INTL Europe: Politics, Economics, and Military - May 2020

[Plain Jane]

April's thread:

INTL - Europe: Politics, Economics, Military- April, 2020

The thread from March is here: https://www.timebomb2000.com/xf/index.php?threads/europe-politics-economics-and-military-march-2020.568964/ Main coronavirus thread in March on pages 538-1011 approximately here...

www.timebomb2000.com

Main Coronavirus Thread:

CORONA - Main Coronavirus thread

“Everybody calls me when they can’t get masks,” said Mr. Bowen of Prestige Ameritech. “When everything goes back to normal, everyone goes back to the foreign masks.” In a nutshell. We are in this situation by our own hand.

www.timebomb2000.com

In lockdown, 'desperate' Swiss turn to snooping and snitching

A mother checking on her ex-husband's sexual habits to protect their asthmatic child; a retiree frustrated with a neighbour who talks loudly on late-night conference calls; a woman angry with a family downstairs for hosting large play dates.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
APRIL 30, 2020 / 6:17 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
In lockdown, 'desperate' Swiss turn to snooping and snitching

Emma Farge
3 MIN READ

GENEVA (Reuters) - A mother checking on her ex-husband’s sexual habits to protect their asthmatic child; a retiree frustrated with a neighbour who talks loudly on late-night conference calls; a woman angry with a family downstairs for hosting large play dates.

These are all client requests made to a Swiss private detective since the country imposed coronavirus confinement measures six weeks ago.

Christian Sideris, founder of Seeclop, a six-man detective agency in Geneva, has refused all but one of them, urging his callers to seek other solutions in extraordinary times, but the requests reveal the mounting frustration of living together.


“We have a lot of these types of cases because people are confined and on top of each other all day,” he said, describing some callers as “desperate”.

Normally, Sideris gets beyween two and four requests a year for such cases. Since lockdown began, he has had two a week.

He accepted the asthmatic child case since, after a week of trailing the father, it showed he had multiple girlfriends and visitors despite COVID-19 restrictions, a potentially important part of the custody dispute.

In normal times, you would never have a judge who asks about his different mistresses or whether he stays far enough away in the grocery queue but these are not normal times,” said Sideris, one of Geneva’s 468 registered agents.

The Swiss are known for complaining about their neighbours, often using rules designed to keep the noise down. These are rigorously enforced in Geneva, where 16th Century protestant reformer John Calvin banned instrumental music when he was in charge.

Today, Geneva’s Public Health and Tranquility Law regulates the hours for practising a musical instrument and home DIY, with fines of up to 10,000 Swiss francs ($10,000). Running a bath after 9 p.m. is banned.

As the coronavirus crisis drags on, police said noise complaints in Geneva had more than doubled this month to 1,233, including about kids on scooters indoors and late-night home improvements.

One resident complained to police about a neighbourhood choir intended to cheer people up.

“We were disappointed and sad,” said resident Audrey Lecomte. The choir got off with a warning and responded by reducing the show’s length and placing chalk markers to encourage spectators to social-distance.

The police are back, but only to watch, and one grumpy neighbour said the music still went on for “too long”.

Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva; Additional reporting by Cecile Mantovani in Geneva; Editing by Michael Shields, Matthew Lewis and Giles Elgood
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Swedish town uses chicken manure to help stop spread of coronavirus

A town in southern Sweden has turned to a traditional source to try to prevent the coronavirus spreading during an annual festive event on Thursday - chicken manure.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
APRIL 30, 2020 / 6:59 AM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
Swedish town uses chicken manure to help stop spread of coronavirus

Colm Fulton
2 MIN READ

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A town in southern Sweden has turned to a traditional source to try to prevent the coronavirus spreading during an annual festive event on Thursday - chicken manure.

The university town of Lund began spreading chicken droppings in its central park to put off would-be revellers who would usually come on April 30 to celebrate Walpurgis Night.

The occasion, marking the shift away from dark, chilly winter days towards brighter spring and summer days, is typically celebrated with picnics, parties and bonfires across the country, and regularly attracts thousands of students.


“This is a park where usually 30,000 people gather, but with COVID-19 this is now unthinkable,” the town’s mayor, Philip Sandberg, told Reuters. “We don’t want Lund to become an epicentre for the spread of the disease.”

Sweden has taken a softer approach than many other countries to preventing the spread of the respiratory disease that the coronavirus can cause, asking rather than ordering people to maintain social distancing.

In line with this policy, authorities have requested people avoid gathering for this year’s Walpurgis Night, but have not banned festivities.

The authorities fear young people, especially students, will still want to enjoy a picnic and drink in the park.

“Most students in Lund and other parts of Sweden respect the recommendations ... although even a small number of people still going to the park can become a big risk,” Sandberg said.

Reporting by Colm Fulton; editing by Niklas Pollard and Timothy Heritage
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

German farmers afraid of swine fever – DW – 04/30/2020

SARS-CoV-2 is not the only virus wreaking havoc in Europe, there's also African Swine Fever, a disease transmitted from wild boar to farmed pigs. Western Poland is currently on the front line, and Germans are worried.

www.dw.com

German farmers sweat as pig fever reaches western Poland
SARS-CoV-2 is not the only virus wreaking havoc in Europe, there's also African Swine Fever, a disease transmitted from wild boar to farmed pigs. Western Poland is currently on the front line, and Germans are worried.





Some 450 pig farms in the western Polish province of Wielkopolska — located near a farm where African Swine Fever (ASF) was recently found — have been placed in lockdown. Meanwhile, German authorities across the border are increasingly concerned after a sick wild boar was found 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Polish border having swum what appears to be a significant distance.

Wild boars carry the disease — a highly contagious virus which is fatal to pigs — and it often enters the farm pig population via blood carried by boar hunters.

Some fear a repeat in Germany of what happened in China. One of the largest outbreaks of the ASF virus began sweeping through China's pig farms in August 2018, wiping out 40% of the country's pig population. "That's roughly 300 million to 350 million pigs lost in China, which is almost a quarter of the world's pork supply," Christine McCracken, a senior analyst at RaboResearch, told NPR. "It's a massive number."

As the world's main importer and producer of pork, the result was rising inflation. As pork prices rose over 110% in China, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) went up 4.5% in December. Although pork prices make up a considerably smaller part of the German inflation basket, the impact could nonetheless add to the existing economic problems caused by COVID-19.

If a single case of ASF is found on German territory, the country will be banned from exporting pigs to China. Experts fear this in turn could lead to Beijing flooding the EU market and depressing prices. Germany is Europe's biggest pork producer with about 26 million pigs, and also the EU's second-largest pork exporter to non-EU markets, after Spain. Most German exports go to China, South Korea and Japan.

Polish pigs
The virus has been present in eastern Poland since 2014 and was discovered for the first time in a separate cluster in wild boar in western Poland last November. Since then it has reportedly spread to 720 sites in three provinces in the west of the country, and an outbreak was confirmed on April 7 on a farm near the village of Wieckowice, near Poznan, 150 kilometers from the German border.

The source of the infection were ASF-positive piglets that the farm owner, Smithfield Foods' subsidiary Agri Plus, bought in mid-March. The shipment of 1,000 animals took place prior to the date ASF was confirmed at another farm. The farm in Wieckowice specializes in fattening piglets up to 30kg and had 10,000 piglets that had to be culled, local authorities said.

The infection at the first farm, with 23,700 pigs near Niedoradz, Lubusz province, 88 kilometres south west of Wieckowice, was discovered on March 23. In the weeks prior to the discovery dead wild boar had reportedly been found in the vicinity of the village's pig farm houses.

