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FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers Thursday that Russia is not letting up in its efforts to sway the outcome of the November presidential election, backing earlier assessments from U.S. counterintelligence officials that Moscow’s main goal is to damage the campaign of Democratic candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden. Wray, testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee, described the Kremlin’s influence operations as “very, very active” on social media, on its own state-run media and through various proxies. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray testifies before a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 17, 2020.The aim of these influence operations is “primarily to denigrate Vice President Biden and what the Russians see as kind of an anti-Russian establishment,” he said. The FBI director’s comments are in line with a rare public assessment in early August about threats to the U.S. election provided by the nation’s top counterintelligence official, William Evanina. FILE – Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center William Evanina speaks during the Reuters Cybersecurity Summit in Washington, Oct. 31, 2017.”What concerns me the most is the steady drumbeat of misinformation and amplification of smaller cyber intrusions,” Wray said. “I worry they will contribute over time to a lack of confidence [among] American voters.”That would be a perception, not reality. I think Americans can and should have confidence in our election system and certainly in our democracy,” he added. No Signs of Cyberattacks Targeting US Election SystemsTop US officials seek to reassure voters with less than 50 days until the November presidential electionDuring lawmakers’ questioning, Wray also rejected concerns about the expected increase in the use of mail-in ballots for the November election, despite repeated warnings from Trump that voting by mail will lead to massive fraud. “We have not seen, to date, a coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election,” he said, echoing assurances given by senior U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity just last month. US Officials Reject Claims of Rigged Presidential ElectionSenior intelligence and law enforcement officials say there is ‘no information’ to support claims that someone could use mail-in ballots to manipulate outcome of upcoming electionWray’s assurances, though, appear to leave him at odds with Trump, who later Thursday sent out a series of tweets warning that the use of mail-in ballots will result in a “RIGGED ELECTION” and “lead to massive chaos and confusion!” Just out: Some people in the Great State of North Carolina have been sent TWO BALLOTS. RIGGED ELECTION in waiting!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 17, 2020Unsolicited Ballots are uncontrollable, totally open to ELECTION INTERFERENCE by foreign countries, and will lead to massive chaos and confusion!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 17, 2020Antifa and US protests The FBI director also appeared to clash with Trump, and Republican lawmakers, over antifa, a left-wing protest movement that has been increasingly visible in demonstrations that have spread across the country. Trump has tweeted repeatedly about classifying antifa as a terrorist organization. Major consideration is being given to naming ANTIFA an “ORGANIZATION OF TERROR.” Portland is being watched very closely. Hopefully the Mayor will be able to properly do his job!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2019Consideration is being given to declaring ANTIFA, the gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs who go around hitting (only non-fighters) people over the heads with baseball bats, a major Organization of Terror (along with MS-13 & others). Would make it easier for police to do their job!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2019But Wray repeatedly shied away from that sort of description Thursday. “We look at antifa as more of an ideology or a movement than an organization,” he told lawmakers, adding there is no evidence that antifa is behind any sort of coordinated campaign to incite violence at protests that have gripped parts of the country. “Much of the violence that we’re seeing does not appear to be organized or attributed to any one particular group or movement,” the FBI director said. Instead, he described attempts by antifa and other movements, like the right-wing Boogaloo Boys, to instigate violence as ad hoc. Boogaloo Boys Aim to Provoke 2nd US Civil War Group goal is to co-opt practically any anti-government event – from anti-lockdown demonstrations to Black Lives Matter protests – to violently confront government”We are seeing, in certain pockets, more kind of regionally organized folks coalescing, often coordinating on the ground in the middle of protests,” Wray said, adding that such attempts can even cross ideological lines, such as in one incident earlier this month in which two self-described Boogaloo Boys attempted to join with the Palestinian terror group Hamas. ICYMI: Self-described “Boogaloo Bois” charged w/attempting to provide #Hamas firearms/parts Per @FBI 30yo Michael Solomon of Minnesota & 22yo Benjamin Teeter of #NorthCarolina are part of a sub-group called the “Boojahideen” & felt their anti-US gvt views aligned w/Hamas— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) September 4, 2020Wray’s explanations about antifa, however, did not sit well with Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw, from Texas, who has been supportive of the president. “It seems strange to me that we can’t call it a group,” Crenshaw told Wray.  “This is an ideology that organizes locally. It coordinates regionally and nationally. It wears a standardized uniform. It collects funds to buy high-powered lasers to blind federal officers,” Crenshaw said. “It just seems to be more than an ideology.” But Wray said the FBI’s focus is on violence and criminology, and not ideology, which is protected under freedom of speech. “I, by no means, mean to minimize the seriousness of the violence and criminality that is going on,” he said. “To be clear, we do have quite a number of properly predicated investigations into violent anarchist extremists, any number of who self-identify with the antifa movement.” US-based extremists Wray also told lawmakers the FBI sees U.S.-based violent extremists, whether influenced by jihadist ideology or ideology emanating domestically, as the biggest threat to the country. “Racially motivated violent extremism is, I think, the biggest bucket within that larger group,” he said, noting there have been a total of 120 arrests for domestic terrorism this year. 
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Poland’s governing alliance appeared to be in disarray early Friday, as a dispute over animal rights measures highlighted divisions in the ruling camp, raising the possibility of early elections if differences cannot be resolved. Tensions within the alliance led by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party came into the open after some members did not support the measures, which passed in parliament with opposition support. The dispute over changes to animal rights laws, which are seen as an appeal to younger voters, halted talks on overhauling ministries and threatened deeper problems for the coalition. The measures, which would ban fur farming and curb the slaughter of animals, were opposed by all lawmakers from the ultra-conservative United Poland party. Other lawmakers abstained. Polish farmers take part in a demonstration against a proposed ban on fur farms and kosher meat exports in Warsaw, Poland, Sept. 16, 2020.PiS lawmaker and Agriculture Minister Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski, who had openly criticized the bill, voted against it. Opponents of the bill within the ruling alliance said it would alienate voters in PiS’s rural heartlands and hurt farmers. Poland produces millions of furs a year, and the sector employs about 50,000 people. The country is also one of Europe’s biggest exporters of halal and kosher meat, with 2017 shipments of more than 70,000 tons. Talks had been under way between PiS, United Poland and the more liberal Accord over plans to reduce the number of ministries, potentially concentrating power in the hands of PiS. “Negotiations … have been suspended due to the situation we have in the Sejm,” or parliament, PiS lawmaker and Deputy Parliament Speaker Ryszard Terlecki said before the vote. Asked about ruling as a minority government, Terlecki said this would not be possible. “If that happens, we’ll go to elections. Alone, of course.” In 2007, PiS decided to go for early elections and lost power, making the party well aware of the risks of such a move. 
 
