The shocking on-camera death of African American George Floyd is drawing attention around the globe.Anti-U.S. protests deploring the man’s death erupted in Western capitals on Sunday and newspaper headlines heaped scorn on American police over the incident last week in Minneapolis.Floyd, a black man, died after white police officer Derek Chauvin pressed a knee on the back of his neck for more than eight minutes, even as Floyd repeatedly said he could not breathe. The incident was captured on video.Thousands of protesters gathered in central London to voice support for American demonstrators who have marched in dozens of U.S. cities over the last five days to condemn the police conduct. Some of the worst U.S. violence in decades has erupted, with police cars and government buildings set afire, stores ransacked and looted, and public monuments defaced.The British protesters chanted, “No justice! No peace!” and waved placards with the words, “How many more?”People protest in Berlin, Germany, May 31, 2020 after the violent death of the African-American George Floyd by a white policeman in the USA against racism and police violence, among other things with a sign “Who do call when police murders”.Denmark, Germany
Protesters in Denmark marched to the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, carrying placards with such messages as “Stop Killing Black People.” In Germany, protesters carried signs saying, “Hold Cops Accountable,” and “Who Do You Call When Police Murder?”Germany’s top-selling Bild newspaper carried a provocative Sunday headline: “This killer-cop set America ablaze” with an arrow pointing to a photo of Chauvin, who has been fired and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.In some newspapers, Floyd’s death and the ensuing American protests have pushed news of the ongoing worldwide fight against the coronavirus pandemic to second-tier status, at least for the moment.  Authoritarian regime perspective
In countries with authoritarian governments, state-controlled media showcased the demonstrations in the context of U.S. government complaints about crackdowns on protesters in other countries, such as China’s treatment of pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong.Hu Xijin, the editor of the Chinese Communist Party-run Global Times newspaper, said U.S. officials can now see the protests out of their own windows: “I want to ask [House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and Secretary [of State Mike] Pompeo: Should Beijing support protests in the U.S., like you glorified rioters in Hong Kong?”Iranian state television has shown frequent images of the U.S. unrest, with one unsubstantiated report accusing U.S. police agencies in Washington of “setting fire to cars and attacking protesters.”Russia said Floyd’s death was an example of U.S. police violence against African-Americans and accused the U.S. of “systemic problems in the human rights sphere.””This incident is far from the first in a series of lawless conduct and unjustified violence from U.S. law enforcement,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “American police commit such high-profile crimes all too often.”  Lebanon
Lebanese anti-government protesters flooded social media with tweets supporting U.S. protesters, with the hashtag #Americanrevolts becoming the top trending tag in Lebanon.
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Pope Francis is cautioning against pessimism as many people emerge from coronavirus lockdowns to lament that nothing will ever be the same.  During Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark Pentecost Sunday, Francis noted a tendency to say “nothing will return as before.” That kind of thinking, Francis said, guarantees that “the one thing that certainly does not return is hope.”   He took to task his own church for its fragmentation, saying it must pull together.   “The world sees conservatives and progressives” but instead all are “children of God,” he said, telling the faithful to focus on what unites them.   “In this pandemic, how wrong narcissism is,” Francis said, lamenting “the tendency to think only of our needs, to be indifferent to those of others, and to not admit our own frailties and mistakes.”   “At this moment, in the great effort of beginning anew, how damaging is pessimism, the tendency to see everything in the worst light and to keep saying that nothing will return as before!” the pope said. “When someone thinks this way, the one thing that certainly does not return is hope.”   A few dozen faithful, wearing masks and sitting one to a pew, attended the ceremony as part of safety measures to avoid spreading COVID-19.   While the Vatican has re-opened the basilica to tourists, the rank-and-file faithful still aren’t allowed yet to attend Masses celebrated by the pope for fear of crowding.   In a videotaped message for the Pentecost service led by the Anglican church leader, Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury, Francis spoke of how during the pandemic people are required to keep a safe distance from each other. “Yet we have also come to understand, perhaps better, what others are experiencing. We have been brought together by fear and uncertainty.”   Francis encouraged prayers for those who must make “complex and pressing decisions,” which he said should be focused on investing in “health, employment and the elimination of inequalities and poverty.”   “Now as never before, we need a vision rich in humanity. We cannot start up again by going back to our selfish pursuit of success without caring about those who are left behind,” the pope said.  
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Pope Francis cheerfully greeted people in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, as he resumed his practice of speaking to the faithful there for the first time since a coronavirus lockdown began in Italy and at the Vatican in early March.“Today the square is open, we can return to it with pleasure,’’ Francis said.Instead of the tens of thousands of people who might have turned out on a similarly brilliantly sunny day like in pre-pandemic times, perhaps a few hundred came to the square on Sunday, standing well apart from others or in small family groups.Until June 3, people aren’t allowed to travel between regions in Italy or arrive from abroad for tourism, so the people in the square came from Rome or places in the region.Francis cited those who have been infected by the virus or who died in the Amazon region, especially the “particularly vulnerable” indigenous people. He prayed that no one in the world lack medical assistance, especially due to economic priorities.“Persons are more important than the economy,” Francis said.Noting this was the first time he could greet people in the square for weeks, Francis said that “one doesn’t emerge from a crisis the same. You either come out better or you come out worse.” He said he’d be back to greet them next Sunday in the same place at noon, smiling and pointing down to the vast square far below his studio window. 
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Greece may be a top vacation destination, but for the British, Americans and Italians dreaming of getting away, the country will be off limits for some time. The government in Athens has left them off a list of 29 countries from which Greece will start accepting visitors, as it scrambles to mitigate the damage that the COVID-19 pandemic has spelled for its biggest money-making industry: tourism. 
  