Workers in Brandenburg put up a fence to prevent wild boar in Poland from reaching German soil

All cases on farm sites had prior to the two outbreaks been in eastern Poland, where ASF has been reported since 2014. The virus has been in five provinces in eastern Poland and new outbreaks continue to be found there as well. So far, in eastern Poland, 237 (backyard) farms are known to have been infected. Unlike eastern Poland, pig farms in the west tend to consist of large sophisticated swine farms.

The Polish government plans to cull 90% of the country's wild boar after the government passed a special law on containing ASF in December giving Polish hunting associations new powers in culling wild boar.

Nearing Germany
The German states of Brandenburg and Saxony have both built fences along the border with Poland to prevent wild boars from entering. Saxony also recently heightened measures for hunters, who must now report every wild boar found dead and any that has been killed, stating the place where they were found or shot at the relevant local food inspection and veterinary office in the districts.

"Jumps over large distances in the disease spread clearly show the existing risk of introduction into Germany through human activity. The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) is especially concerned about the situation in wild boar in Poland as the last cases are only about 10 kilometers from the German border," said Elke Reinking, a spokesperson for FLI, Germany's federal research institute for animal health.

COVID-19 adds to the problem
In Germany, some wooded areas have been closed due to COVID-19, making surveillance more difficult, although some Polish local authorities have said eradication could actually be slowed by the social distancing measures imposed in order to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Complicating the fight against ASF was also a now lifted regulation, put in place by the Polish authorities and forbidding people from entering national parks due to COVID-19. This also applied to hunters, who play an important role in monitoring wild boar presence as well as in passive ASF surveillance, i.e. discovery and removal of infected wild boar carcasses.

Prof Thomas Mettenleiter, president of the FLI, told the German agricultural title Top Agrar that COVID-19 should not interfere with the fight against ASF. "ASF is a notifiable animal disease that must be combated quickly with all necessary measures if it occurs in Germany, regardless of the current pandemic with SARS-CoV-2," Mettenleiter said.

The US Department of Agriculture reports the ASF virus is only transmittable between animals or through infected meat or animal feed, but some believe it has the potential to transmit to humans. Chief State Sanitary Doctor Gennady Onishchenko — head of the Russian Epidemiology Service, for example, noted that "if we take into account the fact that pig physiology is very close to human physiology, and they suffer illness in almost the same way as we do, there is reason to believe that in the next round of mutation the virus can become dangerous to humans."

 

[Plain Jane]

French life will not be normal after May 11, Macron says

President Emmanuel Macron warned on Friday that ending the national lockdown on May 11 would be only a first step for France to pull out of the coronavirus crisis, for which his handling faces mounting criticism.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 1, 2020 / 4:41 AM / UPDATED 42 MINUTES AGO
Defying French lockdown, Le Pen places May Day wreath as Macron urges unity

John Irish
3 MIN READ

PARIS (Reuters) - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen pressed ahead with her party’s annual May 1 tradition of honouring mediaeval heroine Joan of Arc despite a nationwide lockdown and criticised President Emmanuel Macron’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.

Traditional Labour Day protests that usually see thousands of demonstrators on the streets have been cancelled due to the virus outbreak that has killed some 24,000 people across France.

Unions were organising online activities and asking people to bang their pans and put out banners from their balconies to mark the day.

For the far-right National Rally, which uses Joan of Arc as its own nationalist symbol, Marine Le Pen defied the lockdown in central Paris to lay a wreath at the golden statue of the 15th century warrior.

Sometimes known as the Maid of Orleans, Joan of Arc has become a powerful symbol of France for her fearless resolve in rallying French soldiers against the English and their allies and securing the coronation of Charles VII in the fifteenth century.

“I’ve never said I had doubts about the confinement. I just said that complete confinement was the solution when we failed to prevent the epidemic,” Le Pen, wearing a mask, told reporters.


“A successful end to the lockdown is with tests for everybody, masks for everybody and I am opposed to schools opening before September.”

From May 11, schools will gradually reopen and businesses will be free to resume operations after the country’s 67 million population has been in confinement since mid-March.

The government has said it is prepared to slow or delay the unwinding of the lockdown if the infection rate spikes markedly higher, with administrative departments divided into ‘red’ and ‘green’ zones.

Opposition lawmakers and some experts have questioned the practicalities of schools reopening, the broad use of public transport and the tough measures that will continue to impact areas less hurt by the virus.

Question marks have also been raised about the government’s ability to reach 700,000 COVID-19 tests by May 11, their implementation and the possible isolation of people tested positive for the illness.

In a video message posted on his Twitter account, Macron urged unity and said the country would get through this period.

I have a thought today for the trade union organisations and the workers of the country which cannot hold their traditional parades,” he said.

“There is a strong desire to once again find the joyful, although sometimes bickering May 1, which makes our nation. My dear compatriots, we will find them, those happy May 1sts!”

Tens of thousands of labour union and “yellow vest” protesters were on the streets across France a year ago demonstrating against Macron’s policies. The protests were marred after dozens of masked and hooded anarchists clashed with riot police.

Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Mark Potter
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Germany raids sites linked to Hezbollah, extends ban

BERLIN (AP) — German police raided five sites linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, as authorities announced Thursday that they were banning activities by its political wing in Germany.

apnews.com

Germany raids sites linked to Hezbollah, extends ban
yesterday



1 of 7
Special police investigates the Hezbollah linked Imam Mahdi center in Muenster, western Germany, Thursday, April 30, 2020. German police raided five sites linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, as authorities announced Thursday that they were banning activities by its political wing in Germany. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
BERLIN (AP) — German police raided five sites linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, as authorities announced Thursday that they were banning activities by its political wing in Germany.

The raids, intended to prevent evidence about possible front organizations being destroyed, took place at mosques and community centers in Berlin, Bremen, Muenster, Recklinghausen and Dortmund.

German lawmakers last year called on the government to extend an existing ban on activities by the group’s militant wing to include those of its political branch. At the time, officials had warned that such a move was legally difficult, because Hezbollah doesn’t have any official presence in Germany.

The Interior Ministry said the decree issued Thursday bans all activities in support of the group in Germany, including the use of its symbols or publications. Hezbollah supporters have staged annual anti-Israel marches in Berlin for several years.

The United States and Israel welcomed Germany’s move against the group, which is rooted in Lebanon’s Shiite community and has close ties to Iran.

U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell called on other European Union countries to also ban Hezbollah’s activities, saying the group “cannot be allowed to use Europe as a safe haven to support terrorism in Syria and across the Middle East.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Twitter that “Hezbollah is a terror organization & must be treated as such.” Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006 that ended in a U.N.-brokered cease-fire.

 

[Melodi]

Covid-19 cases confirmed at two meat-processing plants

A Co Tipperary based meat processor has confirmed that all its staff have been tested for Covid-19 after concerns about the virus at the facility while in Co Westmeath, Dawn Meats has suspended production at its boning hall in Kilbeggan due to four confirmed cases of the virus.

www.rte.ie

Covid-19 cases see closure of meat processing plant
Updated / Friday, 1 May 2020 08:59

Close to 15,000 people work in meat processing here at more than 45 facilities (File image)
By Fran McNulty
Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Correspondent

One of the country's biggest meat processing companies has closed a facility in Co Westmeath as a result of confirmed cases of Covid-19.

The Dawn Meats boning hall in Kilbeggan is closed. The company said this morning that when it "became aware of four confirmed cases of Covid-19 amongst workers in Kilbeggan we decided to defer production".

Dawn Meats also said that the cases detected reflect less than 2% of the staff at the plant and the decision has been taken "out of an abundance of caution".

The company said in a statement: "We have implemented a detailed series of measures to manage risks associated with Covid-19, and to maintain social distancing in our facilities in line with procedures recommended by the HSE and other Government agencies."

Dawn Meats also said that it will not affect its ability to supply customers or receive cattle at its other facilities around the country.