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Social media companies are taking down videos and images that could be vital in prosecuting serious crimes, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are increasingly using artificial intelligence algorithms to remove material deemed offensive or illegal. Human Rights Watch says vital evidence is being missed or destroyed. Henry Ridgwell reports.
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Britain’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, has announced new lockdown measures on the northeast of England after a significant surge in coronavirus cases there. Hancock told parliament that beginning Friday, people in the region would not be allowed to socialize with others outside their households or support groups. Restaurants and bars would be allowed to provide only table service, and “leisure and entertainment venues” would have to close between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.  The health secretary told parliament Thursday the government does not take the steps lightly, and it understands the impact the restrictions can have on families, business and communities. But, he said, “We must follow the data and act. And the data says that we must act now.” Earlier this week, the British government had tightened restrictions across the country, banning social gatherings of more than six people. Residents across England have been struggling to access the COVID-19 testing system since an increase in cases raised the demand for tests. Hancock said the huge spike in demand for coronavirus testing for people who do not have symptoms was creating challenges in the system, after members of parliament shared stories of people without symptoms not being able to get tested. Reuters news agency reports official statistics show Britain recorded 3,991 new positive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, compared with 3,105 the day before. The news agency also reported a further 20 new deaths from COVID-19. Britain’s overall death toll from the virus is 41,773, the highest in Europe, according to Johns Hopkins University. 
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Greek authorities have begun moving thousands of refugees to a new army-built camp on the island of Lesbos after a fire destroyed the country’s largest migrant facility last week.  More than 12,500 people from 70 countries, mostly refugees from Afghanistan, African nations, and Syria, were left without shelter and access to food, water, and proper sanitation when fire decimated the overcrowded Moria camp.  Authorities dressed in masks and white protective suits have so far guided some 1,800 migrants and refugees, who had been sleeping in makeshift shelters on the side of the road, to the new temporary facility at Kara Tepe near the port of Mytilene.  Seventy female officers were flown in to organize the transfer of women and children to the new camp. No violence was reported.  A dog sits next to migrants as they sleep on a road leading from Moria to the capital of Mytilene, on the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Sept. 17, 2020.”As long as it is peaceful, we believe it is a good move,” said Astrid Castelein, head of the U.N. refugee agency’s office on Lesbos. “Here on the street it is a risk for security, for public health, and it’s not dignity, which we need for everyone.” Authorities have charged five Afghan asylum-seekers with starting the fires. Law enforcement officials say that the blazes broke out after 35 people tested positive for the coronavirus, triggering a lockdown of camp residents. A small group of inhabitants objected to being put into isolation. There have been no reported deaths as a result of the fires. Greek officials say the new camp is equipped to host at least 5,000 people, but many migrants are hesitant to move there. Moria had a capacity of roughly 2,700 people but was home to more than 12,500 at the time of the blaze.  The Greek government said it aims to replace open-air tent facilities with formal migrant centers that have temporary housing options, but a number of migrants and refugees hope to leave Lesbos. They say they fear that the living conditions at camp Kara Tepe will be no better than they were at Moira, which international aid groups had called “appalling.” Medical careDuring the operation to move residents to the temporary camp, they were tested for the coronavirus and so far, 35 have been found positive.  A child sits between plastic bags as migrants pull their belongings in Kara Tepe, near Mytilene, the capital of the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Sept. 17, 2020.The nongovernmental medical aid organization Medecins Sans Frontieres, known as Doctors Without Borders, says that Greek police denied the health care workers access to its new clinic in Lesbos. According to the group, it took several hours before its workers were finally allowed to reopen their facilities, but says it was “highly concerning” that their critical medical care services were compromised during the move. Critics of the Moria camp say that the inhuman conditions there were a symbol of Europe’s failed migration policies.  The number of migrants seeking refuge on Greek islands near Turkey has fallen significantly since 2015, although camps remained overcrowded. In the past, the Greek government has accused wealthier European Union nations of failing to share the burden of assisting refugees, migrants, and asylum-seekers as they seek a new life in Europe.  Transfer to GermanyThe German government said this week it would take in 1,553 migrants, many of whom are families with refugee status, who had been living at camp Moria at the time of the fire.  Migrants wait to enter a new temporary refugee camp in Kara Tepe, near the capital of the northeastern island of Lesbos, Greece, Sept. 17, 2020.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that any transfer of migrants to Germany would need to go hand-in-hand with a broader European initiative to support the refugee crisis in Greece.  Merkel has voiced support for the Greek government to build a new reception center for migrants and refugees on Lesbos. The structure would be managed by EU agencies. Following the fire, Greece’s top public order official said plans to decongest migrant camps will be accelerated. On Tuesday, the Greek government vowed that the island of Lesbos will be emptied of refugees by early April 2021.  In a statement to The Guardian newspaper, Greece’s civil protection minister Michalis Chrysochoidis said, “Of the roughly 12,000 refugees here currently, I foresee 6,000 being transferred to the mainland by Christmas and the rest by Easter. The people of this island have gone through a lot. They’ve been very patient.”
 
