Germany says it Committed Genocide in Namibia During Colonial Rule

Germany for the first time on Friday recognized it had committed genocide in Namibia during its colonial occupation, with Berlin promising financial support worth more than 1 billion euros to aid projects in the African nation.German colonial settlers killed tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people in 1904-08 massacres — labelled the first genocide of the 20th century by historians — poisoning relations between Namibia and Germany for years.While Berlin had previously acknowledged that atrocities occurred at the hands of its colonial authorities, they have repeatedly refused to pay direct reparations.”We will now officially refer to these events as what they are from today’s perspective: genocide,” said Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in a statement.He hailed the agreement after more than five years of negotiations with Namibia over events in the territory held by Berlin from 1884-1915.”In light of the historical and moral responsibility of Germany, we will ask forgiveness from Namibia and the victims’ descendants” for the “atrocities” committed, Maas said.In a “gesture to recognize the immense suffering inflicted on the victims,” the country will support the “reconstruction and the development” of Namibia via a financial program of $1.34 billion, he said.The sum will be paid over 30 years, according to sources close to the negotiations, and must primarily benefit the descendants of the Herero and Nama.However, he specified that the payment does not open the way to any “legal request for compensation.”Rebellion, reprisalsNamibia was called German South West Africa during Berlin’s 1884-1915 rule, and then fell under South African rule for 75 years, before finally gaining independence in 1990.Tensions boiled over in 1904 when the Herero — deprived of their livestock and land — rose up, followed shortly after by the Nama, in an insurrection crushed by German imperial troops.In the Battle of Waterberg in August 1904 around 80,000 Herero, including women and children, fled and were pursued by German troops across what is now known as the Kalahari Desert. Only 15,000 survived.German General Lothar von Trotha, sent to put down the rebellion, ordered the peoples’ extermination.At least 60,000 Hereros and around 10,000 Namas were killed between 1904 and 1908.Colonial soldiers carried out mass executions; exiled men, women, and children to the desert where thousands died of thirst; and established infamous concentration camps, such as the one on Shark Island.’Overcome the past’The atrocities committed during colonization have poisoned relations between Berlin and Windhoek for years.In 2015, the two countries started negotiating an agreement that would combine an official apology by Germany as well as development aid.But in August last year, Namibia said that Germany’s offered reparations were unacceptable. No details of the offer were provided at the time.President Hage Geingob had noted Berlin declined to accept the term “reparations,” as that word was also avoided during the country’s negotiations with Israel after the Holocaust.But in an effort to ease reconciliation, in 2018 Germany returned the bones of members of the Herero and Nama tribes, with the then foreign minister Michelle Muentefering asking for “forgiveness from the bottom of my heart.”

US Prosecutors Investigating Whether Ukrainians Interfered in 2020 Election, Report Says

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether current and former Ukrainian officials unlawfully interfered in the U.S. presidential election, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.The criminal investigation includes examining whether the Ukrainian officials used Rudolph Giuliani, then personal lawyer to former President Donald Trump, to spread misleading claims about current President Joe Biden, The New York Times reported.The inquiry, which began during the final months of the Trump administration, is being handled by federal prosecutors in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, the newspaper reported, and is separate from an ongoing criminal investigation into Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine.Prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York are investigating whether the Ukrainian officials tried to influence the Nov. 3 election by spreading claims of corruption about Biden through a number of channels, including Giuliani, the newspaper reported. Biden has denied any wrongdoing.One of the officials being investigated is a Ukrainian member of parliament named Andriy Derkach, the newspaper reported.The U.S. Treasury Department previously sanctioned Derkach, identifying him as an “active Russian agent for over a decade.”Giuliani, who The New York Times said has not been accused of wrongdoing in this investigation, has previously denied representing any Ukrainians.The U.S. Attorney’s Office and Arthur Aidala, a lawyer for Giuliani, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Giuliani’s business dealings with Ukrainian oligarchs while he was working as Trump’s lawyer are the subject of a probe by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. Federal agents searched his home and office in April, seizing phones and computers.Giuliani has denied allegations in that probe, and his lawyers have suggested the investigation is politically motivated. 

Germany, Norway Open NordLink Undersea Power Cable

Germany and Norway on Thursday officially launched an undersea power cable between the two countries in a project that aids Europe’s effort to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, along with other government and industry officials, took part in a virtual ceremony to symbolically throw the switch on the more than $2.2 billion project. The 623-kilometer cable has been operational for at least a month but was formally opened Thursday.Workers on Nexans Skagerrak vessel lay a NordLink subsea interconnector power cable to connect Norway and Germany at the Vollesfjord fjord near Flekkefjord, Norway May 31, 2018.The cable, known as NordLink, allows an exchange of green energy between the two countries, allowing solar- and wind-generated electricity from Germany to flow to Norway, which will send back power generated largely from hydroelectric plants at water reservoirs. It will also fill gaps that occur because of fluctuations in wind and solar supplies.During the virtual ceremony, Merkel called it a good day for German-Norwegian cooperation. “Germany and Norway are moving closer together, and NordLink is a fantastic success for the energy cooperation of our two countries.” She said the project also represents a milestone in international energy cooperation.Interconnectivity between different countries is one of the central pillars of the European Union’s climate strategy. Similar cross-border projects are running between Norway and the Netherlands, the Netherlands and Britain, and Denmark and the Netherlands.NordLink will help Germany reach its carbon dioxide emissions reduction goals. The German government recently announced that it aims to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions to “net zero” by 2045. Germany is closing its last nuclear plants next year and phasing out the use of coal by 2038. 

Britain’s Health Minister Denies He Lied About Pandemic

British Health Minister Matt Hancock rejected allegations Thursday he had repeatedly lied during his response to the COVID-19 pandemic made by Dominic Cummings, a former top aide of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.In testimony to lawmakers on Wednesday, Cummings accused Hancock of lying to the public and said he “should have been fired” for testing failures that saw patients with the coronavirus discharged from hospitals to nursing homes, and also for lying about the status of the pandemic to Parliament and the public. Addressing Parliament’s House of Commons, Hancock called Cummings’ allegations “serious” but “unsubstantiated and not true.” He said the government has published the full details of how his office worked with nursing homes “as much as possible to keep people safe, and we followed the clinical advice on the appropriate way forward.”The United Kingdom has recorded almost 128,000 coronavirus deaths, the highest toll in Europe, and experienced one of the world’s deepest recessions in 2020 as three successive lockdowns hobbled the economy.A mass vaccination campaign that started in December has brought infections and fatalities down sharply, though the U.K. is now reckoning with a more transmissible new strain of the virus first identified in India.The government said it will begin an independent public inquiry into its handling of the pandemic within the next year. 

