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The U.N. refugee agency is calling for long-term solutions for thousands of migrants on Greek islands who were rendered homeless by fires that devastated the Moria asylum center on the island of Lesbos.An estimated 11,500 asylum seekers are living in the open since a series of fires, which started five days ago, ravaged Greece’s Moria asylum center.No casualties have been reported, but the blaze destroyed everything, leaving everyone without shelter.The U.N. refugee agency reports thousands of vulnerable people, including very young children, pregnant women, elderly people and people with disabilities, are sleeping in the streets, fields, and beaches.UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo says her agency is helping Greek authorities protect and assist asylum seekers affected by the fires. She says the UNHCR is providing emergency aid to ensure people do not sleep in the open.“The coronavirus pandemic also is adding to an already desperate situation. People tested positive [for] COVID need to be provided with special care, isolation and treatment arrangements and medical support. The UNHCR has advised all those previously staying in the center to restrict their movements until temporary solutions are found,” Mantoo said.Greek soldiers set up UNHCR tents to accommodate asylum seekers left without shelter after fires at a refugee camp on Lesbos Island, Greece, Sept. 11, 2020.The Moria center, Europe’s largest refugee camp, was meant to house 3,000 people. At times, the camp population in this squalid, tented settlement swelled to more than 20,000. This is a consequence of increasing numbers of people fleeing war, persecution and extreme poverty, and the refusal of other European countries to share the burden by accepting asylum seekers.Mantoo said the situation must change because it is no longer tenable. Long-term solutions must be found for refugees and asylum seekers stuck in overcrowded, unsafe conditions on the Greek islands.“UNHCR has long been highlighting the need to address the situation and conditions for asylum seekers on the Aegean Islands. The incidents at Moria demonstrate the long-standing need to take action to improve living conditions, alleviate overcrowding, improve security, infrastructure and access to services in all five reception centers on the Greek islands,” Mantoo said.The U.N. refugee agency is appealing to European countries to do more to protect asylum seekers. It urges them to quickly relocate unaccompanied children and other particularly vulnerable people from their precarious situation on the islands.
The agency welcomes recent announcements by some European countries to take in unaccompanied minors and families with children from Greece. 
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One of Germany’s most experienced diplomats had to wait three months this year before Warsaw would approve his appointment as Berlin’s ambassador to Poland.The official acceptance of an envoy by a host government is normally a formality, especially between allies — as well as an event used to highlight neighborliness and friendship. But Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven, one of Germany’s most experienced diplomats, hasn’t received a warm welcome in the Polish capital.A begrudging Polish government on September 1 finally issued its acceptance of his selection. However, it could not resist referring once again to the cause of the delayed approval, noting that Poles remain sensitive to the “great unhealed wound” of World War II.The ostensible objection to the selection of Freytag von Loringhoven, NATO’s first chief of intelligence and deputy head of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, as envoy was that his father was a German army officer who served in Adolf Hitler’s entourage in the final weeks of the war.“What is strange for us is that Berlin didn’t realize their pick could cause resentment,” said a senior Polish official.FILE – Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven, NATO’s first chief of intelligence and deputy head of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, speaks at the World Summit on Counter-Terrorism, in Herzliya, Israel, Sept. 4, 2018.For Germans, the objection has been bewildering. Freytag von Loringhoven’s father was a career officer, and he wasn’t charged subsequently with any war crimes. He went on to become a general in Germany’s postwar armed forces.The spat over Freytag von Loringhoven’s appointment is just one of a series of recent ugly disputes partly rooted in the past that has brought German-Polish relations to an alarming low. Poland’s ruling nationalist conservative Law and Justice Party, known as PiS, has accused Germany of seeking to recover territory it lost to Poland after 1945, and it has repeatedly declared that Germany should compensate Poland for the damage wrought on the country during World War II, a conflict triggered by Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland.On the day Poland formally accepted Germany’s new ambassador, which happened to be the 81st anniversary of the beginning of the war, a Polish parliamentary commission announced it had finalized the amount of reparations it wants Germany to pay. The number has not been formally disclosed, but Warsaw in the past has estimated wartime damages at around a trillion euros.FILE – Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven poses in front of a painting of his ancestors at his home in Munich, Germany, April 29, 2005. Freytag von Loringhoven, who was part of Adolf Hitler’s entourage in the final weeks of World War II, died in 2007.Poland’s prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki says Poland lost 6 million people in the war and “many more than any other country that has received vast reparations … The Germans razed to the ground over a thousand Polish villages,” he said in a recent interview.Germany has repeatedly denied it owes Poland money after Warsaw waived all war reparations in 1953.For Germans, the reappearance of wartime history is frustrating. They believe they have accepted moral responsibility for the war and have done much to atone for the past as well as to shape a new peaceful Germany that has helped build the European Union.They see the PiS as seeking to whip up anti-German feeling solely for domestic political reasons — it plays well to the party’s core supporters in the poorer eastern half the country and may have helped the PiS-aligned Andrzej Duda win reelection in a tight presidential race in July.The main Polish opposition parties agree.Not only Poland
However, it isn’t just relations between Berlin and Warsaw that are being affected by war memories, or what Germans see as their weaponization.Beneath the surface, war-tied resentments are bubbling in other parts of Europe, too, with possible important ramifications for the consolidation of the EU, a bloc founded partly to ensure European nations would cease squabbling and to avert the chance of any future conflict emerging among them.Pollsters have noted a rise in anti-German sentiment in the southern European states of Italy and Spain, and in Greece, where the country’s post-2008 debt crisis and Germany’s handling of it still grates. In Hungary and elsewhere in Central Europe, as well as Italy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is blamed for encouraging the 2015 migrant influx into Europe with her open-door policy for asylum-seekers.FILE – Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a meeting of her Christian Union parties faction at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 8, 2020.Some observers predict resentment toward Germany will only grow in the coming months for two main reasons.The first is that poorer European nations will become ever more frustrated with a widening gap between their economic performance and Germany’s, which is likely to weather the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic better.“The EU is supposed to be a convergence machine, spreading prosperity rather than embedding differences between rich and poor countries,” The Economist magazine noted recently. “It has not worked out that way,” it added.That uneven economic recovery risks fueling populist nationalist anger in the countries that lose out, a possible development Merkel has noted is a risk. In June she backed an EU economic recovery fund, arguing it would serve as “a political instrument against populists and radicals.”The second is that Germany is increasingly becoming the undisputed dominant political force on the European stage, thanks to its economic clout and partly as a result of Britain’s exit from the EU, say analysts. Many of the key posts in Brussels are held by Germans, including the presidency of the European Commission, and no major proposal can be adopted by the EU without Berlin’s approval.
 
