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The coronavirus pandemic has prevented druids, pagans and party-goers from watching the sun rise at Stonehenge to mark the summer solstice this year.The ancient stone circle in southwestern England usually draws thousands of people to mark the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. But Britain has banned mass gatherings as part of measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.English Heritage, the body that oversees Stonehenge, livestreamed the sunrise instead. It said more than 3.6 million people watched as dawn broke at 4:52 a.m. Sunday (0352GMT, 11:52 p.m. EDT Saturday).Stonehenge, a World Heritage site, is believed to be 4,500 years old. It is known for its alignment with the movements of the sun.Some dedicated druids were determined to watch the sun rise in person, gathering in a field near Stonehenge despite the morning rain. Well-known druid King Arthur Pendragon said it had been “very wet,” but he was undaunted.“You can’t cancel the sunrise,” he told the BBC. “It’s going to happen, and we were there to celebrate it.” 
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Vladimir Putin is considering running for a new term as Russia’s president if voters approve constitutional changes that would enable him to do so, Russian news agencies quoted him as saying in an interview on Sunday.Russia will hold a nationwide vote from June 25 to July 1 on proposed changes to the constitution, including an amendment that would allow Putin to seek two more six-year terms as president when his current mandate ends in 2024.Opponents say the reforms are designed to allow Putin to keep power until 2036 and amount to a constitutional coup. The Kremlin says they are needed to strengthen the role of parliament and improve social policy and public administration.”I do not rule out the possibility of running for office, if this (option) comes up in the constitution. We’ll see,” Putin was quoted as saying in an interview with state TV that was shown in Russia’s far east before airing in western Russia. “I have not decided anything for myself yet.”The changes that Russians will vote on, already approved by parliament and the Constitutional Court, would reset Putin’s presidential term tally to zero. He would not be able to seek a new term under current constitutional limits.The changes are widely expected to be approved in the vote.Putin, who has been in power for two decades and is now 67, suggested the hunt for a candidate to succeed him could become a distraction if he does not run again.”If this doesn’t happen, then in about two years – and I know this from personal experience – the normal rhythm of work of many parts of government will be replaced by a search for possible successors,” Interfax news agency cited him as saying.”We must be working, not looking for successors,” he said. 
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Serbia is holding parliamentary and local elections Sunday expected to consolidate President Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party’s power.The opposition is partially boycotting the vote.”I fulfilled my citizen’s duty and that’s why I came to vote,” said Miroslav Krstic, a resident of Belgrade. “I think that is every citizen’s duty. But what I see is that we are divided.”The elections, initially scheduled for April, were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but lockdown rules have now been completely relaxed and people are optimistic about what lies ahead.”I expect it to be far better, for Serbia to develop more economically,” said Petar Momcilovic, a Belgrade resident. “A lot has been done but I expect much more.”About 6.6 million voters are eligible to cast ballots for the 250 seats of the country’s parliament and for local governing bodies.Vucic’s party appears set for a landslide victory since it is facing a divided opposition.Several main opposition parties are boycotting the vote, claiming lack of free and fair conditions and accusing Vucic of dominating the election campaign on the mainstream media through his control. Vucic has denied the accusations.However, some smaller groups have decided to participate, saying the boycott would only help Vucic’s party. 
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The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says the more than 3.5 million Venezuelans who have left the country in the past five years are officially considered refugees.The UNHCR announcement that coincided with World Refugee Day on Saturday, said the Venezuelans were being added to the total number of refugees worldwide.”Well, this decision comes after a very wide discussion in the organization on how to categorize the Venezuelans that have been displaced abroad,” said Luis Fernando Godinho, UNHCR spokesperson in Brazil. Since last year, he said, the UNHCR has said that these people need international protection and thus should be recognized as refugees.The agency’s classification also includes thousands of people from Central America who crossed into Mexico last year, hoping for a better life in the United States after escaping credible life-threatening situations prompted by criminal organized groups in their own countries.The refugee agency said fleeing violence in the country of origin was sufficient reason for a migrant to be classified as a refugee.Meanwhile, UNHCR has asked host governments to give refugees and asylum seekers the same benefits as their own citizens. 