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A U.S. consular official says her Belarusian-American husband’s life is in “immediate danger” after security forces in Belarus arrested him in July.  Vitali Shkliarov, 44, a political analyst who holds a U.S. diplomatic passport, was detained while visiting his elderly parents in his hometown of Gomel ahead of Belarus’s highly charged August 9 presidential elections, recounts his wife, Heather Shkliarov, in a letter released to news media.  “Vitali traveled to Belarus on July 9, along with our 8-year-old son, simply to visit his mother, who is suffering from advanced cancer, and to celebrate his birthday on July 11 with his family and friends,” writes Shkliarov, who says she stayed behind in the United States to prepare the family’s move to Ukraine as part of a new assignment to the U.S. embassy in Kyiv.Vitali Shkliarov in Moscow, 2018. (Charles Maynes/VOA)Vitali Shkliarov was arrested July 29 after having finished a two-week quarantine at his parents’ house due to the coronavirus.  “He was grabbed off the street, thrown into a van, and driven 300 kilometers to a detention center in Minsk, while our son was left in the custody of his grandmother, without either of his parents,” recounts Heather Shkliarov in her statement.As he was being detained, Shkliarov managed one quick message on his popular Russian-language Telegram channel: “arrested.” Authorities accuse him of working with jailed opposition blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski to sponsor “group actions that grossly violate public order.”  He is the husband of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, President Alexander Lukashenko’s main election rival, who is now in Lithuania. She argues the longtime Belarusian leader rigged the vote to remain in power.  In her statement, Heather Shkliarov disputed that her husband was involved in campaigning at all.Heather Shkliarov says her husband was charged with the crime of organizing an illegal campaign rally on May 29 in Grodno, Belarus, for jailed opposition leader Siarhei Tsikhanouski, despite never having been to Grodno or having met Tsikhanouski.  She also notes her husband was at home with her in Virginia at the time of the May rally.   “Vitali is suffering this fate not because he was a protestor or involved in any way in the presidential election in Belarus,” she added.  “His only offense,” she notes, was that “he had written articles that publicly criticized the administration of President Lukashenko.”Western plotsA 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 worked on presidential campaigns in Russia, Georgia, and the United States, where he was a field organizer for both President Barack Obama’s reelection bid in 2012 and Senator Bernie Sanders’s failed presidential run in 2016.  Shkliarov’s lawyer, Anton Gashinsky, says Lukashenko has exploited that political experience in an effort to portray a wave of protests against his government as a Western-backed plot.  The argument has been key to shoring up critical Russian support for Lukashenko’s government as the democratic uprising has grown in numbers and authorities have resorted to mass arrests.  “Vitali has become a convenient scapegoat for Lukashenko’s security forces,” said  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.”  EU Parliament Votes to Stop Recognizing Belarus President When His Term ExpiresEuropean lawmakers also support sanctioning Alexander Lukashenko over disputed reelection, violent crackdown on protestersEarlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Belarus to release Shkliarov and “all those who have been unjustly detained” amid a police crackdown.  Heather Shkliarov’s press release said, “The views expressed in this statement are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of State or the U.S. government.”The view from inside  Vitali 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 last month.   “No, they don’t beat me. But they’re trying to break me. With everything they have,” he added.   Heather Shkliarov’s statement backed those assertions, arguing her husband was being exposed to “extreme psychological pressure” to force a confession.   “He is moved constantly from cell to cell to avoid having a sense of stability. The lights are never turned off in his cell, and loud music is blared all night so he is not ever able to sleep properly,” she writes.  “He has been subjected to extreme strip searches, forced to stand naked in a cell for hours at a time, and never allowed even to sit down on his bed during the day.”His wife also expressed growing concerns over his health in the COVID-19 era.  “On September 8, Vitali started feeling extremely ill, and for several days in a row, has reported a fever of over 102 degrees, along with respiratory issues, chills, and muscle pains.”Gashinsky, the lawyer, tells VOA prison authorities relented to requests for medical care and a doctor administered an initial test for COVID-19 on Wednesday.   It was not clear when results would come available, he added. 
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The European Parliament said Thursday that Alexander Lukashenko should not be recognized as the president of Belarus when his term expires on November 5.  
 
The authoritarian leader was elected to a sixth term in office August 9, a vote that Belarusian opposition parties, the United States and European Union allege was rigged.
 
The European Parliament rejected the results of the August election by a 574 to 37 margin, with 82 abstentions. The Parliament also called on the European Union to impose sanctions on Lukashenko.
 
“The EU needs a new approach toward Belarus, which includes the termination of any cooperation with Lukashenko’s regime,” said Lithuanian centrist legislator Petras Austrevicius.
 
The EU Parliament’s rejection of the August election is not legally binding, but it can affect how the EU supports Belarus financially.
 
Lukashenko’s August reelection sparked mass protests in Minsk and other Belarusian cities. More than 7,000 protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture have been reported. At least four people are reported to have died during the demonstrations, during which police aggressively dispersed peaceful protesters with rubber bullets, clubs and stun grenades.
 
Human Rights Watch accused Belarusian security forces earlier this week of detaining thousands of people and torturing hundreds of others in the days after the election.
 
Lukashenko denies the voting was fraudulent and blamed the unrest on meddling by Western countries. Russian news agencies quoted him last week saying he has nothing to discuss with the opposition, and that he would be open to constitutional reforms and possibly a new presidential election.
 
During his meeting Monday with Lukashenko in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, a firm Lukashenko ally, endorsed the possibility of Belarus amending its constitution to lay the groundwork for new elections.
 