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday that a “U.S. spy” was captured while spying on the largest refining complex in the country, which is going through a severe fuel shortage crisis.In a live broadcast on state television, Maduro said the man was arrested on Thursday in the northwest state of Falcon where he was spying on the Amuay and Cardon oil refineries.They captured “a Marine, who was serving as a Marine on CIA bases in Iraq,” Maduro said. “He was captured with specialized weapons, he was captured with large amounts of cash, large amounts of dollars and other items.”Maduro did not give further details, but said the detainee was giving a statement in custody.Neither the U.S. State Department nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.Amuay and Cardon make up the Paraguana Refining Center, which has a nominal processing capacity of 971,000 barrels per day. Both have experienced multiple outages in recent years that the opposition blames on mismanagement and lack of maintenance.Word of the alleged U.S. spy came after a Venezuelan court last month sentenced two former U.S. Green Berets to 20 years in prison for their role in a failed incursion in May.Separately during Friday’s broadcast, Maduro said that in recent days security forces had also foiled a plot to cause an explosion at another oil refinery, El Palito in Carabobo state.He did not elaborate.Hit by U.S. sanctions that have exacerbated acute fuel shortages, the government on Friday announced a new fuel distribution initiative and said it was planning new refining projects, without providing further details. 
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Monferrier Dorval’s killing at home was a gut punch to his colleagues, students and admirers. The head of the Port-au-Prince bar association was shot dead August 28 by unknown gunmen who stormed his home in the same upscale neighborhood where Haiti’s president lives. Two other prominent Haitians were killed that same day in crimes that underscore the country’s struggle to improve security.  “Attacks on civil society are attacks on Haiti’s democracy and we look to Haitian authorities to investigate this heinous crime and bring justice to this case,” tweeted Michael G. Kozak, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, condemning the crime. We stand with FILE – Men carry a picture depicting lawyer and President of the Bar of Lawyers of Port-au-Prince Monferrier Dorval, who was killed on Aug. 28, during a march to demand justice, in the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 3, 2020.Dorval’s last hours In Haiti’s legal circles, Dorval had a reputation for being a brilliant constitutional expert and devoted professor who spent 27 years teaching law at the state university. He was described by friends, colleagues and his students as a principled, humble, independent thinker. Hours before he was killed, Dorval, 64, had a phone interview with popular Port-au-Prince radio station Magik 9, where he spoke out about the constant crises plaguing the country, the lack of leadership and the “inapplicable” constitution, which he said must be gutted. The law professor criticized the country’s lawmakers, opposition leaders, prime minister and even the president himself for the state of Haiti’s government. “The government is dysfunctional and that is why we are suffering. We must change the government and we must do this via the constitution,” Dorval said. His outside-the-box plan, laid out during the show, included seeking experts in history, geography and demographics and the nation’s top legal minds to draft a new constitution. He suggested examining how South Africa had successfully approached the issue, as well as some Latin American countries.  “The objective should be to reorganize Haiti so we can regain [the national] pride that we lost long ago,” he said. “We are constantly in crisis, relying on foreigners to tell us what to do. This country is not truly governed.”  Monferrier Dorval, head of the Port-au-Prince bar association and a constitutional law expert. (Photo: VOA Creole)Circumstances of Dorval’s killing Chief prosecutor and investigator Gabriel Ducarmel told VOA he arrived at the scene of the killing on the night of the crime with a judge, police and doctors. They found that Dorval had been shot three times in the chest. One bullet went through the body; two remained lodged in the chest. He said crime scene investigators recovered bullet casings. Describing the location of the crime as “very dark,” Ducarmel said there were no surveillance cameras at the home. The lawyer’s wallet and cellphone were missing, he said. The phone has since been recovered and is being examined, Ducarmel told VOA, describing the find as “hugely important.” “This is a revolting crime that offends the national consciousness,” Ducarmel told VOA. “We will do everything in our power to bring his killer to justice. Whoever is involved, be it near or far, we will find him.” Minister of Justice and National Security Rockefeller Vincent echoed that sentiment as he sought to reassure the nation about his commitment to investigate the crime and find those responsible. “No acts of terror will go unpunished,” he said at an August 31 press conference. “I consider the murder of the head of the bar association to be an act of terrorism.” Moise expressed full support for the investigation and asked law enforcement to expedite the process. “The PNH has all the support of the government to investigate [the crime] and put the criminals who assassinated one of the beneficent spirits of the nation behind bars,” Moise said in the prepared statement. “The police and judicial services must quickly move forward to arrest and bring to justice those responsible.” Moise announced three days of national mourning a day after the killing, ordering the nation’s flags to be flown at half staff and asking radio stations to play solemn music. L’assassinat de Me Dorval attriste toute la République. Un homme de grande culture. Une grande perte pour le pays. J’adresse aux membres de l’Ordre des avocats de P-au-P et à ses proches, mes plus sincères condoléances. Ce crime, comme tant d’autres, ne restera pas impuni.— Président Jovenel Moïse (@moisejovenel) Lawyers chant slogans as they march to demand justice after the killing, on August 28, of the lawyer and President of the Bar of Lawyers of Port-au-Prince Monferrier Dorval.Legal community protests On September 3, judges, lawyers and law students took to the streets of the capital and several other cities to decry the killing and demand justice. Law students have since staged two other protests in Port-au-Prince, which police dispersed with tear gas. On September 10, one protester was shot and killed.  “It’s time to say no to the rampant crime. It’s time to start caring about this violence,” one of the professor’s students told VOA. “Today it’s him. Tomorrow it could be us.” Reynold Georges, Moise’s former legal adviser, told VOA he has discussed security risks the judiciary faces with the president but was told there were no plans to relocate to a more secure location.“It’s obvious this act was planned, concocted,” Georges said. “If we accept this crime, we cease being a nation.” Gervais Charles, the former head of the Port-au-Prince Bar Association, told VOA the September 3 march was only the beginning, and that the judiciary has more events planned. “Our motto is ‘Justice for Dorval,’ equal to the [South African] motto of ‘Free Nelson Mandela,’ ” he said. “Nothing will move forward in terms of the judicial system until that happens.”
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French Prime Minister Jean Castex said Friday the government was not planning a new, nationwide lockdown in response to a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases this week. In a televised statement in Paris, following a meeting with the Defense Council, Castex acknowledged the COVID-19 situation has gotten worse, and he urged citizens to practice social distancing and wear masks. In addition, he said, the government would take steps to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.  He said these measures would include fast-tracked testing for priority cases and giving local authorities the power to make some businesses reduce opening hours. But the French prime minister said they would not “put on hold our social, cultural and economic lives, the education of our children, and our capability to live normally.” The French government is under renewed pressure to curb the spread of the disease as health authorities Thursday reported 9,843 new confirmed coronavirus cases, a new record, topping the previous record of 8,975, set six days earlier. French health experts have called on the government to act to avoid a second wave of the virus. The head of the government’s scientific council, Jean-François Delfraissy, said Wednesday the government needs to make “a number of difficult decisions in the next 10 days.”  In March, France imposed a strict lockdown. That succeeded in preventing the hospital system from being overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, but it also dealt a severe blow to the economy. That lockdown was relaxed in early May. 
 
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For Rabbi Jonathan Rietti, this year would have marked his 37th consecutive visit to Uman, Ukraine, for Rosh Hashana — the Jewish new year which falls this year on September 18-20.
 
The town, located 200 km south of Kyiv, is the burial place of the 18th-century tzaddik, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who founded the Breslov sect of Hasidism. Up to 50,000 Hasidic Jews visit his gravestone each year.
 
But this year’s pilgrimage has been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, which led Ukrainian authorities to estimate that the site would get no more than 3,000 visitors, most of whom have already arrived.
 
Rabbi Rietti, a son of a famous British actor Robert Rietti, who lives in Monsey, New York, said in an interview that visiting tzaddik Nachman’s grave on Rosh Hashana is the central tenet of Breslov Hasidism.
 
“We’ve been made the promise that for anyone who comes to his grave on Rosh Hashana, his soul in the other world, would pray for that person for a blessed new year.”
 
The Ukraine government announced a month-long restriction on new visitors on Aug. 27, citing a “growing number of new COVID-19 cases in Ukraine.”
 
