judas, CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia, worries that any temporary waiver to the Passenger Vessel Services Act might become permanent, meaning potential disaster for tourism in Canada’s westernmost province.“Once you set a precedent like that, even if only on a temporary basis, who’s to stop a lobby from making that permanent? And so that would be a big concern, if you start to sail from, say, Alaska to Seattle, and vice versa, and you cut out the Canadian ports,” said Judas. “Now, you’ve lost a huge amount of business for the visitor economy. And for the economy in general. We’re talking more than $2 billion [Canadian] in economic impact.”Like many in the tourism industry, the length of the closure took Judas by surprise.He is still hoping, with enough pressure on the Canadian government and positive developments in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, that the decision might be reversed in time to salvage some part of this year’s cruise season.“We hope that we can see some progress in the months ahead and try to work with government on the criteria by which we could see a partial cruise season before the end of the year,” he said.Tourism Vancouver, the city’s convention and visitors bureau, estimates each ship’s visit brings upwards of $2.2 million in immediate spin-off benefits, including stays in local Vancouver hotels. Many visitors continue on to visit other areas in the region.To make matters worse, the Vancouver convention and conference business has virtually disappeared, furthering the economic impact of the pandemic on the local tourism industry. 
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Canada’s cancellation of the 2021 Alaska cruise ship season due to the coronavirus pandemic has angered the U.S. state’s politicians and rattled the tourism industry in both countries. Those on the ground in both Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia are dealing with the fallout.Citing continuing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian Transportation Ministry has extended the prohibition of any passenger cruise vessels carrying over 100 people between Canada and Alaska. The order extends through February 2022. 
 
In a terse statement, Alaska’s U.S. congressional delegation complained that the decision was made arbitrarily by Canada with no consultation or advance notice. The statement, from the two U.S. senators and the state’s only representative, also says it was made without any consideration for Alaska or the state’s economy.   FILE – The Grand Princess cruise ship in Gastineau Channel in Juneau, Alaska, May 30, 2018.According to the Alaska Travel Industry Association, in 2019 the state welcomed more than 1.3 million visitors who arrived on cruise ships, comprising 60 percent of the state’s summer visitors. 
 
The association’s CEO, Sarah Leonard, is urging a temporary waiver to the U.S. Passenger Vessel Services Act to allow cruise ships to sail from American ports, like Seattle, directly to Alaska. Adopted in 1886, the act still prohibits cruise ships from sailing directly between American ports, forcing Alaska-bound vessels to either start from or stop in Canada. “We’ve long advocated since the beginning of the pandemic for a potential temporary waiver of that federal legislation, which would again potentially allow large ship cruise passengers or large ship cruise operations to travel to Alaska,” she said.  
 
Vancouver, British Columbia, is the principal starting point for most cruise ships heading to ports of call in Alaska, with nearby Seattle providing competition. According to the Port of Vancouver, 2019 was a record-breaking year with more than 288 cruise ship visits, a 22 percent increase from the previous year.
 
Walt Judas is the CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia.He is concerned a temporary waiver to the Passenger Vessel Services Act might become permanent to the detriment of British Columbia’s tourism industry. “Once you set a precedent like that, even if only on a temporary basis, who’s to stop a lobby from making that permanent? And so that would be a big concern, if you start to sail from, say, Alaska to Seattle, and vice versa, and you cut out the Canadian ports. Now, you’ve lost a huge amount of business for the visitor economy. And for the economy. In general, we’re talking more than $2 billion [Canadian] in economic impact,” said Judas.  
 
