Russian monk denying coronavirus takes control of monastery

June 17, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — A rebellious Russian monk who has denied the coronavirus' existence and urged believers to ignore the Kremlin's lockdown orders has taken control of a monastery in the Ural Mountains. Father Sergiy showed up Tuesday at the Sredneuralsk women's monastery that he had founded years ago and took charge. Scores of volunteers, including battle-hardened veterans of the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine, helped enforce his rules, while the prioress and several nuns have left.

Hundreds of believers from Yekaterinburg and other cities in the Urals have flocked to the convent to hear the priest's fiery sermons. The Russian Orthodox Church has denounced Father Sergiy's move, saying he has been banned from conducting church services and urging him to repent. Police visited the monastery Wednesday and found no violations.

Last month, the monk was suspended by the church leadership following his continuous calls to disobey the closure of churches during the lockdown. Orthodox churches across Russia were closed to parishioners on April 13 because of the coronavirus outbreak and were only allowed to reopen earlier this month.

Father Sergiy has declared the coronavirus non-existent and urged believers to ignore the lockdown orders from authorities. He denounced electronic passes introduced in Moscow and some other regions as part of efforts to stem the outbreak as “Satan's electronic camp.” The monk has described the vaccines being developed against COVID-19 as part of a global plot to control the masses.

Next week, Father Sergiy will face a church panel that will decide on his future. He also has faced charges of spreading false information about the coronavirus, The monk has ignored the church's ban. In a video from his cell where icons and images of Orthodox Church hierarchs of the past adorn the wall alongside pictures of Russia's last Czar, Nicholas II, and Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, he warned church officials that they will need to seize the monastery by force to get him out.

Germany: 657 virus cases at slaughterhouse in new outbreak

June 17, 2020

BERLIN (AP) — Regional officials in western Germany said Wednesday that the number of new COVID-19 cases linked to a large meatpacking plant has risen to 657, a significant regional spike for a country that has recorded nationwide infections in the low hundreds lately.

Health officials in Guetersloh said they have received a total of 983 test results from workers at the Toennies slaughterhouse in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck. Of those, 326 tests were negative. Since the start of the outbreak, Germany has recorded 188,474 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 8,844 deaths. The infection rate declined sharply after authorities imposed nationwide social distancing rules in March and the daily case increase had averaged between 300-400 in June.

News of the outbreak in Guetersloh came as Chancellor Angela Merkel was meeting with Germany's 16 state governors to discuss progress in tackling the pandemic. “We are far away from an exponential increase,” Merkel told reporters after the meeting, insisting that the country would continue to try to relax restrictions while containing any local outbreaks.

“That’s why I very much welcome that, as today in the county of Guetersloh for example, when there is such an accumulation of infections then measures are immediately taken, for example the closure of schools and such-like,” she said.

“We see from these outbreaks that the virus isn't gone,” she added. Company officials at Toennies said the outbreak at the slaughterhouse may have been linked to workers taking the opportunity to visit their families in eastern European countries as border controls were relaxed.

Officials ordered the closure of the slaughterhouse, as well as isolation and tests for everyone else who had worked at the Toennies site — putting about 7,000 people under quarantine. The infections pushed the county above the threshold of 50 new infections per 100,000 residents over a week at which local authorities in Germany have to consider new restrictions. Officials decided to close schools and child care centers across the county from Thursday until the summer vacation starts near the end of the month, but chose to avoid a wider-ranging lockdown.

There have been several outbreaks at German slaughterhouses in recent weeks, prompting the government to impose stricter safety rules for the industry and ban the practice of using sub-contractors. The outbreak in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck, where Toennies operates one of Germany's biggest slaughterhouses, could affect the meat supply in Germany. Sven-Georg Adenauer, head of the regional administration, said a fifth of Germany's meat products could be unavailable while the plant is shut, the dpa news agency reported.

Gereon Schulze Althoff, the Toennies official in charge of the company's pandemic response, said that the company had been “fighting like lions since February ... to keep the virus out of the operation.”

Schulze Althoff said he had no conclusive explanation for why the infections had occurred now. But he noted that many foreign workers had wanted to go and see their families as European borders started to reopen, meaning that “we were exposed to new risks.”

“We were aware of that, but we ... carried out extra testing of people returning from holidays and so on,” he added. “But we didn't succeed in keeping out these sources or this source (of infection) — we don't know which exactly.”

He said the company has a lot of workers from eastern European countries, and many went home over recent long weekends. He said cooled rooms may also have facilitated the virus spreading. Germany started loosening its coronavirus restrictions in late April and has largely kept infection rates low, though local outbreaks linked to slaughterhouses, church services and a restaurant among other places have caused some concern.

This week, the German government launched its coronavirus tracing app, designed to help people learn if they've been in close proximity to someone who later tests positive. Officials said the app was downloaded more than 6 million times in the first 24 hours.

Merkel declined to say whether she was using the new app, saying only that she was “willing” to do so.

Turkey sees rise in daily coronavirus cases following easing

June 14, 2020

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey is “moving away from the target,” the country’s health minister warned Sunday as the daily number of new coronavirus cases rose above 1,500 following the relaxation of restrictions.

Fahrettin Koca tweeted that 1,562 new cases were recorded over the previous 24 hours, the highest daily figure since June 3. Reporting 1,330 recoveries, he said: “Our number of recovered patients fell below the number of new cases. The need for intensive care and respiratory equipment is rising.”

Koca also reported 15 deaths due to coronavirus, taking the total since the first case on March 11 to 4,807. Turkey has recorded a total of 178,239 coronavirus cases. At the start of June, the government authorized cafes, restaurants, gyms, parks, beaches and museums to reopen and eased stay-at-home orders for the elderly and young.

A weekend curfew that was due to be implemented last week was canceled, ending the series of part-time lockdowns in place since April. Koca called for people to switch to a period of “controlled social life” from Monday to halt the rise in cases.

Russia's low virus death toll still raises questions in West

June 14, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — When Leonid Shlykov's father, Sergei, died in a Moscow hospital last month after 11 days on a ventilator, the death certificate listed the coronavirus as an underlying condition but not the actual cause of death.

“Yes, he was suffering from impaired kidney function and diabetes, but if it hadn’t been for COVID-19, he would’ve been alive,” the son wrote on Facebook. “If we had known the real number of infections and deaths … it would have helped us make the decision to hospitalize (dad) earlier.”

The way Russia counts fatalities during the coronavirus pandemic could be one reason why its official death toll of 6,948 is far below many other countries, even as it has reported nearly 529,000 infections, behind only the United States and Brazil.

The paradox also has led to allegations by critics and Western media that Russian authorities might have falsified the numbers for political purposes to play down the scale of the outbreak. Even a top World Health Organization official said the low number of deaths in Russia “certainly is unusual.”

Russian authorities have bristled at the suggestions. “We have never manipulated the official statistics,” said Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova. Finding the true numbers during the pandemic is difficult, since countries count cases and deaths in different ways and testing for the virus is uneven.

Still, several factors could contribute to Russia's low virus mortality rate, including the way it counts deaths, a tendency among some officials to embellish statistics, its vast geography and the shorter life expectancy of its population.

An autopsy is mandatory in Russia in every confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19, with a determination on the cause of death made by a commission of specialists, said Dr. Natalia Belitchenko, a pathologist in the medical examiner's office in the region around St. Petersburg.

She deals with coronavirus deaths almost daily, but said only about 20% of them have been attributed to COVID-19. In other cases, the virus was determined to be an underlying condition. “In the vast majority of cases, the pneumonia itself wouldn’t have led to death, had the underlying conditions not flared up to a point of becoming fatal,” she told The Associated Press.

Unlike Russia, some countries' official death count includes those who had COVID-19 but died from other causes, said Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program. “It will be important that the Russian authorities review the way in which death certification is done to reassure themselves that they are accurately certifying deaths in the appropriate way,” he said.

Death counts vary around the world because countries underreported the number of COVID-19 deaths early on, said Ali Mokdad, professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. They ascribed virus deaths to other causes due to insufficient testing or initially only counted deaths in hospitals, he added.

Some countries also are overcounting by including “presumptive deaths” — those who likely died of COVID-19 but were never tested for it, Mokdad said. What sets Russia apart, however, is a habit of obscuring embarrassing truths, said Judy Twigg, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The way mortality data is recorded in Russia is affected by a Soviet-era tradition of setting future targets for improving public health through efforts to reduce mortality from certain reasons, such as alcoholism or tuberculosis.

Health officials "shift the way they code causes of death in order to try to meet those targets,” Twigg said. Pathologists told AP there is pressure from hospital administrators to produce better-looking reports.

Requests and instructions to obscure certain causes of death in postmortems are "an inevitable part of our job,” said a pathologist in Siberia who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

Data analysts say inconsistencies in Russia’s virus statistics suggest manipulation, such as regions reporting similar numbers of new cases for several days in a row, or the number of deaths in regional reports differing from those in federal reports.

“I don’t trust official statistics, and I believe I have reasons not to,” Boris Ovchinnikov, director of the Moscow-based Data Insight research agency, told the AP. “But we don’t have any good alternative indicators for assessing the real situation.”

Among the anomalies:

— The governor of the Lipetsk region in southwestern Russia was recorded telling subordinates last month that “numbers need to be changed, otherwise our region will be judged poorly.”