“All large crowds of people have a significant increase in incidence [of the disease]. The mass celebration of Rosh Hashanah will lead to a colossal collapse,” President Volodymyr Zelensky told representatives of Jewish religious organizations in Ukraine at a meeting on Aug. 25, according to his official website.
 
Zelensky, who is Jewish himself, explained that his government decided to close the borders, in part, because of a request from authorities in Israel, home to most of the pilgrims. He pointed out that Ukraine had significantly restricted mass gatherings by its own citizens in April, when Christians celebrate Easter.
 
Rabbi Rietti told VOA he still hopes to make the trip. He says that he and other pilgrims are willing to follow any safety requirements.
 
“In my particular case, I’ve had corona, and I’ve got a lot of antibodies. But I’m happy to follow any restrictions or requirements on arrival, whether it would be quarantine in Uman or wearing a mask, social distancing, whether it has to do with making sure they’ve taken my temperature.”
 
He added that if any would-be pilgrim is experiencing symptoms of the disease, “I don’t think they should be going anywhere, not just Uman.”
 
Americans hoping for an exception to the travel ban have received a boost from 26 Republican members of the U.S. Congress, who signed onto a letter asking Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to urge Ukraine to let the Americans in.
 
“The ruling to close the Ukrainian border has at least a dozen published exceptions, including allowing students, diplomats, and cultural figures to arrive by invitation,” said the Sept. 4 letter, whose signers include House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy.
 
Calling for Ukraine to make a “limited religious exception” for up to 2,000 people, the letter said the Hasidic visitors would respect Ukraine’s safety protocol, including “remaining separate from the local population.”
 
Rep. Jeff Duncan, the author of the letter, told VOA that “as a former Member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee with a longstanding history of working on religious freedom issues, protecting religious practices is extremely important to me.”
 
“With COVID-19 turning our world upside-down this year, we have all had to make sacrifices,” he said in an email exchange. “However, even during times of uncertainty, governments should continue to allow maximum flexibility for religious expression and practice.”
 
Nachman Mostofsky, an executive director of “Chovevei Zion,” one of five Jewish organizations that supported the letter, explained that while he is not Breslov Hasid himself, he felt compelled to act.FILE – Orthodox Jewish pilgrims pray at the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov during the celebration of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, the Jewish New Year, in Uman, Ukraine, Sept. 21, 2017.”They have waited the entire year for this; they saved every penny they can put aside to go. … These people believe that going there will actually help them from COVID. They believe that this is what gives them a sweet and happy new year and a healthy new year for them.”
Mostofsky said he found most support from the evangelicals in Congress. “I believe that Muslims should be able to go to Mecca and Medina. And I believe that Mormons outside of the United States should be able to come and visit Utah. This is not necessarily a Jewish issue. This is a religious rights issue. … The freedom of religious expression is sacrosanct to Americans.”
 
The chief rabbi of Kyiv, Yaakov Bleich, who splits his time between New York state and Ukraine, was also present at the meeting with the Ukrainian president on August 25.
 
“I told [Zelensky] that this trip for Breslov Hasidim is very very important. It is so important that even in Soviet times, people risked everything to make that trip.
 
“Rather than try to stop it, let’s try and make it work, which means using the existing framework, legal framework, which exists for tourists: You must wear masks; no more than a certain number of people can gather in a one place. And if they can work that out, let them come.”
 
At the same time, he explained that several factors influenced the Ukrainian government’s decision to restrict admissions to the country.
 
First, officials were expecting a second wave of COVID-19 that prompted neighboring Hungary to close their borders. Secondly, he said, Israel asked Ukraine to limit the number of visitors on Rosh Hashana “because Israel is afraid of what will be when they come back.”
 
Additionally, he believes that Ukrainian authorities were influenced by a spike in COVID-19 cases following an Easter pilgrimage in Eastern Ukraine, even though many churches around the country conducted their Easter services online.
 
Within the Orthodox Jewish community itself, not everybody believes an Uman pilgrimage is necessary this year.
 
Alex Kay, an Orthodox Jew who lives in Monsey, New York, said he has visited Uman several times, but this year the father of three is happy to stay home.  
“We haven’t prayed together in months. In Torah, the most important thing is to take care of your life. (…) Realistically, if you see Uman on Rosh Hashana, there are just so many people doing everything together: People eating together, praying together, playing together.”
 
Kay explained that while he doesn’t follow the Breslov Hasidic branch of Judaism, he has Breslov Hasidic friends, and he understands how central this pilgrimage is to their faith. But still, he said, not this year.
 
“If there is a big influx of Jews to Ukraine on this Rosh Hashana, anything that happens in Ukraine from now on, any person who gets sick, anything that happens is going to be because of the Jews. That’s just how the world is.”
 
Even if there is a way to accommodate a small group of pilgrims, asking the Ukrainian government to do so doesn’t sit well with Kay, who immigrated to the U.S. from Kyiv, Ukraine, more than 20 years ago.
 
“I love Ukraine. When people ask me where I’m from, I still say Ukraine. It’s my country, and it is very dear to me. It is very hard for me to see that the country is put under pressure. … I feel more unfortunate about it, because the Jews are involved in putting the pressure on them.”
 
The U.S. State Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine declined VOA`s requests to comment for this story.
 
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Britain said it will launch a new COVID-19 app across England and Wales later this month which will allow people to use QR codes when they enter venues, boosting the country’s contact tracing to help keep the spread of the virus in check.
 
With cases rising, Health Minister Matt Hancock said the new app would help NHS (National Health Service) Test and Trace, the scheme used in England to contact those who have been in contact with a COVID-infected person, to reach more people.
 
“The launch of the app later this month across England and Wales is a defining moment and will aid our ability to contain the virus at a critical time,” he said in a statement on Friday.
 
Previous attempts to develop more sophisticated tracing apps  have struggled to expand beyond the pilot stage, and the  government has faced criticism after missing launch deadlines.
 
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has banned groups of more than six people from meeting from Monday as the government tries to keep the spread of the virus under control amid a sharp rise in cases in recent days.
 
The UK recorded 2,919 new daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, and cases have started to track much higher than the levels of around 1,000 per day recorded in August.
 
The new app will be officially launched on September 24, and available for pubs, restaurants, cinemas, hairdressers and other venues and their customers to download.
 
People visiting a venue will check-in by scanning a QR code displayed at the entrance on their mobile phone which can in turn be used by NHS Test and Trace to contact them to tell them to self-isolate in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak.
 