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce a new “one meter plus” social distancing rule to reopen the United Kingdom, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported late on Saturday.The announcement, to be made on Tuesday, will apply to all venues including offices, schools and pubs, the paper reported, adding that it will take effect from July 4.The move will allow people to remain a meter away from others if they take additional measures to protect themselves, such as wearing a mask, according to the report.Earlier on Saturday, culture minister Oliver Dowden said that Britain’s government will announce in the coming days whether it will reduce its two-meter social distancing rule for England.    
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Three people were killed, and three others were seriously injured in a stabbing incident in the British town of Reading on Saturday.Police said the attack is not being treated as a terrorism-related, however, the motive for it is unclear.Thames Valley Police said a 25-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, adding that they were not looking for anyone else.Matt Rodda, the member of parliament for Reading East, said the attack was shocking and happened in “a busy park in a beautiful historic part of the town” close to “the ruins of Reading Abbey and Reading jail,” both of which are historic buildings.”This is something that’s quite unheard of in Reading and I should just say that I am thinking about those who are affected and that this is quite a shocking and very sad development in our town,” he said.The incident came hours after a Black Lives Matter demonstration at the park, according to police sources, but they said there was “no indication” that the attack was linked to the protest.  
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Thousands of people gathered in the center of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, on Saturday to protest against the government and Russia one year after the brutal dispersal of an anti-Kremlin demonstration.The protest was the first major gathering in the country since the coronavirus pandemic and organizers placed markers with the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the ground to encourage social distancing.Most participants wore protective masks and organizers distributed sanitizers.The protest movement erupted last June when a visiting Russian lawmaker was allowed to address the Georgian parliament from the speaker’s chair, in Russian, touching a nerve in a country that fought a war with Russia 12 years ago.The rally outside parliament a year ago descended into violent clashes with police who used tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters. More than 240 people were injured, including more than 30 journalists and 80 policemen. Two protesters, including 18-year-old Mako Gomuri, lost eyesight.”Those who shot me last year are still not punished and today I have even more questions than one year ago,” said Gomuri, addressing the rally.Protesters blew horns and held up placards reading “Together against the occupation!” — a reference to Russia’s occupation of Georgia’s two breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.At the end of the protest demonstrators waved posters reading “We will meet at the election,” referring to a parliamentary vote later this year.  
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Around a hundred Poles took part in an “Equality Run” on Saturday, condemning discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community during a presidential election campaign where gay rights have provoked fierce debate.The run took place as a number of anti-government protests from groups including LGBT rights protesters and feminists took place in Warsaw.Facing an increasingly tight contest for the June 28 vote, incumbent President Andrzej Duda, an ally of ruling nationalists Law and Justice (PiS), has attempted to rally his conservative base by taking aim at what he calls LGBT “ideology.”PiS has said this is a foreign influence undermining traditional values.”We need to show that we are everywhere, that we exist, we do sport, we have fun, it’s not like we are people with a foreign ideology,” said 26-year-old office worker Zoska Marcinek before the race.The runners, some decked out in the rainbow flag of the LGBT community, ran 5 kilometers along the banks of the Vistula river.Duda has drawn criticism for comparing the push for LGBT rights to Soviet indoctrination. A member of his campaign team said in a television broadcast last Saturday that LGBT people were not equal with “normal” people.Duda has said his words on LGBT “ideology” and communism were taken out of context, while his campaign team has rejected accusations of homophobia.Around 200-300 people gathered at a separate protest called “People, not an Ideology” in central Warsaw, brandishing placards with slogans like “Make Peace, Stop PiS.””I am a normal person… like every other person, and I demand equality,” said 22-year-old student Weronika Tomikowska during the protest.LGBT rights have been major campaign theme in staunchly Catholic Poland since the main opposition candidate and Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski introduced a sex education program in city schools over a year ago that includes teaching about LGBT issues. 
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Turkey is seeking to reap diplomatic rewards from its military success in Libya. Recent gains by Turkish-backed forces of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) are enhancing Ankara’s influence in Libya and with the European Union.Turkey sent military personnel to Libya in January to support the Tripoli-based GNA. It had been under sustained attack from forces led by Libyan General Khalif Haftar, who has a power base in eastern Libya. Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) has the backing of countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Russia.   
 