— In the Altai region in southern Siberia, a task force posted a daily infection update containing the words “for approval” addressed to the provincial governor. It quickly erased the words after it was reported on social media.

— Unusual spikes in pneumonia deaths indicate possibility more virus deaths than officially reported by mid-May: St. Petersburg reported 694 pneumonia deaths, with 63 from coronavirus; the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan reported 657 pneumonia deaths and 29 from coronavirus.

“Without doubt, there have been manipulations with statistics on the regional level,” said Gleb Pavlovsky, an independent analyst and former Kremlin political consultant, adding that it seems they did it “on their own initiative.”

At the same time, he noted that a decrease in cases was a key factor for holding two big events on the Kremlin agenda that were postponed by the virus: a massive Red Square parade for the 75th anniversary of the victory in World War II and a vote on constitutional amendments that could extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule until 2036.

Citing a slowdown in infections, Putin ordered the parade for June 24 and the vote for July 1. Most regions, including Moscow, also recently lifted tight lockdowns imposed in March even though daily numbers of new infections have remained high, hovering around 9,000.

In a bid to dispel claims of underreporting mortality, the government released updated statistics for April showing patients who died of other causes while testing positive for the virus, as well as those who tested negative but likely died of it.

If those were counted as coronavirus deaths, mortality would have been 60% higher than announced. Authorities insist they shouldn’t be included in the official toll, but even if all extra deaths recently reported by federal and Moscow officials were added, it would still be around 11,000.

Russian officials credit early quarantine measures and quick expansion of hospital capacity that prevented the health care system from being overwhelmed. They also cite more than 14 million tests that helped spot asymptomatic cases that account for more than 40% of all recent infections in the country of 146.7 million.

Officials noted that infections in Russia peaked later than in Europe, and deaths are now climbing more quickly. Experts say Russia's statistical gaps may result from its outdated system of collecting mortality data: In many regions, a death certificate must be delivered by a relative to a local civil registry office. Many of those offices were closed or had limited hours due to coronavirus lockdowns.

“So what we’re seeing now is insufficient data in many regions,” said Alexei Raksha, an independent demographer. He said data from civil registries he studied showed that some regions reported fewer deaths in April than in previous years. Deaths were five times lower in the southern republic of Ingushetia, while in Krasnodar, they fell by about 1,500 from the monthly average, a record low.

“Some people just bury their relatives without going to the civil registration office,” Raksha said. Researchers expect most of these gaps to be filled in next year, when the Russian State Statistics Service issues its annual report.

Raksha said Russia's few virus deaths could also be due to less-frequent travel across the vast country, its low population density and lower social mobility. He also said because the country has a much lower life expectancy than the West, it has fewer elderly targets for the virus.

Thousands flee in expectation of Myanmar military operation

June 30, 2020

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Thousands of people in an area of western Myanmar where there have been clashes between the government and ethnic rebels have been fleeing from their villages over the past week after an evacuation order from officials.

The Rakhine state government in an order last Tuesday instructed village administrators in Rathedaung township to tell residents to stay away from their homes due to military plans to conduct a “clearance operation” against the rebels. “Clearance operation” is Myanmar military parlance for counterinsurgency action.

The exodus from more than 40 villages is continuing almost a week later, even though the order was revoked last Friday Rakhine state’s security and border affairs minister. “Since the day the order was issued, more than 10,000 people from the operation area fled their villages,” Khin Maung Latt, an upper house member of parliament for Rathedaung township, said Monday.

The government has been embroiled for more than a year in an intermittent conflict with the Arakan Army, a well-trained and well-armed guerrilla force representing members of the area’s Rakhine ethnic group.

The guerrilla force is posing the strongest military challenge to the central government of the many ethnic minority groups who for decades have sought greater autonomy. Human rights advocates have accused Myanmar's army of using undue force and targeting civilians in their operations fighting the guerrillas.

In Rakhine in 2017, the military carried out counterinsurgency operations against insurgents from the Muslim Rohingya minority, but critics charge they employed a campaign of terror to drive the Rohingya out of the country. An estimated 740,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh, where they remain in refugee camps.

The Rakhine are Buddhist, the religion of almost 90% of Myanmar’s people. During the past week’s exodus, some people fled to villages out of the designated area, and others to Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine.

“We have to flee the village as we don’t want to face the soldiers from the military. They were shooting into the village, arresting the villagers to use as human shields,” said Aye Mg, a 58-year-old resident of Rathedaung township’s Kyauktan village, where the government previously detained dozens of suspected Rakhine militants.

Civil society organizations and Buddhist monks are helping the newly displaced villagers find shelter. “People can’t live in their places any longer due to the fighting. We are hosting over 300 displaced people at our monastery; around 100 of them have arrived recently,” Okkahta, a monk, said from the Tahtipati Sipintharyar Monastery in Rathedaung town.

“It’s like doomsday for them,” lawmaker Khin Maung Lat said, explaining why villagers fled. "They are in fear. This is the impact of the evacuation order to stay away from the village during the military operation.”

“Even most of the village administrators are fleeing from the villages,” he said. “Even they are scared to go back to their villages.”

In Belgian town, monuments expose a troubled colonial legacy

June 27, 2020

HALLE, Belgium (AP) — For a long time, few people in the small Belgian town of Halle paid much attention to the monuments. They were just fixtures in a local park, tributes to great men of the past. But these are very different times, and yesterday’s heroes can be today’s racist villains.

And so it was that three weeks ago, a bust of Leopold II, the Belgian king who has been held responsible for the deaths of millions of Congolese, was spattered in red paint, labeled “Murderer,” and later knocked off its pedestal.

Nearby, a pale sandstone statue formally known as the “Monument to the Colonial Pioneers” has stood for 93 years. It depicts a naked Congolese boy offering a bowl of fruit in gratitude to Lt. Gen. Baron Alphonse Jacques de Dixmude, a Belgian soldier accused of atrocities in Africa.

These monuments, and others across Europe, are coming under scrutiny as never before, no longer a collective blind spot on the moral conscience of the public. Protests sweeping the world that followed the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed last month by Minneapolis police, are focusing attention on Europe’s colonial past and racism of the present.

Eric Baranyanka, a 60-year-old musician who came to Halle as a refugee from Belgium's African colony of Burundi when was 3, said he has always found the statue of Jacques “humiliating.” “I had this pride being who I was. It was in complete contradiction with that statue,” he said.

But Halle Mayor Marc Snoeck appears to be more representative of his citizenry. He said he “never really noticed” the monuments until an anti-colonial group raised awareness of them a dozen years ago in the town of 40,000 people about 15 kilometers (10 miles) south of Brussels.

“I’m part of an older generation and I heard precious little during my studies about colonialism, the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo,” said the 66-year-old Snoeck, noting he was taught about how Europeans brought civilization, not exploitation and death, to the heart of Africa.

Statues of Leopold, who reigned from 1865 to 1909, have been defaced in a half-dozen cities, including Antwerp, where one was burned and had to be removed for repairs. It's unclear if it will ever come back.

But Leopold is hardly the only focus. Snoeck found it remarkable that protesters have not targeted the statue of Jacques, which he called “possibly even worse.” The mayor said the statue is known locally as “The White Negro,” because of the hue of the sandstone depicting the Congolese youth offering the fruit to the colonial-era Belgian who condoned or was responsible for murders, rapes and maiming workers in the Congo Free State.

Baranyanka was lovingly raised by a white foster family in Halle and said he never experienced prejudice until after he had been in Belgium for about a decade. His 98-year-old foster mother Emma Monsaert recalls others in town asking her if she was really going to take in a Black youth in the 1960s: “I said, ‘Why not, it is a child after all.’”

But at school, Baranyanka found out how others felt about race. One teacher poured salt on his head, he recalled, saying it would make it whiter. When he wanted a part in a school play of the 17th century fairy tale “Puss in Boots,” he was denied a role, with a teacher telling him: “Mr. Baranyanka, in those days there were no Blacks in Europe.”

He counts himself lucky to have had a close circle of friends that survives to this day. As a teenager, he often talked to them about the monuments, his African roots and Leopold’s legacy. “They understood, and they were grateful I explained it,” he said.

On Tuesday, Congo celebrates 60 years of independence from Belgium. The city of Ghent will remove a statue of Leopold to mark the anniversary and perhaps take a healing step forward. Eunice Yahuma, a local leader of a group called Belgian Youth Against Racism and the youth division of the Christian Democrats, knows about Belgium’s troubled history.

“Many people don’t know the story, because it is not being told. Somehow they know, ‘Let’s not discuss this, because it is grim history,’” said Yahuma, who has Congolese roots. “It is only now that we have this debate that people start looking into this.”

The spirit of the times is different, she said. "Black people used to be less vocal. They felt the pain, but they didn’t discuss it. Now, youth is very outspoken and we give our opinion,” Yahuma added.

History teachers like 24-year-old Andries Devogel are trying to infuse their lessons with the context of colonialism. “Within the next decade, they will be expecting us to stress the impact of colonialism on current-day society, that colonialism and racism are inextricably linked,” Devogel said. “Is contemporary racism not the consequence of a colonial vision? How can you exploit a people if you are not convinced of their second-class status?”