The use of QR codes will replace the current system whereby people have to manually fill in their contact details when they enter a venue. 
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Protests aimed at police brutality in Colombia’s capital, Bogota, erupted into violence for a second night Thursday, with at least nine deaths reported over the past two days.Protesters set fire to city buses and some threw stones and bottles at police, who fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades toward the demonstrators protesting this week’s death of a 46-year-old law student.Police were caught on video repeatedly shocking the student, Javier Ordonez, with a stun gun as he begged them to stop. He died at the hospital.Police say Ordonez was detained after he was spotted drinking alcohol in the street with friends, in violation of coronavirus distancing rules.Since the protests started Wednesday, Bogota officials say police stations and vehicles have been vandalized and hundreds of civilians and police officers injured in addition to the nine deaths.Two officers suspected of involvement in the alleged abuse of Ordonez have been suspended pending an investigation. 
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The same Russian military intelligence outfit that hacked the Democrats in 2016 has renewed vigorous U.S. election-related targeting, trying to breach computers at more than 200 organizations including political campaigns and their consultants, Microsoft said Thursday.The intrusion attempts reflect a stepped-up effort to infiltrate the U.S. political establishment, the company said.”What we’ve seen is consistent with previous attack patterns that not only target candidates and campaign staffers but also those who they consult on key issues,” Tom Burt, a Microsoft vice president, said in a blog post. U.K. and European political groups were also probed, he added.Most of the hacking attempts by Russian, Chinese and Iranian agents were halted by Microsoft security software and the targets notified, he said. The company would not comment on who may have been successfully hacked or the impact.Although U.S. intelligence officials said last month that the Russians favor President Donald Trump and the Chinese prefer his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, Microsoft noted Thursday that Chinese state-backed hackers have targeted “high profile individuals associated with the election,” including people associated with the Biden campaign.China’s hackers largely gather intelligence for economic and political advantage, while Russia tends to weaponize stolen data to destabilize other governments.Microsoft did not assess which foreign adversary poses the greater threat to the integrity of the November presidential election. The consensus among cybersecurity experts is that Russian interference is the gravest. Senior Trump administration officials have disputed that, although without offering any evidence.”This is the actor from 2016, potentially conducting business as usual,” said John Hultquist, director of intelligence analysis at the cybersecurity firm FireEye. “We believe that Russian military intelligence continues to pose the greatest threat to the democratic process.”Fancy BearThe Microsoft post shows that Russian military intelligence continues to pursue election-related targets undeterred by U.S indictments, sanctions and other countermeasures, Hultquist said. It interfered in the 2016 campaign seeking to benefit the Trump campaign by hacking the Democratic National Committee and emails of John Podesta, the campaign manager for Hillary Clinton, and dumping embarrassing material online, congressional and FBI investigators have found.The same GRU military intelligence unit, known as Fancy Bear, that Microsoft identifies as being behind the current election-related activity also broke into voter registration databases in at least three states in 2016, though there is no evidence it tried to interfere with voting.Microsoft, which has visibility into these efforts because its software is both ubiquitous and highly rated for security, did not address whether U.S. officials who manage elections or operate voting systems have been targeted by state-backed hackers this year. U.S. intelligence officials say they have so far seen no evidence of infiltrations.Thomas Rid, a Johns Hopkins University geopolitics expert, said he was disappointed by Microsoft’s refusal to differentiate threat level by state actor.”They’re lumping in actors that operate in a very different fashion, probably to make this sound more bipartisan,” he said. “I just don’t understand why.”Microsoft said in the past year it has observed attempts by Fancy Bear to break into the accounts of people directly and indirectly affiliated with the U.S. election, including consultants serving Republican and Democratic campaigns and national and state party organizations — more than 200 groups in all.Also targeted was the center-right European People’s Party, the largest grouping in the European Parliament. A party spokesperson said the hacking attempts were unsuccessful. The German Marshall Fund of the United States, a think tank, was another target. A spokesperson said there was no evidence of intrusion.Hurricane PandaMicrosoft did not say whether Russian hackers had attempted to break into the Biden campaign but did say that Chinese hackers from the state-backed group known as Hurricane Panda “appears to have indirectly and unsuccessfully” targeted the Biden campaign through non-campaign email accounts belonging to people affiliated with it.The Biden campaign did not confirm the attempt, although it said in a statement that it was aware of the Microsoft report.Iranian state-backed hackers unsuccessfully tried to log into accounts of Trump campaign and administration officials between May and June of this year, the blog said.”We are a large target, so it is not surprising to see malicious activity directed at the campaign or our staff,” Trump campaign deputy press secretary Thea McDonald said. She declined further comment.Tim Murtaugh, the campaign’s communications director, said: “President Trump will beat Joe Biden fair and square and we don’t need or want any foreign interference.”In June, Google disclosed that Hurricane Panda had targeted Trump campaign staffers while Iranian hackers tried to breach accounts of Biden campaign workers. Such phishing attempts typically involve forged emails with links designed to harvest passwords or infect devices with malware.Although both Attorney General William Barr and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien have said China represents the greatest threat to U.S. elections, Microsoft’s only mention of a Trump administration official targeted by Chinese hackers is “at least one prominent individual formerly associated” with the administration.Disinformation campaignsGraham Brookie, director of digital forensic research at The Atlantic Council, disputes the claim made by Barr and O’Brien that China poses the greater threat to this year’s election. Brookie’s lab is at the forefront of unearthing and publicizing Russian disinformation campaigns.Brookie confirmed that his employer was among targets of Hurricane Panda but said there was no evidence the hacking attempts, which he said were unsuccessful, had anything to do with the 2020 election.”We have every indication that this was an instance of cyber-espionage, information gathering, as opposed to electoral interference,” he said.By contrast, Brookie said, “it’s pretty evident that the Russian attempts (Microsoft disclosed) were focused on electoral processes and groups working on that.”Microsoft noted a shift toward greater automation in Fancy Bear methods for trying to steal people’s log-in credentials, which previously largely relied on phishing. In recent months, the group has employed so-called brute-force attacks that barrage an account login with short rapid bursts of potential passwords. It has also used a different method that makes only intermittent login attempts to avoid detection.Fancy Bear has also stepped up its use of the Tor anonymizing service to hide its hacking, Microsoft said.  
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Leaders of seven southern European countries on Thursday urged Turkey to end “unilateral and illegal activities” in the eastern Mediterranean and resume dialogue to ease tensions in the region.Heads of state and government of France, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Italy, Spain and Portugal gathered in Corsica amid fears of open conflict, as Turkey seeks to expand its energy resources and influence in the region. In their final statement, leaders reaffirmed their “full support and solidarity with Cyprus and Greece,” who they say are facing Turkey’s “confrontational actions.”  “We regret that Turkey has not responded to the repeated calls by the European Union to end its unilateral and illegal activities,” they said.  FILE – The Turkish drilling vessel Yavuz is seen being escorted by a Turkish navy frigate in the eastern Mediterranean off Cyprus, Aug. 6, 2019.The leaders warned that “in absence of progress in engaging Turkey into a dialogue, and unless it ends its unilateral activities, the EU is ready to develop a list of further restrictive measures” at a summit later this month. They also called on resuming German mediation in the dispute. Russia also offered this week to mediate. Greece and Turkey have deployed naval and air force units to assert competing claims over energy exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkish survey vessels and drill ships continue to prospect for gas in waters where Greece and Cyprus claim exclusive economic rights. France is carrying out military patrols in the region in a show of support for Greece and Cyprus, and the EU is mulling new sanctions against Turkey. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, “If Turkey really wants a frank dialogue with Greece and Cyprus with the European Union, it must demonstrate this in practice — to immediately stop unilateral actions, to make convincing indications that it respects international law.”  French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis ahead of the plenary session of the MED7 Mediterranean countries summit, in Porticcio, Corsica, France, Sept. 10, 2020.Turkey needs to “restrain its aggressive rhetoric” and “return to the table for exploratory talks with Greece,” he added.  Turkish leaders have lashed out at France and the EU for siding with Greece and Cyprus in the dispute. Earlier Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced what he called “unacceptable” provocations from Turkey.  “Turkey is no longer a partner in this region,” he told reporters ahead of the summit. “We Europeans need to be clear and firm” with the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about its “inadmissible behavior,” he said. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry characterized Macron’s statement as “arrogant” and in line with “old colonial reflexes.” It accused the French president of stoking tensions and putting the “greater interests” of Europe at risk.  “It is not for Macron to determine the maritime jurisdiction of any country in the Mediterranean” or anywhere else, the Turkish Ministry said in a statement. Speaking Thursday to EU lawmakers, Greek European Affairs Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis appealed for support from European partners, saying the tensions over energy rights “constitute by themselves a grave threat to our common security architecture.” He said that Turkey is looking beyond Greece and is “a major destabilizing factor in the wider area,” citing Turkish government actions in Libya, Syria and beyond. He said that Greece would not provoke conflict but wouldn’t just sit back waiting for European help to arrive.  “At the end of the day, we will defend ourselves, even alone,” he said. Separately from the diplomatic discussions, Turkish and Greek military officials met Thursday at NATO headquarters, as part of ongoing meetings aimed at reducing the risk of armed conflict. Greece and Turkey both are NATO members. The leaders also planned to discuss EU and NATO operations in the Mediterranean and their relation to Turkey during a dinner on Thursday evening. The seven countries are aiming for a united southern European front before a full EU summit later this month focused on the bloc’s strategy toward Turkey. FILE – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attends a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, Aug. 25, 2020.In a testy exchange with EU lawmakers, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged the Europeans to play the role of an “honest broker” in the maritime border and energy dispute, rather than take sides with member countries Greece and Cyprus. “By acting as an international court, defending one side’s claims over the issue, the EU has become a part of the problem, unfortunately,” Cavusoglu said by video link. “We are ready for dialogue without any preconditions. If Greece insists on preconditions, we will also insist on our preconditions,” Cavusoglu said.  He added, “We are not for tension. We are not for escalation.” European Council President Charles Michel will travel to Greece, Cyprus and Malta next week for talks with leaders.
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China has announced that its head of state will hold a FILE – German foreign minister Heiko Maas adjusts his glasses during a news conference in Athens, Aug. 25, 2020.“The Himalayas and the Malacca Strait may seem a long way away,” FILE – A man looks at a newsstand with a copy of the day’s Global Times displayed on a basket in Beijing, China, April 5, 2016.Kefferpuetz described the Global Times article as an attempt to accentuate differences among Germany, the EU and the U.S. while “belittl[ing] the EU.” “By doing so, it misses the bigger picture,” he said. “Several years back, China was expanding its influence in Europe — buying up companies, establishing a variety of political platforms and engaging with EU member states bilaterally and regionally. Now, the tables are turning,” Kefferpuetz said. Europe, he said, is increasingly wary of Chinese influence, and “relationships are souring.” Meanwhile, European powers are moving closer to China’s immediate neighborhood, Kefferpuetz said in a written interview with VOA. He cited Britain’s plan to send an aircraft carrier to patrol in the South China Sea next year, Germany’s just-announced Indo-Pacific strategy and a similar strategy that France published last year. “By claiming that the EU is weak, and the transatlantic alliance is divided, the Global Times article just highlights how nervous China must be, given Europe’s push into the Indo-Pacific alongside the United States,” Kefferpuetz said. Robert Spalding, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, has served in senior defense and diplomacy positions in the U.S. government, including senior director for strategy at the National Security Council under U.S. President Donald Trump. He told VOA in a phone interview on Thursday that the Global Times article’s emphasis on the relative importance of the United States in the region contradicted previous Chinese assertions. “They’ve been saying we’re not important, that the United States has ceased being relevant, hence the need for China to take over,” he said with a laugh. He added that Beijing appeared to have lost its footing in managing the increasingly complex global relationships.  “They don’t know what they’re doing,” Spalding said.
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Dual British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, jailed for five years in Iran on spying charges, will face a new trial in the coming days. Her sentence was to expire next April but she has been hit with new charges that have not been made public. The charity worker and her young daughter were detained at Tehran’s airport in 2016 after visiting her family. She strongly denies all the charges against her. As Henry Ridgwell reports, her family believes she is being used as a bargaining chip in a dispute over payment for tanks purchased before the Iranian Revolution but never delivered.
 