The Vancouver Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates each ship’s visit brings at least $2.2 million in economic benefits, including Vancouver hotel bookings before and after cruises. FILE – The Carnival Spirit cruise ship sits docked at Canada Place as a seabus (R) commuter boat makes its way across the inner harbor in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sept.17, 2008. 
Judas is still hoping, with enough pressure on the Canadian government and positive development in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, that there might be a way to salvage at least a portion of the cruise ship season this year.   
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The arrival of U.S. President Joe Biden in the White House has ushered in hopes for a new approach towards one of the thorniest foreign policy questions – how to restore democracy in Venezuela. As the U.S seeks to rebuild ties with European allies that became distanced during the presidency of Donald Trump, analysts say Venezuela will be one of many tests of this new relationship.In Madrid, the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has cheered Biden and what it hopes will be his fresh approach to relations with a region that both nations consider their backyard. Because of its historical ties to Latin America, Spain has been at the forefront of European efforts to negotiate with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in order to push for democratic change. During the Trump era, talk in Washington of using military clashed with the EU strategy of seeking to force change through sanctions while maintaining a peaceful dialogue with both the Maduro government and opposition groups. FILE – Venezuelan opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez embraces a person after participating in a popular consultation launched by opposition leader Juan Guaido to decline Venezuela’s Dec. 6 parliamentary election, in Bogota, Colombia Dec. 12, 2020.White House press secretary Jen Psaki recently laid out the new U.S. government’s approach to the political crisis in Venezuela.The Biden administration “will focus on addressing the humanitarian situation, providing support to Venezuelan people and reinvigorating multilateral diplomacy to press for a democratic outcome and pursue individuals involved in corruption, human rights abuses,” she said.Worsening political situationIn Venezuela, meanwhile, the political situation worsened at the end of 2020 after legislative elections in December were criticized by the opposition and the EU as lacking legitimacy. Venezuela is mired in a deep institutional crisis. The Maduro government exercises power without international credibility but faces a divided opposition which has no clear road map for how to wrestle control of the nation. The economic situation for 30 million Venezuelans is even more volatile, with many barely able to cover basic needs such as food, health and access to public services. The International Monetary Fund expects inflation to rise by 6,500% this year. Despite the growing convergence on policy, Washington and its European allies disagree on how to deal with the Venezuelan opposition. Unlike the U.S., Brussels has refused to recognize Juan Guiadó as the de-facto president of Venezuela. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya said this week the EU supported the Venezuelan opposition movement and called for a “humanitarian response” as well as a “dialogue between all political forces and social actors” within the country. However, she said that the opposition movement must seek more “unity and strength.”  In a signal that Madrid aligns itself with Biden’s foreign policy, Gonzalez Laya added: “I listened carefully to the statements of the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, where he clearly explained that the strategy followed in recent years had not worked and that it and that it was necessary to work with all U.S. allies to promote a change in Venezuela and that is where Spain will be of course.” FILE – Secretary of State Antony Blinken.The decision not to recognize Guaidó as interim president angered some elements of the Venezuelan opposition. Isadora Zubillaga, deputy foreign minister in Guaido’s interim government, described the EU’s position as “muddled” in a Politico article. Sanctions may become aligned  Analysts said that while Biden has indicated he wants to pursue a peaceful resolution of the Venezuelan situation, he remains committed to sanctions. Carlos Malamud, an analyst who specializes in Latin America at the Real Elcano Institute, a Madrid think tank, believes the U.S. sanctions policy towards Venezuela will change. “I think they may become more aligned towards the European Union which maintains committed to collective sanctions,” he told VOA in an interview.The sanctions blacklist on Venezuela may be expanded, the EU said recently, warning Maduro against further crackdowns on the opposition. Brussels placed an arms embargo on Venezuela, froze certain assets and imposed a travel ban on 36 people aligned to the Maduro government. Geoff Ramsey, director for Venezuela at WOLA: Advocacy for Human Rights in the Americas, expects Biden to use a “carrot and the stick” strategy with Maduro’s government. “Moving forward, it’s very likely we’ll see a clearer emphasis on negotiations leading to free and fair elections,” he told VOA. “None of this means Biden will let up the pressure. The president has been quite clear that he sees sanctions as a valid tool for free, fair and credible elections in Venezuela and is not going to lift U.S. sanctions with nothing in exchange.”
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A court in Belarus sentenced two journalists to two years in prison Thursday on charges of orchestrating demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko.
 
Katsiaryna Andreyeva and Daria Chultsova of Poland’s Belsat TV were arrested in November in a Minsk apartment.  They were livestreaming ongoing protests taking place in support of a demonstrator who was killed several days earlier.
 
Andreyeva told the court ahead of the verdict she would work to build “a Belarus that won’t have political repressions.”
A lawyer for the journalists said they would appeal the verdict.
 There have been mass demonstrations in Belarus following a contested August election that Lukashenko’s opponents said was rigged to give him another term.  Lukashenko has denied the election was fraudulent.
 