France Had Role in 1994 Rwanda Genocide, Macron Says

French President Emmanuel Macron was in Rwanda’s capital Thursday, where he acknowledged France’s role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and said he hoped for forgiveness.  Speaking alongside Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the Gisozi genocide memorial in Kigali, Macron said, “I hereby humbly and with respect stand by your side today, I come to recognize the extent of our responsibilities.”Macron is the first French leader since 2010 to visit the East African nation, which has long accused France of complicity in the killing of some 800,000 mostly Tutsi Rwandans.  The visit follows the release in March of a French inquiry panel report saying a colonial attitude had blinded French officials, and the government bore a “serious and overwhelming” responsibility for not foreseeing the slaughter.But the report absolved France of direct complicity in the genocide, a point Macron made in his comments, saying “France was not an accomplice,” but that his nation “has a role, a history and a political responsibility in Rwanda.”Rwanda released its own report that found France was aware a genocide was being prepared and bore responsibility for enabling it by continuing in its unwavering support for Rwanda’s then president, Juvenal Habyarimana.It was the shooting down of Habyarimana’s plane, killing the president, that launched the 100-day frenzy of killings.Macron said only those who survived the genocide “could perhaps forgive, and so could give us the gift of forgiving ourselves,” and repeated, in Rwanda’s native language, the phrase “Ndibuka,” meaning “I remember.”Rwanda’s Kagame called Macron’s speech “powerful,” and said his words were something more than an apology. “They were the truth. Speaking the truth is risky, but you do it because it is right, even when it costs you something, even when it is unpopular,” he said.Macron said he proposed to Kagame the naming of a French ambassador to Rwanda, a post that has been vacant for six years. He said filling the post and normalizing relations between the nations could not be envisioned without the step he took on Thursday. 

As Tensions Rise Again, Turkish and Greek Officials to Meet

Turkey’s foreign minister is scheduled to hold talks in Athens with his Greek counterpart Monday in the latest efforts to deescalate tensions between the two NATO members.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu rebuked his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias at a press conference in Ankara last month.  The very public argument over who was to blame for the lack of progress in resolving the countries’ differences underscores the scale of the ministers’ task when they meet in Athens Monday, says Cengiz Aktar of the Athens University. “I think the Greeks are very realistic,” he said. “They, of course, prefer to talk, that’s what they said right from the beginning. But what we know is that the disagreements are there to stay. There is no development whatsoever on the numerous, countless issues and the problems that exist between the two countries.”Turkey and Greece are contesting territorial waters between the countries which are believed to have vast energy reserves. Last year, the Greek and Turkish navies faced off against each another.  FILE – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks with Turkish drilling ship, Fatih, in background, in Istanbul, Aug. 21, 2020.In a sign of renewed tensions, Turkey has announced it may resume drilling for energy in waters claimed by Greece. Adding to the friction, Ankara accuses Athens of breaking international law by pushing back refugees entering Greek waters from Turkey.  Greece denies the charge, accusing Turkey of reneging on a refugee deal with the European Union. Earlier this month, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar accused Greece of sabotaging diplomatic efforts to resolve differences. Akar said Turkey is in favor of a peaceful resolution of these problems within the framework of international law and good neighborly relations by talking and negotiating with its Greek neighbors.  However, he accused those neighbors of — in his words —  “doing their best to sabotage the positive state of affairs with their actions and discourse.” A Turkish presidential advisor says he believes Greece is increasingly emboldened because of growing support from Washington. The U.S. has traditionally played the role of an honest broker between the NATO members.  But U.S.-Turkish relations are currently strained over Turkey’s deepening ties to Moscow.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019.Ilhan Uzgel, an analyst for the Turkish news portal Duvar, says the expanding military cooperation between Greece and the United States could usurp Turkey as the primary host for U.S. military bases in the region, a prospect Ankara fears could change the balance of power. “What Washington is trying to do, is [say] that ‘you are not irreplaceable,’ that Turkey can be substituted that [there] may be some alternatives. The United States can have a military base in Alexandroupoli in Greece and in Crete. This psychology diminishes the bargaining power of Turkey,” he said.   The Turkish military dwarfs its Greek counterpart, but Athens is embarking on a modernization of its military, including the United States’ latest F-35 fighter jet, which Washington refuses to sell to Turkey because of Ankara’s purchase of a Russian missile system.  