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The World Surf League (WSL) announced Thursday that Brazilian big wave rider Maya Gabeira beat her own world record this year when she rode a 22.4-meter wave at Portugal’s Nazare, the same place she set the record in 2018.Gabeira broke her previous mark by nearly 2 meters during a big wave competition at Nazarre on February 11. Not only was the wave a new women’s record, but the WSL says it was the biggest wave ridden by a man or woman in 2020.FILE – Surfer Maya Gabeira arrives for the 27th anniversary Sports Spectacular at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, May 20, 2012.The record is particularly sweet for Gabeira, who broke her ankle and nearly drowned in the same spot in 2013.The WSL says its big wave awards are presented months after the rides because video and other data from all potential award-winning wave rides need to be submitted and analyzed by an independent team of scientific experts. The team included members from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Southern California’s Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, among others.The experts examine video and still photos, consider the angles that video or pictures were taken from, and environmental conditions, including tides, sunlight and wave formation.In recent years, Nazare has become a global focal point for big wave surfers. Scientists say big waves form there usually in the winter months, between October and March, when the harsher weather generates larger swells.When those swells come from the west to northwest, they interact with a deep, underwater canyon off the coast of Nazare that, scientists say, can magnify wave height by three to five times.The largest documented wave ever surfed was at Nazare, a 24.38-meter wave in 2017.
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Seven civilians are dead in the Colombian capital Bogota and nearby satellite city Soacha after protests against police brutality turned violent overnight. The demonstrations were sparked by video that went viral of a Colombian man being repeatedly shocked with a stun-gun by police before dying shortly thereafter.  
 
Nearly 100 police officers and 55 civilians were injured during the protests, some 70 protesters were arrested, mostly in the capital city.
 
Demonstrators were on the streets Wednesday night to protest the recent death of 46-year-old lawyer Javier Ordonez. Footage captured by Ordonez’s friend shows officers holding down the father of two and subjecting him to excessive electric shocks as he pleads, “Please, no more.”  
 
Law enforcement officials say that in the early hours of Wednesday morning, officers found Ordonez drinking alcohol in the streets with friends, a violation of the area’s social distancing rules enacted to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.
 
Friends and family allege that Ordonez suffered further abuse after he was taken to the local police station after being apprehended by officers. He later died in the hospital, sparking anger among civilians over the use of excessive force by law enforcement.  
 
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside of the police station where Ordonez was held, some using trash cans, rocks, and sticks to batter the building’s windows. According to the national police, two police stations were set on fire and three others were attacked in different areas of Bogota. A number of public vehicles were damaged.  
 
The two officers involved have been suspended from their duties pending an investigation, the government said. An autopsy is pending.
 
Authorities said they have begun investigating the deaths of the seven civilian participants in the protests — five in Bogota and two in Soacha. Reports confirm that the dead include a 17-year-old boy.
 
Leftist Bogota mayor Claudia Lopez took to social media to advocate for justice and social reform. Lopez also expressed criticism against the Colombian police force, saying the violence “isn’t about bad apples.”
 
She urged the protesters to refrain from further violence.  
 
Critics have questioned her level of authority over law enforcement.  
 
President Ivan Duque denounced the officers’ abuse of authority, but he called for Colombians not to “stigmatize” the police.  
 
In an effort to contain the protests, the Defense Ministry said Bogota’s police will be reinforced with 1,600 more officers—more than half of whom will come from other regions—and 300 soldiers.
 