A subsequent crackdown on the protests has led to the arrests of thousands of people, and prompted the United States and European Union to enact sanctions against officials in Belarus.
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The United States plans to “repair” and “revitalize” cooperation with its European allies as Washington and Beijing are seen as competing for influence in supporting vaccine distribution and post-pandemic recovery in Europe.  U.S. President Joe Biden is set to speak virtually at the Munich Security Conference on Friday. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will engage virtually with his counterparts from France, Germany and the United Kingdom — the so-called E3 — to discuss what State Department spokesperson Ned Price called “shared global challenges.” Blinken will also participate in the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council on February 22 at the invitation of EU High Representative Josep Borrell. Biden’s speech would come after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pledge to boost imports from Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries into the Chinese market in coming years. FILE – A video of China’s President Xi Jinping plays at an exhibition about China’s fight against COVID-19 at a convention center that was previously a makeshift hospital for coronavirus patients, in Wuhan, Jan. 15, 2021.Last week, Xi chaired a long-delayed virtual summit with leaders and senior officials from the so-called “17+1” bloc, eyeing access to the European COVID-19 vaccines market while reasserting China’s influence in the region. The 17+1 bloc was launched in 2012 as China sought cooperation with CEE nations. Twelve of those are European Union members. “China is willing to actively consider the vaccine cooperation needs of CEE countries,” Xi said, citing Serbia and Hungary as two countries that have already begun to roll out nationwide vaccination programs with Chinese vaccines. FILE – A man holds China’s flag next to Serbia’s flag as a plane transporting one million doses of Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group vaccines for the coronavirus arrives at Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade, Serbia, Jan. 16, 2021.”China intends to import, in the coming five years, more than 170 billion U.S. dollars of goods from CEE countries,” Xi said, proposing to set up a farm produce wholesale market in the CEE region, in a bid to double CEE countries’ agricultural exports to China and raise two-way agricultural trade by 50% over the next five years. Beijing’s appeal to European countries came as Washington is shoring up efforts to, as officials described it, “revitalize core alliances” and return to multilateralism. “The Biden-Harris administration is committed to deepening dialogue and cooperation with our allies and partners on China, starting with Europe,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA. “We recognize our European partners have their own interests and relationships, and we are not forcing them to choose between China and the United States. However, we remain concerned that China has frequently used multilateral organizations as a tool to advance the PRC’s economic, national security and foreign policy interests at the expense of other countries’ peace and prosperity, respect for human rights and the rules-based international order,” said the spokesperson. Regional observers said Xi was greeted with a cold reception, with six nations choosing to send ministers instead of heads of state to the virtual summit, the lowest level of representation in nine years. The six nations are Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia.   “Based on [the] collective work of @chinaobseervers, the preliminary list of participation from CEE countries at the 17+1 [is expected to be] the lowest level [of] representation in the history of the summit,” tweeted China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe, a group of experts that provide informed analysis on the rising influence of China in the region.Based on a collective work of @chinaobseervers the preliminary list of participation from CEE countries at the 17+1 seems is as below. The lowest level representation in the history of the summit. pic.twitter.com/gE24VRbIqT— ChinaObservers (@chinaobservers) February 9, 2021Other observers said Beijing’s biggest success at the virtual summit was proving that the 17+1 bloc is “not dead,” while noting that Xi failed to attract all CEE heads of state to attend despite personal invitations and “desperate actions” of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “No tangible additional influence gained in the EU by Beijing,” tweeted Jakub Jakóbowski, senior fellow at the Centre for Eastern Studies, a Warsaw-based think tank. “Little chance for this summit to stop the deterioration of relations with CEE (econ. co-op stalled, wolf warrior conflicts, US pressure),” Jakóbowski added. “Certainly won’t derail CEE-US regional co-op.”Little chance for this summit to stop the deterioration of relations with CEE (econ. co-op stalled, wolf warrior conflicts, US pressure). Certainly won’t derail CEE-US regional co-op. Also, unlike ????-led #CAI, no tangible additional influence gained in the EU by Beijing (4/4)— Jakub Jakóbowski (@J_Jakobowski) February 9, 2021In January, Serbia received a million doses of Chinese Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the first European country to use Chinese vaccines for its mass rollout. Serbia and China have maintained close ties as Chinese companies invest billions of euros in Serbia’s infrastructure and energy projects.Serbia Becomes First European Country to Use Chinese COVID Vaccine for Mass Rollout Belgrade maintains close ties with Beijing and Chinese companies have invested billions of Euros in Serbia, mainly in infrastructure and energy projectsAlso in January, Hungary became the first European Union country to approve China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine. Many EU countries rely on vaccines provided by American companies Pfizer and Moderna. 
