Chanting “We are culture,” matadores and bullfighting supporters demonstrated on Saturday across Spain, seeking government support for the sector after the coronavirus pandemic halted its season.Major festivals such as Sevilla’s April Fair and Pamplona’s San Fermin in July have been canceled, and bulls have been sent from ranches straight to the slaughterhouse. The shutdown could deal a fatal blow to a controversial spectacle that has struggled for survival in recent decades.“The COVID-19 crisis has had an enormous impact … It has reduced almost by 100 percent the scheduled events for the year and all the families that live off bullfighting have been too affected,” said Juan de Castilla, 25, a Colombian bullfighter at a protest in the central city of Guadalajara.There were also protests on Saturday in Seville, Madrid and Barcelona, among other cities.Several hundred masked people marched in Guadalajara, waving Spanish flags with bull figures and holding banners in support of the traditionally emblematic Spanish spectacle.The Spanish government has allowed bullfights to resume but with only half occupancy and a limit of 800 attendees in regions with lesser lockdown restrictions.“We have come to proclaim that the bullfighting world is important for society, Spain and Guadalajara,” said Jesus Romero, 58.He said bullfights, also known as “corridas,” should resume soon since Spain is gradually lifting its lockdown — one of the strictest in Europe. The country has now contained the coronavirus spread, which has killed over 27,000 people.Although the big festivals still draw crowds, public interest in bullfighting has dwindled considerably.Over 56 percent of people were against bullfighting, 24.7 percent in favor and 18.9 percent indifferent in a poll published last year by news website El Espanol. Support was significantly higher among conservative voters, it showed.
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Month: June 2020
Atlanta Police Chief Resigns After Fatal Police Shooting
Atlanta’s police chief resigned Saturday hours after a black man was fatally shot by officers in a struggle following a field sobriety test. Authorities said the slain man had grabbed an officer’s Taser but was running away when he was shot.Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the resignation of Police Chief Erika Shields at a news conference as roughly 150 protesters marched outside the Wendy’s restaurant where Rayshard Brooks, 27, was fatally shot late Friday. The mayor also said she called for the immediate firing of the officer who opened fire at Brooks.“I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force and have called for the immediate termination of the officer,” Bottoms said.She said it was Shields’ decision to step aside as police chief and that she would remain with the city in an undetermined role. Interim Corrections Chief Rodney Bryant will serve as interim police chief until a permanent replacement is found.The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the shooting, said the confrontation started with officers responding to a complaint that a man was sleeping in a car blocking the restaurant’s drive-through lane. The GBI said Brooks failed a field sobriety test and then resisted officers’ attempts to arrest him.The GBI released security camera video of the shooting Saturday. The footage shows a man running from two police officers as he raises a hand, which is holding some type of object, toward an officer a few steps behind him. The officer draws his gun and fires as the man keeps running, then falls to the ground in the parking lot.Taser apparently pointed at officerGBI Director Vic Reynolds said Brooks had grabbed a Taser from one of the officers and appeared to point it at the officer as he fled, prompting the officer to reach for his gun.“In a circumstance like this where an officer is involved in the use of deadly force, the public has a right to know what happened,” GBI Director Vic Reynolds told a news conference.The security camera video does not show Brooks’ the initial struggle with police.The officers involved in the shooting were not identified.Brooks died after being taken to an Atlanta hospital. One of the officers was treated and released for unspecified injuries.The shooting came at a time of heightened tension over police brutality and calls for reforms across the U.S. following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Atlanta was among U.S. cities where large crowds of protesters took to the streets.A crowd of roughly 150 demonstrators, including members of Brooks’ family, gathered Saturday outside the restaurant where he was shot. Police shut down streets for several blocks around the restaurant as protesters marched peacefully in the streets.Among them was Crystal Brooks, who said she was Rayshard Brooks’ sister-in-law.“He wasn’t causing anyone any harm,” she said. “The police went up to the car and even though the car was parked they pulled him out of the car and started tussling with him.”She added: “He did grab the Taser, but he just grabbed the Taser and ran.”’The people are upset’Gerald Griggs, an attorney and a vice president of Atlanta’s NAACP chapter, estimated there were 150 people protesting at the scene as he walked with them Saturday afternoon.“The people are upset,” Griggs said. “They want to know why their dear brother Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed when he was merely asleep on the passenger side and not doing anything.”Even though Brooks struggled with officers, Griggs said, “they could have used nonlethal force to take him down.”Reynolds said his agents worked through the night interviewing witnesses and reviewing video. He said their findings showed that Brooks tried to fight off two officers when they tried to arrest him and at one point managed to take a Taser away from one of them.A security camera recorded Brooks “running or fleeing from Atlanta police officers,” Reynolds said. “It appears that he has in his hand a Taser.”During a short foot chase, Brooks “turns around and it appears at that time he points a Taser at an Atlanta officer,” Reynolds said. That’s when the officer drew his gun and shot Brooks, he said, estimating the officer fired three times.Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Timothy Peek told reporters late Friday that both officers deployed their Tasers in an attempt to subdue the suspect but were unable to “stop the aggression of the fight.”District attorney’s involvementReynolds said his agents would turn over results of their investigation to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, whose office will decide whether criminal charges are warranted against either of the officers.Howard said Saturday his office had already gotten involved.“My office has already launched an intense, independent investigation of the incident,” Howard said in a statement, saying members of his staff “were on scene shortly after the shooting, and we have been in investigative sessions ever since to identify all of the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident.”