Police involvement in civilian deaths is infrequent in Colombia but not unheard of. Anti-police sentiment is still sometimes expressed around the nation about the death of Colombian student Dilan Cruz, who was killed in November during mass anti-government demonstrations after being struck by a police projectile. Transgender Colombians regularly accuse police of violence against the community.
 
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The London hearing on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition from Britain to the United States was suspended Thursday because one of the lawyers may have been exposed to the coronavirus.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ordered the proceedings adjourned until Monday while a lawyer representing the U.S. government is tested for the virus.
Assange’s attorney, Edward Fitzgerald, said it had to be assumed that the lawyer had the virus and “COVID will be in the courtroom.”
“Court staff themselves would be at risk, and you yourself may well be at risk,” he told the judge.
“Finally, our client Mr. Assange, who is vulnerable you are aware, would be at risk in court.”
The judge asked for submissions from both legal teams about what to do if the lawyer is confirmed to have COVID-19.
Assange is fighting American prosecutors’ attempt to get the British government to send him to the U.S. to stand trial on spying charges.
U.S. prosecutors have indicted the 49-year-old Australian on 18 espionage and computer misuse charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of secret U.S. military documents a decade ago. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.
Assange’s lawyers say the prosecution is a politically motivated abuse of power that will stifle press freedom and put journalists around the world at risk.
The hearing started Monday at London’s Old Bailey criminal court and is scheduled to last about a month.
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Brexit negotiations hit a new low this week as the European Union’s top leaders in Brussels reacted angrily to British prime minister Boris Johnson’s plans to override a key part of Britain’s withdrawal agreement from the EU, which was struck only last year.They say any repudiation of the divorce deal will ruin the chances of a free-trade agreement being struck between Britain and the EU and will poison relations between London and Brussels for years to come.The British government’s plan included in draft legislation published Wednesday, to in effect repudiate parts of the exit deal, prompted European leaders to complain of an “unprecedented breach of trust” and to warn the move could wreck current fraught negotiations dealing with Britain’s future trade relationship with the bloc.Johnson Says UK Will Quit Brexit Talks if No Deal by Oct 15Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britain is prepared to walk away and insists a no-deal exit would be a ‘good outcome for the UK’ Under the new legislation if passed, ministers would be able to pick and choose what customs checks, if any, are applied to goods transported between Northern Ireland and the British mainland. They would be able to ignore EU limitations on state aid to businesses in the British-ruled province. Northern Ireland was treated differently under the withdrawal agreement so as to avoid the necessity of a so-called hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, which many feel could undermine peace on the island of Ireland.EU warningsMicheál Martin, the Irish prime minister, said midweek the negotiations on Britain’s future relationship would go nowhere until Johnson’s ruling Conservative government withdraws the bill. Irish lawmakers were stunned when they heard news of the proposed legislation. “Any negotiation process can only proceed on the basis of trust,” he warned. British PM Defends New Brexit Bill to Protect UK’s ‘Internal Market’ EU officials demand emergency meeting with London over proposed legislation The EU’s top leaders chorused identical warnings. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said it showed the government’s “intentions to breach the withdrawal agreement.” In the wake of the publication of the controversial legislation, EU officials considered instructing Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, to walk out of talks that are under way in London to hammer out an agreement on Britain’s future trade relationship with the 27-member bloc. In the event they decided to keep the talks going, but the discussions are reportedly tense and tough with mounting expectations that a no-deal result will be the eventual outcome.British officials say the proposed legislation would clarify ambiguity in the withdrawal agreement, but on Tuesday Britain’s Northern Ireland minister admitted that technically the legislation would break international law. That view is shared generally by Britain’s legal establishment. In a letter to The Times newspaper, Edward Garnier, a former Conservative solicitor-general, said, the “admission by the Northern Ireland secretary that the government is prepared to break the law is shocking.”Future trade relationsThe move has provoked a sharp political response from senior U.S. lawmakers, mainly Democrats, who are largely fretful that the move might undermine peace on the island of Ireland. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, warned a free trade deal between Britain and America would be jeopardized, saying a British violation would mean “there will be absolutely no chance of a U.S.-UK trade agreement passing the Congress.”Johnson defended the move in the House of Commons, saying, “We need a legal safety net to protect our country against extreme or irrational interpretations of the protocol which could lead to a border down the Irish Sea in a way.” His officials have suggested the withdrawal agreement, which Johnson concluded with the EU but was mainly the work of his predecessor, Theresa May, was negotiated at pace and maybe signed in haste. Theater, Brinkmanship Mark Brexit TalksNegotiators on both sides of English Channel say this week is ‘moment of reckoning’ for post-Brexit trade deal between European Union and BritainJohnson’s defense is not, so far, assuaging some senior Conservative lawmakers, including a few on the Brexit wing of the party. “Put simply, I will not vote to break the law,” said the pro-Brexit Roger Gale . “Why would any country want to strike a deal with Britain knowing that any agreement might not be worth the paper that it was written on?” he added.Johnson’s Conservative predecessors in Downing Street have also expressed disapproval of the government’s plan to repudiate the withdrawal agreement using domestic legislation to do so. “For generations our signature on any treaty or agreement has been sacrosanct,” said John Major. “Over the last century as our military strength has dwindled, our word has retained its power. If we lose our reputation for honoring the promises we make, we will have lost something beyond price.”Theresa May also condemned the mover and her aides say she is ready to lead a Conservative rebellion in the British parliament to defeat the proposed legislation. Some lawmakers and commentators are suggesting that the legislation may be part of a Johnson strategy to shock the EU into agreeing a free-trade deal more favorable to Britain than it would otherwise secure. A Trump approach?They point to comments Johnson made in 2018, before he was prime minister, in which he reportedly said Britain should be negotiating with the EU like U.S. President Donald Trump would. “I am increasingly admiring of Donald Trump,” Johnson is reported to have told a private gathering of Conservative lawmakers. “Imagine Trump doing Brexit,” Johnson continued. “There’d be all sorts of breakdowns, all sorts of chaos. Everyone would think he’d gone mad. But actually you might get somewhere. It’s a very, very good thought.”Conversely, some uncompromising Brexiters in Johnson’s ruling Conservative party, who want a clean break from the EU, fear Johnson might be game-playing  and laying the ground to offer significant concessions to the EU to get a last-minute free-trade deal that he will advertise as a great win for Britain. They worry he’s engaging in a piece of theater. Brexiters point to what happened last year when he repudiated the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by his predecessor in Downing Street, Theresa May, only to sign an almost identical divorce deal after he was elected her successor. 
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The third phase of human trials for a vaccine against the coronavirus is underway in Peru.On Wednesday, Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm began testing about two dozen people, with the long-term goal of vaccinating a total of 6,000 people between the ages of 18 and 75.The participants will receive one of three injections, consisting of a virus strain from Wuhan, China; a Beijing strain; or a saline water placebo.The Associated Press reports the Peruvian government is in talks with six laboratories to determine the best course to buy the vaccine.Peru is one of the hardest-hit countries by the coronavirus in Latin America, with more than 696,000 COVID-19 infections and more than 30,000 deaths.So far, Sinopharm has given 30,000 doses to volunteers and another 10,000 participants have received double doses in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Additional testing is planned for Morocco and Argentina.