Parents Plea For Release of Belarus Opposition Activists

The parents of the young opposition activist and blogger detained in Minsk after the passenger jet he was on board was forced to land in the Belarusian capital earlier this week are pleading for the international community to help free their son.“I’m asking, I’m begging, I’m calling on the whole international community to save him,” Raman Pratasevich’s mother, Natalia, told AFP. Speaking from her home in Poland, she added, “Please save him. They’re going to kill him there.”“They sent a fighter jet to get this young man! It’s an act of terrorism — I don’t think you can call it anything else. He’s been taken hostage. This is an act of pure revenge!” she said.Her husband, Dmitry Pratasevich, a former soldier, said: “His lawyer tried to see him today but she was turned down. She could not see him. We still don’t know if he is in there, what his condition is, how he is feeling.”Their anguish was matched by the mother of Sofia Sapega, another opposition activist, who was also removed from the Ryanair flight in Minsk. A video of Sapega, a Russian national and friend of Pratasevich, was released Tuesday by Belarusian authorities as they announced she would be held for at least two months.FILE – Student Sofia Sapega is pictured in Gothenburg, Sweden, in this undated photo taken in 2019.In the video, Sapega, according to her mother, appears to be confessing to editing an opposition Telegram channel that publishes personal information of Belarusian policemen. Her mother said it appeared she was speaking under duress for the video, in which she provides her personal details and says she edited a platform “which publishes the personal information of officials from internal affairs bodies.”Sofia’s mother, Anna Dudich, told Russian television she was “shocked” by the video. “Either I’m confused, or it’s a dream, or it’s a setup,” Dudich said. She told Western media outlets that her daughter was talking in an unusual manner. “She sways, eyes in the sky — as if afraid of forgetting something.” Dudich added: “We are now packing warm clothes. We will go to Minsk. I want to try to give her a parcel. I saw she only had a thin jacket.”Sapega and Pratasevich were detained Sunday when the Ryanair plane they were flying on from Athens to Vilnius was diverted by Belarus authorities to land in Minsk. Western countries, including the United States, have accused Belarus of committing air piracy and hijacking the Ryanair plane after it was rerouted over a false bomb threat.FILE – The Boeing 737-8AS Ryanair passenger plane that was intercepted and diverted to Minsk by Belarus authorities lands at Vilnius International Airport, its initial destination, in Lithuania, May 23, 2021.Sapega’s lawyer, Alexander Filanovich, told RBC, a Russian news outlet, that Sapega was interrogated Tuesday and charged with criminal offenses. Russian foreign ministry officials say she’s being charged with “committing crimes under several articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus during the period from August to September 2020.” That was during the height of nationwide protests against the fifth re-election of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.The Belarusian opposition and Western nations have condemned the election as rigged.Sapega’s mother said her daughter was in Lithuania at the time and wasn’t involved in the demonstrations in Belarus. Sapega, who is also a student at the European Humanities University, EHU, in Lithuania, and Pratasevich, 26, face stiff penalties if convicted. Pratasevich, whom Belarusian authorities have placed on a terrorism list on the ground that he incited mass protests, could be handed a death sentence, opposition groups fear. Some analysts say a 15-year prison term is more likely.TortureExiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told a news conference Tuesday that a video of Pratasevich released by Belarusian authorities suggested he had been tortured. “He said that he was treated lawfully, but he’s clearly beaten and under pressure. There is no doubt that he was tortured. He was taken hostage,” she told reporters in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital.FILE – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko takes his oath of office during his inauguration at the Palace of the Independence in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 23, 2020.Both activists are being held in the Okrestina pre-trial detention center in Minsk, where thousands of anti-Lukashenko protesters and activists have been detained the past few months. Belarusian and international rights groups, including Amnesty International, say many detainees arrested for protesting are beaten and tortured in the center, which is overseen by the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus, part of the country’s interior ministry.Rights groups have documented three rapes. And in October 2020, opposition groups released a video purportedly showing fresh detainees being beaten in so-called “welcome parades.”At a meeting in Brussels on Monday,  leaders of the 27 European Union member states called for all EU-based airlines to cease all flights over Belarus, and they promised further economic sanctions.Ukraine’s responseSeparately, Belarusian neighbor Ukraine has suspended all air travel with Belarus, and the country’s prime minister, Denys Shmygal, has ordered all Ukrainian airlines to avoid flying in Belarusian airspace, which will add, according to Ukrainian Airlines, 40 minutes to flights from Kyiv heading to the Baltic states and Finland.”Belarusian authorities stop at nothing in persecuting dissenters. Even its airspace is unsafe now,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted. “Ukraine has always been interested in a democratic Belarus where human rights are respected.”The EU and Ukraine air bans will result in a loss to Belarus of about $70 million in overflight fees, civil aviation associations reckon.

French Energy Company Suspends Payments to Myanmar Army

Myanmar’s army has lost a source of revenue as French energy giant Total said Wednesday that cash payments to a joint venture with the army have been suspended due to unrest in the country. Total has come under pressure from pro-democracy activists to “stop financing the junta” since a military coup in February which has been followed by a brutal crackdown on dissent. More than 800 people have been killed by the military, according to a local monitoring group. Total said in a statement that the decision to suspend payments was made at a May 12 meeting of shareholders of Moattama Gas Transportation Company Limited (MGTC), the joint venture which owns a pipeline linking the Yadana gas field and Thailand. The suspension was proposed by Total, which holds a 31 percent stake in MGTC and US partner Chevron (28 percent). Thai firm PTTEP holds a quarter of the company while 15 percent is held by military-controlled Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). MOGE generates annual revenues of around $1 billion from the sale of natural gas. “In light of the unstable context in Myanmar… cash distributions to the shareholders of the company have been suspended” effective from April 1, Total said. It added that it “condemns the violence and human rights abuses occurring in Myanmar” and would comply with any potential sanctions against the junta from the EU or U.S. The MGTC pipeline brings gas from the offshore Yadana field operated by Total to Myanmar’s border with Thailand. Total said it would continue to produce gas so as not to disrupt electricity supply in either country. Total paid around $230 million to the Myanmar authorities in 2019 and another $176 million in 2020 in the form of taxes and “production rights,” according to the company’s own financial statements. French newspaper Le Monde detailed Total’s involvement in MGTC in early May, also reporting that the company was based in tax haven Bermuda. “The colossal profits of the gas operations do not pass through the coffers of the Myanmar state, but are massively recuperated by a company totally controlled by the military,” Le Monde found.  Days after publishing the story, Le Monde said Total pulled several adverts it had planned to run in its pages in the following weeks. Foreign firms NGOs have urged foreign companies to review their presence in Myanmar as the military dramatically ramped up its use of lethal force against protesters. The junta has vested interests in large swathes of the country’s economy, from mining to banking, oil and tourism. French energy giant EDF suspended activities in the country, where it is involved in a $1.5 billion project to build a hydroelectric dam. Japanese automaker Suzuki also halted operations at its two local plants shortly after the military coup. The factories assembled 13,300 vehicles in 2019, primarily for the domestic market.  But Suzuki, present in Myanmar since 1998, reopened the facilities again a few days later and intends to build a third production site in the country.  Myanmar is also a key manufacturer in the clothing industry and groups such as Italy’s Benetton and Sweden’s H&M have suspended all new orders from the country. Japanese brewer Kirin said it would cut business ties with the military with which it operates two local breweries, accusing the junta of acting “in contradiction” to its principles on human rights.  But the firm said it currently has no intention to pull out completely from a market that accounts for around two percent of its overall turnover. 
 