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General Eduardo Pazuello has become Brazil’s third health minister after taking the job on an interim basis in April.Pazuello, who has no health credentials, was officially sworn in Wednesday at the Planalto Palace, in the country’s capital, Brasilia.Pazuello first became health minister following the resignations of the previous ministers after being at odds with President Jair Bolsonaro over policies to curb the spread of the coronavirus.President Bolsonaro, who has been infected with the coronavirus, has always downplayed its threat, clashing with local leaders who imposed restrictions to curb the spread of the virus, saying the measures hurt the economy.During the ceremony Wednesday, Bolsanaro repeated his support for a controversial anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, which most experts reject as an effective treatment for the coronavirus.Brazil has the largest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Latin America, with more than 4 million cases and more than 134,400 deaths.
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The United States vowed to assert a “snapback” of all prior international sanctions on Iran, effective 8 p.m. Eastern Time on September 19, with more announcements to be made this weekend and next week as to exactly how Washington is planning to enforce the “returned U.N. sanctions.”“We will return to the United Nations to reimpose sanctions so that the arms embargo will become permanent next week,” said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Wednesday during a joint press conference with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.“I think we absolutely agree that Iran must never be — never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon,” said Raab. “We also, I think, share the view that the diplomatic door is open to Iran to negotiate a peaceful way forward. That decision, that choice is there for the leadership in Tehran to take.” He stopped short of saying whether or not and how Britain will implement the snapback sanctions.Britain, France and Germany, the so-called E3, said in August that they cannot support the U.S. move to restore U.N. sanctions on Iran, saying the action is incompatible with efforts to support the Iran nuclear deal.U.S. special envoy for Iran and Venezuela Elliott Abrams speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Aug. 4, 2020.“Whether those countries will in fact ignore the U.N. sanctions [under U.N. Security Council resolution 2231] remains to be seen,” U.S. special envoy for Iran and Venezuela Elliott Abrams told reporters in a Wednesday phone briefing. He added the E3 and other European countries had told Washington that they don’t want the Iran arms embargo to end, but they were unable to take any action that kept the UN arms embargo in place.Abrams said the returned sanctions include “a ban on Iran engaging in enrichment and reprocessing-related activities, the prohibition on ballistic missile testing and development, and sanctions on the transfer of nuclear and missile-related technologies to Iran.”U.S. officials warn that an Iran free from restrictions would lead to further regional destabilization, intensified conflicts and a regional arms race.Iranian armed forces members march in a military parade in Tehran, Sept. 22, 2018.The U.S. tried but failed on August 14 to extend an expiring arms embargo against Iran through a resolution at the United Nations Security Council.The embargo against the sale or transfer to or from Iran of conventional weapons is set to expire on October 18, under the 2015 nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).With the extension blocked, Washington saw triggering a snapback of U.N. sanctions under Security Council Resolution 2231, which implemented the Iran nuclear agreement, as the only path for restoring the arms embargo.As the U.S. prepares to snap back sanctions against Iran this weekend, E3 nations are largely seen as likely to ignore them. Some experts said there would be a limited impact on European economies, unless the U.S. punishes those nations with secondary sanctions.“The immediate U.S. goal in trying to re-impose sanctions is to prevent the end of the U.N. arms embargo in mid-October. But even if the Europeans recognize the U.N. embargo ends next month, British and EU companies are not going to start selling tanks to Tehran. The U.S. expects Chinese and firms to look for arms deals, and they will probably sanction those companies bilaterally. But that doesn’t bother the Europeans very much,” said Richard Gowan, U.N. director of International Crisis Group (ICG).“Overall, the U.S. has realized that this is not a useful fight to pursue,” Gowan told VOA on Wednesday. “Equally, E3 diplomats say that they would prefer to avoid a big public row over snapback too, to limit the harm to relations with Washington.”Under the JCPOA concluded on July 14, 2015, the five permanent U.N. Security Council members, plus Germany, agreed with Iran to gradually lift international sanctions in return for limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities, to prevent it from making a nuclear bomb. It also opened Iran’s markets back up to many foreign investors.The United States withdrew from the deal in May 2018, re-imposing unilateral sanctions on Iran. In response, Tehran resumed some of its nuclear activities, and in July 2019, it breached the deal by exceeding limits on both uranium enrichment and stockpile levels. Iran denies that its nuclear activities are for military purposes. 
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Belarusian opposition leader and human rights advocate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has expressed regret that President Alexander Lukashenko met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as a leading human rights organization accused Belarusian security forces of unlawfully arresting thousands of people and torturing hundreds of others. The two authoritarian leaders met Monday at a Black Sea resort in Sochi, when Putin granted the Belarusian government a $1.5 billion loan during a period of unrest in Belarus. The meeting was their first since mass protests erupted in Belarus after Lukashenko was reelected to a sixth term in an election widely viewed as rigged.   FILE – Opposition supporters take part in a rally against police brutality following protests to reject the presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 13, 2020.Tsikhanouskaya, Lukashenko’s election opponent who has left Belarus, said she and other opposition leaders do not consider Lukashenko the legitimate president and that his meeting with Putin is further evidence of the need for change “after new fair elections when the new president will be in power.” Putin recognizes Lukashenko as the legitimate leader of Belarus, despite the ongoing mass protests. Detentions, tortureEarlier this week, Human Rights Watch accused Belarusian security forces of detaining and torturing people in the days after Lukashenko’s reelection. HRW said its findings were based on interviews with 27 former detainees, most of whom were arrested between Aug. 8 and 12, 14 people with knowledge of the arrests, and an examination of 67 videos and written accounts from former detainees and their relatives. FILE – People detained during recent rallies of opposition supporters, who accuse Alexander Lukashenko of falsifying the polls in the presidential election, show their marks from beatings as they leave the Okrestina prison, in Minsk, Aug. 14, 2020.The detainees said they were subject to beatings, electric shocks and other forms of torture, resulting in injuries such as broken bones, electrical burns, mild traumatic brain injuries, kidney damage and cracked teeth. At least one detainee was allegedly raped. Mass arrests resumed in the first week of September. The Interior Ministry reported that 600 people were apprehended Sept. 6 alone. The Ministry said another 774 people were arrested in Minsk and other Belarusian cities for holding unsanctioned demonstrations Sunday. Belarusian authorities also have targeted foreign journalists and local reporters working for foreign and local independent media organizations. HRW said dozens of the journalists have had their media credentials revoked, or have been expelled or harassed.  A journalist in Hrodna said he was arrested despite showing authorities his media credentials. He suffered two broken wrists at the hands of an officer with a Russian special police unit. Exiled Belarus Opposition Leader Pleads for ‘Help Now’ Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya urged international pressure, including sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko and his government following a disputed election Response from Lukashenko Opposition parties, the United States and the European Union allege the election was rigged.  Lukashenko denies the voting was fraudulent and blamed the unrest on meddling by western countries. Russian news agencies quoted him this week saying he has nothing to discuss with the opposition, and that he would be open to constitutional reforms and a potential new presidential election. During his meeting with Lukashenko, Putin endorsed the possibility of Belarus amending its constitution to lay the groundwork for new elections. VOA’s Ukrainian Service contributed to this report.  
 