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The Mexican National Guard said Wednesday that two people had died in a gunfight with military police near a protest at a dam that diverts water away from an area hit by drought to the United States.Mexican officials said farmers were upset over water from La Boquilla dam being transferred across the border of Chihuahua state and initially threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at officers Tuesday night.The National Guard said officers were shot at when suspects allegedly possessing tear gas and gun ammunition were being arrested and taken in for processing.The statement said the National Guard “repelled the aggression” and one person died at the scene and a second person died at the hospital.During a news conference Wednesday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called in the incident “regrettable,” saying he would ask the Attorney General’s Office to investigate the case.Farmer Irma Gandara said the water transfer will create a significant economic problem for the state.Gandara said they are not going to allow the biggest dam in Chihuahua, Boquilla, to be emptied.The protest comes amid plans to divert more to the United States due to a “water debt” Mexico has accrued under a 1944 water-sharing treaty between the countries.Lopez Obrador also said, he is asking the attorney general to investigate his country’s responsibilities but warned that Mexico could face sanctions if it did not divert water, after accumulating a deficit by receiving more water than it has provided.
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European Council President Charles Michel has called for faster consideration of sanctions against officials in Belarus after the detention of multiple opposition leaders.“Political persecution in Belarus including detentions on political grounds and forced exile must stop,” Michel tweeted Wednesday. “Belarusian authorities must free political prisoners and let citizens exercise their right to freedom of speech and assembly.”Unidentified Belarusian authorities on Wednesday detained one of the two remaining free leaders of an opposition council amid continuing protests against longtime President Alexander Lukashenko following a disputed election.Attorney Maxim Znak was taken out of the Coordination Council’s office by unknown people wearing ski masks, according to his associate, Gleb German.Znak’s detention came as Lukashenko tried to end protests against him. German said Znak managed to text “masks” before his phone was seized.Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature, is now the only council executive to remain free in Belarus, even after unidentified people tried to enter her apartment on Wednesday.Several European Union diplomats and journalists arrived at her apartment in Minsk to prevent her detention. Alexievich told reporters she does not plan to leave Belarus.”What is happening is terror against the people,” Alexievich said. “We have to unite and not give up our intentions. There is a danger we will lose the country.”Thousands of people have taken part in five weeks of protests following the August 9 election in which Lukashenko was declared the winner. 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.Lukashenko’s election opponent, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has left the country.More than 7,000 protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture has been reported. At least four people are reported to have died during the demonstrations.During a meeting in Estonia on Wednesday, the foreign ministers of the Nordic Baltic nations called on Belarusian authorities to end the crackdown and the prosecution of activists.Alexievich was questioned last month by Belarusian investigators, who have launched a criminal investigation into the Coordination Council members who investigators say are undermining national security by demanding a transfer of power.Several council members have been arrested, and others were forcibly expelled from the country.On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States is deeply concerned about the Belarusian government’s attempts to forcibly expel opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova. Pompeo said the United States and other countries are considering bringing sanctions in response to recent events in Belarus.“We commend the courage of Ms. Kolesnikova and of the Belarusian people in peacefully asserting their right to pick their leaders in free and fair elections in the face of unjustified violence and repression by the Belarusian authorities, which included brazen beatings of peaceful marchers in broad daylight and hundreds of detentions (on) September 6, as well as increasing reports of abductions,” Pompeo said in a statement.Pompeo said the potential sanctions would be aimed at promoting “accountability for those involved in human rights abuses and repression in Belarus.”Kolesnikova was detained Monday, along with opposition movement members Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov. They were driven to the border between Belarus and Ukraine on Tuesday where Kolesnikova tore up her passport and was held on the Belarusian side.Rodnenkov and Kravtsov did cross into Ukraine.“She was shouting that she won’t go anywhere,” Rodnenkov said at a news conference in Kyiv. “Sitting in the car, she saw her passport on a front seat and tore it into many small fragments, crumpled them and threw them out of the window. After that, she opened the back door and walked back to the Belarusian border.”A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement expressing his concern about “the repeated use of force against peaceful protesters, as well as reported pressures on opposition civil society activists.”
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Unidentified Belarusian authorities have detained one of the two remaining free leaders of an opposition council amid continuing protests against longtime President Alexander Lukashenko following a disputed election.Attorney Maxim Znak was taken out of the Coordination Council’s office on Wednesday by unknown people wearing ski masks, according to his associate, Gleb German.  Znak’s detention came as Lukashenko tries to end protests against him. German said Znak managed to text “masks” before his phone was seized.The 2015 Nobel literature laureate Svetlana Alexievich speaks to reporters at her apartment in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 9, 2020.Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature, is now the only council executive to remain free in Belarus, even after unidentified people tried to enter her apartment on Wednesday. Several European Union diplomats and journalists arrived at her apartment in Minsk to prevent her detention.Thousands of people have taken part in five weeks of protests following the Aug. 9 election in which Lukashenko was declared the winner. Opposition parties, the United States and the European Union allege the election was rigged.Lukashenko’s opponent, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has since left the country.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 More than 7,000 protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture has been reported. At least four people are reported to have died during the demonstrations.During a meeting in Estonia Wednesday, the foreign ministers of the Nordic Baltic nations called on Belarusian authorities to end the crackdown and the prosecution of activists. Alexievich was questioned last month by Belarusian investigators, who have launched a criminal investigation into the Coordination Council members who investigators say are undermining national security by demanding a transfer of power.Several council members have been arrested, and others were forcibly expelled from the country.US Considering Sanctions Against Belarus After ‘Unjustified Violence and Repression’ Pompeo Says Pompeo says US deeply concerned about “attempted forced expulsion” of opposition activist On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States is deeply concerned about the Belarusian government’s attempts to forcibly expel opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova. Pompeo said the United States and other countries are considering bringing sanctions in response to recent events in Belarus.“We commend the courage of Ms. Kolesnikova and of the Belarusian people in peacefully asserting their right to pick their leaders in free and fair elections in the face of unjustified violence and repression by the Belarusian authorities, which included brazen beatings of peaceful marchers in broad daylight and hundreds of detentions (on) September 6, as well as increasing reports of abductions,” Pompeo said in a statement.Pompeo said the potential sanctions would be aimed at promoting “accountability for those involved in human rights abuses and repression in Belarus.”Kolesnikova was detained Monday, along with opposition movement members Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov. They were driven to the border between Belarus and Ukraine Tuesday where Kolesnikova tore up her passport and was held on the Belarusian side.Rodnenkov and Kravtsov did cross into Ukraine.“She was shouting that she won’t go anywhere,” Rodnenkov said at a news conference in Kyiv. “Sitting in the car, she saw her passport on a front seat and tore it into many small fragments, crumpled them and threw them out of the window. After that, she opened the back door and walked back to the Belarusian border.”A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement expressing his concern about “the repeated use of force against peaceful protesters, as well as reported pressures on opposition civil society activists.”