EU Takes AstraZeneca to Court Over Vaccine Delays

The European Union took AstraZeneca to a Belgian court Wednesday over the drug company’s failure to deliver tens of millions of COVID-19 doses it promised — slowing the EU’s efforts to kickstart its vaccine campaign.After weeks of souring relations and tough rhetoric against AstraZeneca, Europe is now turning to the legal system to force the Anglo-Swedish company to deliver the 180 million COVID-19 vaccine doses it has promised by July. Right now, reports say it is on track to deliver less than half that amount. Stefan De Keersmaecker, spokesman for the European Commission — the EU’s executive arm charged with procuring COVID-19 vaccines for the bloc — outlined its argument.  “We believe that the company has not respected the terms and obligations of the contract, which is a violation which we ask the courts to recognize as such,’ said De Keersmaecker. “In any case, in the context of the emergency procedures, we have claimed, indeed, that we want the court to order the company to deliver 90 million additional doses, in addition to the 30 million already delivered in the first quarter.”The EU initially planned to use AstraZeneca as a linchpin in its vaccination campaign. Delivery delays were a key reason for its much-criticized slow start.  Added to that were concerns about rare blood clots associated with the vaccine, leading some member states to limit or scrap its use altogether. South Sudan Stops Using Doses of AstraZeneca Vaccine Over Expiration FearsSouth Sudan health officials have stopped administering 60,000 AstraZeneca doses because of the COVID vaccine’s expiration date, even though the drugmaker and the WHO say the vaccine has a shelf life of 6 monthsThe EU has now turned to other COVID-19 vaccines, especially the more expensive Pfizer-BioNTech, to supply hundreds of millions of doses in the months to come. But that is not stopping the bloc from wanting AstraZeneca to deliver on its contract. It also accuses the manufacturer of favoring Britain, where it claims it has delivered most of its promised doses. AstraZeneca’s lawyer Hakim Boularbah told reporters the drug company deeply regretted the European Commission’s decision to go to court and hoped the dispute would be resolved as soon as possible. The company says its contract with the EU binds it only to ‘best reasonable efforts’ in delivering doses on time — although the Commission says there’s more to it. “The contract itself makes it fairly clear that the doses that were to be delivered under best reasonable efforts… the contract also specifically says that the parties won’t sue one another. So it’s a little strange the Commission is going this route in the first place,” said Scott Marcus, senior fellow at the Bruegel economic thinktank in Brussels.He fears this court case could have repercussions for the EU’s business with other vaccine makers.  “I really think a lot of the cases have to do more with political damage control than with doses actually being needed,’ said Marcus.Meanwhile, the bloc’s vaccination campaign is picking up steam. The European Commission says it’s on track to meet its goal of vaccinating 70 percent of adults this summer. 

Dutch Court Orders Shell Oil to Reduce Carbon Emissions by 45 Percent

In a landmark case brought by seven environmental groups, a Dutch court Wednesday ordered energy company Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) to cut its carbon emissions by net 45% from 2019 levels by 2030.The ruling could set a precedent for similar cases against polluting multinationals, particularly petroleum companies, around the world.The environmental groups, which included the Dutch chapter of Greenpeace, filed the suit in 2019 on behalf of 17,000  Dutch citizens. The groups had argued RDS was in breach of its obligation to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.In her decision, Hague District Court Judge Larissa Alwin ruled that since the Anglo-Dutch energy giant currently has a plan to reduce emissions and was still developing it, it is not currently in breach of its obligation, as the groups argued.But the judge said a violation of that obligation is imminent, as the company’s policy “is not concrete, has many caveats and is based on monitoring social developments rather than the company’s own responsibility for achieving a CO2 reduction.She ordered the company to make the 45% cuts by 2030, which would be in line with the 2016 Paris Agreement on climate change.The case in the Netherlands is the latest in a string of legal challenges filed around the world by climate activists seeking action to rein in emissions, but it is believed to be the first targeting a multinational company.In statement ahead of the ruling, RDS has said litigation will do little to accelerate the world’s transition away from fossil fuels.  

3 Arrested in Italy Cable Car Crash; Clamp Deactivated Brake

Police arrested three people Wednesday in the cable car disaster that killed 14 people in northern Italy, saying an investigation showed a clamp, intentionally placed on the brake as a patchwork repair, prevented the brake from engaging after the lead cable snapped. Carabinieri Lt. Col. Alberto Cicognani said at least one of the three people questioned overnight admitted to what happened. He said the fork-shaped clamp had been placed on the emergency brake to deactivate it because the brake was engaging spontaneously and preventing the funicular from working. The clamp was put on several weeks ago as a temporary fix to prevent further service interruptions in the cable car line bringing sightseers to the top of the Mottarone peak overlooking Lake Maggiore. It was still in place on Sunday morning, Cicognani told Sky TG24.After the lead cable snapped Sunday, the cabin reeled back down the line until it pulled off entirely, crashed to the ground and rolled over down the mountainside until it came to rest against some trees. Fourteen people were killed; the lone survivor, a 5-year-old boy, remains hospitalized. “Because of a malfunction, the brake was continuing to engage even when it wasn’t supposed to,” Cicognani told Sky. “To prevent the cabin from halting during the transport of passengers, they chose to not remove the dispositive that blocked the emergency brake.” “In this way, the brake couldn’t function, and this brought about the fact that when the cable broke, the cabin fell backwards,” he said. Sky and the LaPresse news agency identified the three people arrested as the owner of the cable car service, the company’s director and the service chief. Verbania Prosecutor Olimpia Bossi said the deactivation of the brake was clearly designed as a stop-gap measure to allow the funicular to continue operating. The more extensive, “radical” repair operation that was needed would have likely taken it out of service, she said. Bossi told reporters that investigators believed the stop-gap measure was used with “the full knowledge” of the cable car company owners. As a result, the arrests turned the horror of Sunday’s disaster into outrage, given it appeared to have been an entirely preventable tragedy. Already, the mayor of the hometown of one of the victims, Serena Cosentino, announced that the city would pursue legal action against those responsible, saying it would present itself as an injured party in the civil portion of any possible prosecution. “The news unfortunately is showing a broad plane of responsibility and omissive guilt,” Diamonte Mayor Ernesto Magorno said in a statement. 