It follows confirmation from Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed last night that his department was aware of six so-called clusters in meat processing facilities.

Mr Creed confirmed that one of the plants was a boning facility.

Last night in the Dáil, there were claims that another company had 120 confirmed cases of the virus but was still operating.

Sinn Féin's Spokesperson on Agriculture Brian Stanley claimed that the first cases emerged at the facility a month ago.



Mr Stanley said staff were concerned about social distancing at it and other facilities.

Mr Creed told the Dáil that staff from his department continued to work at the facility.

He told the Sinn Féin TD that whilst food production was important, it was secondary to the health and well-being of staff working in meat factories.

Meat Industry Ireland has said that meat processing plants have implemented a range of measures to ensure the safety of staff.

The group, which represents meat processors, said in a statement that "continued operations in meat processing is only possible due to the incredible commitment and efforts of staff at meat plants, of farmers and hauliers and all service providers to the industry".



Nearly 15,000 people work in meat processing in Ireland at over 45 facilities all over the country.

Meanwhile, figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre show a 75% increase in workplace-related coronavirus clusters in the space of eight days.

The data shows that up to midnight on Sunday 19 April, there were 16 workplace-related coronavirus clusters.

However, this has risen to 28 such clusters in the latest report which covers up to midnight on Monday 27 April.

There are six such clusters in the south of the country, and five each in the east and the midlands.

 

[Plain Jane]

Assange's partner says his life is in danger in London prison

The partner of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Friday his life is in danger while he is held in a London prison during the coronavirus lockdown.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 1, 2020 / 4:33 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Assange's partner says his life is in danger in London prison

LONDON (Reuters) - The partner of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Friday his life is in danger while he is held in a London prison during the coronavirus lockdown.

Assange is fighting a request by the United States to extradite him to stand trial for conspiring to hack government computers and espionage, but hearings scheduled for later this month will not go ahead because of the lockdown.


“The life of my partner, Julian Assange, is at severe risk. He is on remand at HMP Belmarsh, and COVID-19 is spreading within its walls,” Stella Moris, who has two children with Assange, said in a statement.

“Julian needs to be released now. For him, for our family, and for the society we all want our children to grow up in.”

Moris, a lawyer, said last month that she met Assange in 2011 at the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he spent seven years avoiding arrest by British police.

Assange and WikiLeaks enraged the U.S. government a decade ago by publishing thousands of secret American documents. Assange’s supporters see him as a champion of free speech exposing abuses of power and hypocrisy by Washington.

The U.S. authorities say he is wanted not because he embarrassed them but because he endangered informants, dissidents and rights activists in several countries, including Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan by illegal actions.

Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by Jonathan Oatis
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Greece says Turkish fighter jets buzzed Greek chopper

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s government has condemned what it described as a provocative act by Turkey, whose fighter jets Athens says buzzed a helicopter carrying the Greek defense minister and the head of the armed forces who were visiting a Greek island. Turkey, however, denied its jets had...

apnews.com

Greece says Turkish fighter jets buzzed Greek chopper
By ELENA BECATOROS

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s government has condemned what it described as a provocative act by Turkey, whose fighter jets Athens says buzzed a helicopter carrying the Greek defense minister and the head of the armed forces who were visiting a Greek island.

Turkey, however, denied its jets had ever harassed the helicopter, saying they were simply on a routine flight.

Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas said Monday the incident on Sunday was another indication that “Turkey often exceeds the limits of both the rules of international law and of course the rules of good neighborliness.”

NATO allies and neighbors Greece and Turkey have a long history of testy relations, and have come to the brink of war three times since the mid 1970s. They remain divided over a series of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean Sea.

Tensions between the two increased recently, particularly after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in late February declared his borders open to migrants wishing to leave to Europe. Although Turkey also shares a border with European Union member Bulgaria, it was only at its border with Greece that tens of thousands of migrants appeared, demanding to cross. Weeks of often violent clashes with border guards ensued.

In Sunday’s incident, Greek fighter jets repelled the two Turkish jets, Greek officials said. Local media reported that Turkish jets continued to fly over the Greek island of Oinousses during a visit there by Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos and the chief of the National Defense General Staff, Gen. Konstantinos Floros.

“Such behavior by Turkey doesn’t help in defusing tension, which both sides should be seeking at this time,” Panagiotopoulos said Sunday. The Greek Foreign Ministry described the incident as “another unacceptable Turkish action” which confirms “the negative role Turkey is playing in the region, insisting on anachronistic perceptions of international relations.”

Turkey, for its part, accused Greece of trying to escalate tensions.

“Our warplanes carried out the task of recognition within the framework of routine activities in the Aegean,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a written statement.

“Trying to escalate tensions by dramatizing routine flights is of no benefit to this country,” Aksoy said. “Instead, these issues should be addressed during the confidence-building process that was initiated by the two countries’ defense ministries.”

___

Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

 

[Plain Jane]

Germany issues arrest warrant for Russian suspect in parliament hack: newspaper

German prosecutors believe a 2015 hack attack on the country's parliament was carried out by the same Russian operative who a year later derailed Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign by breaking into her emails, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 5, 2020 / 4:16 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Germany issues arrest warrant for Russian suspect in parliament hack: newspaper


1 MIN READ

BERLIN (Reuters) - German federal prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for an individual they suspected of hacking into the German parliament’s computer systems in 2015 on behalf of Russia’s GRU intelligence service, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper reported that their suspect was Dmitry Badin, who is also sought by United States authorities for hack attacks including the theft of e-mails from Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party in the run-up to the 2016 Presidential election.

Without giving a source, the newspaper said that investigators were “certain” that Badin, 29, was also involved in the April 2015 hack attack on Germany’s Bundestag parliament. Prosecutors were not immediately available to comment.

Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Scot W. Stevenson
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Top German court: ECB bond buying scheme partially illegal – DW – 05/05/2020

Germany's constitutional court has ruled that the European Central Bank's stimulus program partly contravenes German law, because neither the German government nor parliament signs off on the spending.

www.dw.com

Top German court says ECB bond buying scheme partially contravenes the law
Germany's constitutional court has ruled that the European Central Bank's stimulus program partly contravenes German law, because neither the German government nor parliament signs off on the spending.





Germany's Constitutional Court largely upheld several complaints against the European Central Bank's purchase of government bonds under a program started in 2015 and meant to boost the economy and stoke inflation toward the central bank's own target of just below 2%.

Tuesday's ruling by Germany's surpreme court was the result of years of debate over the role of the eurozone's central bank. It did not cover current ECB aid issued in response to the coronavirus crisis, with the ECB having launched a special Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program.

The judges in Karlsruhe raised concerns back in 2017 that one specific part of the bond-buying program, the Public Sector Purchase Program (PSPP), could engage in economic policy and direct government financing, both of which the ECB is prohibited from doing.

The overall asset purchasing scheme was used between 2015 and 2018 to buy government bonds and other securities worth approximately €2.6 trillion ($2.9 trillion) with the aim of boosting the economy. Over €2.1 trillion in purchases were made as part of the PSPP.
The program also knows as quantitative easing was reactivated in November of last year against the backdrop of trade conflicts, the specter of Brexit and other headwinds impacting the eurozone economy.

Government and lawmakers need to scrutinize ECB decisions
Germany's supreme court stated it could not find any proof of direct government financing by the ECB. But it found that both the German government and lawmakers had failed to scrutinize the objectives and mechanisms involved in the ECB's bond buying program. The judges said there had never been a thorough analysis of whether the ECB's PSPP scheme was really an adequate measure to boost the economies of the 19-member eurozone.

The court thus sided with several groups of plaintiffs including economist and former far-right AfD leader Bernd Lucke as well as Peter Gauweiler, a former senior member of Bavaria's conservative CSU party. They had argued that the central bank's bond buying program was not within its sole mandate of ensuring price stability.