The colonial era brought riches to Belgium, and the city of Halle benefited, building a rail yard that brought jobs. Native son Franz Colruyt started a business that grew into the supermarket giant Colruyt Group with 30,000 employees — one of them Baranyanka's foster father.

Halle has escaped the violence seen in other cities from the protests, and officials would rather focus attention on its Gothic church, the Basilica of St. Martin, as well as its famous fields of bluebells and Geuze beer.

Baranyanka, who will soon stage a musical show of his life called “De Zwette,“ — ”The Black One,” returned recently to the park and the monuments. Despite the hostility and humiliation he felt as a youngster, he didn’t consider their destruction as the way to go.

“Vandalism produces nothing, perhaps only the opposite effect. And you see that suddenly such racism surges again,” he said. “It breeds polarization again. This thing of ‘us against them.’” Devogel, the teacher, says it is the task of education “to let kids get in touch with history.”

"Otherwise, it will remain a copper bust without meaning,” he said of the Leopold II monument. “And you will never realize why, for all these people, it is so deeply insulting.”

Mixed-race women sue Belgium for crimes against humanity

June 26, 2020

BRUSSELS (AP) — Five mixed-race women born in Congo when the country was under Belgian rule who were taken away from their Black mothers have filed a lawsuit for crimes against humanity targeting the Belgian state.

With their claim, they hope Belgium will finally recognize its responsibility in the suffering endured by the thousands of mixed-race children, known as “métis,″ who were snatched away from families and placed in religious institutions and homes.

“This systematic policy of racially motivated abduction is a crime against humanity,” Michele Hirsch, a lawyer for the women, told The Associated Press on Friday. “It is not enough to say: ‘We apologize.’ Reality has to be taken into account. Their lives have been shattered."

Last year, Belgium’s then-prime minister, Charles Michel, apologised to the métis children who were kidnapped toward the end of the colonization period in the 1940s and 1950s. The five women, all born between 1945 and 1950, filed their lawsuit as the Democratic Republic of Congo prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the country’s independence amid growing demands that Belgium reassess its colonial past. In the wake of the protests against racial inequality in the United States, several statues of King Leopold II, who is blamed for the deaths of millions of Africans during Belgium’s colonial rule, have been sprayed with paint, while a petition called for the country to remove all statues of the former king.

Hirsch said the five women — four who now live in Belgium and one in France — were aged between 2 and 4 when they were taken away at the request of the Belgian colonial administration, in cooperation with the local Catholic church authorities.

“Their fathers were white and did not legally recognize their child,” Hirsch said. According to the legal documents, in all five cases the fathers did not exercise parental authority and the Belgian administration threatened the children’s Congolese families with reprisals if they refused to let them go.

The children were placed at a religious mission in Katende, in the province of Kasai, with the Sisters of Saint Vincent de Paul. There, they lived with some 20 other mixed-race girls and Indigenous orphans in very hard conditions.

“They arrived without clothes or shoes, having lost all their affective bonds,” Hirsch said. “Some children were allowed to go to school, but they also needed to work.” According to the lawyer, the Belgian state’s strategy aimed at preventing interracial unions and isolating métis children, known as the “children of shame,” to make sure they would not claim a link with Belgium later in their lives.

After independence, the legal documents claim that the children were left abandoned by both the State and the Church, and that some of them were sexually molested by militia fighters. The women have requested compensation of 50,000 euros each.

“This is not for the money,” Hirsch said. “We want a law that can apply to all so that the Belgian State recognizes the crimes committed and the suffering endured by métis children.”

On hottest day of year, thousands cram onto English beaches

June 25, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Police around the southern English coastal town of Bournemouth urged people to stay away Thursday as thousands defied coronavirus social distancing rules and flocked to local beaches on what was the U.K.'s hottest day of the year so far.

Amid widespread rule-breaking, a “major incident” was declared for the area, much of which is rural and only navigated by cars on narrow lanes. This gives additional powers to local authorities and emergency services to tackle the issue.

Images of the crammed beaches appeared to prompt the British government’s chief medical officer into issuing a rare warning on social media. Professor Chris Whitty tweeted that COVID-19 remains in “general circulation” and that cases will rise again if people don’t follow the guidelines.

“Naturally people will want to enjoy the sun but we need to do so in a way that is safe for all,” he said. Whitty's intervention came after Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council said services were “completely overstretched” as people headed to the seaside on a day meteorologists confirmed as the hottest of 2020. The mercury hit 33.3 C (around 92 F) at London's Heathrow Airport.

Extra police patrols have been brought in and security is in place to protect waste collectors who the council said faced “widespread abuse and intimidation” as they emptied overflowing bins. Roads, which were gridlocked into the early hours, now have signs telling people the area is full, according to the council.

Council leader Vikki Slade said she was “absolutely appalled” at the scenes witnessed on the beaches — particularly at Bournemouth and Sandbanks over the past day or two. “The irresponsible behavior and actions of so many people is just shocking and our services are stretched to the absolute hilt trying to keep everyone safe,” she said. “We have had no choice now but to declare a major incident and initiate an emergency response.”

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave notice that a number of the lockdown restrictions will be eased from July 4, including allowing pubs and restaurants to open their doors. He also effectively announced that the two-meter (6.5-foot) social distancing rule will be reduced to a meter (around three feet) from that date, a move that is largely aimed at bolstering businesses.

The relaxation has met with a lot of criticism, not least because the U.K. is still recording relatively high new coronavirus infections and deaths. On Thursday, the government said another 149 people who tested positive for the virus had died, taking the total to 43,230, by far the highest in Europe.

“Clearly we are still in a public health crisis and such a significant volume of people heading to one area places a further strain on emergency services resources," said Dorset Police’s Sam de Reya.

Belgium votes on recognizing State of Palestine, imposing sanctions on Israel

June 25, 2020

The Belgian Chamber of Representatives will today be voting on whether to “formally recognize the State of Palestine.”

The resolution, said Socialist MP Malik Ban Achour, urges the federal government “to formally recognize the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel and to consider this recognition as a contribution by Belgium to the solution based on the coexistence of two democratic and independent states having the right to live in peace and security with mutually recognized, accepted and respected borders. ”

The 150-member House of Representatives will also debate a second resolution calling for the government to prepare a list of ‘’counter-measures’’ to be implemented if the Israeli annexation plan goes ahead on 1 July.

MPs from left-wing parties, including the Socialist Party and members of the French and Green parties, proposed the resolutions.

Earlier this week, more than 1,000 members of parliament from across Europe signed a letter warning Israel against annexing parts of the occupied West Bank.

The legislators said they “share serious concerns about President Trump’s plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the imminent prospect of Israeli annexation of West Bank territory.”

According to private daily Al-Bawaba, the resolution supporting EU punitive measures against Israel passed in a committee earlier this month with an easy majority and is likely to pass in the plenary.

However, the measure to recognize a Palestinian state passed by one vote in the Foreign Affairs Committee and is considered less likely to be approved by the plenary.

Sweden became the first EU member to officially recognize Palestine in 2014, though other parliaments have since called on their governments to do so.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200625-belgium-votes-on-recognising-state-of-palestine-imposing-sanctions-on-israel/.

China, Korea, Egypt report rise in virus cases as curbs ease

June 14, 2020

BEIJING (AP) — China reported its highest daily total of new coronavirus cases in two months on Sunday and infections in South Korea also rose, showing how the disease can come back as curbs on business and travel are lifted.

Meanwhile, Egypt reported its biggest daily increase on Saturday. Infections were rising in some U.S. states as President Donald Trump pushed for businesses to reopen despite warnings by public health experts.

China had 57 new confirmed cases in the 24 hours through midnight Saturday, the National Health Commission reported. That was the highest since mid-April and included 36 in the capital, Beijing, a city of 20 million people.

Beijing's cases all were linked to its biggest wholesale food market, which was shut down Saturday, the official China News Service reported, citing the city's disease control agency. It said 27 worked there and nine had direct or indirect exposure to it.

The Xinfadi market was closed after 50 people tested positive for the virus in the Chinese capital's first confirmed cases in 50 days. The world is seeing more than 100,000 newly confirmed cases every day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

China, where the pandemic began in December, and other countries that suffered early on including South Korea, Italy and Spain have seen numbers of new infections decline. Brazil, India, the United States and other countries are seeing large increases.

China responded to the outbreak with the world's most intensive anti-disease controls, isolating cities with some 60 million people and shutting down much of its economy in steps that later were imitated by some other governments.

The ruling Communist party eased most limits on business and travel after declaring victory over the disease in March. Some curbs still are in place including a ban on most foreign travelers arriving in the country.

On Saturday, authorities in Beijing locked down 11 residential communities near the Xinfadi market. White fencing sealed off a road leading to apartment buildings and drivers were required to show identification to enter the area.

South Korea's government reported 34 more coronavirus cases, adding to an upward trend in infections. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 30 of the new cases were in the greater Seoul area, where half of the country’s 51 million people live. New cases have been linked to nightlife establishments, church services, a large-scale e-commerce warehouse and door-to-door sellers.

The Egyptian Health Ministry announced 1,677 new confirmed cases. Egypt is the Arab world’s most populous country and has its highest coronavirus death toll. The country has reported 1,484 deaths and 42,980 confirmed cases.