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An Istanbul court on Wednesday handed multiple prison sentences to five reporters convicted of violating the law on coverage of Turkey’s spy agency but ordered their release pending appeals.Six journalists faced up to 20 years in prison on charges of exposing state secrets and violating the Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) law.The closely watched trial concerned a news report alleging that a Turkish intelligence officer was killed in Libya in February.All six journalists were acquitted of the state secrets charge.But the court sentenced Aydin Keser, Ferhat Celik and Murat Agirel, who work for the pro-Kurdish Yeni Yasam daily, to four years and eight months in jail on the MIT law charges.It sentenced OdaTV editor-in-chief Baris Pehlivan and reporter Hulya Kilinc to three years and nine months on the same charges, while acquitting OdaTV news director Baris Terkoglu.They were all released pending appeals, one of the defense lawyers, Serkan Gunel, told AFP.Pehlivan, Kilinc and Agirel had been in jail since March.”What I have done is only journalism,” Kilinc told the judge earlier in her defense. “I have been a journalist for 20 years. I have no intention to commit a crime.”OdaTV reported in March that the intelligence officer had been quietly buried in his hometown of Manisa in western Turkey.The report also featured photos from the funeral and identified the officer by his first name and the initial of the last name.Turkey, whose government is under fire from rights groups for clamping down on press freedom, is ranked 154th out of 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders press freedom list.
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Amid busy construction crews racing to build an airport in Mexico, scientists are unearthing more and more mammoth skeletons in what has quickly become one of the world’s biggest concentrations of the now-extinct relative of modern elephants.More than 100 mammoth skeletons have been identified spread across nearly 200 excavation sites, along with a mix of other Ice Age mammals, in the area destined to become the Mexican capital’s new commercial airport.Lead archeologist Ruben Manzanilla explained on Tuesday that around 24,000 years ago mammoth herds reached this spot where sprawling grasslands and lakes would have enticed them to reside.”This place was like a paradise,” he told Reuters, noting that as the last glaciers melted a wide range of mammals — including ancient species of camels, horses and buffalo — lived along what would have been an extremely muddy shoreline.”Then over many years the same story repeated itself: The animals ventured too far, got trapped and couldn’t get their legs out of the muck,” said Manzanilla.Ruben Manzanilla Lopez of the National Anthropology Institute shows the skeleton of a mammoth that was discovered in the construction site of Mexico City’s new airport, Sept. 3, 2020.He speculates that most of the mammoths died this way, though he adds that there is some evidence that around 10,000 years ago early humans may have also hunted the 20-ton beasts with flint arrows and spears, or dug rudimentary shallow water pits to snare them.But the sheer amount of bones, including long, curling tusks — technically the animal’s front two teeth — have come as a shock.”We had the idea that we’d find mammoth remains, but not this many,” he said.Once the excavations are finished, Manzanilla said the site, located about 30 miles (50km) north of downtown Mexico City, could rival others in the United States and Siberia as the planet’s biggest deposit of mammoth skeletons.He noted that a museum-style mammoth exhibit is being planned for the airport’s main terminal.The series of inter-connected lakes that once covered the Valley of Mexico were deliberately drained by Spanish colonial masters beginning in the 1600s in an effort to tame annual flooding.Today, the mostly dry landscape is dominated by the working-class neighborhoods and highways that spill out from Mexico City.
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Unidentified Belarusian authorities have detained one of the two remaining free leaders of an opposition council amid continuing protests against longtime President Alexander Lukashenko following a disputed election.Attorney Maxim Znak was taken out of the Coordination Council’s office on Wednesday by unknown people wearing ski masks, according to his associate, Gleb German.  Znak’s detention came as Lukashenko tries to end protests against him. German said Znak managed to text “masks” before his phone was seized.The 2015 Nobel literature laureate Svetlana Alexievich speaks to reporters at her apartment in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 9, 2020.Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature, is now the only council executive to remain free in Belarus, even after unidentified people tried to enter her apartment on Wednesday. Several European Union diplomats and journalists arrived at her apartment in Minsk to prevent her detention.Thousands of people have taken part in five weeks of protests following the Aug. 9 election in which Lukashenko was declared the winner. Opposition parties, the United States and the European Union allege the election was rigged.Lukashenko’s opponent, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has since left the country.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 More than 7,000 protesters have been arrested, and widespread evidence of abuse and torture has been reported. At least four people are reported to have died during the demonstrations.During a meeting in Estonia Wednesday, the foreign ministers of the Nordic Baltic nations called on Belarusian authorities to end the crackdown and the prosecution of activists. Alexievich was questioned last month by Belarusian investigators, who have launched a criminal investigation into the Coordination Council members who investigators say are undermining national security by demanding a transfer of power.Several council members have been arrested, and others were forcibly expelled from the country.US Considering Sanctions Against Belarus After ‘Unjustified Violence and Repression’ Pompeo Says Pompeo says US deeply concerned about “attempted forced expulsion” of opposition activist On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States is deeply concerned about the Belarusian government’s attempts to forcibly expel opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova. Pompeo said the United States and other countries are considering bringing sanctions in response to recent events in Belarus.“We commend the courage of Ms. Kolesnikova and of the Belarusian people in peacefully asserting their right to pick their leaders in free and fair elections in the face of unjustified violence and repression by the Belarusian authorities, which included brazen beatings of peaceful marchers in broad daylight and hundreds of detentions (on) September 6, as well as increasing reports of abductions,” Pompeo said in a statement.Pompeo said the potential sanctions would be aimed at promoting “accountability for those involved in human rights abuses and repression in Belarus.”Kolesnikova was detained Monday, along with opposition movement members Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov. They were driven to the border between Belarus and Ukraine Tuesday where Kolesnikova tore up her passport and was held on the Belarusian side.Rodnenkov and Kravtsov did cross into Ukraine.“She was shouting that she won’t go anywhere,” Rodnenkov said at a news conference in Kyiv. “Sitting in the car, she saw her passport on a front seat and tore it into many small fragments, crumpled them and threw them out of the window. After that, she opened the back door and walked back to the Belarusian border.”A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement expressing his concern about “the repeated use of force against peaceful protesters, as well as reported pressures on opposition civil society activists.”
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Fire destroyed much of Greece’s largest refugee camp early Wednesday, displacing thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers amid a camp-wide outbreak of COVID-19. The Moria Reception and Identification Center on the island of Lesbos was 80% destroyed in the blaze, 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.”There was not just one, but many fires in the camp. Migrants threw stones at firefighters trying to put out the fires. The cause is under investigation,” Constantine Theophilopoulos, fire brigade chief for the northern Aegean, told ERT TV. The fire began in several locations after authorities tried to isolate some migrants who tested positive for COVID-19, Refugees and migrants sleep next to a road following a fire at the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece, Sept. 9, 2020.Some asylum-seekers were trying to reach Mytilini, a nearby town. Mytilini Mayor Stratis Kytelis said some migrants would need to be moved to ships to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but government spokesman Stelios Petsas said camp residents would not be allowed to leave Lesbos due to the pandemic, according to Reuters. European Union Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson announced the EU would fund the immediate transfer of the 400 unaccompanied children, as well as provide accommodations. 2/2 …I have already agreed to finance the immediate transfer and accommodation on the mainland of the remaining 400 unaccompanied children and teenagers. The safety and shelter of all people in Moria is the priority.— Ylva Johansson (@YlvaJohansson) September 9, 2020For refugee advocates, Moria has become a symbol of Europe’s increasingly strict approach to migrants. In 2016, the EU began blocking the flow of travel to Western European countries like Germany. Overcrowding, alongside overall living conditions, worsened at refugee camps in European border countries like Greece. “This fire was expected,” Eva Cossé, who researches Greece for nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch, told The New York Times. “It’s not surprising. It’s a testament to the European Union’s negligence and Greece’s negligence.”Greece’s deputy migration minister, George Koumoutsakos, said about 3,000 migrants and refugees would be temporarily housed in tents as the government struggles to find them alternative shelter, Reuters reported. 
 
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