Greek tourism officials say travelers from the permitted countries will be able to enter Greece beginning June 15… allowed to touch down only at the capital’s main international airport… and the northern metropolis of Thessaloniki… not other sun-kissed destinations. 
  
The list of 29 countries was drafted following a strict review of global airport regulations and COVID-19 infection rates. 
  
Tourism minister Harris Tehoharis explains why. 
  
He says the so-called safe list is part of a plan stitched together to best secure both foreign travelers and the country after the government in Athens managed to successfully handle the pandemic by taking draconian lockdown measures early on … keeping registered infection rates under 3,000 and the death toll at 175.   All 29 countries, including several Balkan nations, Israel and even China and Japan, boast low infection rates. Travelers coming in from them will be screened for COVID-19 but allowed to vacation freely without the need of lockdown requirements or quarantines. 
  
Depending on changes in infection rates, the list of countries could change before all travelers will be allowed to the country on July 1. 
  
But with the US, Britain and Italy hit hardest by the pandemic, health experts like Gikas Magiorkas warn it may be months, even beyond the July date, before travelers from those countries will be able to visit. 
  
“I don’t see them visiting any time soon, he says. Depending on how the first wave of entries goes, authorities may increase the number of screening tests for those coming in from high-risk countries, to boost security and tracking levels,” said Magiorkas. 
  
British and American travelers normally make up the biggest and most affluent pool of visitors to Greece… bringing in billions each year in hard currency. 
  
Italy, meantime has snapped back at Greece’s designs, saying blacklisting countries and travelers isn’t fair, and that Italy would not allow itself to be viewed and treated as what one leading official called “a leper colony.” 
  
Despite Greece’s scramble to open for tourism, many industry officials remain reluctant. 
  
Grigoris Tassis, president of the Greek hotel owners association, explains 
  
He says hotel owners have not received fundamental directives from the state, including information on how to deal with COVID-19 cases that may emerge while travelers are on holiday here. 
  
On the island of Crete, a favorite holiday destination, many large hotel chains are choosing to open just a fraction of their facilities… adjusting as the summer and the spread of the pandemic proceeds. 
  
Surveys indicate that some 65% of Greek hotels could go bankrupt if they fail to break even this summer.   
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Turkey joins other countries in relaxing its strict lockdown measure because of the coronavirus pandemic by letting people go to mosques across the country to perform Friday prayers. Although this lifting of restrictions did not allow people older than 65 to participate in the Friday prayers, many of them nonetheless were seen at mosques. VOA’s Turkish Service’s reporters from Ankara, Istanbul and Diyarbakir visited mosques and filed this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.
Produced by: Alparslan Esmer
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