In the United States, the number of new cases in the southwestern state of Arizona has risen to more than 1,000 per day from fewer than 400 when the state’s shutdown was lifted in mid-May, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

Gov. Doug Ducey is not requiring Arizona residents to wear masks in public despite warnings by public health experts outside the government. Elsewhere, bar owners in New Orleans were preparing to reopen. San Francisco restaurants resumed outdoor seating Friday and the California government allowed hotels, zoos, museums and aquariums to reopen.

The states of Utah and Oregon suspended further reopening of their economies due to a spike in cases. The latest Chinese cases raised the mainland’s total to 83.132, with 4,634 deaths, according to the Health Commission. South Korea has reported 12,085 cases and 277 deaths.

Also Sunday, China's air regulator announced China Southern Airlines was required to suspend flights between Dhaka, Bangladesh, and the southern city of Guangzhou for four weeks after 17 passengers on Thursday's flight tested positive for the virus.

Beijing allows each airline to make one flight per week on each route. Under rules announced June 4, a route will be suspended for one week if five passengers on a flight test positive and four weeks if the number rises to 10.

In Europe, France’s highest administrative court ruled Saturday that virus concerns no longer justify banning public protests. The Council of State's decision allows for demonstrations and marches as long as health protections are respected. Events must be declared in advance to local authorities and not deemed a risk to public order.

The ruling came as an unauthorized protest against police violence and racial injustice wound down in Paris. Police had stopped at least 15,000 protesters from a planned march through the city Saturday, citing virus-related restrictions on any gathering of more than 10 people.

Associated Press writer Hyung-Jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, and AP journalists worldwide contributed to this report.

Despite risks, Greek islands keen to reopen to tourists

June 13, 2020

MYKONOS, Greece (AP) — The Greek island of Mykonos' newest bar-restaurant, Pelican, seemed to appear from nowhere. Tables, light fixtures and staff members with matching black face masks were still being slotted into place as Greeks visiting the island for a long holiday weekend trickled in to check out the place. The owner expects a slow slummer but says he's in a hurry to get back to business.

Greece is, too. Heavily reliant on tourism, the country is officially reopening to foreigners on Monday after closing its borders to most during the coronavirus pandemic. Its hopes are pinned on popular tourist destinations such as Mykonos and the islands of Rhodes, Corfu, Crete and Santorini, where regular ferry service already resumed and direct international flights are set to restart on July 1.

The Greek government has taken a gamble in deciding to relax COVID-19 health inspections at ports and airports in order to avoid another crippling recession, having only recently emerged from an economically painful period sparked by the international financial crisis.

Pelican's owner, Vasilis Theodorou, has a view of the situation that is more steadfast than starry-eyed. Mykonos would normally be packed in early June, but it's beaches were empty. Tourism might be down by as much as 80% this year, “so we’re waiting for the 20%, and we’re happy,” Theodorou said.

“No matter how much we wish for it and want it, it won’t be more than that," he said. "We expect that tourists from central Europe will come first, and hopefully Americans at a later stage. They are our best customers.”

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledged Saturday that Greece is prepared for a huge drop from the 33 million visitors who came to Greece last year. Addressing foreign journalists Saturday during a visit to Santorini, Mitsotakis went on a full sales pitch, touting everything from local products to the possibilities of year-round tourism in Greece..from

“We don’t know the real impact of (a truncated tourist season) on GDP,” he said, “A lot will depend on whether people feel comfortable to travel and whether we can project Greece as a safe destination.”

Timely and strictly enforced lockdown measures have so far kept the infection rate in Greece low and the death toll below 200. But reopening means islands — many with only basic health facilities and previously sheltered from the outbreak on the Greek mainland — will again be receiving visitors from around the world far in excess of the local population.

Mykonos Mayor Konstantinos Koukas told the AP that islanders feel prepared and have clear government guidelines. “We want to open back up and we are heading into the 2020 season with optimism,” he said. “But we are fully aware that ... (it) will be nothing like the season in 2019 — and hopefully nothing like the season in 2021.”

An island that to many epitomizes high-life and hedonism, Mykonos at this time of year would normally have high-paying customers spilling out of the bars and competing with cruise ship passengers for restaurant tables. VIP watchers have spotted pop star Katy Perry, soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo and other celebrities in recent summers.

This year, rented cars fill fenced-off lots, and most stores remain padlocked. Stray cats and the island’s mascot, a large, light pink pelican, roam the streets for company. Mosaic artist Irene Syrianou has kept her workshop open despite the lack of customers. “We watch the news and hope for the best,” she says, cracking pieces of marble into chips with a hammer.

“Nearly all my customers are American, whether it’s buying pieces of art, making orders online, or attending classes I give during the summer,” she said, before adding with a chuckle: “So it’s going to be a tough year. But I’m an artist and I’ve gone hungry before.”

The government's reopening policy has been criticized by the left-wing Syriza party, which argued tougher controls should be kept in place and arrivals limited to those recently tested in their countries of origin.

Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias insisted Friday that a safety net had been built for the islands — with connections to each other and to mainland hospitals for testing and health evacuations. Doctors and support staff will be deployed with the help of more than 100 mobile units in cars and speed boats. The Health Ministry will also have 11 futuristic-looking “transit capsules” for patients heading to intensive care facilities.

Greece’s gamble follows a decade of tourism growth and increasing reliance on the industry, with annual visitor numbers more than doubling since 2010 to 34 million last year and revenue up 80% to some 18 billion euros ($20.2 billion).

During many of those years, the country teetered on the brink of bankruptcy and exit from the euro currency bloc, while Greeks endured harsh economic austerity in return for three international bailouts.

Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis, once Greece’s top official for tax and revenues, said Friday that the country is determined to support its tourism industry. “We’re sending a clear message to the world's traveling public that we won’t take a step back, either in health safeguards or in opening up the country.”

And as the prime minister noted Saturday, there's always next year. “Hopefully in 2021, we’ll have a vaccine; 2021 will be a bumper year,” Mitsotakis said.

Iliana Mier on Mykonos and Demetris Nellas in Athens contributed.

2 Sydney statues of British explorer James Cook vandalized

June 15, 2020

SYDNEY (AP) — An Australian state government leader said on Monday she was considering tougher laws to protect monuments after two statues of British explorer James Cook were vandalized in Sydney. Two women were charged with defacing a statue with spray paint in downtown Hyde Park over Saturday night. Another statue was discovered spray painted in the eastern suburb of Randwick on Sunday morning in an unrelated attack, police said.

Cities around the world are taking steps to remove statues that represent cultural or racial oppression. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she would consider toughening laws to deter future vandalism.

“I wish it didn’t come to this and I want to stress that it’s only a very, very small percentage of the population that’s engaging in this activity, the vast majority of us don’t condone it, we think it’s disrespectful, it’s un-Australian,” she told reporters.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week apologized for words he used last week to reject calls for his Sydney electoral district of Cook to be renamed. Cook came ashore in the district in 1770 in what was to become the site of the first British colony in Australia.

Morrison apologized for saying Australia has been colonized without slavery after critics pointed out that tens of thousands of South Pacific islanders had been forced to labor on Australian sugar cane plantations in the 19th century and Australian indigenous people had been forced to work for wages that were never paid.

A part-time employee of the minor Greens party, Xiaoran Shi, 28, and her alleged accomplice Charmaine Morrison-Mills, 27, were released on bail from a Sydney court on Sunday on charges of damaging property and possessing a graffiti implement over the Hyde Park statue.

Greens state lawmaker David Shoebridge, for whom Shi works, said he was aware of the allegations. “They were not engaged in employment at the time of the incident which occurred well outside of work hours,” Shoebridge said in a statement.

Dana Reserve reopens after facelift

By JT - Jun 16,2020

AMMAN — The Kingdom’s largest nature reserve, the Dana Biosphere Reserve in southern Jordan, has reopened after rehabilitating its facilities to receive visitors after the tourism sector ground to a halt as a result of precautionary coronavirus measures and lockdowns.

Director of the reserve Amer Ruffou’ said that “good tourist activity” is being witnessed at the facility as local tourism is returning back to normal as part of the recovery phase following the government’s decision to open tourist attractions, hotels and restaurants across the country, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Ruffou’ said in a press release that the Dana Biosphere Reserve in the Tafileh Governorate, which covers a “spectacular landscape” along the face of the Great Rift Valley and is home to a variety of wildlife, had refurbished its facilities, including the Guest House, Al Rummanah Camp and the Old Tourist Village, as part of its preparations to welcome visitors.

The nature reserve’s management also launched promotional programs to attract tourist groups, he said, noting that the day and overnight visits are subject to public safety and health protection regulations to curb the spread of COVID-19, which are being observed by both visitors and workers.

Ruffou’ noted that a special team had been assigned to enforce safety precautions according to government instructions, with temperature-taking devices and sanitisers at the entrances of the guest house and the camp.

He said that the guest house consists of 24 hotel rooms and offers quality food and drinks, while the Al Rummanah Camp includes 30 tourist tents equipped with health facilities. The camp offers traditional meals, hot drinks and overnight accommodation.

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/news/local/dana-reserve-reopens-after-facelift.

Thousands form human chain in Berlin against racism

June 14, 2020

BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of people formed a human chain through Berlin on Sunday in a message against racism, discrimination and social inequality among other causes. Organizers of Sunday’s “Indivisible” demonstration, who planned a nine-kilometer (5 ½-mile) chain from the Brandenburg Gate southeast to the Neukoelln neighborhood, were told to require participants to wear masks. Protesters also were asked to keep well apart.