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Doctors and local politicians in Turkey are voicing concerns that the government is downplaying the scale of the resurgent coronavirus outbreak. The latest official figures suggest there are around 1,700 new infections and around 60 deaths every day across the country – but doctors say the numbers don’t add up. As Henry Ridgwell reports, opposition politicians accuse the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of a cover-up.
Camera: Memet Aksakal and Henry Ridgwell   Produced by: Marcus Harton  
 
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The U.S. government announced sanctions Wednesday on two Russian nationals for their role in the theft of at least $16.8 million worth of cryptocurrency.In the phishing scheme, which was conducted in 2017 and 2018, Danil Potekhin and Dmitrii Karasavidi allegedly created web sites that looked like legitimate currency exchange sites. Victims would enter their information, which was then used to access real accounts.The two, who were identified by the Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security, then allegedly laundered the stolen cryptocurrencies through multiple virtual currency exchanges using fake profiles.“The individuals who administered this scheme defrauded American citizens, businesses and others by deceiving them and stealing virtual currency from their accounts,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement. “The Treasury Department will continue to use our authorities to target cybercriminals and remains committed to the safe and secure use of emerging technologies in the financial sector.”According to the statement, the government seized millions of dollars in virtual currency and U.S. dollars in an account owned by Karasavidi.
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U.N. investigators alleged Wednesday that the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has committed crimes against humanity that include murders, torture and other atrocities.
 
Independent investigators commissioned by the Human Rights Council, the U.N.’s top human rights body, said in a report that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Maduro and his defense and interior ministers were aware of crimes committed by government security forces and intelligence agencies.
 
In attempts to silence the opposition, the report said, they committed crimes that include extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and torture. The report also said senior Venezuelan officials had control over the security forces and intelligence agencies, making those officials responsible.
 
Maduro’s socialist government did not immediately respond to the allegations in the report, which are based on 3,000 cases and more than 270 interviews with victims, witnesses, former officials, confidential documents and attorneys.
 
“Far from being isolated acts, these crimes were coordinated and committed pursuant to state policies, with the knowledge or direct support of commanding officers and senior government officials,” panel chair Marta Valinas said in a statement.
 
The report is likely to result in increased global scrutiny on the Maduro administration, which is governing a country torn by hyperinflation, a violent government crackdown and a migration of millions of citizens who have fled to nearby countries to escape the chaos that has persisted since he took office in 2013.
 
Maduro’s government has faced mounting pressure from the United States and dozens of other countries that recognize politician Juan Guaido as the legitimate president.
 
Maduro has said this is part of a plan to overthrow him so the U.S. can exploit Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
 
The U.N. fact-finding mission, established by the Human Rights Council to investigate alleged crimes since 2014, was not given access to Venezuela. The authors of the report said the Maduro government did not respond to inquiries.
 
Article 7 of the U.N. treaty that established the International Criminal Court defines a crime against humanity as an act that is part of a “widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.”  
 
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In a wide-ranging speech, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Wednesday presented her vision for a new European Union emerging from the coronavirus crisis, on-going Brexit negotiations, and conflicts over equality.Speaking to members of the European Parliament in Brussels in her state of the EU address, von der Leyen said the bloc must get better at responding to events unfolding around the world.Once able to boast of a “soft power” that helped transform communist neighbors into market economies, the EU increasingly finds itself unable to agree because of the need to secure unanimity among member states.She said, “Why are even simple statements on EU values delayed, watered down or held hostage for other motives? When member states say Europe is too slow, I say be courageous and finally move to qualified majority voting at least on human rights and sanction implementation.”On the subject of on-going Brexit negotiations, Von der Leyen lashed out at a new Internal Market Bill put forth by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that could violate portions of the withdrawal agreement signed in January. She said of the agreement, “It cannot be unilaterally changed, disregarded or dis-applied. This is a matter of law and trust and good faith.”She said time is running out for a Brexit trade agreement before the end of the year deadline. The Reuters news service reported Tuesday Britain had quietly offered concessions on some of the other issues blocking the agreement, leaving some officials hoping a deal is still possible.The EU Commission president also condemned recent policies in Poland to restrict the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people that are being promoted by the nationalist government there. Von der Leyen said there was no place in the bloc for such polices.She said “I will not rest when it comes to building a union of equality, a union where you can be who you are and love who you want without fear and recrimination because being yourself is not your ideology. It is your identity and no one can ever take it away. So I want to be crystal clear: LGBTQI-free zones are humanity-free zones. And they have no place in our union.”On the subject of climate change, Von der Leyen announced a new commission plan to cut the European Union’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% from 1990 levels by 2030, up from an existing target of 40%. 
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U.N. officials say they are erecting temporary shelters at lightning speed to accommodate thousands of refugees and migrants left homeless by the fire that destroyed the Moria Reception Center on the Greek Island of Lesbos last week.Asylum seekers are sleeping in makeshift shelters or out in the open, in fields, groves and parking lots.The U.N. agencies say they are working at top speed and expect to have enough emergency shelters set up soon to protect the more than 12,000 refugees and migrants who were forced to flee their flaming camp.The U.N. refugee agency’s representative in Greece, Philippe Leclerc, said his agency is providing hundreds of tents and distributing basic relief, including blankets, sleeping bags, mats and other items to cover people’s essential needs.“We have also provided chemical toilets and hand washing stations and are ready to provide additional water, hygiene and sanitation support that may be required. To prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 asylum seekers are undergoing rapid COVID-19 tests,” he said.Leclerc said 20 people have tested positive and now are quarantined in a special isolation area. He said the Hellenic Army and non-governmental organizations are providing food and water to the asylum seekers.The U.N. children’s fund reports 3,800 children are among those affected by the fire at the Moria Reception center. It says it is caring for more than 400 unaccompanied minors. UNICEF notes there are enough emergency shelters to accommodate the children and their families, only 800 individuals have agreed to stay there.Refugees and migrants gather water next to destroyed shelters following a fire at the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece, Sept. 9, 2020.UNICEF representative in Greece, Luciano Calestini, said the circulation of false information and rumors is discouraging the refugees and migrants from moving to the new site.“The rumors pertain to the camp becoming another place of lockdown with very little access to leave. So, potential residents are expressing a fear that once they enter it will be another situation of being in a protracted displacement and dislocation,” he said.U.N. agencies are calling for long-term solutions to this untenable situation. The European Union has announced it will release its new Pact on Migration and Asylum next week.Agencies say they are looking for concrete action and hope the pact will translate into better protection for refugees and ensure a more manageable and fairer common European asylum system. 
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The United Nations General Assembly in New York City is one of the biggest international gatherings of the year and requires massive security to keep the dignitaries safe. But this year, the world’s leaders are not attending the gathering because of the coronavirus pandemic, and instead are holding discussions virtually – so the challenges are different. Aaron Fedor in New York has details. 
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Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has confirmed reports of his improved health following a near fatal poisoning in Siberia last month — posting to social media from his hospital room in Germany while his team insisted he plans to return home to Russia once fully recovered. 
“Hi, this is Navalny. I miss you all,” he wrote in a comment accompanying an Instagram photograph of him surrounded by his wife and two children. View this post on InstagramПривет, это Навальный. Скучаю по вам 😍. Я все ещё почти ничего не умею, но вот вчера смог целый день дышать сам. Вообще сам. Никакой посторонней помощи, даже простейший вентиль в горле не использовал. Очень понравилось. Удивительный, недооценённый многими процесс. РекомендуюA post shared by Алексей Навальный (@navalny) on Sep 15, 2020 at 2:38am PDT“I can still hardly do anything, but yesterday I could breathe all day on my own. Actually on my own,” said Navalny — his first words after three weeks in a coma.  
 