Biden-Putin Summit Announced Despite Belarus Incident

The White House announced Tuesday that President Joe Biden will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva next month, as the administration seeks to restore stability amid worsening bilateral tensions. Some Republican lawmakers have criticized the decision, raising concerns about recent moves by Moscow and its ally Belarus. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report.  

EU to Deliver COVID-19 Shots to Developing Nations

The European Union pledged to deliver at least 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries by year’s end, and develop vaccine production capacity in poorer nations, as it wrapped up a two-day summit in Brussels.After being criticized for a slow vaccination start, European leaders say they are steaming ahead on COVID-19 inoculations, securing 1.8 billion doses to cover the next two years — enough to export to needy countries outside the 27-member bloc. The bloc says it’s also on track to surpass goals of exporting 100 million doses to developing countries. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “We are working on an initiative to invest one billion euros from Team Europe to develop vaccine manufacturing in Africa — the capacity itself in Africa — it’s a specific initiative with our African partners. An initiative not only for the production, so to build up the manufacturing capacities, but also for skills development, for the management of the supply train of, for example, the necessary regulatory framework through the African Medicines Agency.” FILE – Women receive the Moderna vaccine against the coronavirus disease at the Music Auditorium in Rome, Italy, April 14, 2021.In Europe, where many countries are emerging from lockdowns and hospitalizations are dropping, von der Leyen said the EU was on track to inoculate 70 percent of its adults by the end of July. Europe’s Medicines Agency is now considering whether to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds.Meanwhile, special COVID-19 digital travel passes aim to open up summer travel for EU citizens who are either vaccinated, immune from having contracted the virus, or have tested negative for it.  Together, says analyst Scott Marcus, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based Bruegel economic research group, the developments are shaping a more favorable tourism outlook for Europe. “I think things are looking more promising,” he said. “I still think that late summer will look better than early summer. But I think we’re on track to have a summer at least as good as last summer, and probably better.”  Other topicsOn Monday, EU leaders announced a flight ban and other toughened sanctions against Belarus, after the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk and the arrest of a dissident journalist.  But speaking from Brussels, French President Emmanuel Macron said progressive sanctions had their limits and the EU needed to profoundly redefine its relationship with both Belarus and Russia. Member states also discussed the thorny issue of national emissions targets to meet the bloc’s overall goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 55 percent by 2030, and becoming climate neutral by 2050.
 

Round Five of Iran Nuclear Talks Opens in Vienna

Talks between Iran and the world powers still adhering to the 2015 nuclear deal resumed Tuesday in Vienna with the goal of bringing the United States back into the agreement.The fifth round of talks began a day after Iran and the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency agreed to extend a deal for monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities for one month.  While the U.S. is not directly participating in the talks, the U.S. special envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, has been in Vienna for previous rounds and is in touch with representatives from participants Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China.After a Tuesday meeting of the Joint Commission on the Plan of Action, the Russian delegate, Mikhail Ulyanov, said that a resolution was visible and these are “probably the final round of the Vienna talks.””The participants expressed readiness to do their best to resolve the remaining outstanding issues and to complete negotiations successfully as soon as possible,” he tweeted.Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian delegate to the talks, told Iran state TV that “good progress” has been made in the previous four rounds and that he hoped the fifth would be the last.”There are still important issues that need to be fixed,” he said. “We hope that we will be able to reach a final solution during these several days of negotiations.”Malley said the previous round was “constructive and saw meaningful progress.””But much work still needs to be done,” the U.S. envoy wrote Monday. “On our way to Vienna for a fifth round where we hope we can further advance toward a mutual return to compliance.”Through diplomats from other countries, Iran has been in indirect talks with the United States about reshaping the 2015 international nuclear deal to restrain Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.  Former president Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the pact in 2018, imposing new sanctions on Iran’s oil, banking and shipping sectors. But U.S. President Joe Biden is looking to rejoin the pact.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said last week that the United States was ready to lift trade sanctions, although a senior Iranian official later contradicted him. European diplomats said difficult issues remained in the negotiations.  Iran has maintained that for it to return to the deal, the U.S. must first lift its sanctions, while the U.S. says Iran must first return to compliance with the deal’s terms.  Iran has consistently breached the 2015 pact’s restrictions on uranium enrichment, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN if both sides can return to the original deal, “we can use that as a foundation both to look at how to make the deal itself potentially longer and stronger — and also engage on these other issues, whether it’s Iran’s support for terrorism … its destabilizing support for different proxies throughout the Middle East.”  But he told ABC News, “The first thing that we need to do is put the nuclear problem back in the box.”   