Ping-ponging with EU court

It were some judges at the Federal Constitutional Court themselves who back in 2017 started the ball rolling by raising concerns that a specific part of the bond buying program, the Public Sector Purchase Program (PSPP), could directly engage in economic policy which the ECB is not allowed to do.

The European Court of Justice took up the case and ruled in December 2018 that the ECB's decision to buy sovereign bonds was valid and within the bank's mandate, despite the concerns voiced by some in Germany. However, concerns in Karlsruhe had remained all along.

Uwe Burkert, an economist with LBBW Bank, said after Tuesday's ruling by Germany's top court that "the verdict is a very explosive thing."

"The Bundesbank [Germany's central bank] will — after a transitional period of three months — be barred from taking part in the ECB's PSPP program."

Commerzbank Chief Economist Jörg Krämer is certain, though, that the bond buying scheme will continue. "The ECB will have to prove now that the program is really proportionate so as to win approval by the German government and lawmakers — given the large group of experts at the ECB, that shouldn't be much of a problem."

hg/msh (AFP, Reuters, dpa)

 

[Plain Jane]

French hospital discovers country's first known Covid-19 case, from December

A French hospital which has retested old samples from pneumonia patients discovered that it treated a man who had Covid-19 as early as Dec. 27, nearly a month before the French government confirmed its first cases.

www.france24.com

French hospital discovers country's first known Covid-19 case, from December
331shares
Issued on: 05/05/2020 - 03:08

A medical staff member works in the Intensive Care Unit for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients at the Centre Cardiologique du Nord private hospital in Saint-Denis near Paris on April 22, 2020. © Gonzalo Fuentes, Reuters
Text by:NEWS WIRES
A French hospital which has retested old samples from pneumonia patients discovered that it treated a man who had Covid-19 as early as Dec. 27, nearly a month before the French government confirmed its first cases.

Yves Cohen, head of resuscitation at the Avicenne and Jean Verdier hospitals in the northern suburbs of Paris, told French media that scientists had retested samples from 24 patients treated in December and January who tested negative for the flu.

"Of the 24, we had one who was positive for Covid-19 on Dec. 27," he told the news channel on Sunday.

The samples had all initially been collected to detect flu using PCR tests, the same genetic screening process that can also be used to detect the presence of the novel coronavirus in patients infected at the time the sample is collected.

Each sample was retested several times to ensure there were no errors, he added. Neither Cohen nor his team were immediately available for comment on Monday.

France, which has seen almost 25,000 people die from the virus since March 1, confirmed its first three COVID-19 cases on Jan. 24, including two patients in Paris and another in the southwestern city of Bordeaux.

Cohen said it was too early to know if the patient whose Dec. 27 test was Covid-19 positive is France's "patient zero". Knowing who was the first is critical to understanding how the virus spread.

Cohen said the patient had survived and that a first investigation to trace the first contamination has been carried out.

"He was sick for 15 days and infected his two children, but not his wife, who works in a supermarket.

"He was amazed, he didn't understand how he had been infected. We put the puzzle together and he had not made any trips. The only contact that he had was with his wife."

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 app
The man's wife worked alongside a Sushi stand, close to colleagues of Chinese origin, Cohen said. It was not clear whether those colleagues had travelled to China, and the local health authority should investigate, he said.

"We're wondering whether she was asymptomatic," he said.

"He may be the 'patient zero', but perhaps there are others in other regions. All the negative PCRs for pneumonia must be tested again. The virus was probably circulating (then)," he said.
(REUTERS)

 

[Plain Jane]

Polish ruling coalition postpones Sunday presidential vote

Poland’s ruling party leader and a partner in the governing coalition have agreed to postpone a presidential election on Sunday and said another date will be chosen later.

apnews.com

Polish presidential election in chaos with only 4 days to go
By VANESSA GERA and MONIKA SCISLOWSKA2 hours ago



1 of 4
FILE - In this file photo taken Feb. 19, 2020, Poland's President Andrzej Duda, center, campaigning for his re-election in Warsaw, Poland. The Polish government’s determination to move forward with the May 10, presidential election during the coronavirus pandemic by making it an all-postal vote is creating anxiety and anger, and critics say the plan threatens public health and democracy in Poland.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland is scheduled to hold a presidential election in just four days but nobody can say whether it will happen or not.

Sunday’s election date was was set months ago but preparations have been thrown into disarray by the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown Poland is under to control the spread of the virus. Bitter fighting between the ruling conservative party and its opponents is preventing the sides from coming together to find an alternative.

Plans for the vote are in chaos. Proposed legislation regulating it is still in parliament, with no guarantee that it will pass. A government official in charge of the vote acknowledges that the election cannot be pulled off Sunday — but it has not been officially postponed, either.


The ruling party on Wednesday was setting the stage for a two-week postponement of the election with the top court’s permission.

Up to now, the ruling Law and Justice party has been pushing to stick to schedule — holding a vote Sunday with runoff on May 24 if necessary — by making it a postal vote. Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski insists the constitution requires the vote be held in May. But he also acknowledges the party fears its candidate, President Andrzej Duda, the front-runner in opinion polls, could be weakened later when the economic pain of the pandemic lockdown hits the now-robust Polish economy.

Opposition parties are against holding the vote now and want the government to declare a state of emergency to create a legal way to postpone the vote by three months. They note that, under the lockdown, their candidates have not been able to campaign in any normal fashion but Duda is constantly on state television amid the government’s virus-fighting efforts.
All of Poland’s living ex-presidents and several former prime ministers plan to boycott what they called a “pseudo-election.”

Donald Tusk, former Polish prime minister and former top European Union leader, likened the political situation to autocratic Belarus. He said Tuesday on Twitter there used to be a joke there that “you never knew if or when elections will take place, but you always knew who will win.”

International democracy watchdogs have also voiced concerns, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

“For democratic elections, it’s crucial that there is an open debate and genuine campaigning,” said Katya Andrusz, spokeswoman for the OSCE’s Warsaw-based Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.


Many Poles say they plan to boycott a vote they don’t trust will be anonymous or fair. Under the current plan, 30 million registered voters would receive ballots in their home mailboxes and then on Sunday drop them in voting boxes set up in their neighborhoods.

Reports of ballots having been posted online or even lying in a street only added to the general distrust in the postal vote.

Weeks ago, Law and Justice proposed holding the election exclusively by mail, regarding that as a safe option during the pandemic. But that required creating new legislation to regulate the all-postal election.

The law passed the lower house of parliament in early April, but was rejected Tuesday by the opposition-controlled Senate. Now, the legislation returns to the lower house for a final vote, possibly on Wednesday. The outcome of the vote is not certain.

A government official in charge of organizing the postal vote, Jacek Sasin, said Monday that the schedule leaves too little timefor 30 million ballots to be delivered by Sunday.

Illustrating the chaos, Parliament Speaker Elzbieta Witek, the official in charge of naming election dates, is seeking the constitutional court’s consent for a postponement till May 23, but also asked the State Electoral Commission if it could organize the presidential vote on Sunday.
The commission head, Sylwester Marciniak, replied Tuesday night it was “impossible for legal and organizational reasons,” the PAP news agency said.

Complicating matters further, one small party in the conservative governing coalition is divided on the issue, with some of its members favoring a postponement. That creates the risk that the ruling party could lose its slim parliamentary majority.

Analysts see an advantage in postponing the election to May 17 or May 23, which would be the latest date possible under a constitutionally dictated schedule based on Duda’s five-year term expiring on Aug. 6.

There’s been speculation that if Law and Justice loses its parliamentary majority, it could declare a state of emergency, dissolve the government and trigger new parliamentary and presidential elections for August.