“A surprising process underestimated by many,” he quipped.  “I recommend it.”  
 
The post had over a million likes and counting within several hours — and it fueled inquiries about Navalny’s possible return to Russian politics.  Within hours, his press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, dismissed journalists’ suggestions Navalny intended to remain in exile out of his concerns for his safety.    “I’ll confirm again to everyone: no other options were ever considered,” Yarmysh tweeted.Все утро мне пишут журналисты и спрашивают, правда ли, что Алексей планирует вернуться в Россию. Я понимаю причину вопроса, но тем не менее мне странно, что кто-то мог думать иначе. Ещё раз подтверждаю всем: никаких других вариантов никогда не рассматривалось https://t.co/sSq5Bb4ufr— Кира Ярмыш (@Kira_Yarmysh) September 15, 2020When asked for reaction on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov demurred.  
 
“Any citizen of the Russian Federation is free to leave Russia and return to Russia,” said Peskov.  
 
“If a citizen of the Russian Federation recovers his health, then of course everyone will be happy about that.”   A sudden sickness  A leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Navalny fell violently ill while flying home during a campaign trip from Siberia to Moscow on August 20.   
 
An emergency landing and subsequent treatment by Russian doctors in the city of Omsk offered few clues as to what had happened.  
 
The Omsk doctors insisted they could find no traces of poison.  
 
They also delayed requests by Navalny’s family to evacuate for him treatment elsewhere — a move supporters interpreted as an attempt to hide any lingering evidence of what had felled the politician.  Upon his subsequent evacuation to a clinic in Berlin, German toxicologists said they discovered Novichok — a Soviet-era military grade toxin suspected in previous Russian-linked attacks in the United Kingdom — in Navalny’s blood and urine.Russia Denies Role in Latest Britain Poisoning

        Russia is denying any role in the poisoning of a British couple who British authorities insist are the latest victims of Novichok — allegedly a Russian-made military-grade nerve agent first implicated in an assassination attempt on a former Russian spy and his daughter on British soil last March.The initial attack left former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, hospitalized in serious condition for several weeks before their ultimate recovery. 

Anti-corruption work Navalny has long been a problematic figure for the Kremlin — detailing government corruption and excess on his popular YouTube channel. 
 
The channel’s mix of investigative journalism and caustic humor has resonated with younger Russians in particular. 
 
It has also landed Navalny with a long list of powerful enemies in government and business circles. 
 
Navalny has also made no secret of his political ambitions. He tried to run a campaign for president in 2018 that ultimately was undone by a lingering criminal conviction. His supporters — and the European Court of Human Rights — agreed that the charges were levied to keep him out of the race. Investigations denied  
 
Navalny’s associates argue the nature of Novichok — a banned military grade substance — means the attack could only have been carried out on Putin’s orders. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other Western leaders have demanded answers from the Kremlin and warned of “an appropriate, joint reaction” should answers not be forthcoming.  
 
But the Russian government has dismissed the German demands, arguing Berlin had yet to provide proof or share evidence of its findings.  
 
Indeed, Kremlin officials have openly floated conspiracy theories that Germany may have staged the attack in a false-flag operation to initiate another round of Western sanctions or undermine key Russian-German trade deals.     
 
On Tuesday, Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, insisted Navalny left Russia with no poison in his system — and that the country had long ago destroyed its Novichok reserves under existing international chemical weapons agreements. 
 
“Therefore, we have many questions for the German side,” added Naryshkin. Similarly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Germany to stop “politicizing” the Navalny case during a phone conversation with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Tuesday. The Kremlin has yet to approve an investigation into what felled the opposition leader — arguing it thus far sees no evidence of criminality behind whatever ailed “the Berlin patient.”    
 
Government officials rarely pronounce Navalny’s name in public.   
 
The Russian argument was undercut by separate toxicology reports issued by Sweden and French laboratories on Monday.   
 