Airlines Avoid Belarusian Airspace over Plane Diversion, Arrest of Journalist

Airlines re-routed flights to avoid Belarusian airspace Tuesday in the aftermath of the Minsk government forcing down a passenger jet and arresting an opposition blogger critical of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.Lufthansa, KLM, SAS, Air France, LOT and Singapore Airlines were among carriers that stopped flying over Belarus along a major Europe-to-Asia corridor that generates hard currency payments to the Minsk government, $300 to $940 per flight.Belgium’s Charles Michel, who chairs European Union summits, called the flight bans, “Europe in action,” tweeting a picture of a flight tracker map showing no planes flying over Belarus.Belarusian planes also faced a possible ban from flying to European Union cities, which could leave landlocked Belarus only able to reach its territory via its eastern border with its close ally Russia.A still image shows a flight path of Ryanair FR4978 on May 23, 2021 on its way from Athens, Greece to Lithuanian capital Vilnius and diverted to Minsk, Belarus. (Courtesy: FLIGHTRADAR24.COM/Handout)Lukashenko used the purported threat of a bomb Sunday aboard a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania, to force the jetliner to land in Minsk. Belarusian authorities then arrested blogger Raman Pratasevich, accusing him of inciting massive rallies last summer against Lukashenko’s assertion of a landslide victory in last August’s election, in which he won a sixth term as the country’s leader with a claimed 80% of the vote.A video released overnight showed the 26-year-old Pratasevich confessing to having organized anti-government demonstrations.”I can state that I don’t have any health issues, including diseases of the heart or any other organs. Police officers are treating me properly and according to the law,” he says, adding that he had “confessed to organizing mass protests in Minsk.”German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the video “concerning” and described the forced landing of the passenger jet as “an unprecedented and unacceptable act.”NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, among other world leaders, called the incident “state hijacking,” and France and Ireland have described it as piracy.”If we let this go, tomorrow Alexander Lukashenko will go further and do something even more arrogant, more cruel,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a statement.Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said the video of Pratasevich showed he had been tortured.”He said that he was treated lawfully, but he’s clearly beaten and under pressure. There is no doubt that he was tortured. He was taken hostage,” she told a news conference in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.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 | 18 MB720p | 33 MB1080p | 74 MBOriginal | 110 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioBelarus did not immediately comment on her allegation but has consistently denied abusing the thousands of people it has detained.Human rights groups have cited hundreds of instances of what they contend are abuse and forced confessions resulting from a crackdown on pro-democracy opponents of Lukashenko since last year.”The events of Sunday are just another escalation in the strategy of blind repression led by the regime of Mr. Lukashenko,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the French parliament.The EU, as well as the United States, called on Lukashenko’s government to immediately release Pratasevich.
 

Biden, Putin Agree to June 16 Summit in Geneva

U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a summit next month in Geneva, the first face-to-face meeting of the two leaders at a time when the two countries are at odds on several contentious issues.The White House confirmed details of the June 16 meeting with Putin on Tuesday, saying Biden would add the meeting to his first international trip as president when he visits Britain for a meeting with the Group of Seven leaders and Brussels for a NATO summit.Biden spokeswoman Jen Psaki said he and Putin “will discuss the full range of pressing issues, as we seek to restore predictability and stability to the U.S.-Russia relationship.”Biden had first proposed a summit in a call with Putin in April, even as his administration was preparing to impose sanctions against Russian officials for the second time during the first three months of his administration.Biden has taken a different approach to Putin than former President Donald Trump, who often dismissed allegations that Russia assisted him in winning the presidency in 2016. But Biden and Putin also agreed early in Biden’s presidency to a five-year extension of an expiring nuclear arms control pact. Jabs at Russia 
Biden has alleged, based on U.S. intelligence findings, that Russians interfered in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The U.S. has also contended that Moscow was behind a hacking campaign called SolarWinds to infect software in networks at nine U.S. agencies to allow Russian agents to gain access.In a television interview, Biden said he believed Putin to be a “killer,” prompting Putin to cite America’s past and present troubles, from the slaughter of Native Americans during the 18th century settlement of the country, to slavery in the 19th century and racial injustice throughout the country’s history.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Biden’s “killer” comment showed that he “definitely does not want to improve relations” with Russia and that relations between the countries are “very bad.”Washington also has attacked Russia for the arrest and jailing of opposition leader Alexey Navalny. The Biden administration in March sanctioned several mid-level and senior Russian officials, as well as more than a dozen businesses and other entities over a near-fatal nerve-agent attack on Navalny in August 2020. Navalny returned to Russia shortly before Biden’s January inauguration and was quickly arrested.Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny is seen on screens via video link before a hearing, in Moscow, April 29, 2021. (Press Service of Babushkinsky District Court of Moscow/Handout)Cyberattack response
In April, the Biden administration expelled 10 Russian diplomats and sanctioned dozens of Russia companies and individuals in response to the SolarWinds hack and election interference allegations. A day later, Russia responded with its own expulsion of U.S. envoys.Throughout his 2020 campaign for the White House, Biden described Russia as the “biggest threat” to U.S. security and alliances, and he disparaged Trump’s cozy relationship with Putin.In a speech to State Department workers after assuming the presidency, Biden said that in his first call with the Russian leader, “I made it clear to President Putin, in a manner very different from my predecessor, that the days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russia’s aggressive actions — interfering with our election, cyberattacks, poisoning its citizens — are over.” 