They were linked by colored ribbons, forming what organizers called a “ribbon of solidarity.” People appeared to keep to the hygiene restrictions during the event, which lasted a bit over an hour. Police put the number of participants at about 5,000, while organizers estimated it at over 20,000. There were smaller demonstrations in other German cities.

Berlin recently lifted coronavirus-related limits on the number of people who can attend demonstrations, though people are still required to keep at least 1.5 meters (five feet) apart in public. Last weekend, at least 15,000 people attended an anti-racism protest, in some cases closely packed together. That prompted criticism from officials, although they expressed understanding for the cause. It was one of many demonstrations worldwide in the aftermath of the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man, who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee to his neck.

Polish president calls LGBT 'ideology' worse than communism

June 13, 2020

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish President Andrzej Duda accused the LGBT rights movement Saturday of promoting a viewpoint more harmful than communism and said he agreed with another conservative politician who stated that “LGBT is not people, it's an ideology.”

Duda made his comments in the small southwestern town of Brzeg as he campaigns for reelection in Poland, a predominantly Catholic nation that spent more than four decades under communist governments.

Gay rights is emerging as a key campaign theme in the presidential election as the race grows close between Duda, backed by the nationalist conservative ruling party, and Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who has called for tolerance for gays and lesbians.

Duda, who is 48, told his supporters that his parents' generation did not struggle to cast off communism only to now accept “an ideology” that he thinks "is even more destructive to the human being." The president said that during Poland's communist era, regimes ensured survival by indoctrinating the youngest generation.

“That was Bolshevism. It was the ideologizing of children,” he said. “Today, there are also attempts to push an ideology on us and our children, but different. It’s totally new, but it is also neo-Bolshevism.”

Earlier in the week, Duda signed a declaration drafted for the stated purpose of helping families that included language on “protecting children from LGBT ideology” with a ban on “propagating LGBT ideology in public institutions."

Many conservative politicians in Poland say they are not against gay men and lesbians as individuals, but insist they oppose the goals of a civil rights movement they claim is imported from abroad and threatens to sexualize young people.

But gay and lesbian Poles and liberal Poles say government officials are adopting a language of dehumanization. They believe Duda and others are targeting homosexuals to curry favor with the powerful Catholic church — which faces allegations of covering up clerical abuse — and shore up support among conservative voters ahead of the election.

Some analysts also suspect that Duda and the governing Law and Justice party are making a bid for far-right voters who will mostly support the candidate of a smaller party, Confederation, in the election's first round but whose votes will be up for grabs in a runoff.

The election is scheduled for June 28, with a second round featuring the two top candidates two weeks later on July 12 if none of the contenders wins at least 50% outright. While there are now 10 candidates in the race, polls predict a runoff between Duda and Trzaskowski, who belongs to the centrist and pro-European Union Civic Platform party.

In recent days, a string of prominent conservative politicians have spoken out about “LGBT ideology.” The deputy head of the governing party, Joachim Brudzinski, wrote Thursday on Twitter that “Poland without LGBT is most beautiful.” His tweet included an image of Jesus and eggs in a bird nest — a bird family “realizing God's plan,” he said.

Asked about the tweet at a Friday rally, presidential challenger Trzaskowski said: “If you use the words ‘Poland without someone’ — and it doesn't matter who — that is dividing Poles, and we have had enough of dividing Poles.”

“I think anyone who uses this kind of language will pay a political price,” Trzaskowski said. Another conservative lawmaker got kicked off air in the middle of a Friday interview with private broadcaster TVN for saying “LGBT is not people, it's an ideology.”

Duda said at the rally that he agreed with that idea. “They are trying to convince us that they are people, but this is an ideology,” Duda said to applause and chants of “Andrzej Duda!”.

World joins US protests but leaders restrained about Trump

June 13, 2020

BERLIN (AP) — People have taken to the streets of Berlin, London, Paris and other cities around the world to demonstrate in support of Black Lives Matter protesters in the United States and to vent anger over President Donald Trump’s response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.

But at the top, the leaders of traditional allies of the United States have taken pains to avoid criticizing Trump directly, walking a fine line to reconcile international diplomacy with domestic outrage.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau let silence speak for itself when asked to comment on the decision to forcibly clear peaceful protesters outside the White House to make way for a Trump photo-op at a nearby church, standing pensively at his lectern apparently mulling his answer for more than 20 seconds before answering that Canada also suffered from “systemic discrimination” — never mentioning the American president.

“We need to be allies in the fight against discrimination, we need to listen, we need to learn, and we need to work hard to fix, to figure out how we can be part of the solution on fixing things,” he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sidestepped questions from ZDF public television about Trump last week, saying the killing of Floyd was "really, really terrible. Racism is something terrible, and society in the United States is very polarized.”

When pressed, she conceded that Trump’s “political style is a very controversial one” but would go no further when asked if she had confidence in him. A combination of factors are at work, including diplomatic courtesy but also pragmatism based on the possibility that Trump will be reelected to another four years in November, said Sudha David-Wilp, deputy director of the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund think tank.

“It wouldn't be proper for his peers to criticize, especially when it's very obvious that they are concerned that the United States is going through an incredibly difficult time — you have the triple whammy of an economic depression, health crisis and now, of course, social unrest due to questions of racism,” she said.

But she said it's difficult for leaders like Trudeau and Merkel, who "are seen as defenders of liberal democracy, and President Trump has trampled on many of the values that undergird liberal democracy, such as the protection of minorities, such as the freedom of assembly, such as the freedom of the press.”

Merkel’s verbal gymnastics could have been anticipated — in more than 14 years as chancellor, she has steered clear of ever critiquing allied world leaders — but even leaders who typically support Trump, like Hungary’s Viktor Orban or Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu have stayed silent on this issue.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has sought to cultivate close ties with Trump, called Floyd's death “appalling” and said people have a “right to protest to make their feelings known about injustices such as what happened to George Floyd” but urged peaceful demonstrations.

Britain has seen several protests turn violent, and last weekend demonstrators in Bristol toppled the statue of a 17th-century slave trader. They also spray-painted an iconic statue of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill in London, calling him “a racist.”

Asked Wednesday in Parliament to name Trump's good qualities, Johnson stuck to generalities. “Mr. Trump, he has, amongst many other things, he is president of the United States, which is our most important ally in the world today,” Johnson said. "Whatever people may say about it, whatever those on the left may say about it, the United States is a bastion of peace and freedom and has been for most of my lifetime.”

France’s Emmanuel Macron, who has in the past steered clear of criticizing Trump specifically but has been vocal in speaking out against policies like the wine tariffs introduced by the administration, has not made a public appearance since Floyd was killed on May 25.

Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped responding. Three days later, another black man writhed on the street in Paris as a white police officer pressed a knee to his neck during an arrest.

France had several protests over the past week, with growing pressure on the government to address accusations of brutality and racism within the police force. Macron’s office said the president is closely monitoring the events in France and the United States but “he did not wish to speak for the moment.” He's expected to address the nation Sunday but his office did not give further details.

A few leaders have spoken out more strongly, like Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who criticized the response to the protests in the U.S. as “authoritarian” when pressed in parliament last week for an explicit response on Floyd’s killing.

“I share and stand in solidarity with the demonstrations that are taking place in the United States,” he said. And Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg told the country’s NTB news agency last week that she was “deeply concerned about what is happening in the United States.”

“The fundamental challenge of making minorities feel part of a society is essential. We must all work with that,” she said. “One has to try to bridge the gap. It is not good for any society to be as deeply divided as the United States is now.”

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo said last week that it "cannot be right that, in the 21st century, the United States, this great bastion of democracy, continues to grapple with the problem of systemic racism.” And South African President Cyril Ramaphosa noted the “naked racism in the United States,” calling the protests a turning point. Neither mentioned Trump by name.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not weighed in, but Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the situation in the U.S. “ridiculous.” “I would like to believe that before showing their zeal in protecting the rights of the ‘suppressed’ and ‘dissenters’ in other countries, U.S. authorities will start to scrupulously observe democratic standards and ensure the freedoms of their citizens at home,” she said.

Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Jill Lawless and Sylvia Hui in London, Aritz Parra in Madrid, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Cara Anna in Johannesburg and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Paris marchers decry racism; far right rallies in London

June 13, 2020

PARIS (AP) — Paris riot police fired tear gas Saturday to disperse a largely peaceful but unauthorized protest against police brutality and entrenched racism, as France’s minorities increasingly push back against a national doctrine of colorblindness that has failed to eradicate discrimination.

In London, far-right activists and soccer rowdies scuffled with police while trying to “guard” historical monuments that have been targeted recently by anti-racism protesters for their links to slavery and British colonialism.

The events in the two European capitals reflected the global emotion unleashed by the death of George Floyd in the United States and the ensuing reckoning with racial injustice and historical wrongs. In both cities, protesters defied restrictions on public gatherings imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Myriam Boicoulin, 31, who was born in the French Caribbean island of Martinique, said she marched in Paris on Saturday because she “wants to be heard.” “The fact of being visible is enormous,” Boicoulin said. As a black woman living in mainland France, she said, “I’m constantly obliged to adapt, to make compromises, not make waves — to be almost white, in fact.”