The Turkish military deployment to Libya, widely seen as a gamble by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, turned out to be a game changer in the civil war.  
 FILE – Mourners pray for fighters killed in airstrikes by warplanes of General Khalifa Haftar’s forces, in Tripoli, Libya, April 24, 2019.Haftar’s forces were driven from the suburbs of Tripoli and continue to sustain territorial losses.
 
Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Hakan Fidan, the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, led a high-level delegation Wednesday to Tripoli, underlining the critical role Turkey is now playing in Libya. According to pro-government Turkish media reports, Ankara is looking to establish an air and naval base in Libya.  
 
The Turkish government so far hasn’t officially commented on the news reports, but Ankara’s military presence in Libya could be a big bargaining chip with the European Union.   
 
“Libya is so strategically important to the EU, as Libya is the gateway of Africa to Europe,” said retired Turkish ambassador to Qatar Mithat Rende.
 
The Libyan civil war’s chaos made the country one of the main smuggling routes for migrants trying to enter the EU.   
 
Ankara already has a deal with the EU to prevent refugees and migrants from trying to enter through Turkey, in exchange for billions of dollars in aid.   
 
Political science professor Ilhan Uzgel of Ankara University said Erdogan now sees an opportunity to extend Turkey’s role as the EU’s gatekeeper to Libya. Ankara has myriad issues it’s negotiating with Brussels in the renewal of a customs union on visa free travel.  
 
“Turkey used the Syrian refugees as a bargaining chip against the EU, it was a policy of blackmail, and it worked somehow. Now with Libya, Turkey has a new card or leverage against the EU. So, they [the EU] may not be happy, but the EU is usually making a bargain with Turkey over the refugee issues,” said Uzgel.  
 Russia Looks to Washington for Help in Libya Russian FM Sergey Lavrov says he would welcome any efforts by Washington to use its influence on Turkey to help fashion a truce in LibyaFrance and Germany have sharply criticized Turkish military intervention in Libya, although with Germany taking over the EU presidency in July, German Chancellor Angela Merkel could be looking to Erdogan for a deal.  
 
“Turkish military presence in Libya would strengthen its position vis-a-vis EU in general and Germany in particular,” said international relations expert Zaur Gasimov of Bonn University.   
 
“The fears of more influx of refugees have never been stronger than now in Europe, already heavily challenged by the [coronavirus] pandemic and economic recession,” he added.  
 
Merkel spoke by telephone with Erdogan this month about Libya. Friday, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio flew to Ankara for talks with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on stabilizing the North African country.   
 
“They [the EU] don’t like his [Erdogan’s] personality; they don’t respect him. But they know that he can make a deal, and he keeps his promises in a way,” Uzgel said.   
 
In the U.S., the Trump Administration also could see Ankara as a partner in Libya.  
 
“Turkey and the U.S. can together make a positive difference [in Libya],” Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said Friday.  
 
U.S. President Donald Trump and Erdogan agreed this month to cooperate on Libya, although the nature of the cooperation remains unclear.  
 
Also this month, the U.S. military accused Russia of seeking to push for a strategic foothold on NATO’s southern flank at the expense of innocent Libyan lives. Moscow is a key backer of Haftar, although it denies any military involvement. But Turkey’s Libya military intervention is seen as thwarting Russian ambitions.   
 
A meeting between Russian and Turkish foreign ministers called by Russia for June 14 to discuss Libya was canceled.  
 
“The cancelation came from Turkey,” Uzgel said. ” It’s the rule of any conflict it’s usually the losing side who asks for a cease-fire. Turkey does not want to stop in Libya.”    
 
Moscow, however, is accused of establishing a substantial military presence in Libya. On Thursday, the U.S. Africa Command published what it said were new images of Russian warplanes in Libya.   
 
“Russia has sent its military jets to Libya, but we have not heard they had used their jets effectively against GNA forces. It could have been used effectively because [Turkish] drones are no match against fighter jets. But they haven’t been used. It appears more like symbolic importance; it’s more of a bluff than a tool in a fight” said Uzgel.
 
Moscow may be reluctant to risk its relations with Turkey, which have markedly improved in the past few years, much to the alarm of Turkey’s NATO partners. The two countries have strong trade ties and are cooperating in the Syrian civil war, despite backing rival sides in the conflict. Turkey, Russia and Iran are part of the Astana Process, which is seeking to end the conflict. While Moscow and Ankara struck an agreement to enforce a cease-fire in Afrin, the last rebel-controlled region.
 
Observers say that despite Turkey’s success in Libya, it still needs to handle Moscow with care. Russia can undermine Turkey’s efforts to stabilize Libya or push back against Turkish interests elsewhere.   
 
However, Gasimov believes pragmatism is likely to prevail.  
 
“Turkey and Russia would highly likely manage a deal in Libya, as they did in Syria, and indeed the Libyan antagonism would even bond them closer,” he said.  
 
Gasimov said Russia could be accommodating to Turkey’s demand to end Haftar’s leadership role, as part of any Libyan deal.  
 
“The Russian position is heterogeneous and dynamic. Haftar, who studied in the U.S.S.R., is not seen any more as the only key factor for Russia’s presence in Libya. Moscow is searching for alternatives,” he said.  
 
Any Russian deal, though, is likely to be limited by Turkey’s desire to work with its Western allies in Libya.  
 