Both findings separately supported the German conclusions about the use of Novochik. 
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Europe has called on China to take down trade barriers and rebalance the economic relationship, following a virtual summit held Monday between EU leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping. EU officials also raised human rights issues including the crackdown on protests in Hong Kong – but Beijing is rejecting any interference in its affairs. Henry Ridgwell has more from London.
Camera: Henry Ridgwell   Produced by: Rod James 
 
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Scientists at a Russian university have announced the discovery of a remarkably well-preserved ice age cave bear, with much of its soft tissue including its nose, flesh and teeth intact.In a statement, scientists from North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) in Yakutsk say reindeer herders on Great Lyakhovsky island in the New Siberian Islands archipelago discovered the carcass in the melting permafrost. NEFU is considered the premier center for research into woolly mammoths and other prehistoric, ice age species.Scientists at the research center have hailed the find as ground-breaking. Previously, scientists had only the bone of cave bears to study. The species, or subspecies, lived in Eurasia in the Middle and Late Pleistocene period and became extinct about 15,000 years ago.Preliminary analysis suggests this specimen to be between 22,000 and 39,500 years old, but it will be carbon dated to confirm that.Recent years have seen major discoveries of mammoths, woolly rhinos, ice age foal, several puppies and cave lion cubs as the permafrost inside the Arctic Circle melts. 
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Europe has called on China to take down trade barriers and rebalance their economic relationship, following a virtual summit held Monday among EU leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping.  European leaders also raised human rights concerns, but Beijing has rejected what it calls interference in its affairs.  Monday’s videoconference was a substantially downsized version of the original plan to hold a face-to-face summit among all 27 European Union heads of state and the Chinese president in the German city of Leipzig.  A resurgent coronavirus pandemic in Europe forced the change of plan. The virtual meeting was attended by Xi, along with European Council President Charles Michel; European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the council of the EU. European Council President Charles Michel arrives for an online press conference at the European Council building in Brussels, Sept. 14, 2020.Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, Michel reiterated demands for China to open its markets. “Europe needs to be a player, not a playing field,” he told reporters. “Today’s meeting represents another step forward in forging a more balanced relationship with China.”  European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends an online press conference at the European Council building in Brussels, Sept. 14, 2020.Von der Leyen was more direct. “We expect that the market access barriers in China will be removed,” she said. Europe has voiced frustration at its lack of access to Chinese markets and at having to compete with state-backed industries. Brussels sees the current trade relationship with China as deeply unfair, but is not seeking a trade war, said analyst Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London. “The reality is that the EU would want to be strengthening its economic relationship with China with some adjustments,” he told VOA.  “I think COVID-19 has changed a lot of things in terms of the relationship with China. Many of these countries have found China less than an entirely reliable trading partner or supplier of essential goods like medical supplies. So, some of that will change. But they really don’t want to have an economic decoupling with China,” Tsang said. Human rightsThe trade talks were overshadowed by growing criticism in Europe of China’s human rights record. The EU has requested that Beijing end its clampdown on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong following the imposition earlier this year of a so-called “national security law,” which critics say effectively ends the right to protest and freedom of speech. The law will allow the Communist Party to markedly expand its power in and tighten control of the Asian financial hub. Europe has voiced growing alarm over China’s treatment of the Muslim Uighur population in Xinjiang province, where human rights groups say millions of people are being detained amid reports of forced labor and sterilizations. China denies the accusations.  Speaking at a press conference after the summit, Merkel said Europe would continue to raise these issues with Beijing. “The human rights dialogue will continue. (Chinese President Xi Jinping) offered this,” Merkel said. “So, there are already points of contact for further joint action. But that does not mean that there is agreement on these issues.”  European Council President Charles Michel, top right, speaks with China’s President Xi Jinping, top left, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, bottom right, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a virtual summit, Sept. 14, 2020.The United States has also repeatedly raised concerns over China’s human rights record. Speaking on France Inter radio Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asked Europe to take a tougher stance.  “We’ve always said that when human rights are under risk — whether it’s the inability to practice one’s religion and one’s faith, or the simple ability to speak and exercise the basic rights of conscience — that the United States has a role in making clear that that’s unacceptable,” Pompeo said.  “It’s what we’ve done with respect to what’s taking place in western China. It’s what we’ve done in other parts of the world. It’s what we hope and we expect of other nations around the world. And we think the Europeans understand this risk in the same way that we do. We hope that they’ll take actions that reflect the seriousness with which these human rights violations need to be viewed.” Reaction from XiChina’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported that Xi rejected any interference in Chinese affairs during Monday’s virtual summit, particularly on human rights.  The Brussels-Beijing relationship is strained, analyst Tsang said.  “Governments generally, and the EU as a whole, also take a more robust stance, reflecting the shift in public opinion towards China.” The EU is China’s top trading partner, and analysts say Beijing wants to avoid further disputes amid its trade war with the United States. Brussels said it will continue to bring up security and human rights concerns, even as it seeks more trade. 
 