But Law and Justice lawmaker and spokesman, Radoslaw Fogiel insists that under the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic, the party is trying to “solve the problems, rather than look for them.”
______
Video journalist Rafal Niedzielski contributed to this report.

Recommended Links

https://apnews.com/f817b646941c79e33059d0c0d5ed14b6

 

[Plain Jane]

That WWII Generation continues to inspire.

UK's 'Captain Tom' inspires campaign by 97-year-old Russian

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Inspired by 99-year-old Briton Tom Moore's multi-million pound charity walk, a Russian fellow World War II veteran has launched her own effort to gather contributions for the families of doctors and nurses who have died of COVID-19.

apnews.com

UK’s ‘Captain Tom’ inspires campaign by 97-year-old Russian
today



1 of 4
In this family photo taken by Dmitry Panov, Zinaida Korneva, World War II veteran, shows the socks she knitted for Thomas Moore, a British World War II veteran who raised millions of pounds for charity in the run-up to his 100th birthday, during her interview with the Associated Press in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, May 5, 2020. Inspired by Captain Tom Moore's renowned fund-raising effort amid the coronavirus pandemic, Zinaida Korneva, 97, Russian World War II veteran has launched her own effort to gather contributions for the families of doctors and nurses who have died of the infection. (Dmitry Panov via AP)
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Inspired by 99-year-old Briton Tom Moore’s multi-million pound charity walk, a Russian fellow World War II veteran has launched her own effort to gather contributions for the families of doctors and nurses who have died of COVID-19.

Zinaida Korneva, 97, isn’t walking laps in her garden as Moore did in the days up to his 100th birthday last month. Instead, she’s launched a website with videos telling of her trials as a Red Army soldier in the Stalingrad region.

In one of the videos she credits Moore, who served in the British army during WWII and rose to the rank of captain, as her inspiration.


“Hello Tom. I learned about your story. You are a strong person and a real soldier,” she says, displaying a chestful of medals. “We defeated fascism together in 1945. And now, together, we’re fighting against this virus.”

The efforts by Moore, who became widely known as “Captain Tom,” became a worldwide sensation and raised more than 30 million pounds ($37 million) for charities affiliated with Britain’s National Health Service.

And he’s also getting a special gift from Korneva -- she knitted him a pair of socks.
“Let them keep you warm with love from Russia,”she said.

As of Tuesday, Korneva’s campaign had raised over $26,000 in five days and she hopes to accumulate $40,000.
—-=
Korneva’s website (in English): WWII veterans battle COVID-19
___
Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

 

[mzkitty]

Read down:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1257978943421984768

View: https://twitter.com/business/status/1257978943421984768

 

[Plain Jane]

Baltic states to create 'travel bubble' as pandemic curbs eased

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia will open their borders to each others' citizens from May 15, creating a Baltic "travel bubble" within the European Union amid an easing of pandemic restrictions, their prime ministers said on Wednesday.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 6, 2020 / 5:02 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Baltic states to create 'travel bubble' as pandemic curbs eased


3 MIN READ

VILNIUS (Reuters) - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia will open their borders to each others’ citizens from May 15, creating a Baltic “travel bubble” within the European Union amid an easing of pandemic restrictions, their prime ministers said on Wednesday.

The Baltic travel area would be first of its kind in the bloc, where most countries restricted entry to non-nationals and imposed quarantine on incoming travelers as the novel coronavirus spread across the continent.

“We have agreed that all three Baltic states have properly contained the spread of the coronavirus, and we trust each others’ health systems,” Lithuania’s Prime Minister Saulius Skvernlis wrote on Facebook.

“So, starting from May 15, we are removing all restrictions for citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia traveling between the Baltic states.”


People entering the region from other countries will need to self-isolate for 14 days, he added.

The European Commission has recommended that internal border controls between all member states should be lifted in a coordinated manner, once their virus situation converges sufficiently, the commission’s office in Lithuania said.

Moves to selectively open borders has also emerged elsewhere. Australia and New Zealand are working towards resuming travel between them, tough the efforts toward creating a common travel area could take some time.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, all major trading partners with each other, are also taking cautious steps to re-open their economies after lockdowns imposed as local outbreaks struck.

The region is part of the European Union since 2004 and the European free-travel Schengen Area since 2007. Estonia and Lithuania closed their borders to non-citizens during the outbreak and all three nations imposed mandatory quarantines on anyone entering for non-work-related reasons.

Meanwhile, the new COVID-19 cases have slowed to a trickle recently with none of the countries reporting more than 5 new cases on Tuesday. Since the start of the pandemic, Lithuania has recorded 48 deaths in the disease, Latvia 17 and Estonia 55.

Reporting By Gederts Gelzis, Andrius Sytas, Tarmo Virki. Writing by Andrius Sytas; editing by Niklas Pollard
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

View attachment 195761

Read down:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1257978943421984768

View: https://twitter.com/business/status/1257978943421984768

Putin has been pushing for this since January. These are the five original members of UN Security Council. It makes you wonder what he has in mind.

 

[Melodi]

That WWII Generation continues to inspire.

UK's 'Captain Tom' inspires campaign by 97-year-old Russian

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Inspired by 99-year-old Briton Tom Moore's multi-million pound charity walk, a Russian fellow World War II veteran has launched her own effort to gather contributions for the families of doctors and nurses who have died of COVID-19.

apnews.com

UK’s ‘Captain Tom’ inspires campaign by 97-year-old Russian
today



1 of 4
In this family photo taken by Dmitry Panov, Zinaida Korneva, World War II veteran, shows the socks she knitted for Thomas Moore, a British World War II veteran who raised millions of pounds for charity in the run-up to his 100th birthday, during her interview with the Associated Press in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, May 5, 2020. Inspired by Captain Tom Moore's renowned fund-raising effort amid the coronavirus pandemic, Zinaida Korneva, 97, Russian World War II veteran has launched her own effort to gather contributions for the families of doctors and nurses who have died of the infection. (Dmitry Panov via AP)
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Inspired by 99-year-old Briton Tom Moore’s multi-million pound charity walk, a Russian fellow World War II veteran has launched her own effort to gather contributions for the families of doctors and nurses who have died of COVID-19.

Zinaida Korneva, 97, isn’t walking laps in her garden as Moore did in the days up to his 100th birthday last month. Instead, she’s launched a website with videos telling of her trials as a Red Army soldier in the Stalingrad region.

In one of the videos she credits Moore, who served in the British army during WWII and rose to the rank of captain, as her inspiration.


“Hello Tom. I learned about your story. You are a strong person and a real soldier,” she says, displaying a chestful of medals. “We defeated fascism together in 1945. And now, together, we’re fighting against this virus.”

The efforts by Moore, who became widely known as “Captain Tom,” became a worldwide sensation and raised more than 30 million pounds ($37 million) for charities affiliated with Britain’s National Health Service.

And he’s also getting a special gift from Korneva -- she knitted him a pair of socks.
“Let them keep you warm with love from Russia,”she said.

As of Tuesday, Korneva’s campaign had raised over $26,000 in five days and she hopes to accumulate $40,000.
—-=
Korneva’s website (in English): WWII veterans battle COVID-19
___
Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

I subscribed to her blog and her Facebook - I sent it to my German (card-carrying Red Diaper Baby German) as well since she can read Russian on Facebook) and we all knit socks!

Thank you for posting this it is a wonderful story and I look forward to reading about her adventures - so few are left that remember these things, getting all "sides" to contribute their memories is important!

 

[Plain Jane]

This is both sad and ominous.