“Ankara can make a deal with Moscow but on its terms,” said Uzgel. “They may be a short-term limited deal with Russia. Anything more and the EU would not be happy or the United States. There may be a temporary small-scale deal with Russia.” 
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World Refugee Day is being observed Saturday with the aim of raising awareness of refugees throughout the world. In Italy, a special prayer vigil was held in Rome this week titled “Dying of Hope,” in memory of the thousands who lose their lives at sea, on their journeys in search of a better life in Europe.Inside the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome, many gathered to pray in memory of those who have drowned in their attempt to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa and for those who continue to do so. Africans and Italians maintained social distancing inside the church as they prayed together. The Secretary General of the Italian Bishops Conference, Monsignor Stefano Russo, addressed the congregation.A woman with a face mask speaks with medical staff in protective clothing at a refugee camp after two suspect cases of coronavirus were allegedly confirmed and the area cordoned off as a red zone, on the outskirts of Rome, April 8, 2020.Marco Impagliazzo is a member of the Catholic Community of Sant’ Egidio who organized the vigil. He said it is essential that everyone, Africans and Europeans, deal with the pandemic on the African continent together.Impagliazzo said that if this does not happen, there will be other long waves of migrant arrivals and the virus must help us understand that we must all row in the same direction.More than 40,000 migrants are believed to have died in efforts to reach Europe via land or sea crossings since 1990. 
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At least one hospital in Canada’s British Columbia province is under investigation after allegations that healthcare staff made up a “racist” game that involved guessing the alcohol level of Indigenous patients in the emergency room. British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix said if the allegations are true the staff’s behavior was “racist and completely abhorrent.”  He said the staff members might have targeted other racial groups in the game said to be called ‘The Price Is Right,’ after a popular television game show.The health minister did not identify the hospital but said all hospitals in the province would be investigated for racist practices. The allegation about the game was revealed during a cultural training session for healthcare workers. The BBC reports that Daniel Fontaine, CEO of Metis Nation British Columbia filed a formal complaint.Fontaine told the BBC the government has known about racism in the healthcare system for years. 
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UNICEF has sent a third shipment of humanitarian aid to Venezuela to help the country cope with the coronavirus crisis.A plane with 90 tons of medicine, sanitation and water supplies landed in the capital, Caracas, on Friday.”We are here in Maiquetía Airport in Caracas receiving the third cargo plane with humanitarian assistance for Venezuela in the framework of the response to COVID-19 and the general humanitarian response in the country,” Peter Grohmann, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Venezuela, said.Friday’s shipment brought the total humanitarian aid to Venezuela to about 200 tons since the start of the coronavirus outbreak.”We hope that this [aid] will help the Venezuelan people in their fight against the coronavirus and in general to support them with their most urgent needs,” Grohmann said.Venezuela’s health system has had great difficulty bringing the COVID-19 pandemic under control, since the Latin American country is under U.S. economic sanctions.Caracas has confirmed about 3,600 infection cases with the virus, and 30 deaths. 
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European Union leaders on Friday agreed to meet again in mid-July to discuss the European Commission’s coronavirus recovery measures, primarily powered by the proposed “Next Generation EU” plan.Friday’s meeting was a videoconference of the leaders of the 27-nation bloc to discuss the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a media conference after an EU summit, in video conference format, at the European Council in Brussels, Belgium, June 19, 2020.Spain and Italy currently have the highest number of coronavirus cases in the EU, with approximately 245,575 and 238,011 cases respectively.“We want to prevent the unleveling of the playing field,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, after Friday’s videoconference. “We want to prevent the widening of the divergences between member states, which would be a weakening of the single market.”The commission’s plan has provided grounds for disagreement and negotiations.German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters after Friday’s virtual meeting that further discussions would be necessary.“Everyone said what they thought was positive and of course brought in points of criticism, too,” the chancellor said. “The bridges that we still have to build are big.”Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven noted that “all in all, big improvements are needed before the both the long-term budget and recovery fund are good enough.”Portuguese Prime Minster Antonio Costa said all EU members must open “green pathways” to reach an agreement.“This is not the moment to draw red lines, it is the moment to open green pathways to a deal in July,” Costa said.  
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Britain’s education minister said the county should be “incredibly proud” of its history and that should be reflected in the program of study at schools.Speaking to reporters on Friday during the government’s daily briefing on COVID-19, Gavin Williamson said students need to learn about both the positive and negative aspects of the British Empire.“We mustn’t forget that in this nation we have an incredibly rich history, and we should be incredibly proud of our history, because time and time and time again, this country has made a difference and changed things for the better, right around the world,” he said. “And we should, as a nation, be proud of that history and teach our children about it.”Williamson also said “tolerance and respect’’ must be “at the cornerstone” of all British schools.”Tolerance and respect have to be and, I believe are, at the cornerstone of absolutely everything that this country does and teaches in all of our schools, in all of our colleges and in all of our universities, and that’s how it should be,” he said. “And that is what I want to see everyone teaching in schools right across the United Kingdom and in England.’’Williamson’s comments came in the wake of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in many parts of the world following the death of George Floyd, an African American, while in police custody.
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Chinese prosecutors charged two detained Canadians with spying Friday in an apparent bid to step up pressure on Canada to drop a U.S. extradition request for a Huawei executive under house arrest in Vancouver.
Michael Kovrig was charged by Beijing on suspicion of spying for state secrets and intelligence. Michael Spavor was charged in Dandong, a city near the North Korean border, on suspicion of spying for a foreign entity and illegally providing state secrets.
The charges were announced by China’s highest prosecutor’s office in brief social media posts.  
Asked what evidence China had against the two, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said only that each is charged with “secretly gathering state secrets for overseas forces with particularly serious consequences.”
“The facts are clear and the evidence solid and sufficient,” Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing. Zhao gave no details.
Both men have been held for 18 months. They were detained shortly after the December 2018 arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei. The daughter of Huawei’s founder was arrested at the request of U.S. authorities who want her on fraud charges related to trade with Iran.  
A Canadian judge ruled this month that the U.S. extradition case against Meng could proceed to the next stage.  
China has denied any explicit link between her case and the lengthy detention of the two Canadian men, but outside experts see them as tied and Chinese diplomats have strongly implied a connection.  
Meng has been released on bail while her extradition case proceeds in court and is residing in one of her two Vancouver mansions where she is reportedly working on a graduate degree. Kovrig and Spavor are being held at an undisclosed location and up to now, have been denied access to lawyers or family members.
 