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Artworks owned by the late artist Christo and his wife, Jean-Claude, a duo famed for wrapping landmarks in fabric, sold for $9.6 million at auction on Wednesday.The 28 lots under the hammer at Sotheby’s in Paris included drawings for the couple’s “The Umbrellas (Joint project for Japan and USA),” two spectacular installations by the couple in 1991 consisting of thousands of umbrellas erected simultaneously in Japan and Los Angeles.Less than a year after his death at the age of 84, Christo is evidently more in demand than ever, with more than three quarters of the works on sale selling above estimate.The works, snapped up by buyers in the United States, Asia and Europe, had been expected to sell for between $3 million and $4.5 million collectively.The preparatory drawings for the yellow Californian umbrellas set a new record for a work by the Bulgarian-born U.S. artist at $2 million, while the Japanese version sold for about $1.4 million.A second set of works from the couple’s private collection are due to go on sale Thursday.Christo collaborated with Jeanne-Claude, his wife of 51 years, until her death in 2009 and continued to produce dramatic pieces into his 80s.From Paris’s oldest bridge to Berlin’s Reichstag, they spent decades wrapping landmarks and creating improbable structures around the world.Their large-scale productions would take years of preparation and were costly to erect, but they were mostly ephemeral, coming down after just weeks or months.
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The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will work to identify the most needy migrants waiting in Mexico and help them complete paperwork to pursue asylum claims in the United States, a U.S. official told VOA.Mirroring the UNHCR’s role in facilitating refugee resettlements around the world, the U.N. agency will work with the Biden administration to address the plight of tens of thousands of asylum-seekers the former Trump administration forced to remain in Mexico while awaiting U.S. immigration court dates under an initiative known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) or the “remain in Mexico” policy.”UNHCR is working to select the most vulnerable people or those who have more time in the MPP program to cross [into the United States],” Roberta Jacobson, coordinator for the southwest border on the White House National Security Council, told VOA.The Biden administration, which has moved to end MPP, is expected to begin processing asylum claims February 19.There are approximately 25,000 migrants with active MPP cases.UNHCR screening of asylum seekers is expected to reduce the need to detain migrants who are allowed to enter the United States. Instead, most will be permitted to stay with sponsors or family members already in the U.S.“We don’t have in mind detaining the majority of these persons,” Jacobson said. “We are going to start with a very small number to ensure that everything works well.”Despite the UNHCR’s assistance, the United States will continue to decide who ultimately is granted asylum and allowed to legally remain in the country.The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has stressed that the policy shift does not mean the border is “opening for people to migrate irregularly to the United States.”DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the initiative shows the administration’s commitment to immigration reform, but added that, due to capacity constraints at the U.S.-Mexico border exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, change will take time.“Individuals who are not eligible under this initial phase should wait for further instructions and not travel to the border,” Mayorkas said in a statement. “Due to the current pandemic, restrictions at the border remain in place and will be enforced.”President Joe Biden suspended MPP within days of his inauguration last month. Until this week, it was unclear what would replace it and when the new policy would go into effect.”This new process applies to individuals who were returned to Mexico under the MPP program and have cases pending before the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR),” DHS said in a recent press release. “Individuals outside of the United States who were not returned to Mexico under MPP or who do not have active immigration court cases will not be considered for participation in this program and should await further instructions.”A migrant puts on her shoes after crossing the Rio Bravo river to turn herself in to a U.S. Border Patrol agent to request for asylum in El Paso, Texas, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Feb. 8, 2021.The former Trump administration launched MPP in 2019 to deter mass migration to America’s southern border and ease overcrowding at U.S. detention facilities. The Trump White House defended the policy as both necessary and humane in that it persuaded many migrants not to make an arduous and dangerous journey northward.Backers of the program called MPP a success.“MPP was a game changer,” said Lora Ries, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank based in Washington. “And it was because migrants learned that just claiming fear wasn’t the golden ticket to get into the U.S.”Immigrant rights groups contend the policy forced many migrants into makeshift camps in northern Mexico where they endured hunger, disease and threats to their physical safety from criminal gangs.Human Rights First reported that migrants have been kidnapped, tortured, and sexually assaulted by cartels that operate along the U.S.-Mexico border.Last week, the Biden administration indicated that migrants will need to register with international organizations online or over the phone and then await instructions.U.S. officials said migrants will be tested for COVID-19 before being allowed to enter the United States and will be required to wear face masks and comply with social distancing guidelines. Jorge Agobian contributed to this story.
 
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