VOA Exclusive: Taliban Attach Conditions to Istanbul Conference Participation    

The Afghan Taliban have decided upon three conditions to attend an eagerly awaited U.S.-proposed conference in Turkey: The conference must be short, the agenda should not include decision-making on critical issues, and the Taliban delegation should be low level, a senior Taliban leader told VOA Tuesday.  “Our leadership has proposed that the Istanbul meeting should not be longer than three days,” said the leader who did not want to be identified as he is not allowed to speak on the record.
Another senior Taliban leader confirmed the news when approached by VOA.
The conference, to be hosted jointly by the United Nations, Turkey, and Qatar, was first proposed by the United States in April, days after President Joe Biden announced that foreign forces would leave Afghanistan by September of this year. No date has been announced. It was one of several proposed conferences involving the Taliban, the Afghan government, and regional countries designed to give momentum to the peace talks between the Taliban and an official Afghan government team in Doha.   A Taliban delegation attended one such conference in Moscow but refused to attend the conference in Turkey, saying they were deliberating on this and other key issues.   The head of the Qatar-based Taliban negotiation team, Sheikh Abdul Hakeem, and several key members of the Taliban’s Qatar office, traveled to the region to consult with the group’s chief, Sheikh Hibatullah Akhundzada, and some members of the Taliban leadership council. Hakeem was accompanied by Mullah Fazil, Mullah Shireen and Mullah Abdul Manan, all negotiation team members. They also are all members of the Rehbari Shura (leadership council).   Those consultations, according to the Taliban leader, went on for a month and concluded last week.   Afghan media reported the deliberations were being conducted in Pakistan, where according to the Afghan government, most of the Taliban leadership are living.   In a recent interview with German news website Der Spiegel, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, confirmed this claim.   FILE – Zalmay Khalilzad, special envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation, testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill, Apr. 27, 2021.“If this peace effort doesn’t succeed, and if there is no agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Pakistan will suffer. Pakistan will be blamed because so much of the Taliban’s leadership lives in Pakistan,” Khalilzad said.    Pakistan says it is using its influence on the Afghan Taliban to help the peace efforts in Afghanistan. The militant group’s Istanbul decision is also a result of Pakistani and Qatari efforts, among other countries.   “The Taliban leaders were basically not in favor of participation in the Istanbul conference, but they said they will attend with conditions and on request of Pakistan and Qatar,” the Taliban leader said.   The leader, who was privy to internal consultations, did not give details as to who will represent the Taliban.   The spokesman for the Afghan team, Nader Nadery, said their side was unaware of this development.  “Nothing officially shared with us yet,” Nadery said in response to a query.  The United States, Turkey and Afghanistan had proposed that at least one or more senior leaders other than the representatives of the Taliban negotiation team in Doha lead the Taliban team in Istanbul. Officials from these countries have said in background briefings they do not believe the Qatar office envoys, including Mullah Baradar, have the authority to make decisions in the talks.     The U.S. had proposed a 10-day meeting so the Taliban and Afghan government team could hash out their differences and then either make some critical decisions toward peace-making or strive for a breakthrough in otherwise deadlocked talks.  The Taliban leader said their senior leadership did not want Istanbul to be a decision-making platform, and they did not want a specific agenda for the meeting.   When asked if the leadership had made a decision about the cease-fire, he said there is nothing about the cease-fire so far, the Taliban will not declare a cease-fire at the moment, and it will it not be decided during the intra-Afghan negotiations.  FILE – Mohammad Naeem, spokesman for the Taliban’s political office.Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem had earlier said they would not participate in any conference that would make decisions about Afghanistan.  Turkey, Qatar and the United Nations had planned to co-convene the conference in Istanbul, from April 24 to May 4, with the participation of the representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban to “add momentum to the negotiations that started in Doha last September to achieve a just and lasting peace in Afghanistan,” according to a joint statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry.    The conference was earlier scheduled to begin on April 16 and last 10 days, but it was postponed because of the lack of Taliban participation.     At the time, the Taliban complained the organizers had not shared details of the meeting. This time, they say, Turkey has kept them in the loop.    Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) pressed for talks with the Taliban, and they have finalized their peace proposals expected to be announced during the conference.   A Pakistani delegation met the Taliban political representatives in Qatar in the last week of April and pressed them to attend the Istanbul conference with their own proposal.   “The Pakistani delegation insisted that the Taliban should participate in the Istanbul conference with their own future plan as leaders of the Kabul administration [President Ghani] and chairman of HCNR Dr. Abdullah Abdullah have prepared future plans and are scheduled to unveil them in the Istanbul meeting,” the Taliban leader said.    

Turkey Under Fire Over Military Presence in Libya

International pressure is growing on Turkey over its military presence in Libya. Turkey deployed hundreds of soldiers and thousands of Syrian fighters in support of the Libyan Government of National Accord in its battle against forces of Libya’s General Khalifa Hafta, who is backed by Russian and Sudanese mercenaries. Now, with a cease-fire in force and elections scheduled for December, Aya Burweila, a visiting lecturer at the Hellenic National Defense College, says pressure is growing for all foreign troops to quit.”There has been two UN Security Council Resolutions already for the removal of all foreign presence from Libya, be it Turkish Russian Sudanese, so yes, the political terrain has changed very much,” said Burweila. “There has been an increasing realization that Turkey was building up its presence on the Mediterranean in Libya. So I think the EU as well as the United States had a rude awakening about Turkish intentions in Libya.”Ankara insists its forces are in Libya at the invitation of Libya’s internationally recognized government.  But this month, Libyan Foreign Minister Najla El-Mangoush called for all foreign fighters to leave, including Turkish forces. Libyan Foreign Minister Najla el-Mangoush speaks as she and US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Joey Hood deliver a joint statement, in Tripoli, Libya May 18, 2021.Turkey has already established an air base in Libya and Turkish media say Ankara is now seeking to build a naval base. The growing Turkish military presence has drawn strong criticism from France, which observers say is increasingly competing with Turkey for regional influence. Analyst Ilham Uzgel, who writes for the Turkish news portal Duvar, says Ankara will likely have to, at least in part, heed to international pressure.”Turkey will definitely withdraw the jihadists, the fighters that they carried all the way from Syria,” said Uzgel. “Turkey can maintain a small number of liaison officers there, not a combat force, not a tactical force. But Turkey’s military presence there, is a very strong bargaining chip for Turkey.”A U.S. defense department report last year said Turkey sent thousands of paid Syrian fighters to Libya.  Ankara denies any Syrian fighters deployed in Libya have links to Jihadists groups.
 
Turkey is currently seeking to improve relations with both Washington and the European Union, and Ankara sees cooperation on Libya as leverage.  
 
Turkish presidential adviser Mesut Casin says the government is ready to withdraw if all foreign forces pull out. However, he says the Turkish military can play a new important regional role in Libya.”Turkey did not want military influence in Libya; we don’t need it,” said Casin. “But Turkey and also European Union maybe work together. Turkey aims to support the Frontex European Union border security. This is not only for Turkey even Italy, and also Malta support this situation.”Libya is one of the main jumping off points for migrants seeking to enter the European Union illegally, and analysts say the Turkish leadership is looking to use its cooperation on border protection to its advantage in any future negotiations. 