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North Korean Leader’s Sister Threatens Military Action Against South Korea
The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has issued an ominous military threat toward South Korea, vowing unspecified retaliation over South Korean activists who have floated anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the North.In a cryptic statement late Saturday, Kim Yo Jong vowed her country would “soon take a next action” against South Korea — a move she suggested would be carried out by the country’s military.“By exercising my power authorized by the Supreme Leader, our Party and the state, I gave an instruction to the arms of the department in charge of the affairs with enemy to decisively carry out the next action,” Kim said in the state-run Korean Central News Agency.Threat on military pactIt was the most direct threat yet during North Korea’s recent effort to unilaterally raise tensions with the South. Last week, Pyongyang said it would cut off all official communications channels with Seoul and threatened to scrap an inter-Korean military agreement meant to reduce tensions.Some analysts say North Korea appears to be laying the groundwork for a significant provocation, possibly in an attempt to gain economic or other concessions from South Korea.“If North Korea hopes a new inter-Korean crisis can bring about a rapid and significant change in Seoul’s approach — in a way that could lead to large-scale economic aid to Pyongyang, for example — it may feel a major escalation of tensions is the only way,” tweeted Chad O’Carroll, CEO of Korea Risk Group, which produces the influential NK News website.FILE – U.S. Vice President Mike Pence inspects the Cheonan, a South Korea warship that was sent to the bottom of the Yellow Sea, March 26, 2010, by an explosion blamed on a North Korean torpedo.North Korea has a long history of deadly military provocations against the South. In March 2010, a North Korean torpedo sank a South Korean warship off Korea’s west coast, killing 46 sailors. A few months later, the North shelled the border island of Yeonpyeong, killing several more people.The latest escalation in inter-Korean tensions coincides with rumors about the health of Kim Jong Un. Kim, a prolific cigarette smoker who has gained a massive amount of weight in recent years, has made very few public appearances in 2020.Earlier this year, unconfirmed media reports suggested Kim had undergone a heart operation. Some newspapers inaccurately reported that he had died. He later appeared in public with no obvious signs of new health problems.Amid the rumors, Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, has taken on a bigger leadership role, frequently appearing in state media and issuing directives, especially related to inter-Korean relations.FILE – South Korean activists shout slogans with national flags as police block them from trying to release balloons with leaflets, during a rally at the border city with North Korea, in Paju, South Korea, April 15, 2016.This month, Kim has taken aim at North Korean defectors in the South, who for years have floated anti-regime leaflets across the border.South Korea’s left-leaning government, which desperately wants to improve ties with the North, has tried to placate Pyongyang’s concerns by vowing to legislate a formal ban on such launches and cracking down on groups sending the leaflets.Seoul also is attempting to move ahead with inter-Korean economic and other projects, which have been held back by international sanctions on North Korea’s nuclear program.But despite those steps, North Korea has continued to generate the sense of a crisis with Seoul, even allowing rallies in Pyongyang to protest the leaflet launches.“Getting stronger day by day are the unanimous voices of all our people demanding for surely settling accounts with the riff-raff who dared hurt the absolute prestige of our Supreme Leader representing our country,” Kim said in her statement Saturday.“I feel it is high time to surely break with the south Korean authorities,” she said. “We will soon take a next action.”“Rubbish must be thrown into dustbin,” she added.
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Relief, but Also Worry, as Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar Reopens
Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, one of the world’s oldest and largest, is open for business after being closed for 70 days as part of Turkey’s COVID lockdown. The reopening early this month is an important symbolic step in what the government calls its normalization efforts, a move that cannot come soon enough for the 30,000 people working at the bazaar. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.Producer: Rod James. Videographer: Berke Bas.
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WHO Expects to Quickly Tackle DR Congo’s New Ebola Outbreak
The World Health Organization says lessons learned from previous outbreaks of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo and effective therapeutics will allow it to more quickly contain a new outbreak of the deadly disease in Equateur Province.U.N. health officials report there is no link between the Ebola outbreak declared June 1 in Mbandaka, Equateur Province, and the epidemic, which broke out nearly two years ago in DR Congo’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
They say the experience gained, however, and lessons learned from tackling this deadly disease in eastern DRC will help them to more quickly stop the spread of the virus in Equateur Province in the western part of the country.
WHO Emergency Operations Manager Michel Yao says the World Health Organization has more than 20 staff on the ground and is ready to send in more, if necessary. He tells VOA that the WHO is working with partners to set up treatment centers, to monitor risks and respond promptly to identify and trace new cases. “Our objective this time is to work through local authorities that were already trained,” Yao said. “They had some experience. So, we have just to refresh and we have to remain behind coaching them. Lesson learned remain the critical one is to work through the community.” The epidemic in eastern DRC, which has infected more than 3,460 people and killed 2,280, finally appears to be winding down. The latest reports from western DRC, where the outbreak has just started, put the number of confirmed and probable cases at 12, including nine deaths.
Two years ago, the same region was stricken with Ebola. It took less than four months to contain the outbreak with the help of an experimental vaccine, which provided protection against the virus.
Yao says the vaccines, which since have proven to be safe and effective, will help to speedily contain the virus. So far, he says, more than 600 people have been vaccinated in Mbandaka and Wangata health zones. He says 3,000 doses of the vaccine are in place and more are expected to be delivered soon.
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Trump to West Point Grads: ‘We Are Ending the Era of Endless Wars’
President Donald Trump, facing criticism in recent days for plans to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Germany, told West Point’s graduating class on Saturday that their job will be to defend “America’s vital interests” and not fight “endless wars” in faraway lands.
Trump’s reported plans to withdraw 9,500 troops from Germany, one of America’s strongest allies, and relocate them to Poland and elsewhere has drawn the ire of German officials and raised concerns in the U.S. Congress about a retreat from the world stage.
At West Point, Trump Stresses Unity, Nation’s Core ValuesHis commencement speech at the US Military Academy emphasized unity at a time when the commander in chief’s relationship with military leaders has become strained and questions have arisen about the role of soldiers in a civil societyIn his commencement address to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Trump told more than 1,000 graduating cadets, arrayed in a social-distancing pattern, that the job of the American soldier is not to rebuild foreign nations but “defend, and defend strongly, our nation from foreign enemies.”“We are ending the era of endless wars,” Trump said. It is not the job of American forces “to solve ancient conflicts in faraway lands that many people have not even heard of,” he said.
As president, Trump has pulled troops from Syria and pushed U.S. allies worldwide to pay more for the commitment of American forces to defend them.
In relatively rare criticism from his own party, 22 Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee wrote to Trump saying a troop cut in Germany would hurt national security and could encourage Russian Aggression.
Trump came to West Point at a time of tension with U.S. military leaders over whether the military should be used to quell nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd, a black man, by police on May 25.
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley said on Thursday he should not have joined Trump as he walked from the White House to a nearby church for a photo opportunity after authorities cleared the way of protesters using tear gas and rubber bullets.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper also split with Trump over whether active duty troops should be deployed to gain control of cities convulsed by protests.
Trump has since expressed confidence in Esper and brushed off Milley’s comments.
In his remarks on Saturday, Trump only touched obliquely on the debate over racial injustice in the United States, saying the cadets were examples of America’s diversity.
“You have come from the farms and the cities, from states big and small, and from every race, religion, color, and creed. But when you entered these grounds, you became part of one team and one family, proudly serving one American nation,” he said.
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Paris Marchers Decry Racism, Far Right Rallies in London
Paris riot police fired tear gas Saturday to disperse a largely peaceful but unauthorized protest of 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.”The Paris march in Paris was 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 unruly members of the main protest, urging them to disperse. The crowd initially planned to march through the city, but police decided to block them from moving, citing coronavirus concerns.Similar protests were also held Saturday in cities around France, from Rouen in Normandy in the northwest to Marseille 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 who also planned to demonstrate 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.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. ___Hui reported from London. Angela Charlton and Boubkar Benzabat in Paris contributed.