China has also sentenced two other Canadians to death and suspended imports of Canadian canola, while saying those moves were also unrelated to Meng’s case.  
Relations between Canada and China are at their lowest point since the Chinese military’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.  
The tensions appear to be causing further harm to Huawei’s reputation in the Americas, with two of Canada’s three major telecommunication companies announcing earlier this month that they’ve decided not to use the Chinese tech giant for their next-generation 5G wireless network.
Bell Canada announced that Sweden-based Ericsson will be its supplier and Telus Corp. later announced that it had also selected Ericsson and Nokia.  
Huawei is the world’s biggest supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies, but has long been seen as a front for spying by China’s military and its highly skilled security services.  
The U.S. has urged Canada to exclude Huawei equipment from their next-generation wireless networks, saying Huawei is legally beholden to the Chinese regime. The United States and Australia have banned Huawei, citing concerns it is an organ of Chinese military intelligence — a charge the company denies.  
Canada’s diplomats in China have been meeting regularly with their detained citizens but there was no immediate comments on the new indictments.
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The Bank of England has apologized for the links some of its past governors had with slavery, as a global anti-racism movement sparked by the death of George Floyd forces many British institutions to confront uncomfortable truths about their pasts.
The central bank called the trade in human beings “an unacceptable part of English history,” and pledged not to display any images of former leaders who had any involvement.
“The bank has commenced a thorough review of its collection of images of former governors and directors, to ensure none with any such involvement in the slave trade remain on display anywhere in the bank,” the institution said in statement.  
The decision comes after two British companies on Thursday promised to financially support projects assisting minorities after being called out for past roles in the slave trade.
Insurance giant Lloyd’s of London and pub chain Greene King made the pledges after media highlighted their inclusion on a University College London database of individuals and companies with ties to the slave trade.
Launched in 2013, the database shows how deeply the tentacles of slavery are woven into modern British society.  
It lists thousands of people who received compensation for loss of their “possessions” when slave ownership was outlawed by Britain in 1833. It reveals that many businesses, buildings and art collections that still exist today were funded by the proceeds of the slave trade.
Those listed on the database include governors and directors of the Bank of England, executives in companies that are still active and forbears of prominent Britons including writer George Orwell and ex-Prime Minister David Cameron.
About 46,000 people were paid a total of 20 million pounds — the equivalent of 40 percent of all annual government spending at the time — after the freeing of slaves in British colonies in the Caribbean, Mauritius and southern Africa.  
Some slave owners were paid vast sums. John Gladstone, father of 19th-century Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, received more than 100,000 pounds in compensation for hundreds of slaves, at a time when skilled workers earned 50 to 75 pounds a year.
But not all the slave owners were ultra-wealthy. Middle-class Britons up and down the country were paid compensation. The loan the government took out to cover the payments was so large that it was not repaid in full until 2015.
Information about the role played by British firms and individuals in slavery has been available on UCL’s database for seven years. But corporate apologies are only coming now that the Black Lives Matter movement has thrust the issue of racial injustice into global prominence.
Keith McClelland, a researcher with UCL’s Legacy of British Slave-ownership project, said many parts of British society had been unwilling to face up to the past.
“The dominant narrative from the 1830s onwards was that the great thing about Britain was that it had abolished the slave trade and then abolished slavery,” he said.  
“And this wasn’t just a narrative being told about Britain at that time. (Former Prime Minister) Gordon Brown (and) David Cameron made speeches saying in the 2000s saying, there is this golden thread of liberty that runs through British history, one component of which was the abolition of slavery. Fine. Except neither of them actually mentioned that behind that was 200 years of slavery.
“It seems to me just incomprehensible that you can laud the abolition of slavery without talking about slavery itself. But that’s what has happened.”
The racial-equality protests that followed Floyd’s May 25 death in Minneapolis have sparked a reassessment of history, with demonstrators in several countries toppling memorials to people who profited from imperialism and the slave trade.
Earlier this month, protesters in the English city of Bristol hauled down a statue of Edward Colston, a 17th-century slave trader, and dumped it in the city’s harbor. City officials fished it out and plan to put it in a museum, along with placards from the protest.
Oxford University’s Oriel College has recommended the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes, a Victorian imperialist in southern Africa who made a fortune from mines and endowed Oxford’s Rhodes scholarships for international students.
McClelland said Floyd’s death and its aftermath could bring major change in how Britain faces its past — but it’s too soon to say..
“There are a lot of statements coming from companies about regret,” he said. “Will this make a concrete difference? Ask me in two, three, four, five years’ time. Have they actually done anything rather than say, ‘Oh, well, we’re terribly sorry?’
“We’ll see. I am not entirely optimistic.”