“It’s the first time people see us,” she told The Associated Press. “Let us breathe.” At least 15,000 people rallied in Paris, led by supporters of Adama Traore, a French black man who died in police custody in 2016 in circumstances that remain unclear despite four years of back-and-forth autopsies. No one has been charged in the case.

“We are are all demanding the same thing - fair justice for everyone,” Traore’s sister Assa told the rally. Angry shouts rose from the racially diverse crowd as a small group of white extreme-right activists climbed a building overlooking the protest and unfurled a huge banner denouncing “anti-white racism.”

Building residents then reached out of their windows and tore part of the banner down, one raising his fist in victory. Officers prevented people attending the main rally from approaching the counter-demonstrators, but didn't detain the far-right activists until two hours later, further angering the crowd below.

Riot police then fired tear gas and charged a few unruly members of the main protest, urging them to disperse. Hundreds of other protesters took a knee and stayed for hours despite the police pressure. The crowd had initially planned to march through the city, but police decided to block them from marching, citing coronavirus concerns.

Similar protests were also held Saturday in cities around France, from Rouen in Normandy in the northwest to Marseilles on the Mediterranean. Some demonstrators were encouraged that the French government responded to the past couple of weeks of Floyd-inspired protests by banning police chokeholds and launching investigations of racist comments in private Facebook and Whatsapp groups for police.

In London, a Black Lives Matter group called off a demonstration scheduled for Saturday, saying the presence of counter-protesters would make it unsafe. Some protesters still gathered at Hyde Park to denounce racism while hundreds of far-right activists demonstrated, despite strict police restrictions and warnings to stay home to contain the coronavirus.

Many from the far-right camp gathered around a statue of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Cenotaph war memorial, which were both boarded up to guard against vandalism. Officials put protective panels around the monuments amid fears that far-right activists would seek confrontations with anti-racism protesters under the guise of protecting statues.

Some activists threw bottles and cans at officers, while others tried to push through police barriers. Riot police on horses pushed the crowd back. The protesters, who appeared to be mostly white men, chanted “England” and sang the national anthem.

“I am extremely fed up with the way that the authorities have allowed two consecutive weekends of vandalism against our national monuments,” Paul Golding, leader of the far-right group Britain First, told the Press Association.

Scotland Yard said five people were arrested for violent disorder, assault on police and possession of weapons or drugs. Six police officers suffered minor injuries. Monuments around the world have become flash points in demonstrations against racism and police violence after the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed a knee to his neck.

In Britain, the protests have triggered a national debate about the legacy of empire and its role in the slave trade. A statue of slave trader Edward Colston was hauled from its plinth by protesters in the city of Bristol on Sunday and dumped in the harbor. In London, Churchill’s statue was daubed with the words “was a racist.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted Friday that while Churchill “sometimes expressed opinions that were and are unacceptable to us today,” he was a hero and “we cannot now try to edit or censor our past.” Churchill, whose first term spanned 1940-45, has long been revered for his leadership during World War II.

Protests denouncing racism also took place elsewhere in the U.K. In southern England's coastal city Brighton, police said some 10,000 people turned up for a peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration.

Hui reported from London. Angela Charlton and Boubkar Benzabat in Paris contributed.

Water vapor in the atmosphere may be prime renewable energy source

Tel Aviv, Israel (SPX)
Jun 10, 2020

The search for renewable energy sources, which include wind, solar, hydroelectric dams, geothermal, and biomass, has preoccupied scientists and policymakers alike, due to their enormous potential in the fight against climate change. A new Tel Aviv University study finds that water vapor in the atmosphere may serve as a potential renewable energy source in the future.

The research, led by Prof. Colin Price in collaboration with Prof. Hadas Saaroni and doctoral student Judi Lax, all of TAU's Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, is based on the discovery that electricity materializes in the interaction between water molecules and metal surfaces. It was published in Scientific Reports on May 6, 2020.

"We sought to capitalize on a naturally occurring phenomenon: electricity from water," explains Prof. Price. "Electricity in thunderstorms is generated only by water in its different phases - water vapor, water droplets, and ice. Twenty minutes of cloud development is how we get from water droplets to huge electric discharges - lightning - some half a mile in length."

The researchers set out to try to produce a tiny low-voltage battery that utilizes only humidity in the air, building on the findings of earlier discoveries. In the nineteenth century, for example, English physicist Michael Faraday discovered that water droplets could charge metal surfaces due to friction between the two. A much more recent study showed that certain metals spontaneously build up an electrical charge when exposed to humidity.

The scientists conducted a laboratory experiment to determine the voltage between two different metals exposed to high relative humidity, while one is grounded. "We found that there was no voltage between them when the air was dry," Prof. Price explains.

"But once the relative humidity rose above 60%, a voltage began to develop between the two isolated metal surfaces. When we lowered the humidity level to below 60%, the voltage disappeared. When we carried out the experiment outside in natural conditions, we saw the same results.

"Water is a very special molecule. During molecular collisions, it can transfer an electrical charge from one molecule to the other. Through friction, it can build up a kind of static electricity," says Prof. Price.

"We tried to reproduce electricity in the lab and found that different isolated metal surfaces will build up different amounts of charge from water vapor in the atmosphere, but only if the air relative humidity is above 60%. This occurs nearly every day in the summer in Israel and every day in most tropical countries."

According to Prof. Price, this study challenges established ideas about humidity and its potential as an energy source. "People know that dry air results in static electricity and you sometimes get 'shocks' you when you touch a metal door handle. Water is normally thought of as a good conductor of electricity, not something that can build up charge on a surface. However, it seems that things are different once the relative humidity exceeds a certain threshold," he says.

The researchers, however, showed that humid air may be a source of charging surfaces to voltages of around one volt. "If a AA battery is 1.5V, there may be a practical application in the future: to develop batteries that can be charged from water vapor in the air," Prof. Price adds.

"The results may be particularly important as a renewable source of energy in developing countries, where many communities still do not have access to electricity, but the humidity is constantly about 60%," Prof. Price concludes.

Source: Bio Fuel Daily.
Link: https://www.biofueldaily.com/reports/Water_vapor_in_the_atmosphere_may_be_prime_renewable_energy_source_999.html.

Backlash grows to Johnson's suspension of UK Parliament

August 29, 2019

LONDON (AP) — Opposition to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's move to suspend Parliament intensified Thursday, with the head of the Labor Party vowing "to politically stop him" from pushing through a chaotic no-deal Brexit.

Johnson's tactic gave lawmakers little time to prevent Britain from crashing out of the European Union without an agreement on Oct. 31. But a backlash to the maneuver has unified the disparate political opposition, bringing protests, legal action and a petition with more than 1 million signatures.

The confrontation is almost certain to increase next week when lawmakers return from their summer recess for a brief session. They are pledging to challenge what Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has called Johnson's "smash-and-grab raid against our democracy."

"What we're going to do is try to politically stop him on Tuesday with a parliamentary process in order to legislate to prevent a no-deal Brexit and also to try and prevent him shutting down Parliament in this utterly crucial period," Corbyn told Sky News. "We believe we can do it."

Outside the House of Commons, lawmakers giving interviews had to speak over chants of "Stop the coup! Stop the coup!" Smaller rallies took place in other towns and cities on Wednesday after Johnson announced his move.

A petition on a government website demanding that Parliament not be suspended has gotten more than 1 million signatures — guaranteeing that it will be considered for debate. Lawmakers asked a Scottish court to rule that suspending Parliament is illegal. Businesswoman Gina Miller, who won a ruling in the Supreme Court in 2017 that stopped the government from triggering the countdown to Brexit without a vote in Parliament, has another legal challenge in the works. A human rights campaigner has sued in Northern Ireland, arguing that the historic Good Friday accord that brought peace is in jeopardy because of Johnson's actions.

Bishops from the Church of England expressed their concern about the "economic shocks" of a no-deal Brexit on the poor and other vulnerable people. House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed the fury and described Johnson's move as constitutional and proper.

"I think the outrage is phony and it is created by people who don't want us to leave the European Union and are trying very hard to overturn the referendum result and don't want the benefits of leaving the European Union," he told the BBC.

The action by Johnson, who became prime minister last month, prompted ruptures across the political spectrum, including among members of his Conservative Party. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who has differed with Johnson in the past, resigned her leadership post Thursday. Though the popular leader cited family reasons, the timing of such a decision following Johnson's seismic move suggested that she disagreed with his tactics.

Others in the party are more obviously concerned. Senior Conservative lawmaker Ken Clarke was among those describing the suspension of Parliament as "absurd." "He has just given in to the fanatic element of his followers and decided to go hell for leather," Clarke said. "I hope it will bring together the sensible majority of Parliament who will find some alternative."

The outpouring of anger followed three years of tensions after the 2016 referendum on EU membership, in which 52% of voters favored withdrawing. The EU is adamant it will not renegotiate the agreement struck with former Prime Minister Theresa May on the terms of Britain's departure and the framework of future relations. Without such a deal, Britain faces a chaotic Brexit that economists warn would disrupt trade by imposing tariffs and customs checks between Britain and the bloc, lower the value of the pound and plunge the U.K. into recession. May resigned in defeat after failing three times to secure Parliament's backing for her divorce deal with the bloc.