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At West Point, Trump Stresses Unity, Nation’s Core Values
President Donald Trump on Saturday highlighted the diversity of West Point’s graduating class and appealed for America’s newest officers to uphold the country’s core values, a speech emphasizing unity at a time when the commander in chief’s relationship with military leaders has become strained and questions have arisen about the role of soldiers in a civil society.Trump also told them that under his administration, American soldiers no longer will be responsible for rebuilding foreign nations.”It is not the duty of U.S. troops to solve ancient conflicts in faraway lands that many people have never even heard of,” he said. “We are not the policeman of the world, but let our enemies be on notice: If our people are threatened, we will never, ever hesitate to act. And when we fight, from now on, we will only fight to win.”Trump Threatens Wide Use of Military Force Against ProtestersDeclaring ‘acts of domestic terror’ have been committed by violent demonstrators, president vows to end ‘riots and lawlessness’ that has spread throughout countryTrump’s commencement speech came as arguments rage over his threat to use American troops on U.S. soil to quell protests stemming from the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.To an audience of more than 1,100, he said members of the Class of 2020 “come from the farms and the cities, from states big and small, and from every race, religion, color and creed. But when you entered these grounds, you became part of one team, one family, proudly serving one American nation.:The president said they “became brothers and sisters pledging allegiance to the same timeless principles, joined together in a common mission: to protect our country, to defend our people, and to carry on the traditions of freedom, equality and liberty that so many gave their lives to secure.” Tensions between the White House and the military have escalated since nationwide protests began over the death of Floyd, a black man who was pinned by the neck by a white police officer for several minutes despite saying he couldn’t breathe.Trump seemingly alluded to the protests, saying: “What has made America unique is the durability of its institutions against the passions and prejudices of the moment. When times are turbulent, when the road is rough, what matters most is that which is permanent, timeless, enduring and eternal.”He said that from the U.S. Military Academy came “the men and women who fought and won a bloody war to extinguish the evil of slavery within one lifetime of our founding.”Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, the West Point superintendent and the first African American to hold the post, told the cadets that their “challenges ahead will require moral and physical courage.”In the past two weeks, Trump yelled at Defense Secretary Mark Esper for publicly opposing Trump’s call to use active-duty troops to crack down on the demonstrations. Trump then shut down Esper’s attempt to open a public debate on removing the names of Confederate Army officers from military bases.Gen. Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, further risked Trump’s ire Thursday by declaring it had been “a mistake” for him to accompany Trump on a June 1 walk through Lafayette Square. The trip ended with the president holding up a Bible and posing for the news media outside St. John’s Church, which was damaged by fire during the unrest.Milley’s comments amounted to an extraordinary expression of regret by Trump’s chief military adviser, who said his appearance led to the perception of the military becoming embroiled in politics, which in his view — one shared by Esper — is a threat to democracy.The events have stirred debate within the military and among retired officers. More than 500 West Point graduates from classes spanning six decades signed an open letter reminding the Class of 2020 of its commitment to avoid partisan politics.The letter, published this week on Medium, also alluded to the problems Esper and Milley encountered at the White House after Floyd’s death.Esper, who did not attend the graduation, told cadets in a video address that he expects them “to remain committed to our core values — loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. These principles will guide you in challenging times and in the face of new and emerging threats.”Trump’s appearance had been criticized as a political move that would put the graduates at risk in order to put Trump on a grand stage in a picturesque part of New York, the one remaining military service academy where he had yet to give a graduation address. Historic West Point is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) up the Hudson River from New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak. Army officials defended the move, saying the cadets would have had to brave the health risks of traveling back to campus anyway for their final medical checks, equipment and training. The cadets had been home since spring break in early March, just before the coronavirus was declared a pandemic and Trump announced a national emergency. They returned to campus in late May. A group called Veterans For Peace announced a protest outside West Point’s main gate Saturday against what it called “Trump’s dangerous narcissistic Photo-Op Stunt at the West Point Graduation.”The recently commissioned second lieutenants wore masks as they marched onto West Point’s parade field, instead of into Mitchie Stadium, the longtime commencement venue. They sat 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart, in keeping with federal guidelines to practice social distancing during the outbreak. They removed the masks when the ceremony began. Instead of shaking hands with the president, graduates stepped up on a platform before the main dais and saluted. Guests were not allowed; family and friends had to watch online.The graduating class immediately underwent coronavirus testing when they returned to campus in late May. More than 15 class members who tested positive were isolated for two weeks before they were allowed to rejoin their classmates.
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George Floyd’s Death Sparks Calls for UN Debate
A group of African countries has sent a letter to the president of the U.N. Human Rights Council calling for a debate on racially inspired human rights violence when the council meets next week. The request was sparked by the death of African American George Floyd while in police custody in the U.S. In its letter, the African group says the events that have unfolded since the May 25 death of George Floyd have sparked protests globally against the injustice and brutality that people of African descent face daily in many parts of the world.
It says the current racially inspired human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality and violence against peaceful protest makes a debate airing these festering issues a matter of great urgency.
It says the death of George Floyd is not an isolated issue. The group of African ambassadors that drafted the letter notes many people of African descent have suffered the same fate due to unchecked police brutality. However, the crimes have gone largely unnoticed.
U.N. human rights spokesman Rolando Gomez tells VOA the debate is likely to occur at the council Tuesday or Wednesday, when the U.N. body takes up agenda item 9, which deals with issues of racism and discrimination.
“Structural racism and police violence are issues, which are commonly raised by states and civil society at meetings of the council, as are unlawful killings by police and racial bias in policing,” Gomez said. “And, the aim, of course, is to prevent such abhorrent acts.”
The African group’s letter to the council president notes the uprising in the U.S. is a protest against systemic racism that produces state-sponsored racial violence and impunity for the perpetrators. It adds the protests the world is witnessing are a rejection of the racial inequality and discrimination suffered by black people and other people of color in the United States.
Earlier this week, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Andrew Bremberg, issued a statement expressing American horror, anger, and grief at the senseless death of George Floyd.
He said the public reaction following this grave tragedy demonstrated the American peoples’ desire to overcome racial injustice and to achieve a more equal and just society.