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Rajaai Bourhan is trying to make a life for himself in Spain.Two years ago, he and several other journalists were trapped in southern Syria, as forces loyal to President Bashar Assad moved to take the region. They had a choice: Stay and risk arrest or death or leave in search of safety. Thanks to the help of international organizations, including the press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists and the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, 11 journalists were able to flee to Europe last May. “It’s like traveling from planet to planet,” Bourhan told VOA. “Everybody’s nice, as well as smiling. It’s very different from my home.”The Syrians’ experiences are shared in a documentary, “The Last Journalists in Syria,” that CPJ broadcast on June 17.The documentary recounts how CPJ worked with United Nations ambassadors and several countries to find a way to bring the journalists and their families to safety. Bourhan said he was happy to be safe but that he’s had trouble finding a job – an issue that is common for refugee journalists.  Only a third of journalists forced to flee are able to continue their work in a new country, Ignacio Miguel Delgado Culebras, the Middle East and North Africa Representative for CPJ, who helped with the relocation of the journalists, told VOA.He attributed that to factors including language and a lack of connections to news outlets.In the Syrians’ case, the Spanish journalism advocacy organization porCausa connected those who settled in Spain to other journalists in the country and found them a place to live, the group’s journalism coordinator Jose Bautista told VOA.“We try to make their lives a little bit easy,” Bautista said. “They’re already our friends, they’re like brothers.”Delgado said that since relocating, most have had work published in Spanish news outlets or other publications, including The Independent. CPJ is working with Global Voices, an international journalism collective, to run a workshop with the journalists this month to help with decisions about their careers.Bourhan acknowledged the difficulties in staying in journalism, including low pay and having to learn Spanish in a short amount of time. At the moment, he is not working full time — something he attributed in part to the coronavirus pandemic — and he said some of the other journalists have had to wash dishes to earn money.“It’s very hard for a journalist to survive here in Spain,” he said.He and the other journalists experienced many challenges in Syria. They watched as forces led by Assad bombed buildings and killed civilians. They posted videos and updates from their social media pages and were threatened with arrest and murder, one of the journalists, Moussa al-Jamaat, said in CPJ’s documentary.Syria in one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the media, with at least 137 journalists killed there since the start of the civil war in 2011, according to CPJ. Now in Spain, the journalists have greater protections. They remain committed to continue telling the stories of what is happening in Syria. Some have freelanced for large publications. “I didn’t just come to Europe to indulge life,” journalist Mohammad Shubaat said in the documentary, translated from Arabic. “My purpose here is to convey the real events unfolding in Syria through our social networks, Spanish TV, newspapers — by any means that we can convey our voice and our pain and the pain of our people.”Bourhan said he is also committed to informing others about what is happening in Syria. When he lived there, he freelanced for The Intercept. Now, he continues to read news from Syria every day and hasn’t given up on reporting. “Journalism is still my world,” he told VOA. “I really couldn’t get out of Syria mentally. My mind’s still in Syria.”CPJ’s Delgado said he was impressed with how quickly the journalists integrated into Spanish society and by their commitment to journalism.“This human quality that they have, it’s amazing. The desire to continue to learn, to develop their skills,” Delgado said. “I’m still in awe by what they have done not only in Syria, taking the risk of being a journalist, which is not easy. But also, now in Spain in a whole different context.”PorCausa’s Bautista said: “At the beginning, I thought they would learn a lot from us today. Today, I think we learned much more from them,” he said. “I am super proud of the way they are fighting such a difficult situation.”
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The seven-member Guyana Elections Commission could get a report from Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield Friday that could move the South American country closer to confirming the results of March presidential and regional elections.The meeting, initially planned for Thursday, was canceled because of a lack of quorum.The commission is to announce the results after its chair, former justice Claudette Singh, receives a report from Lowenfield.A senior official of the main opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic Thursday dismissed an injunction sought by a citizen to prevent the commission from declaring the results. The party claimed victory in the election based on the national recount that ended last week.Preliminary results showed that opposition presidential candidate Irfaan Ali won the recount of votes in March’s presidential election after charges the count had been manipulated.The party also secured a two-seat advantage in the 65-seat National Assembly over President David Granger’s APNU+AFC party.Granger initially claimed victory, even after U.S. and EU observers said the count was flawed.  
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European governments are working with the United States on plans to overhaul the World Health Organization, a top health official for a European country said, signaling that Europe shares some of the concerns that led Washington to say it would quit.The European health official, who spoke on condition of anonymity while discussing initiatives that are not public, said Britain, France, Germany and Italy were discussing WHO reforms with the United States at the technical level.The aim, the official said, was to ensure WHO’s independence, an apparent reference to allegations that the body was too close to China during its initial response to the coronavirus crisis early this year.”We are discussing ways to separate WHO’s emergency management mechanism from any single country influence,” said the official.Reforms would involve changing the WHO’s funding system to make it more long-term, the official said. The WHO now operates on a two-year budget, which “could hurt WHO’s independence” if it has to raise funds from donor countries in the middle of an emergency, the official said.U.S. President Donald Trump has accused the WHO of being too close to China and announced plans to quit and withdraw funding.European countries have occasionally called for reform of the WHO but