Johnson has told European officials that it won't be possible to agree a deal on Britain's departure from the bloc without the removal of controversial language on a "backstop" aimed at avoiding the return of a border between EU member Ireland and Britain's Northern Ireland. He said at the close of the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France, on Monday, that he was "marginally more optimistic," of progress.

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, warned Johnson that he won't back down. "In all circumstances, the EU will continue to protect the interests of its citizens and companies, as well as the conditions for peace and stability on the island of Ireland," Barnier said.

Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Helsinki, Finland, and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed.

UK opposition reacts with fury to Parliament suspension

August 28, 2019

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday to suspend Parliament, throwing down the gauntlet to his critics and causing outrage among opposition leaders who will have even less time to thwart a no-deal Brexit.

Johnson told lawmakers he has decided to ask the monarch to give her speech that outlines the government's legislative agenda on Oct. 14. Since Parliament is normally suspended before the speech, the decision means opposition lawmakers would be unlikely to have enough time to pass laws blocking the U.K.'s exit from the European Union without a negotiated deal on Oct. 31.

Though Johnson had previously refused to rule out suspending Parliament, the timing of the decision took lawmakers — many of whom are on vacation — by surprise. They reacted with fury, including John Bercow, Speaker of the lower House of Commons, who was not told in advance of Johnson's plan.

"Shutting down Parliament would be an offense against the democratic process and the rights of Parliamentarians as the people's elected representatives," he said. "Surely at this early stage in his premiership, the prime minister should be seeking to establish rather than undermine his democratic credentials and indeed his commitment to Parliamentary democracy.

The pound plunged on the news, down to $1.2196 from almost $1.2300 the previous day. A day earlier, opposition lawmakers declared that they would work together to try to stop a departure from the European Union without an agreement, setting up a legislative challenge to Johnson and his promise to complete the divorce by Oct. 31, come what may.

Some 160 lawmakers have signed a declaration pledging "to do whatever is necessary" to prevent Johnson from bypassing Parliament in his plans. Johnson's do-or-die promise has raised worries about a disorderly divorce that would see new tariffs on trade and border checks between Britain and the EU, seriously disrupting business.

Johnson has told European Union officials it won't be possible to agree a deal on Britain's departure from the trading bloc without the removal of controversial language on a "backstop," aimed at preventing the return of a border between EU member Ireland and Britain's Northern Ireland. He said at the close of the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France, Monday that he was "marginally more optimistic," of progress.

SpaceX, Amazon, OneWeb seek communications dominance in space

by Paul Brinkmann
Washington DC (UPI)
Jun 11, 2020

The developers of new communications satellite constellations - connecting virtually every part of the Earth - are engaged in a multibillion-dollar battle to develop dominance in space and the immense revenue that could bring, industry experts say.

Elon Musk's Starlink is part of a new wave of ventures by several companies to cover the globe with faster, better internet by using constellations of satellites that number in the thousands. At stake is the future of communications on Earth and in space. Competitors include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Project Kuiper and startup company OneWeb, which not long ago filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of U.S. bankruptcy laws.

But the road to profitability is not navigated simply by launching scores of satellites at a single shot. Other factors come into play.

For example, Musk acknowledged recently that the cost of the user terminal is the biggest challenge for his project. He previously said he hoped to develop a terminal that would sell for under $300, but analysts say that will be difficult.

"Getting the signal to the customer [affordably] has always been the issue with new communications satellite service," said Hamed Khorsand, founder of California-based BWS Financial, which provides research on technology and communications companies.

"You can't just put up satellites and think that will solve everything. You have to have revenue," Khorsand said.

Both Starlink and OneWeb began in 2015. As OneWeb continued to develop, Starlink launched repeatedly. As of June 3, Musk's SpaceX has launched 480 Starlink spacecraft.

The company has said it anticipates to invest about $10 billion in Starlink, with a potential for $30 billion to $50 billion in annual revenue if the system becomes fully operational.

Musk said on Twitter recently that limited service could be tested by around August - when SpaceX aims to have 800 satellites in orbit - in what is called a beta validation. In technology development, beta validations attempt to demonstrate a new software or service to a limited number of potential users.

Enter Bezos, whose plans for space communications services under the Project Kuiper mantle, are shrouded in secrecy.

In the battle for funding, Bezos' deep pockets only grew deeper as the coronavirus pandemic sent more people online to shop. Analysts following the high-tech satellite slugfest say they have no idea how much Bezos - who consistently ranks among the wealthiest people in the world - is investing in Project Kuiper.

Amazon, though, aims to launch more than 3,200 satellites, according to filings with the Federal Communications Commission. But details of the constellation remain mostly under wraps as the company builds a new headquarters and prototype manufacturing laboratories near Seattle.

Like Starlink, OneWeb said it aimed to provide reliable internet service to remote regions. But OneWeb had only three launches and ran into funding trouble just as the pandemic took hold.

The company was testing and developing technology with 74 satellites in orbit and permits for up to 720.

In bankruptcy court, OneWeb reported assets of $3.3 billion, the most significant of which are radio-frequency licenses and licenses to receive signals in nations around the globe, while its debts and liabilities were $2.1 billion.

Pandemic hurt

Despite the positive balance sheet, the company said financial market fallout from the pandemic interrupted efforts to raise more money for expansion of the satellite network. As a startup, the company had no significant revenue.

OneWeb, based in Virginia and London, continues to operate with a reduced staff since it filed for bankruptcy in March and laid off about 450 workers - more than three-fourths of its payroll.

The satellite startup filed a new application with the FCC in late May to boost the number of planned satellites to 48,000.

OneWeb's move to seek more satellite permits is aimed at making it more attractive to a new owner, or for a sale of the existing satellites, analyst Khorsand said.

"It's really more about whether anyone can use the satellites that are up there already. I just don't know if they are compatible with any other company's technology, because most of the technology is pretty proprietary," he said.

Despite backing from major players like Airbus and Richard Branson's Virgin Group, OneWeb made its bankruptcy filing after a big investor, Japan-based Softbank Group, withheld additional funding in March as the pandemic spread and a recession took hold.

One veteran player had planned to join the fray, as well.

Intelsat reborn

Intelsat, founded in 1964, has been reborn with new investments several times. It planned a communications satellite constellation, but filed for bankruptcy protection in May as financial fallout from the pandemic hit many industries. The company cited only "substantial legacy debt" in its bankruptcy announcement.

Observers of the satellite communications industry are well-acquainted with struggling startups and bankruptcy - due to the high cost of getting underway and the time needed to become fully operational.

Costs increase more because federal and international regulations require thruster systems on the communications satellites to avoid potential collisions.

Khorsand noted that another firm in the competition, Iridium Communications, went bankrupt in 1999 after launching a communications satellite constellation. The company later emerged from bankruptcy and now provides service to major customers, including the U.S. military. It has 75 satellites in orbit.

With lucrative military contracts providing an enticement, SpaceX also is gunning for that market. The company said it already has worked with the Air Force to test the signal from Starlink.

SpaceX eventually wants to have an armada of satellites that would beam data around the globe, using laser optics in the vacuum of space that could move data close to the speed of light.

Iridium is the only commercial provider that presently uses such laser optics, said Chris Quilty, founder of Florida-based Quilty Analytics, an aerospace analyst firm.

New generation

Before such space laser connections can happen, Starlink will need a new generation of Starlink satellites, Quilty said. The current Starlink satellites in orbit aren't designed for that technology, he said.

"Starlink will have ground stations, but over the ocean, there are no ground stations, so it has to have a crosslink based in space to beam super-fast service around the world," Quilty said.

For Musk and Bezos, dominating the future of space communication also could benefit their long-term goals to explore the moon and Mars, Quilty said.

"You can't fund Mars exploration only on the launch business, especially if SpaceX is successful at shrinking the cost of launch dramatically, which is the company's goal," Quilty said.

"If Musk is successful at establishing a colony on Mars, a good communications link to Earth will be vital, and Starlink would help that."

Astronauts return to space from U.S. soil.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/SpaceX_Amazon_OneWeb_seek_communications_dominance_in_space_999.html.

First Arab mission to Mars designed to inspire youth

By Dana Moukhallati
Dubai (AFP)
June 9, 2020

The first Arab space mission to Mars, armed with probes to study the Red Planet's atmosphere, is designed to inspire the region's youth and pave the way for scientific breakthroughs, officials said Tuesday.

The unmanned probe Al-Amal -- Hope in Arabic -- is to blast off from a Japanese space centre on July 15, with preparations now in their final stages.

The project is the next giant step for the United Arab Emirates, whose colossal skyscrapers and mega-projects have put it on the world map.

The UAE sent its first astronaut into space last year and is also planning to build a "Science City" to replicate conditions on Mars, where it hopes to build a human settlement by 2117.

Omran Sharaf, the mission's project manager, said that apart from the ambitious scientific goals, the mission was designed to hark back to the region's golden age of cultural and scientific achievements.

"The UAE wanted to send a strong message to the Arab youth and to remind them of the past, that we used to be generators of knowledge," he told AFP.

"People of different backgrounds and religion coexisted and shared a similar identity," he said of the Arab world, where many countries are today wracked by sectarian conflicts and economic crises.

"Put your differences aside, focus on building the region, you have a rich history and you can do much more."

- Narrow window -

Sarah al-Amiri, the mission's deputy project manager, said it was imperative that the project have a long-term scientific impact.