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Professional Football Resumes in Italy but Still in Empty Stadiums
Professional soccer has resumed in Italy after a three-month stoppage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Juventus played against AC Milan in Turin in the second leg of the Italian cup semi-final. To the happiness of football fans all over Italy, matches in the country’s top league will resume June 20. However, stadiums remain empty of fans for the time being.When the Italian government took the difficult decision to suspend the football season on March 9 due to COVID-19, it was a sad moment for fans across the country. The indefinite suspension of the national sport was tough for many to digest. The resumption of matches Friday night was a moment of joy, despite the fact the game was nothing to write home about. Playing at the Allianz Stadium in Turin were host Juventus and AC Milan – in a game that would qualify one of the teams for the final of the Italian Cup to be played in Rome Wednesday. The atmosphere was surreal with no one in the stands and quality on both sides after such a long break from the field clearly lacking.Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci spoke after the game.Bonucci said his emotions are strange, playing in an empty stadium after 90 days of no competition. He said it was difficult at the beginning and AC Milan played well despite only having a 10-man team, but said Juventus managed to reach their objective to play in the final.Italy’s top football division, Serie A, will get underway again on June 20. Before the season can end, there are still 110 regular-season games left to play and 4 make-up games. Italian soccer authorities are hoping and working towards re-opening stadiums in July and allowing at least some fans to watch the games live.But until then, most fans will be watching the games from home because even at sports bars social distancing rules are in place. Some soccer teams have thought up innovative ways to avoid the sadness of having to play in front of empty seats.Lazio, one of the two top-division teams in Rome, launched the idea of fans purchasing cardboard cutouts of their image to be placed in the stands when the team is playing. The proceeds will go to the Red Cross. Other teams will play recorded cheers after a team score. The aim is to maintain a semblance of the enthusiastic atmosphere at Italian football games. Inter Milan has said it will be using lights and graphic effects during their matches.
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Australian Indigenous Groups Vow to Protect Sacred Sites From Mining
Mining giant BHP has suspended plans to expand a mine in Western Australia because of fears it could destroy dozens of indigenous sacred sites. The decision follows anger over the destruction of 46,000-year-old aboriginal caves by another resources company, Rio Tinto, last month. The ancient Juukan Gorge caves in Western Australia’s Pilbara region were destroyed by Rio Tinto as it expanded a multi-billion-dollar iron ore mine. There were protests outside its offices in Perth. The company has apologized for the distress it caused, but indigenous leader Robert Eggington says it was vandalism on a massive scale.“Something you could equate to as if they blew up the Pyramids in Egypt because they have either had uranium or found gold under the Pyramids,” Eggingtonsaid. “It is about time that the politicians and the social structures of this country start to put some proper laws in place to stop this on lands that once destroyed can never come back.”Several prehistoric artefacts have been found at the remote site about 1,000 kilometers north of Perth.The mining giant did have government approval to destroy the ancient rock shelters, but officials now concede the destruction of the caves was a “genuine mistake.” Campaigners want the right to appeal against ministerial decisions and aboriginal heritage laws in Western Australia that date back to the 1970s are being reviewed. Indigenous elder Delores Corbett says sacred sites must be protected.“I just hope this never ever happens again in Australia in regards to Rio (Tinto), mining companies, anyone blowing up without fully understanding the hurt that Aboriginal people go through,” Corbett said.The backlash has prompted another resources giant, BHP, to halt plans to destroy up to 40 cultural sites to expand a mine in Western Australia. It says it will consult closely with aboriginal groups. In a statement, the company said it had a “commitment to understanding the cultural significance of the region.” Land lies at the heart of indigenous culture, and it has immense spiritual, physical and social importance. The earth is seen as the Mother of creation, and a living, breathing mass that is full of secrets and wisdom.Aboriginal Australians make up about 3 per cent of the population. Elders say that colonization by the British in 1788, and the dispossession that followed, has inflicted great harm on people who have lived in Australia for 65,000 years.
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Australian Man Sentenced to Death in China for Drug Smuggling
An Australian man has been sentenced to death in China for drug trafficking.The Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court published a one-sentence statement on its website about the sentence, without providing details on charges. It only said that the man was sentenced Wednesday and that all his personal property would be confiscated, the typical language from the communist country.In its reaction, Australia’s foreign ministry said, “we are deeply saddened to hear of the verdict made in his case,” adding that Australia “opposes the death penalty, in all circumstances for all people.”Australian media identified the man as Cam Gillespie, saying he had been held in China for seven years. Gillespie was arrested at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in December 2013, according to Chinese media. He was in possession of more than 7.5 kilograms of methamphetamines, found in his checked luggage.China is Australia’s largest trading partner and sends a large number of students to Australia, as well as tourists.
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UN Chief: ‘Deeply Shocked’ by Mass Graves in Libya
A spokesman for U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres says the secretary is “deeply shocked by the discovery of multiple mass graves in recent days, the majority of them in Tarhouna” in Libya.Tarhouna was a stronghold of renegade General Khalifa Haftar and his forces, but it recently was recaptured. Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric says the U.N. chief has called for “a thorough and transparent investigation, and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.” Guterres also has offered U.N. assistance, Dujarric says, “to secure the mass graves, identify the victims, establish causes of death and return the bodies to next of kin.”Philippe Nassif, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa, told the Associated Press that he wanted his agency or the U.N. “to go in and collect evidence of potential war crimes and other atrocities … so eventually a process takes place where justice can be served.”Tarhouna is 65 kilometers southeast of Libya’s capital, Tripoli.
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Americans Honor Flag Day
Sunday is Flag Day in the United States, an unofficial holiday commemorating the adoption of the American flag 243 years ago by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.While the day passes without many Americans realizing its significance, some residents proudly display the stars-and-stripes outside their homes. The U.S. flag has gone through many iterations over the years, with Congress ordering changes in its design up until 1960, including the addition of stars whenever a new state joined the union. Today’s flag has 13 horizontal stripes, representing the original 13 colonies and 50 stars representing the 50 states. First U.S. President George Washington described the flag: “We take the stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her. And the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty.” The Betsy Ross flag is an early design of the U.S. flag, named for Pennsylvania flag maker Betsy Ross. The pattern is 13 alternating red-and-white stripes with stars in a field of blue in the upper left corner canton. (Photo: Diaa Bekheet)American tradition has it that Pennsylvania seamstress Betsy Ross sewed the first official U.S. flag. Ross often mended the clothes of Washington before he became president.In 1812, the American flag that flew at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland during the War of 1812 inspired Francis Scott Key’s poem-turned anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”Flag day was first recognized during World War I when President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation in 1916 for a nationwide observance. However, it wasn’t until after WWII that Congress passed legislation signed by President Harry Truman in 1949 officially approving a national Flag Day on June 14. Many Americans do not realize the significance of the day or mark it in any way, likely because June 14 is not an official holiday and people do not have time off from work.