3 Russian doctors fall from hospital windows during pandemic

MOSCOW (AP) — Two Russian doctors have died and another was seriously injured in falls from hospital windows after they reportedly came under pressure over working conditions in the coronavirus pandemic.

apnews.com

3 Russian doctors fall from hospital windows during pandemic
By DARIA LITVINOVAyesterday



1 of 5
A medical worker wearing protective equipment sprays disinfectant at his ambulance after delivering a patient suspected of being infected with the coronavirus to the Pokrovskaya hospital in St.Petersburg, Russia, Monday, May 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
MOSCOW (AP) — Two Russian doctors have died and another was seriously injured in falls from hospital windows after they reportedly came under pressure over working conditions in the coronavirus pandemic.

The exact circumstances of the separate incidents in the last two weeks remain unclear and they are being investigated by police, but they underscore the enormous strains that Russian doctors and nurses have faced during the outbreak.

Reports said two of the doctors had protested their working conditions and the third was being blamed after her colleagues contracted the virus.


Across Russia, doctors have decried shortages of protective equipment and questionable infection control procedures at dozens of hospitals, with many saying they have been threatened with dismissal or even prosecution for going public with their grievances. Hundreds of medical workers also have gotten infected.
MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

• – The Latest: Milan gives antibody tests to bus, tram drivers
• – `If this thing boomerangs': Second wave of infections feared
• – Senior scientist says administration ignored virus warnings

Dr. Alexander Shulepov, who works on an ambulance crew in the Voronezh region, 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of Moscow, fell from a second-floor window May 2 at a hospital where he was being treated for COVID-19, breaking several ribs and fracturing his skull.

In a video posted earlier on social media by his colleague, Alexander Kosyakin, both complained about shortages of protective gear. In the video, the 37-year-old Shulepov said he was being forced to finish his shift despite being diagnosed with COVID-19.

But later, local health officials shared another video of Shulepov on social media in which he retracted his earlier complaints, saying he was being emotional.

Kosyakin was accused of spreading false news about the shortages after posting the video and is under investigation. He refused to comment to The Associated Press.

It is unclear what caused Shulepov’s fall. Some local media reports said he slipped while trying to climb from his window for a smoke outside, while others suggested it was due to the pressure for airing his complaints in public.

A doctor died from injuries she sustained in an April 25 fall in the city of Krasnoyarsk in western Siberia. Dr. Yelena Nepomnyashchaya, acting head of a hospital, fell from her fifth-floor office window right after she had a conference call with regional health officials, local media reported, citing anonymous sources.

The reports said Nepomnyashchaya had argued against converting a ward in her hospital for coronavirus patients because of severe shortages of protective equipment and trained personnel, but she failed to sway the officials. Krasnoyarsk health officials denied such a call took place.

Nepomnyashchaya died May 1 in intensive care.

On April 24, Dr. Natalya Levedeva sustained fatal injuries after falling out of a window in a hospital in Moscow, where she was admitted with suspected COVID-19. She ran an ambulance station in Star City, Russia’s spaceflight training facility just outside Moscow, which reported several dozen coronavirus cases in April.

Full Coverage: Virus Outbreak
Levedeva died immediately after the fall, which health officials said was an accident. Some media, reports however, suggested she was distraught after being accused of failing to protect her staff from getting infected and had killed herself because of it.

Russia has reported 166,000 infections and 1,537 virus deaths, but health officials in the West have said the country was underreporting its infections and fatalities.

There is no official data on how many Russian health workers have died working on the front lines of the pandemic and Russia’s Health Ministry did not respond to AP’s numerous requests for comment.

Last week, a group of Russian doctors compiled an online Memory List of doctors, nurses and other medical personnel who died during the outbreak. The list currently has 111 names.

Authorities have decided to reopen all industrial plants and construction sites in Moscow starting next week, citing a stable rate of new cases. President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday it will be up to officials in other regions to determine whether to ease lockdown measures that have been in place since the end of March.
___
Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at Virus Outbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

 

[Plain Jane]

Another heartwarming encounter with WWII vets.

French teens, Normandy vets swap stories of life in lockdown

CABOURG, France (AP) — French student Marion Nivard starting writing last year to a World War II veteran in Britain, thanking him for taking part in the Normandy invasion that freed her country from the Nazis.

apnews.com

French teens, Normandy vets swap stories of life in lockdown
By DANICA KIRKA and ALEX TURNBULLan hour ago



1 of 13
In this photo taken on Tuesday May 5 2020, Marion Nivard, 15, a student at Saint-Louis Middle School in Cabourg, shows a photo of WWII veterans, including Bill Ridgewell, in Varaville, Normandy.As V-E Day approached, Nivard and her classmates in the Normandy region thought of 94-year-old Bill Ridgewell and other vets living in isolation because of the COVID-19 pandemic — just as they were. The teens decided to swap stories with the men about their lives under lockdown. (AP Photo/David Vincent)
CABOURG, France (AP) — French student Marion Nivard starting writing last year to a World War II veteran in Britain, thanking him for taking part in the Normandy invasion that freed her country from the Nazis.

As VE Day approached, Nivard and her classmates in the Normandy region thought of 94-year-old Bill Ridgewell and other vets living in isolation because of the COVID-19 pandemic — just as they were. The teens decided to swap stories with the men about their lives under lockdown.
“I think we need to be with them even if we’re not with them — if that makes sense!” said Nivard, 15. “It’s already something to be there in thoughts and sending them messages. I’m sure it makes them happy, and it makes us happy too.”

The effort to share snippets of lockdown life comes at a time of disappointment for the veterans, most of whom are now in their 90s. They were looking forward to a grand party on Friday marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe. Nationwide celebrations would have placed them in the spotlight.

But the festivities have been scaled back to mostly broadcast events, including a two-minute moment of silence. Queen Elizabeth II will deliver a televised message, and there will be a national singalong of “We’ll Meet Again,” led by 103-year-old Vera Lynn, who made the song famous during the war.

Writing to the veterans brought home to the teens that they are living through a unique moment in time that will be remembered by future generations, said Mayeul Macé, a history teacher at Saint-Louis Middle School in Cabourg. President Emmanuel Macron’s address announcing the lockdown set the stage.

“The president’s use of the term ‘at war’ really left its mark on the pupils,” he said. “I have students who wonder what history really is, and they realized that they were experiencing something historic.”

The relationships with the vets began in 2017, when a group of them spoke at the school. The teens gave the guests vials of sand or soil, depending on whether they stormed the Normandy beaches or dropped from planes. The students later visited the Imperial War Museum in London, and the veterans came too. Ties formed, and letters were exchanged, said Ian Parsons, chairman of the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, which arranged the school visit.
“That’s the paramount thing.” Parsons said. “They know they aren’t on their own when something comes through that letter box.’’

Veterans like hearing the kids talk about lockdown in all its banality. Snapshots of lunch, happy dogs on walks and bedrooms tidied briefly for photos are standard fare. Content is secondary.


Just ask Ridgewell.
A former school headmaster, Ridgewell was in a trench on the outskirts of Caen on July 5, 1944, when he watched Allied planes bomb the city. He was horrified and feared the French would never forgive the Allies for laying waste to their communities, even though the bombing was part of the effort to crush the Nazis.

He was so concerned about the French reaction that for years he did not want to visit Normandy. But he finally returned last year as part of celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day. What he found surprised him: The French treated him like a hero.

“They gave us freedom, and they fought for our future. And to be grateful is the least we can do,″ Nivard said.

The students did more than stay in touch. Ridgewell’s pen pal and another girl from a nearby school traveled to England last year to watch him receive the Legion D’Honneur, France’s highest military and civilian decoration. He’s quick to show off a cherished snapshot of the event.

He keeps his sand vials beside his armchair. He is even creating a wall of photographs to celebrate his new friendships.

Now the man who was reluctant to go to France can’t wait to go back and catch up with the teens. He wishes he could adopt them all.