"It is not a short-lived mission, but rather one that continues throughout the years and produces valuable scientific findings -- be it by researchers in the UAE or globally," she told AFP.

She said that the probe will provide a comprehensive image of the weather dynamics in Mars' atmosphere with the use of three scientific instruments.

The first is an infrared spectrometer to measure the planet's lower atmosphere and analyse the temperature structure.

The second, a high-resolution imager that will provide information about the ozone; and a third, an ultraviolet spectrometer to measure oxygen and hydrogen levels from a distance of up to 43,000 kilometers from the surface.

The three tools will allow researchers to observe the Red Planet "at all times of the day and observe all of Mars during those different times", Amiri said.

"Something we want to better understand, and that's important for planetary dynamics overall, is the reasons for the loss of the atmosphere and if the weather system on Mars actually has an impact on loss of hydrogen and oxygen," she said, referring to the two components that make up water.

Sharaf said that fueling of the probe is to begin next week.

It is scheduled to launch on July 15 from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center and return to Earth in February 2021, depending on many variables including the weather.

"If we miss the launch opportunity, which is between mid-July and early August, then we'd have to wait for two years for another window," Sharaf said.

But hopes are high that the mission will take place as scheduled, and not be derailed by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a new sign of warming ties between Israel and Gulf Arab nations, the Jewish state Tuesday wished the UAE success with the mission.

We "hope this step will contribute towards deeper cooperation between all countries in the region," its foreign ministry's "Israel in the Gulf" Twitter account wrote in Arabic.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: https://www.marsdaily.com/reports/First_Arab_mission_to_Mars_designed_to_inspire_youth_999.html.

Kids are building rockets from their bedrooms

Wellington NZ (SPX)
Jun 11, 2020

Peoply, the brainchild of 21-year-old Wellingtonian, Matt Strawbridge, has partnered with Rocket Lab to offer a rocket and space themed online program for kids ages 7-12. Each week, kids delve into a different topic that fosters curiosity and interest in the natural world through exploration and play.

Kids get to explore topics such as building and launching real-life rockets, Rocket Lab missions, the future of space, jobs in space, and even space entrepreneurship. Students join classes by jumping into a live "classroom" with up to six other students around the country. Each class has a "coach" who facilitates, inspires, and supports students.

"We are really excited to launch the Rocket Lab program for kids in New Zealand and the US. Outer space is something that fascinates and entices so many kids all over the world, and this program is designed to help foster this curiosity and discovery of something so much bigger than ourselves", Strawbridge said.

Strawbridge has been obsessed with space and rockets since he was young, which is where the idea for this program came from. 'It's been such a privilege to work with Rocket Lab in developing this content for kids. This program is something that I would have loved to participate in growing up."

Entrepreneurship and thinking differently are themes that run through the program. "Rocket Lab is such an innovative company, and Peter Beck (the CEO) is a leader that I'm really inspired by. He's passionate about entrepreneurship, and so the final lesson of the program is teaching kids all about entrepreneurship and making sure that they know that they can become entrepreneurs, too."

As well as developing important skills such as creativity, communication, and problem-solving, Peoply is designed to connect kids with others. "Enhancing connection and promoting mental wellness couldn't be more important than it is right now."

Kids can attend as many Peoply classes each week as they wish. Other programs include Discovering Your Superpowers, Role Models, and Mindfulness. "We hope that classes can bring a sense of routine and regularity for these kids - just as they would go to dance class or a swimming lesson after school, they can come to Peoply."

Peoply was launched after Strawbridge spent years creating programs for dyslexic kids at his first company, Dyslexia Potential. Strawbridge founded Dyslexia Potential after his experience struggling to navigate the school system while having dyslexia. The Ministry of Education recently announced that Dyslexia Potential programs and resources are going to be available for free, to all families and schools within New Zealand.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Kids_are_building_rockets_from_their_bedrooms_999.html.

Trump fumes as protesters stake out festive zone in Seattle

June 12, 2020

SEATTLE (AP) — Following days of violent confrontations with protesters, police in Seattle have largely withdrawn from part of a neighborhood where protesters have created a festival-like scene that has President Donald Trump fuming.

Trump taunted Gov. Jay Inslee and Mayor Jenny Durkan about the situation on Twitter and said the city had been taken over by “anarchists." “Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will,” Trump tweeted.

The president continued his complaints in a Thursday interview with the Fox News Channel. “If we have to go in, we’re going to go in," Trump said. "These people are not going to occupy a major portion of a great city.”

The “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” stretches over a couple city blocks and sprung up after police on Monday removed barricades near the East Precinct and basically abandoned the structure after officers used tear gas, pepper spray and flash bangs over the weekend to disperse demonstrators they said were assaulting them with projectiles.

The president has sparred before with Inslee and Durkan — both liberal Democrats. Inslee previously sought his party's presidential nomination. Inslee tweeted Thursday that state officials will not allow threats of military violence from the White House. “The U.S. military serves to protect Americans, not the fragility of an insecure president,” he tweeted.

The zone set up by protesters stretches a portion of Capitol Hill, where dozens of people show up to listen to speakers calling for police reform, racial justice and compensation for Native groups on whose land the city of Seattle was founded.

Signs proclaim “You are entering free Capitol Hill” and “No cop co-op” along sidewalks where people sell water and other wares. On Thursday, speakers used a microphone to discuss their demands and how to address the police presence after they visited the precinct during the day. Down the street, artists continued painting a block-long “Black Lives Matter” mural on the street.

“The people that you see here have all come together because we see injustice in our system and we want to be part of the solution," said Mark Henry Jr. of Black Lives Matter. Henry said Trump's rant about the gathering was unfounded. “Donald Trump can call us a terrorist if he likes to, but what you see out here is people coming together and loving each other,” he said.

Over the weekend, police were sharply criticized by City Council members and other elected leaders. Since officers dialed back their tactics, the demonstrations have largely been peaceful. Police officials say they are looking to reopen the precinct. At a news conference Wednesday, Assistant Chief Deanna Nollette said the barriers were removed from the front of the building after it became a flashpoint between officers and protesters.

Nollette said the precinct has been boarded up because of credible threats that it would be vandalized or burned. She offered no details about the threats and no fires have been reported at the site. She said protesters have set up their own barricades, which are intimidating some residents.

Police Chief Carmen Best posted a video message to officers Thursday in which she said the decision to leave the Capitol Hill precinct wasn’t hers and she was angry about it. She also reiterated that police had been harassed and assaulted during protests.

“Ultimately, the city had other plans for the building and relented to severe public pressure,” Best said. At a Thursday news conference neither Best nor Durkan made it clear who decided that police should leave the precinct.

Durkan said regarding Trump's statements about Seattle that one of the things the president will never understand is that listening to community is not a weakness, but a strength. “A real leader would see nationwide protest, the grief in so many communities of color, particularly our black communities, and the call to be an anti-racist society, as an opportunity for America. An opportunity to build a better nation,” she said.

Protesters have said they want to see the precinct turned into a community center or used for purposes other than law enforcement. City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant disputed accounts of violence or intimidation by protesters within the area on Capitol Hill and said it was more like a street fair with political discussions and a drum circle.

"The right wing has been spreading rumors that there is some sort of lawlessness and crime taking place at the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, but it is exactly the opposite of that,” said Sawant, a socialist and a critic of Durkan and the police.

Sawant said she wants the precinct to be "converted into a public resource that will actually be helpful to society.”

Associated Press writer Lisa Baumann contributed from Seattle.

Jefferson Davis statue torn down in Richmond, Virginia

June 11, 2020

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Protesters tore down a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis along Richmond, Virginia's famed Monument Avenue on Wednesday night. The statue in the former capital of the Confederacy was toppled shortly before 11 p.m., news outlets reported.

Richmond police were on the scene and videos on social media showed the monument being towed away as a crowd cheered. About 80 miles (130 kilometers) away, protesters in Portsmouth beheaded and then pulled down four statues that were part of a Confederate monument on Wednesday, according to media outlets.

Efforts to tear one of the statues down began around 8:20 p.m., but the rope they were using snapped, The Virginian-Pilot reported. The crowd was frustrated by the Portsmouth City Council's decision to put off moving the monument. They switched to throwing bricks from the post that held the plaque they had pulled down as they initially worked to bring down the statue.

The Pilot reports that they then started to dismantle the monument one piece at a time as a marching band played in the streets and other protesters danced. A protester in his 30s was hit in the head as the monument fell, causing him to lose consciousness, Portsmouth NAACP Vice President Louie Gibbs told the newspaper. The crowd quieted as the man was taken to a hospital. His condition was not immediately clear.

A flag tied to the monument was lit on fire, and the flames burned briefly at the base of one of the statues. The actions come amid national protests over the death of George Floyd who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck.

A statue of Christopher Columbus in Richmond was torn down by protesters, set on fire and then submerged into a lake on Tuesday. News outlets reported the Columbus statue was toppled less than two hours after protesters gathered in the city’s Byrd Park chanting for the statue to be taken down.

The death of Floyd, who was black, has prompted similar Confederate monument removals around the nation. Some people say the tributes inappropriately glorify people who led a rebellion that sought to uphold slavery. Others say their removal amounts to erasing history.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam last week ordered the removal of an iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which is four blocks away from where the Davis statue stood. A judge on Monday issued an injunction preventing officials from removing the monuments for the next 10 days.