have generally shielded the organization from the most intense criticism by Washington. In public the European position has usually been that any reform should come only after an evaluation of the response to the coronavirus crisis.Evaluation and reformBut minutes of a videoconference of EU health ministers last week suggested European countries were taking a stronger line and also seeking more European influence at the WHO in future.The German and French ministers told their colleagues “an evaluation and reform of the WHO was needed,” the minutes said.That was stronger wording than in a resolution last month which the EU drafted, and which was adopted by all 192 WHO member countries. That resolution called for an evaluation of the response to the coronavirus crisis, but it stopped short of calling for reforms.The German and French ministers also told their colleagues, “The EU and its MS (member states) should play a bigger role at the global level,” the minutes showed.A spokesperson for the German health ministry said Berlin sought stronger engagement with the WHO ahead of Germany taking over the EU presidency on July 1.A German government source told Reuters the aim of the intervention at the health ministers’ meeting was to encourage debate among EU member states about how to reform the WHO. Asked whether Germany was now pushing for quicker changes, instead of waiting until after the crisis, the official said: “Reforms of international organizations normally take years, not months.”A French health ministry spokesman also said the WHO would be on the agenda of Germany’s presidency of the EU, and Paris would work on it with Berlin. France backed WHO reform, but changes should follow the evaluation of the organization’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, he said.A British government spokesperson said Britain worked with organizations including the WHO “to encourage and support transparency, efficiency and good management.”The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the WHO did not respond to requests for comment.The WHO drew criticism for public praise of China’s efforts to combat the new coronavirus in the early days of the crisis, even as evidence emerged that Chinese officials had silenced whistleblowers.The EU and its governments funded around 11 percent of the WHO’s $5.6 billion budget in the 2018-19 period, and the United States provided more than 15 percent. China covered just 0.2 percent. 
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A sinkhole on a Mexican highway has exposed a water-filled cave teaming with fossils of sea life and rock formations dating as far back as 2.5 million years.Cave explorers are using the large crevasse between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, Quintana Roo, to enter the 60-meter-long cave, where they also uncovered living creatures, including crustaceans.The Mexico Daily News said specialists are now working on a topographic map of the cave.Robert Rojo, a biologist and cave explorer said the cave gets its water from the Caribbean Sea.Rojo also said filling in the sinkhole and closing off the entrance would be tantamount to “ecocide,” a total destruction of the natural environment.Rojo and other experts are working on a detailed report of the cave, with recommendations on how to preserve it.
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Scores of demonstrators in Guatemala are demanding President Alejandro Giammattei ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions, even as the death toll in the Central American nation tops 400.A motorcade of protesters and others on foot rallied outside the Congress in Guatemala City on Thursday, calling on the government to start relaxing restrictions and reopen the economy.Attorney Giovanni Fratti said the government is causing what he called a time bomb situation and that it should reopen the economy immediately, adding that advanced economies such as the United States and Italy, with more COVID-19 cases than Guatemala, are already reopening their economies.The demonstration comes a week after the government said it is considering increasing lockdown restrictions if COVID-19 cases continue rising.Guatemala has reported more than 11,800 cases and more than 430 deaths.   
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Dame Vera Lynn, the woman whose voice boosted British spirits during the darkest days of World War Two, has died at 103.Her family did not give a cause of death when it announced her passing Thursday in East Sussex.Along with Winston Churchill’s, Lynn’s was the most recognized and renowned British voice of World War Two.She was known as the “Forces’ Sweetheart,” serenading Allied soldiers and the British people with such sentimental but optimistic ballads as “We’ll Meet Again,” “The White Cliffs of Dover” and “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.”FILE – Singing star Vera Lynn tries on a lampshade in London, Nov. 30, 1961.She also hosted “Sincerely Yours,” a hugely popular BBC radio show during the war that included messages to British soldiers and sailors overseas and songs she sang at their request.Lynn also toured army camps, entertaining British troops in person.”What they needed was a contact from home,” she said. “I entertained audiences from 2,000 to 6,000. And the boys would just come out of the jungle and sit there for hours waiting until we arrived and then slip back in once we’d left.”Her popularity endured after the war.A decade before the Beatles, her 1952 recording of “Auf Wiedersehen Sweetheart” made her the first British singer to top the American record charts.She also found renewed fame when director Stanley Kubrick played her vintage recording of “We’ll Meet Again” near the end of his 1964 film “Dr. Strangelove.”Long after she retired, a 2009 compilation album, “We’ll Meet Again — The Very Best of Vera Lynn,” was a top-selling recording in Britain.Prime Minister Boris Johnson said her “charm and magical voice entranced and uplifted our country in some of our darkest hours. Her voice will live on to lift the hearts of generations to come.”Buckingham Palace said Queen Elizabeth plans to send a personal note of condolence to Lynn’s family. Sir Paul McCartney tweeted that he is “so sad to hear of her passing but at the same time so glad to have met her and experienced first-hand her warm, fun-loving personality. Her voice will sing in my heart forever.”Sir Cliff Richard recalled performing with Lynn on the 50th anniversary of VE Day in 1995, calling her “a great singer, a patriotic woman and a genuine icon.” 
 