To show he’s in the spirit of all things lockdown, Ridgewell had his daughter, Mary, take videos of him around the house. There’s one in the front garden, another in the back garden and one in the kitchen on a rainy day. In that one, you can see the old schoolteacher at work: He identifies everything — this is the microwave! — so the kids can work on their English.

Not content to leave it there, Ridgewell has taken up studying French so he can talk to “mes amis.”

The children started writing to express their gratitude. Now it’s his turn.

The exchanges “let daylight into this dark time of lockdown,″ he told The Associated Press from his home in Shaftesbury, in southern England. “It’s been brilliant. Grateful? That’s an understatement really. I’m more than grateful! I’m delighted.”
__
Follow AP’s coverage marking the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe at VE-Day 75th Anniversary.See AP images of V-E Day at V-E DAY: AP Breaks News of German Surrender — AP Images Spotlight.

 

[Plain Jane]

Corona fries: 'Save Our Spuds,' say Belgian farmers – DW – 05/06/2020

Lovers of Belgian fries are being called upon to dish out an extra serving of solidarity in these troubled times. As Teri Schultz reports, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a major crisis in the potato industry.

www.dw.com

Belgium: Lighthearted campaign to 'eat more fries' aims to lift heavy load
Lovers of Belgian fries are being called upon to dish out an extra serving of solidarity in these troubled times. As Teri Schultz reports, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a major crisis in the potato industry.





What Romain Cools thought of as a spontaneous but unremarkable quip in a media interview — urging Belgians to "eat more fries" — immediately went viral worldwide, with the entire globe embracing the idea of helping down-and-out Belgian farmers.

His suggestion, he recalls with a chuckle, was merely that "all the Belgians have an extra fry now to help our industry to get out of this problem." Cools is the secretary-general of Belgapom, the association that includes all Belgian potato processors, and the "problem" is that 750,000 tons of potatoes that should have been processed into frozen food products and shipped throughout Belgium and beyond will spoil next month.

Fries coming off the production line at the Mydibel factory need new homes to relieve a production glut.

Fry fans unite worldwide
His phone started ringing off the hook, so Cools quickly realized he needed to capitalize on people's universal love of fries. "We make an appeal to the rest of the world also to to eat more spuds, to eat more fries," he said. "And if they can, of course, preferentially we would like to have them eating Belgian fries."

Read more: Will coronavirus spark a wave of food nationalism?
That should be possible, under normal conditions at least. Belgium is the world's largest exporter of frozen potato products. The processed potato industry as a whole has a turnover of €2 billion ($2.1 billion) per year.

But coronavirus conditions are not normal. The glut is a disaster from the ground up. At the farm of Marc de Tavernier in Bellegem, a massive warehouse is full of tons of potatoes waiting to be taken away. But he's one of the lucky ones; most of his potatoes were grown under contract to processing plants.

Corona-closed markets
Cools says those growers who aren't so fortunate are stuck with crops destined for the free market whose price is now one-twentieth of the usual -— less than €1 for 100 kilograms (220 pounds) — if anyone even wanted to buy them, which they don't.

Producers have agreed to pay farmers the pre-coronavirus price, but this passes the problem one step further up what Cools calls the "potato value chain." He says some commercial buyers of frozen products are refusing to pay full price, knowing the processors have too much supply on their hands to argue.

Jolien Mylle's grandfather founded the Mydibel potato processing plant

At the Mydibel factory in Mouscron, Jolien Mylle says times are tough for her family's third-generation company, for which a commitment to the entire supply chain runs deep. She herself first became a pharmacist, but decided she really wanted to be at the factory so came back to head up market research. "We worry a lot about our suppliers because we see our farmers as our partners, so we we care about them," Mylle said.

She acknowledges being "very worried" about the future. "Our business is 70% in food service so this product goes to restaurants," she explained. "We export to over 130 countries in the world. [A] lot of restaurants are closed down so our sales are going down as well."
Read more: Coronavirus pandemic reveals Germans' poor cooking skills

Aid and alternatives
Cools says some of the excess is being used for animal feed and some of it for green energy. Mydibel, for example, is almost 100% powered by potato waste. But farmers have to pay to have the potatoes processed into something else, he says, so that's not an ideal solution when money's tight.

For the first time ever, he says, the sector has asked the European Union and the Belgian government for help and he expects some support to be granted. Cooperation is already evident in one project. Authorities in Flanders are splitting the cost with potato provider Pomuni to supply 25 tons per week to food banks.

Restaurants won't reopen in Belgium until June at the earliest and other top destination countries for frozen products are looking at the same kind of timeline, so there's no way the hundreds of thousands of tons of excess are going to be used by the end of June, when they'll start going bad.

But Cools appreciates every bit, every bite of help. He's been so encouraged by the popularity of his suggestion that he expects to launch an "SOS — Save Our Spuds" campaign nationwide in grocery stores. Every extra bag a shopper takes home, he says, frees up just a bit more space somewhere else down the line.

He's careful to say consumers should also make space in their diets by avoiding something else that's high-fat, even if this comes at a personal sacrifice. "I love also pasta and pizza," he says laughing, "but for this time, it has to go. I'm sorry."

 

[Plain Jane]

It is a crying shame that VE Day celebrations will be so low key this year. It does make me think of the 1925 commemorations of the US Civil War at the 60 year mark. The brand new film industry captured some of it with film of aged Union and Confederate soldiers doing some reenactments but in a spirit of comradeship.

Queen tells Britain 'never give up' in tribute to WW2 generation

Queen Elizabeth led tributes to veterans of World War Two recalling the "never give up, never despair" message of Victory in Europe Day 75 years ago as the coronavirus damped commemorations for the end of the war on the continent.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 7, 2020 / 7:10 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Queen Elizabeth to address Britain as it commemorates VE Day

Michael Holden
4 MIN READ

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will give a televised message to her nation on Friday to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, as the coronavirus outbreak overshadows nationwide celebrations to commemorate the end of World War Two in Europe.

Plans for extensive events to herald the anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, when allied forces accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, were scaled back in March after the government banned social gatherings to curb the coronavirus.

That meant a procession by veterans through the capital and other events involving crowds were scrapped.

However, Royal Air Force jets will still fly over the four capitals of the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Boris Johnson will deliver a message to mark the occasion, a holiday in Britain, and speak to a veteran via a video call.

“Today we must celebrate their achievement, and we remember their sacrifice,” said Johnson, who will also recite a recently discovered poem called “V Day” by World War One poet Edmund Blunden.

“We are a free people because of everything our veterans did - we offer our gratitude, our heartfelt thanks and our solemn pledge: you will always be remembered.”


The 94-year-old queen’s address will be particularly symbolic, coming exactly 75 years after her father George VI gave a victory speech over the radio to the nation.

Elizabeth, a teenager when the war broke out, learned to drive military trucks and to be a mechanic while serving in the women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, and she was in Buckingham Palace when it was bombed in September 1940.

Since becoming queen 68 years ago, Elizabeth has rarely made broadcasts to the nation except her annual Christmas Day message, but her VE Day speech will be the third such address since the coronavirus shut down much of Britain in March.

Last month, she invoked the spirit shown during World War Two, calling for the public to show the same resolve and echoing the words of the famous song “We’ll Meet Again” by Vera Lynn which became a symbol of hope for Britons during the conflict.

As part of Friday’s celebrations, after the queen’s address is aired at 2000 GMT, Britons are being encouraged to open their front doors and join in a nationwide singalong of Lynn’s song.

The commemorative events will start hours earlier with a two-minute silence at 1000 GMT led by the queen’s son and heir, Prince Charles, and at 1400 GMT, extracts from the victory speech of wartime leader Winston Churchill will be broadcast.

Before the lockdown, street parties were due to be held across the country, and people are now being encouraged to decorate their houses and throw a 1940s-themed afternoon tea in their own homes.