Spain Bans Hunting of Wolves But Division Persists Over Predator 

After losing 23 sheep in a wolf pack attack one night, Laura Serrano Isla might have been expected to want revenge. Instead, this farmer is a surprise supporter of Spain’s decision to introduce a nationwide ban on hunting wolves. “The wolves killed my sheep because we left our animals unprotected and they are predators,” she told VOA. “We have to live together, and people must realize that the wolf has an important role in hunting wild boar, rabbits and deer. As long as we protect our livestock, we can live together.” FILE – Hunter and sheep farmer Isaac Ruiz Olazabal observes his flock of sheep in Karrantza, Spain, Feb. 10, 2021.When Serrano, who runs a farm near Burgos in northern Spain, went public with her views, she became the target of attacks — from other farmers and hunters. “I am not going to back down; they have called me all sorts of names, but it will not change my views,” she insisted. The wolf has divided society in Spain and beyond for centuries, a figure of evil in Western popular culture that preyed on characters from Little Red Riding Hood to the Three Little Pigs. FILE – A farmer wearing a wolf hat shouts slogans during a protest in Madrid, Spain, Dec. 14, 2016. The protest was to highlight problems affecting farmers and ranchers including wolf attacks, EU funding and problems of milk producers in the region.With environmentalists across Europe increasingly championing the cause of canis lupus, Spain’s leftist government put an end to decades of hunting which saw the wolf almost driven to extinction. The Spanish ban will come into force by September, after a long legal battle with regional authorities mostly in northern Spain that opposed the prohibition. The wolf will be declared a “wild animal in special protection” which means hunting it is illegal. After progressive measures to preserve the animal in some northern Spanish regions, the wolf has gone from being seen as an enemy to an asset — of the tourism industry. Until now, hunting was allowed in some regions on a strictly controlled basis.   Spain and Portugal are now thought to be home to about 3,000 wolves, the largest lupine population in Europe, according to data from Ecologists in Action, a conservation group. Yet opposition to the move persists not just among hunters who believe the wolf must be stamped out. Wolves kill some 15,000 farm animals across the country every year, according to the Spanish agricultural association COAG. “Banning hunting is too simple. What is needed is proper control over the wolf,” said Peru Carlos de Munain, a livestock veterinarian in the Basque town of Errigoiti in northern Spain, in an interview with VOA.    “There are many other ways to control wolves —use GPS trackers to show when an attack is about to happen, pen in sheep, provide more shelters for shepherds or even put special chemicals on the sheep which make wolves sick so they never attack sheep again.” Hunters in some parts of northern Spain have displayed the carcasses of dead wolves in public to show they will not give up the pastime easily. Lobo Marley, which campaigns to protect wolves, estimates that about 300 are killed by hunters every year. Changing attitudes  However, in Zamora in northern Spain where once the wolf was hunted, the region has now become a center for lupine tourism. “Attitudes have completely changed in the past 20 years. It used to be risky to say you liked to track wolves in some bars because there was such animosity to the animal,” said Sergi Garcia, a former wolf tracking guide in Zamora, in an interview with VOA. “Now they are selling wolf t-shirts and the animal brings in the money.” The wolf is protected by European Union law but as concern grows the population is growing out of control it has prompted pressure for controlled culls. FILE – A shepherd wearing a tee shirt reading ‘No to wolves’ stands on a trail with sheep on Aug. 27, 2020 in Prevencheres, southern France.In 2018, France approved a cull of 40 wolves after a wave of protests from farmers that the predator was butchering livestock. When Germany’s population reached 60 packs, the government called for a similar cull. Finland has culled its population down to 150 packs, while Norway killed half its population of 100 animals. The EU allowed Estonia, which has the highest density of wolves in the continent, to allow hunting as long as the general population remained stable. Ukraine allows unregulated hunting, while in Bulgaria wolves are considered pests and there is a bounty equal to two weeks’ wages put on their heads.  The same tolerance of hunting exists in Belarus. Russia ended government-controlled culls after the end of the Soviet Union but hunting is legal.  Moscow allows wolves to be poisoned.  

EU Sanctions Belarus Over Plane Diversion, Arrest of Journalist

The European Union is urging member nations to close their airspace and airports to all Belarusian airlines after Belarus forced a commercial jetliner to make an emergency landing Sunday in Minsk and arrested an opposition blogger critical of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. Conclusions on Belarus journalist Raman Pratasevich stands in an airport bus in the international airport outside Minsk, Belarus, May 23, 2021, in this photo released by telegram Chanel t.me/motolkohelp.Pratasevich, a former editor of the influential Telegram channels Nexta and Nexta Live, was detained by police when Belarusian authorities searched the plane. The Minsk government said Lukashenko ordered his military to scramble a MiG-29 fighter to escort the plane to the Minsk airport. In a video released on Belarusian state TV Monday, Pratasevich is seen “confessing” to charges of responsibility in civil disturbances. “I can say that I have no health problems. … I continue cooperating with investigators and am confessing to having organized mass unrest in the city of Minsk,” he said. But just before he and his girlfriend were led off a diverted plane by police, a trembling Pratasevich reportedly told a fellow passenger, “I’m facing the death penalty here.” Ryanair Flight FR4978, originating in Athens, was diverted in Belarusian airspace about 10 kilometers from Vilnius, Lithuania — its planned destination — because of an alleged bomb threat. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
Security use a sniffer dog to check the luggage of passengers on the Ryanair plane, carrying opposition figure Raman Pratasevich, in Minsk International airport, May 23, 2021, in this photo provided by ONLINER.BY.The Minsk government has accused Pratasevich of terrorism and provoking riots after the Nexta channels became one of the main conduits for organizing last year’s anti-Lukashenko protests over election fraud. Lukashenko won his sixth term in the August election, claiming 80% of the votes, although many in the country accused him of rigging the vote. During the months of protests that followed, more than 34,000 people were arrested in Belarus, and thousands were brutally beaten. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday the U.S. “strongly condemns the forced diversion of a flight between two EU member states and the subsequent removal and arrest of journalist Raman Pratasevich in Minsk. We demand his immediate release. “This shocking act perpetrated by the Lukashenko regime endangered the lives of more than 120 passengers, including U.S. citizens,” Blinken said in his statement. The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists on Sunday said it was “shocked” by the incident, saying the Lukashenko government “has increasingly strangled the press in Belarus for the past year, detaining, fining and expelling journalists, and sentencing them to longer and longer prison terms.” The CPJ called for Pratasevich’s immediate release.  Pratasevich had been in Athens covering a visit by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a former Belarusian presidential candidate who has declared herself the country’s leader-in-exile because of the alleged widespread fraud during last year’s elections. She called on the International Civil Aviation Organization to investigate the Sunday incident and the diversion of the Ryanair jet.  She tweeted that Lukashenko’s “regime endangered the lives of passengers onboard the plane. From now — no one flying over Belarus — can be secure. International reaction needed!”