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WHO: Pandemic’s Drain on Health Systems Leaves Women’s Health at Risk
Health systems around the world have been drained by COVID-19 pandemic, leaving few resources for anything else. As a result, World Health Organization Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday, women may face a “heightened risk of dying from complications of pregnancy and childbirth.”Migrant workers from Bihar state, wearing masks as a precaution against the coronavirus, wait for buses to catch home bound train in Kochi, southern Kerala state, India, June 12, 2020.India reported its largest surge in new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour period Saturday. The 11,458 new infections surpassed the previous record of 10,956 cases reported Friday. The surge comes as India has reopened stores, shopping malls, manufacturing plants and places of worship. The country’s two-month lockdown that began in March has been eased, with restrictions remaining largely intact in high-risk areas. India’s record surge of new cases propels the massive South Asian nation to fourth place worldwide, surpassed only by the U.S., Brazil and Russia. China’s National Health Commission reported 11 new cases Saturday. The agency said five of the new infections were detected in people who had traveled overseas, while the remaining six were locally transmitted in Beijing. The coronavirus emerged in China late last year. U.S. President Donald Trump is delivering the commencement address at the West Point Military Academy Saturday. The graduation ceremonies will be held on the academy’s parade grounds instead of the football stadium so the cadets can be seated six feet apart, in keeping with COVID-19 distancing guidlines. Family and friends will not be allowed to attend. The cadets may remove their masks, if they want, once they are seated. Trump does not like to wear a mask. A woman wears a protective mask as she walks past a Primark store in Oxford Street, ahead of the reopening of the non-essential businesses on Monday, June 15, as some of the coronavirus lockdown measures are eased, in London, June 12, 2020.Norway said Friday it would maintain travel restrictions for visitors from Sweden. Unlike other European countries, Sweden did not impose lockdown measures, opting only to advise social distancing and banning gatherings of more than 50 people. While new infections are slowing in most of Europe, the European Union’s health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, said Friday that countries should be prepared to reimpose restrictions if they see a rise in infections. A major study forecasts millions sinking into extreme poverty because of the coronavirus pandemic. A report by the United Nations University says the economic fallout could plunge 395 million people into conditions in which they are forced to live on $1.90 a day or less – the definition of extreme poverty. A separate World Bank report this week put that number between 70 million and 100 million people. “The outlook for the world’s poorest looks grim unless governments do more and do it quickly and make up the daily loss of income the poor face,” one of the U.N. report’s authors, Andy Sumner, said. “The result is progress on poverty reduction could be set back 20-30 years and making the UN goal of ending poverty look like a pipe dream.” The U.N. report says South Asia – India in particular – will see the largest number of people sinking into extreme poverty, followed by sub-Saharan Africa. Experts are appealing to economically powerful nations, such as the United States, to forgive the debts of developing countries that take a strong hit from the pandemic.
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Botswana’s Capital City Back on COVID-19 Lockdown
Botswana’s director of health services, Dr Malaki Tshipayagae, announced Friday that the capital, Gaborone, will return to extreme lockdown after eight new COVID-19 cases at a private hospital.“We are concerned because we did not know if it is a communal infection or a hospital-acquired infection, or [it] indicates significant local transmission, or whether there is some form of contamination at the facility,” Tshipayagae said. “As a result, because of those factors, or unknowns, we have decided to shut down or lock down Greater Gaborone.” A further four imported cases were reported Friday, bringing the country’s COVID-19 tally to 60.Tshipayagae said the army and police would resume patrols, effective Friday midnight.“Movement of people will be through a permit and there would be patrols to ensure that rules are adhered to.” People going about their activities in Gaborone, Botswana, before authorities announced the city’s return to lockdown on June 12, 2020. (Mqondisi Dube/VOA)Most economic activities had resumed as the diamond-rich country emerged from a seven-week lockdown that ended May 21.Schools had reopened but will now close in Gaborone and surrounding areas until further notice.Gaborone resident Mpho Marumo said the latest development is a drawback.“It’s quite disappointing really,” Marumo said. “We were looking forward to… the schools, the kids. It’s a really big setback, the schools had reopened and now closed.”Prior to Friday’s 12 cases, Botswana only had one active case. The country has recorded one COVID-19 death.
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Public Health Workers Fighting Virus Face Growing Threats
Emily Brown was stretched thin.As the director of the Rio Grande County Public Health Department in rural Colorado, she was working 12- and 14-hour days, struggling to respond to the pandemic with only five full-time employees for more than 11,000 residents. Case counts were rising.She was already at odds with county commissioners, who were pushing to loosen public health restrictions in late May, against her advice. She had previously clashed with them over data releases and control and had haggled over a variance regarding reopening businesses.But she reasoned that standing up for public health principles was worth it, even if she risked losing the job that allowed her to live close to her hometown and help her parents with their farm.Then came the Facebook post: a photo of her and other health officials with comments about their weight and references to “armed citizens” and “bodies swinging from trees.”The commissioners had asked her to meet with them the next day. She intended to ask them for more support. Instead, she was fired.”They finally were tired of me not going along the line they wanted me to go along,” she said.In the battle against COVID-19, public health workers spread across states, cities and small towns make up an invisible army on the front lines. But that army, which has suffered neglect for decades, is under assault when it’s needed most.FILE – This March 2019 photo provided by the Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials shows Emily Brown, director for the Rio Grande County Public Health department in rural Colorado.Officials who usually work behind the scenes managing tasks like immunizations and water quality inspections have found themselves center stage. Elected officials and members of the public who are frustrated with the lockdowns and safety restrictions have at times turned public health workers into politicized punching bags, battering them with countless angry calls and even physical threats.On Thursday, Ohio’s state health director, who had armed protesters come to her house, resigned. The health officer for Orange County, California, quit Monday after weeks of criticism and personal threats from residents and other public officials over an order requiring face coverings in public.As the pressure and scrutiny rise, many more health officials have chosen to leave or have been pushed out of their jobs. A review by Kaiser Health News and The Associated Press finds at least 27 state and local health leaders have resigned, retired or been fired since April across 13 states.From North Carolina to California, they have left their posts because of a mix of backlash and stressful, nonstop work, all while dealing with chronic staffing and funding shortages.Some health officials have not been up to the job during the biggest health crisis in a century. Others previously had plans to leave or cited their own health issues.But Lori Tremmel Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said the majority of what she calls an ”alarming” exodus resulted from increasing pressure as states reopen. Three of those 27 were members of her board and well known in the public health community — Rio Grande County’s Brown; Detroit’s senior public health adviser, Dr. Kanzoni Asabigi; and the head of North Carolina’s Gaston County Department of Health and Human Services, Chris Dobbins.Asabigi’s sudden retirement, considering his stature in the public health community, shocked Freeman. She also was upset to hear about the departure of Dobbins, who was chosen as health director of the year for North Carolina in 2017. Asabigi and Dobbins did not reply to requests for comment.FILE – In this Feb. 27, 2020, photo Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton holds up a mask as she gives an update on the state’s COVID-19 preparedness and education efforts.”They just don’t leave like that,” Freeman said.Public health officials are “really getting tired of the ongoing pressures and the blame game,” Freeman said. She warned that more departures could be expected in the coming days and weeks as political pressure trickles down from the federal to the state to the local level.From the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, federal public health officials have complained of being sidelined or politicized. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been marginalized; a government whistleblower said he faced retaliation because he opposed a White House directive to allow widespread access to the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.In Hawaii, Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard called on the governor to fire his top public health officials, saying she believed they were too slow on testing, contact tracing and travel restrictions. In Wisconsin, several Republican lawmakers have repeatedly demanded that the state’s health services secretary resign, and the state’s conservative Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that she had exceeded her authority by extending a stay-at-home order.With the increased public scrutiny, security details — like those seen on a federal level for Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert — have been assigned to top state health officials, including Georgia’s Dr. Kathleen Toomey after she was threatened. Ohio’s Dr. Amy Acton, who also had a security detail assigned after armed protesters showed up at her home, resigned Thursday.In Orange County, in late May, nearly 100 people attended a county supervisors meeting, waiting hours to speak against an order requiring face coverings. One person suggested that the order might make it necessary to invoke Second Amendment rights to bear arms, while another read aloud the home address of the order’s author, the county’s chief health officer, Dr. Nichole Quick, as well as the name of her boyfriend.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 11 MB480p | 15 MB540p | 20 MB720p | 45 MB1080p | 83 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioQuick, attending by phone, left the meeting. In a statement, the sheriff’s office later said Quick had expressed concern for her safety following “several threatening statements both in public comment and online.” She was given personal protection by the sheriff.But Monday, after yet another public meeting that included criticism from members of the board of supervisors, Quick resigned. She could not be reached for comment. Earlier, the county’s deputy director of public health services, David Souleles, retired abruptly.An official in another California county also has been given a security detail, said Kat DeBurgh, the executive director of the Health Officers Association of California, declining to name the county or official because the threats have not been made public.Many local health leaders, accustomed to relative anonymity as they work to protect the public’s health, have been shocked by the growing threats, said Theresa Anselmo, the executive director of the Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials.After polling local health directors across the state at a meeting last month, Anselmo found about 80 percent said they or their personal property had been threatened since the pandemic began. About 80 percent also said they’d encountered threats to pull funding from their department or other forms of political pressure.To Anselmo, the ugly politics and threats are a result of the politicization of the pandemic from the start. So far in Colorado, six top local health officials have retired, resigned or been fired. A handful of state and local health department staff members have left as well, she said.”It’s just appalling that in this country that spends as much as we do on health care that we’re facing these really difficult ethical dilemmas: Do I stay in my job and risk threats, or do I leave because it’s not worth it?” Anselmo asked.In California, senior health officials from seven counties, including Quick and Souleles, have resigned or retired since March 15. Dr. Charity Dean, the second in command at the state Department of Public Health, submitted her resignation June 4. Burnout seems to be contributing to many of those decisions, DeBurgh said.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 9 MB480p | 13 MB540p | 18 MB720p | 36 MB1080p | 72 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioIn addition to the harm to current officers, DeBurgh is worried about the impact these events will have on recruiting people into public health leadership.”It’s disheartening to see people who disagree with the order go from attacking the order to attacking the officer to questioning their motivation, expertise and patriotism,” said DeBurgh. “That’s not something that should ever happen.”Some of the online abuse has been going on for years, said Bill Snook, a spokesperson for the health department in Kansas City, Missouri. He has seen instances in which people took a health inspector’s name and made a meme out of it, or said a health worker should be strung up or killed. He said opponents of vaccinations, known as anti-vaxxers, have called staffers “baby killers.”The pandemic, though, has brought such behavior to another level.In Ohio, the Delaware General Health District has had two lockdowns since the pandemic began — one after an angry individual came to the health department. Fortunately, the doors were locked, said Dustin Kent, program manager for the department’s residential services unit.Angry calls over contact tracing continue to pour in, Kent said.In Colorado, the Tri-County Health Department, which serves Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties near Denver, has also been getting hundreds of calls and emails from frustrated citizens, deputy director Jennifer Ludwig said.Some have been angry their businesses could not open and blamed the health department for depriving them of their livelihood. Others were furious with neighbors who were not wearing masks outside. It’s a constant wave of “confusion and angst and anxiety and anger,” she said.Then in April and May, rocks were thrown at one of their office’s windows — three separate times. The office was tagged with obscene graffiti. The department also received an email calling members of the department “tyrants,” adding “you’re about to start a hot-shooting … civil war.” Health department workers decamped to another office.Although the police determined there was no imminent threat, Ludwig stressed how proud she was of her staff, who weathered the pressure while working round-the-clock.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 9 MB480p | 13 MB540p | 16 MB720p | 27 MB1080p | 56 MB Embed” />Copy Download Audio”It does wear on you, but at the same time, we know what we need to do to keep moving to keep our community safe,” she said. “Despite the complaints, the grievances, the threats, the vandalism — the staff have really excelled and stood up.”The threats didn’t end there, however: Someone asked on the health department’s Facebook page how many people would like to know the home addresses of the Tri-County Health Department leadership. “You want to make this a war??? No problem,” the poster wrote.Back in Colorado’s Rio Grande County, some members of the community have rallied in support of Brown with public comments and a letter to the editor of a local paper. Meanwhile, COVID-19 case counts have jumped from 14 to 49 as of Wednesday.Brown is grappling with what she should do next: Dive back into another strenuous public health job in a pandemic or take a moment to recoup?When she told her 6-year-old son she no longer had a job, he responded: “Good, now you can spend more time with us.”This story is a collaboration between The Associated Press and Kaiser Health News, which is a nonprofit, editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation. KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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Military Role in Civil Unrest under Scrutiny Amid Protests
The role of the U.S. military has come under intense scrutiny amid civil unrest erupting in the United States after African American George Floyd died in police custody last month. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb explores the importance of the military’s long tradition of remaining apolitical in order to best represent and protect the American people it serves.