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In Istanbul, a 36-year-old woman is a one-person traveling medical unit treating some of Turkey’s most vulnerable refugees at a time when, for many people, hospitals are not an option. Some refugees do not have their papers in order. Others cannot afford care or fear getting the coronavirus at a hospital. In Istanbul, VOA’s Heather Murdock reports about one woman’s mission to do good.Camera: Heather Murdock   Contributor: Shadi Turk 
 
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The U.N. refugee agency reports more than nine million people were newly displaced by persecution and conflict in 2019, bringing the total number of forcibly displaced around the world to a record-breaking 79.5 million people.  These unprecedented figures appear in the agency’s annual FILE – A refugee camp is seen on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey, near Atma, April 19, 2020.The U.N. refugee agency considers this a matter of great concern.  It notes most of the nearly 80 million uprooted are displaced inside their own countries, while 29.6 million are refugees, who have sought asylum in other countries.   Despite commonly held perceptions, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, says most refugees do not seek asylum in richer countries, but flee to nearby countries.  He says 85 percent are being hosted by poor developing countries.   The UNHCR chief says only five countries generate 68 percent of the world’s refugees.   “Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Myanmar.  You know what this means.  If crises in these countries were solved, 68 percent of the global forced displacement would probably be on its way to being solved,” he said. FILE – Congolese families, who fled from Democratic Republic of, prepare meals at United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ (UNHCR) Kyangwali refugee settlement camp, Uganda, Mar. 19, 2018.Grandi says conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s Sahel region, Yemen and Syria account for most of the nine million newly displaced last year.  He says he is particularly worried about the dramatic drop in the number of refugees who are able to return home or find countries of resettlement.     In the 1990s, he notes an average 1.5 million refugees were able to return home each year.  This number, he says, has now declined to fewer than 400,000 a year. “This, of course, is a sign of the persistence of conflicts, the emergence of new conflicts, the inability, the paralysis of the international community, including institutions like the Security Council to address these conflicts, to bring them to an end and to create conditions for refugees and displaced people to return home,” he said.  The report notes the number of refugees resettled in third countries has fallen to 107,000 last year from a high of 163,000 in 2016.  U.S. resettlement figures have declined dramatically.  Canada now has replaced the United States as the biggest receiving country.   Information in the Global Trends report does not include the likely impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on asylum.  But High Commissioner Grandi notes 164 countries have totally or partially closed their borders because of the pandemic.  This, he says has put a brake on people’s ability to cross borders in search of international protection.   
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