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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny published a photo of himself in a Berlin hospital bed Tuesday as he recovers from a nerve agent poisoning last month in Siberia.Navalny, surrounded by his family as he sat up in bed, said he was pleased to be able to breathe independently.“I miss you all,” Navalny wrote in the post on Instagram. “I can still hardly do anything, but yesterday I could breath all day on my own.”It is the first publicly shared image of Navalny since he was airlifted to Berlin’s Charite Hospital two days after becoming sick during a flight in Russia on August 20.Navalny’s spokeswoman confirmed shortly after the photo’s posting that the 44-year-old planned to return to Russia.Germany, France and Sweden have concluded that Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent, a Soviet-era agent that Britain said was used on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England two years ago.Western countries have requested an explanation from Moscow, which says the accusations that it was involved in the poisoning are unfounded. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Moscow needs Germany to provide information about the case to clear up what happened.Peskov said Russian authorities cannot understand why French and Swedish laboratories were allowed to test Navalny’s medical samples and Russia was not.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the West of using Navalny’s poisoning as an excuse to impose new sanctions on Moscow.Navalny’s illness has further strained ties between Russia and the West. Relations deteriorated to a post-Cold War low after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and Skripal and his daughter were poisoned.German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been pressured to punish Moscow by postponing work on a nearly completed natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. 
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Five years after a wave of asylum seekers flooded into Europe, the region is facing another reckoning on migration, with familiar bickering and lack of consensus on the way forward.The numbers of arrivals are far smaller today than they were in 2015. The iconic images now driving migration back into the headlines are no longer of drowned toddlers, but rather of the thousands of migrants left homeless by fires at a squalid Greek island camp.Whether the European Union can finally come together on migration will be tested when its executive arm next Wednesday unveils a long-awaited migration and asylum pact that will need member state approval to become reality.”It’s going to be a very tough negotiation,” predicted former EU official Stefan Lehne, now an analyst at the Brussels-based Carnegie Europe policy institute.“Everybody agrees the current situation is a mess,” Lehne said of the patchwork of migration initiatives, but, he added, there remains little agreement on how to fix it.Migrants flee from the Moria refugee camp during a second fire, on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, Sept. 9, 2020.Cannot afford to fail?The European Commission pact is expected to emphasize initiatives toward countries of origin and transit to keep asylum seekers from leaving, beef up border patrols and push for more burden sharing of migrants already within EU borders.The fire that devastated Europe’s largest migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos last week has lent urgency in coming up with solutions.Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotaki, who has called for more EU support in building a new structure — and in handling the migrant influx in general — called the blaze and its aftermath a “warning bell” for the 27-member bloc.“Europe cannot afford a second failure on the migration issue,” he said.European Council President Charles Michel, left, makes statements after his meeting with Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at Maximos Mansion in Athens, Sept. 15, 2020.So far, however, less than half of EU member states, along with Switzerland, have offered to take in a few hundred accompanied minors from the now-devastated Moria camp. Several hundred more have been voluntarily moved to tent camps on the island, leaving most of Moria’s more than 12,000 initial inhabitants still sleeping outside.These and other recent migrant numbers dwarf those of 2015, when roughly one million asylum seekers reached European shores. While Germany opened its doors, welcoming the majority of them, others, particularly eastern European countries, slammed them shut.By contrast, about 48,000 migrants have reached Europe so far this year, according to the International Organization for Migration, most via the Mediterranean — with another 268 dead or missing en route.Dozens of African migrants wait to be assisted by a team of aid workers of the Spanish NGO Open Arms, after spending more than 20 hours at sea, in the Central Mediterranean sea, Sept. 8, 2020.“We no longer have the arrival numbers we had in 2015-2016—which means in principle we should be able to talk about migration management and the challenges in a more rational, pragmatic way,” said Marie De Somer, head of migration and diversity at the European Policy Center, a Brussels research institution.But she added, “The divisions remain strong.”Toughening stancesFive years after the migrant crisis, states like Greece, on the frontlines of the influx, are still demanding greater burden-sharing from other bloc members, with some reluctant to do more.“If we give in to the pressure, we risk making the same mistakes we made in 2015. We risk giving people false hopes,” said Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who has declined to take in minors from the Moria camp.Still, Carnegie’s Lehne believes member states are more in harmony today on one aspect.“In 2015, you really had big divisions between one group of countries that was very much for opening the borders and allowing refugees to come—and another group very much opposed,” he said.Lehne believes that has changed.“Everybody in Europe now agrees it has to be a managed process. It cannot simply be opening borders and letting everybody in,” he said.Turkish special forces team patrol on a speed boat along the Maritsa river at the Turkish-Greek border near Karpuzlu village, in Edirne region, Turkey, March 11, 2020.In recent years, the EU has beefed up its border patrols and paid transit countries like Turkey, Libya and Morocco to keep migrants on their shores. In Niger, France opened a migrant processing center to screen asylum-seeking claims thousands of kilometers from European shores.Far-right parties have also surged in recent years, partly riding on their anti-immigration platforms, helping to shape Europe’s tougher migration stance.For their part, rights groups have accused front line countries of foot-dragging or failing to allow vessels carrying migrants to land—and Greece of escorting migrant boats back to Turkish waters.The coronavirus pandemic, activists say, has also offered new pretexts to turn back ships carrying migrants over health concerns.Michael Newman, a migration policy advisor for humanitarian group Medecins Sans Frontieres, said he was “appalled” at the EU’s bureaucratic discussions on migration “when disasters are unfolding in front of our eyes.”“I think we come short of words to describe both the situation lived by migrants, and authorities’ response,” he added.By contrast, EU lawmaker Nicolas Bay, of France’s far-right National Rally party, said that Brussels bureaucrats risked rolling out an overly soft migration policy, offering incentives for more migration.“By piling laxity on top of laxity, they’re adding to the (migration) drama,” he told French radio.Some of these arguments are playing out among EU member states. Analyst De Somer, of the European Policy Center, noted a broader skepticism of reaching member state agreement on a migrant deal.De Somer, however, suggested the Lesbos fire might help act as a catalyst.“One thing it did do,” De Somer said, “is to showcase to the wider public the urgency and importance of coming up with a European solution.” 
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Venezuela is charging a recently arrested U.S. citizen with terrorism and weapons trafficking. Chief prosecutor Tarek Saab said Matthew John Heath, who was arrested in Venezuela last week, was plotting attacks against Venezuela’s oil industry and electricity system.  Saab said Heath was traveling in a vehicle and carrying a “coin” allegedly linking him to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, but he did not provide any details.  Saab also said three Venezuelans citizens detained with Heath, including one member of the military, are charged with treason in connection to the alleged plot. The U.S. State Department had no immediate comment after the charges were announced Monday. Heath’s plight was first revealed last week by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who said at the time, an unnamed U.S. citizen was arrested while allegedly spying on the country’s Amuay and Cardon refineries in western Falcon state and carrying “specialized weapons” and large amounts of cash. 
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Authorities in Panama are investigating the discovery of a mass grave in the vicinity of another grave site found in January where investigators believe a religious sect buried victims of violent exorcisms.  Forensic experts say they are still trying to determine how many remains are located at the newly found site in the indigenous Ngabe Bugle region, several hundred kilometers north of the capital, Panama City.Police and employees of the Public Ministry investigate near a mass grave with seven bodies at the indigenous region of Ngabe Bugle, Panama, Jan. 15, 2020, in this screen grab taken from Panamanian channel TVN Noticias.In January, authorities found a mass grave with at least seven victims, including a pregnant woman. The grave was linked to the “God’s New Light” church.  Police raided the church, arresting 10 people and rescuing 15 others, who told investigators the sect leader claimed he was fulfilling God’s orders to “remove the demon” from the victims in a violent exorcism.Authorities have, so far, not linked the latest grave site to the “God’s New Light” church. 
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