Produced by: Bakhtiyar Zamanov
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Treasury Chief Refusing to Disclose Recipients of Virus Aid
Building ramparts of secrecy around a $600 billion-plus coronavirus aid program for small businesses, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has moved from delay to denial in refusing outright to disclose the recipients of taxpayer-funded loans.Mnuchin told Congress at a hearing this week that the names of loan recipients and the amounts are “proprietary information.” While he claimed the information is confidential, ethics advocates and some lawmakers see the move as an attempt to dodge accountability for how the money is spent.Businesses struggled to obtain loans in the early weeks of the program, and several hundred publicly traded companies received loans despite their likely ability to get the money from private financial sources. Publicly shamed, a number of big corporations said they would return their loans.“Given the many problems with the program, it is imperative American taxpayers know if the money is going where Congress intended — to the truly small and unbanked small business,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday. “The administration’s resistance to transparency is outrageous and only serves to raise further suspicions about how the funds are being distributed and who is actually benefiting.”Coronavirus rescue planThe Small Business Administration — an agency with about 3,200 employees and an annual budget shy of $1 billion — is shouldering the massive relief effort for U.S. small businesses and their employees left reeling by the economic punch of the pandemic. A signature piece of Congress’ multitrillion-dollar coronavirus rescue, and touted by President Donald Trump, the unprecedented lending program is intended to help small employers stay afloat and preserve jobs in a cratering economy losing tens of millions of them.About 10 weeks after the Paycheck Protection Program was launched, the SBA says it has processed 4.5 million loans worth $511 billion. But it has yet to make public the recipients of taxpayer aid. The agency has only provided general information, such as the total amounts of loans awarded in a given time period.The loans can be forgiven if businesses use the money to keep employees on payroll or rehire workers who have been laid off.South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, who heads a House subcommittee overseeing the Trump administration’s coronavirus response, said he intends to push vigorously for greater transparency in the wake of Mnuchin’s remarks.“Hiding recipients of federal funds is unacceptable and must end,” Clyburn, a Democrat, said in a statement to The Associated Press. “American taxpayers deserve to know if their money is being used to help struggling small businesses, as Congress intended, or instead is being siphoned off through waste, fraud and abuse.”At least one Republican lawmaker shared the frustration over Mnuchin shutting the door on the data. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri was angered after SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza told him that confidentiality also applies to Paycheck Protection Program loans made to Planned Parenthood or its affiliates.“We learned nothing new about what the SBA has been doing to rectify this, or if any of the funds have been paid back,” Hawley said in a statement Friday. “As far as we know, Planned Parenthood has taken $80 million in taxpayer money straight to the bank. It’s unacceptable and I won’t stop until I get answers.”’Confidential information’Asked previously by news organizations for information on the companies receiving loans, the SBA has said it’s too consumed by the urgent effort of helping small businesses through the economic downturn to provide the data. It said specific loan data may be released “in the near future.”But Mnuchin ditched that ambiguous position this week, making it clear at a Senate hearing that the administration does not plan to disclose the recipient names and amounts. While the SBA administers the program, Mnuchin’s Treasury Department has ultimate control over it.“We believe that that’s proprietary information, and in many cases, for sole proprietors and small businesses, is confidential information,” Mnuchin said during the hearing by the Senate Small Business Committee.He said the emergency lending program is unlike SBA’s main traditional lending program, known as 7(a), for which the agency has regularly released information on businesses that have borrowed money.Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who supports Mnuchin’s position, said in a statement Friday that the PPP is different from the 7(a) program because the amount of a PPP loan is calculated directly and only as a percentage of the business’ payroll. Therefore, Collins said, public disclosure of the new data “would reveal proprietary information.”At the same time, Collins said, the Government Accountability Office, which is Congress’ auditing arm, and other government watchdogs should have access to the detailed data. Mnuchin promised in his testimony to give the GAO access to the PPP loan data.The loan application for the Paycheck Protection Program includes this notice to potential borrowers: Under the Freedom of Information Act and with certain exceptions, the SBA “must supply information reflected in agency files and records to a person requesting it.”Lawsuits followNearly a dozen news organizations, including the AP, The Washington Post and The New York Times, have sued the SBA in federal court for not having released the loan data despite several requests under the Freedom of Information Act. They accuse the agency of violating the FOIA law. The SBA has declined to comment on the lawsuit.Mnuchin’s pledge to give the GAO’s auditors access to the PPP loan data appeared to satisfy some senators, who didn’t press him on public release of the information.Praise for the small-business loan program flowed to Mnuchin and Carranza at the hearing from senators from both parties, who cited the positive economic impact across the country. Typical of the enthusiasm was Sen. Cory Booker, Democrat from New Jersey, who told them, “I just want to give my gratitude for the difference it has made in my state.”Sen. Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican who heads the Small Business panel, said Friday he will “work closely with SBA and Treasury to ensure enough data is disclosed about the program to determine its effectiveness, and ensure there is adequate transparency without compromising borrowers’ proprietary information.”
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US Health Officials Encourage Face Masks at Big Gatherings
U.S. health officials urged organizers of large gatherings that involve shouting, chanting or singing to “strongly encourage” attendees to wear face masks, following more than a week of protests during which many attendees did not wear masks.The new recommendations Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are part of long-awaited guidelines from U.S. health officials about how to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus.The guidelines also advise people to bring their own food and drinks to cookouts, use hand sanitizer after touching public surfaces and choose businesses where staff are wearing face masks.For large gatherings, the guidance says planners should consider several strategies, including reducing capacity, reconfiguring parking lots and restricting attendance to those who live in the local area.The recommendations come after more than a week of protests across the United States following the death of George Floyd, a black man in police custody in Minneapolis, and as President Donald Trump plans to restart holding campaign rallies.A volunteer uses a mask to cover his face while painting a ‘Black Lives Matter’ mural near the State Capitol on June 12, 2020, in Denver, ColoradoWhen asked if the guidelines apply to political gatherings, Jay Bulter, the CDC’s deputy director of infectious diseases, did not directly answer the question in a call with reporters, saying only, “They are not regulations. They are not commands.”He added, “They are recommendations or even suggestions … how you can have a gathering that will keep people as safe as possible.”The guidelines repeat earlier advice about wearing face coverings, maintaining 2 meters of social distance and washing hands regularly. They come as some U.S. states are reporting an increase in coronavirus cases after starting to reopen their economies.The CDC’s director, Dr. Robert Redfield, said during the call that it is understandable that Americans want to return to normal activities, but it is important to remember “this situation is unprecedented, and that the pandemic has not ended.”Bulter warned that states might need to reimpose strict restrictions if COVID-19 cases spike.”If cases begin to go up again, particularly if they go up dramatically, it is important to recognize that more mitigation efforts such as what were implemented back in March may be needed again,” he said.At the White House, officials played down the threat of a new spike in the coronavirus. Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, told “Fox & Friends” Friday, “I spoke to our health experts at some length last evening. They’re saying there is no second spike. Let me repeat that: There is no second spike.”He said that while there are some places in the country where cases are increasing, nationally the rates of new cases and fatalities have flattened out. “There is no emergency,” Kudlow said. “There is no second wave.”A spike in new cases in the northwestern U.S. state of Oregon has prompted Gov. Kate Brown to delay reopening plans by one week. Brown announced the delay on Thursday after 177 new cases and two deaths were reported. The state’s Supreme Court on Friday upheld the shutdown orders.The U.S. states of Florida, Idaho and Georgia said this week they planned to proceed with reopening plans, despite high numbers of new cases.The United States has more than 2 million cases of the coronavirus and more than 114,600 deaths.
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All 36 Nigerian Governors Declare State of Emergency Over Rapes and Violence
All 36 of Nigeria’s governors resolved to declare a state of emergency over rape and other gender-based violence against women and children in the country.The decision was made after a meeting among the governors earlier this week.As a part of their initiative, the governors aim to impose tougher federal laws punishing rape and violence against women and children, and to set up sex offender registers in all of the states.The emergency declaration comes after a buildup of the country’s concerns about gender-based violence.Within the span of a few days, from May 28 to June 1, two Nigerian students were raped and killed in separate incidents. The women were Vera Uwaila Omosuwa, 22, and Barakat Bello, 18.Women’s rights activists protested nationwide and the hashtag #WeAreTired circulated on social media.Out Here!#WeAreTiredpic.twitter.com/UXJ2UFGjP1
— Oreoluwa Eyan Nla (@NoraAwolowo) June 5, 2020In November 2019, Nigerian authorities launched the first nationwide register of sex offenders, but the recent state of emergency declaration and recent protests signal that the country seeks to do more to combat gender-based violence.There has been a global increase in gender-based violence since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.According to the United Nations, Argentina, Canada, China, France, Germany, Spain, Britain and the United States, among other countries, have observed a higher number of domestic violence cases.Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Nigeria already had reported an alarming prevalence of sexual violence.In Kaduna, Nigeria, the U.N. children’s fund has said, one in four boys and one in 10 girls under age 18 have been victims of sexual violence.Barrister Zainab Aminu Garba, the chairperson of the International Federation of Women Lawyers in Kaduna, described rape as an “epidemic” in northwestern Nigeria.Since the pandemic, Nigeria has seen a threefold increase in the number of calls to domestic and sexual violence hot lines.
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African Countries Call for Debate on Racism at the UN Human Rights Council
African countries on Friday called on the U.N. Human Rights Council to organize an urgent debate on racism and police violence, in the context of global mobilization after the death of George Floyd in the United States.In a letter written on behalf of the 54 countries of the African Group, of which he is coordinator for human rights questions, the ambassador of Burkina Faso to the United Nations in Geneva, Dieudonné Désiré Sougouri, asked the body to the U.N. to organize an “urgent debate on the current racially-inspired human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality against people of African descent and violence against peaceful demonstrations.””The tragic events of May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, USA, which resulted in the death of George Floyd, sparked worldwide protests over the injustice and brutality faced by people of African descent daily in many regions of the world,” wrote the ambassador.”The death of George Floyd is unfortunately not an isolated incident,” he wrote, adding that he was speaking on behalf of the representatives and ambassadors of the African Group.The letter, addressed to the President of the Human Rights Council, Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger of Austria, requests that this debate take place next week, at the resumption of the 43rd session of the Council, interrupted in March due to the COVID-19 epidemic.The request comes after the family of George Floyd, families of other victims of police violence and more than 600 NGOs called on the Human Rights Council to urgently address the problem of racism and impunity which benefits the police in the United States.In order for the Council to consider such a request, the approval of at least one country is required.With the request now coming from a large number of countries, “the chances” that such a debate can take place “increase,” a spokesman for the Council told AFP.
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Turkey Arrests Journalist for Revealing State Secrets, Lawyer Says
A Turkish court jailed a prominent opposition journalist from an online news outlet pending trial on accusations that she revealed state secrets in two articles about Ankara’s military involvement in Libya, her lawyer said on Friday.Muyesser Yildiz, the Ankara news editor for the OdaTV online news portal, was detained on Monday and formally arrested on Thursday following her questioning.One article published in December questioned which Turkish commanders met Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army, which is fighting the internationally recognized Government of National Accord of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj, backed by Turkey.The second article, from January, gave details about a military officer who was sent to Libya to oversee Turkey’s involvement there.Yildiz was initially detained on espionage charges but this was later changed to revealing state secrets, lawyer Erhan Tokatli told Reuters.”If the articles threaten the security of this country so much, they should have blocked access to them,” he said.Ismail Dukel, Ankara representative of broadcaster TELE1, who was also detained along with Yildiz and questioned, was released, state-owned Anadolu news agency said. An army sergeant detained with them was also jailed, it said without elaborating.OdaTV, an online news outlet, has been critical of President Tayyip Erdogan’s government. Turkey ranks among the top jailers of journalists across the world.Erol Onderoglu, Turkey representative for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said such cases damage Turkey’s international reputation and that the detention of journalists aimed to silence criticism.”Turkey, which is one of the biggest jailers of journalists in the world, needs to make peace with criticism, transparency and the values of an open society,” he said.Critics say Erdogan has used a failed 2016 coup as a pretext to clamp down on dissent and strengthen his grip on power, a charge Ankara denies. It says the measures are necessary to safeguard national security.
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Trump Administration Revokes Transgender Health Protection
The Trump administration Friday finalized a regulation that overturns Obama-era protections for transgender people against sex discrimination in health care. The policy shift, long sought by the president’s religious and socially conservative supporters, defines gender as a person’s biological sex. The Obama regulation defined gender as a person’s internal sense of being male, female, neither or a combination. LGBTQ groups say explicit protections are needed for people seeking sex-reassignment treatment, and even for transgender people who need medical care for common conditions such as diabetes or heart problems. Behind the dispute over legal rights is a medically recognized condition called “gender dysphoria” — discomfort or distress caused by a discrepancy between the gender that a person identifies as and the gender at birth. Consequences can include severe depression. Treatment can range from sex-reassignment surgery and hormones to people changing their outward appearance by adopting a different hairstyle or clothing. Many social conservatives disagree with the concept. Women’s groups say the new regulations also undermine access to abortion, which is a legal medical procedure. FILE – President Donald Trump speaks during a round-table discussion with law enforcement officials, June 8, 2020, at the White House in Washington.”No one should fear being turned away by a medical provider because of who they are or the personal health decisions they have made,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center, raising the threat of a court challenge. The ACLU has also said it would sue to overturn the Trump rule. Under the Obama-era federal rule, a hospital could be required to perform gender-transition procedures such as hysterectomies if the facility provided that kind of treatment for other medical conditions. The rule was meant to carry out the anti-discrimination section of the Affordable Care Act, which bars sex discrimination in health care but does not use the term “gender identity.” Roger Severino, head of the Health and Human Services Department unit that enforces civil rights laws, has said transgender people continue to be protected by other statutes that bar discrimination in health care on account of race, color, national origin, age, disability and other factors. For the Trump administration it’s the latest in a series of steps to revoke newly won protections for LGBTQ people in areas ranging from the military to housing and education. The administration also has moved to restrict military service by transgender men and women, proposed allowing certain homeless shelters to take gender identity into account in offering someone a bed for the night, and concluded in a 2017 Justice Department memo that federal civil rights law does not protect transgender people from discrimination at work. The proposed new rule would also affect the notices that millions of patients get in multiple languages about their rights to translation services. Such notices often come with insurer “explanation of benefits” forms. The Trump administration says the notice requirement has become a needless burden on health care providers, requiring billions of paper notices to be mailed annually at an estimated five-year cost of $3.2 billion.
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