Welsh opera singer Katherine Jenkins will give a solo performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall, in what will be the first concert behind closed doors in its 150 year history.

“As we stay home to protect the NHS (National Health Service) and save lives, I know the British people will mark this historic occasion in new ways to show our deepest gratitude and respect for those that gave so much to bring peace, freedom and prosperity to Europe,” Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said.

Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Giles Elgood
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

More on VE Day.

Europe holds low-key V-E Day commemorations due to virus

LONDON (AP) — Europe marked the 75th anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany to Allied forces in low-key fashion Friday because of coronavirus lockdown restrictions across the continent.

apnews.com

Europe holds low-key V-E Day commemorations due to virus
By PAN PYLASan hour ago



1 of 29
The residents of Cambrian Road in Chester dress up in 1945 clothing and have a social distancing tea party to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, Friday May 8, 2020. Although large-scale public events are unable to go ahead because of coronavirus restrictions, tributes will be paid by politicians and members of the royal family, as well as through a host of other events as the nation remembers those who fought and died in World War II. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
LONDON (AP) — Europe was marking the 75th anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany to Allied forces following six years of war in a low-key fashion Friday due to coronavirus lockdown restrictions across the continent.

The big celebrations planned have been either cancelled or scaled back dramatically and people across Europe have been asked to mark the moment in private.

There will be no mass gatherings, no hugging or kissing, but that day of liberation is being remembered from Belfast to Berlin. For the few surviving World War II veterans, many living in nursing homes under virus lockdowns, it’s a particularly difficult time.


BRITAIN
Up and down the U.K., people have been getting into the spirit of V-E Day, which this year has been designated as a public holiday.

Many are dressing up in 1940s attire, while bunting has been displayed outside homes, including at 10 Downing Street in London that houses the prime minister’s office. People are also being encouraged to go out onto their doorsteps to sing Dame Vera Lynn’s iconic wartime anthem, “We’ll Meet Again” — which has added resonance now as families and friends are separated by coronavirus lockdowns.

People gathered in a socially distanced way on the hills of London to marvel at the Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows. The nine planes flew in formation above the River Thames and let loose their red, white and blue smoke to mark the colors of the Union Jack.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who lit a candle Thursday evening by the grave of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey in remembrance of those who gave their lives, wrote to veterans, describing them as “the greatest generation of Britons who ever lived.”

Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, led the country in a two-minute silence at the war memorial on the grounds of Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Charles laid a wreath of poppies on behalf of the nation. At the U.K.’s main memorial on Whitehall in central London, traffic ground to a halt as people observed the silence.

The “Victory in Europe” speech by Britain’s wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill, was broadcast on television. Queen Elizabeth II, at 94 a World War II veteran herself, will speak to the nation at 9 p.m., the exact time that her father, King George VI, addressed Britons 75 years ago.

FRANCE
Unlike Britain, Victory Day is a traditional public holiday in France, but it was clearly far more somber this year with the country under strict lockdown to counter the spread of the coronavirus.

Small ceremonies were allowed at local memorials as the government granted an exception to restrictions following requests from mayors and veterans.

President Emmanuel Macron led a small ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe. He laid a wreath and relit the flame of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, atop a deserted Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris.

Macron was accompanied by former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, each carefully observing social distancing. Macron used a hand sanitizer after signing the official register.

Macron also laid a wreath at the statue of one of his predecessors, Charles de Gaulle, the general revered for leading the French Resistance from London after France had fallen in 1940.
The president has urged people to display flags on their balconies to honor the resistance fighters and the Free France forces.

GERMANY
Although V-E Day is a very different occasion in Germany, it’s considered a day of liberation too.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other top officials laid wreaths at the memorial to victims of war and violence in Berlin, standing in silence as a trumpet played on an empty Unter den Linden boulevard.

“The corona pandemic is forcing us to commemorate alone – apart from those who are important to us and to whom we are grateful,” President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. He recalled that, on May 8, 1945, “the Germans were really alone,” militarily defeated, economically devastated and “morally ruined.”

“We had made an enemy of the whole world,” he said in a nationally televised address, adding that 75 years later “we are not alone.”

Steinmeier underlined Germans’ responsibility to “think, feel and act as Europeans” in this time of crisis and to confront intolerance whenever it emerges.

“We Germans can say today that the day of liberation is a day of gratitude,” Steinmeier said. “Today, we must liberate ourselves – from the temptation of a new nationalism; from fascination with the authoritarian; from distrust, isolation and enmity between nations; from hatred and agitation, from xenophobia and contempt for democracy.”

“If we don’t keep Europe together, in and after this pandemic, we will prove not to be worthy of May 8,” he said.

Merkel spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone and the two agreed the war is a reminder of the need for “close cooperation between states and people to preserve and encourage peace and understanding.” Russia, which was then part of the Soviet Union, saw tens of millions of casualties during the war. It marks V-E Day on Saturday.

POLAND
In Poland, V-E Day elicits mixed emotions as the country, which suffered massively during the war, was then subjugated by the Soviet Union and remained part of the communist bloc until 1989.

At a wreath-laying commemoration at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, President Andrzej Duda described V-E Day as a “bittersweet anniversary.” Six million of Poland’s 35 million people were killed, half of whom were Jewish.

Duda lamented the fact that thousands of Polish troops who had fought alongside Allied forces were not allowed to march in the 1946 Victory Parade in London for fear of straining British relations with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

World War II began on Sept. 1, 1939, when Adolf Hitler’s Nazi forces invaded Poland.
___
Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Geir Moulson in Berlin, and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.
___
Follow AP’s coverage marking the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe at VE-Day 75th Anniversary

 

[Plain Jane]

Germany's Altmaier wants Europe to be less dependent on other countries

The coronavirus pandemic has shown Europe is too reliant on other countries for some medical supplies, and European states should work together to further diversify international supply chains, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told Reuters.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 9, 2020 / 12:07 AM / UPDATED 5 HOURS AGO
Germany's Altmaier wants Europe to be less dependent on other countries


3 MIN READ

BERLIN (Reuters) - The coronavirus pandemic has shown Europe is too reliant on other countries for some medical supplies, and European states should work together to further diversify international supply chains, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told Reuters.

Germany, which will take over the rotating EU presidency from July on, feels a special responsibility in the coronavirus crisis to actively shape Europe in a spirit of solidarity,” Altmaier said in remarks cleared for publication on Saturday.

Altmaier, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, said the single market remained the economic backbone of the European Union and the envy of many other countries, even more so in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The current crisis shows that we have to avoid one-sided dependency and diversify international supply chains to a greater extent,” Altmaier said, adding that Europe had to become less dependent on non-European suppliers of medical precursors as well as medical protection gear such as masks.


“For this we need a European industrial strategy to strengthen the industrial base in Europe, combined with good framework conditions, especially for small and medium-sized companies,” Altmaier told Reuters.

But the minister insisted that such a strategy had to be compatible with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), adding: “The current crisis does not mean a farewell to globalisation. On the contrary, it underlines the importance of clear international trade rules that everyone must abide by.”

The German government is preparing a change to its foreign trade regulations that would require the government to be informed of purchases by countries outside the European Union of stakes in key healthcare companies.

Altmaier also said the EU should combine the task of supporting the economic recovery from the pandemic with the broader goal of reducing greenhouse gases to slow down global warming.

After the crisis, Europe has to become a source of ideas for a socially just transformation, a climate-friendly economy and a successful shift towards renewable energies,” he said.

“Technologies that were already a thing of the past before the crisis will be even more so after the crisis,” he added.

“We have to design the European Green Deal as a growth strategy for our economy so that innovations and new clean technologies can help us to find new export markets and secure jobs.”

Reporting by Michael Nienaber, Editing by Kirsten Donovan
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

'Fear kills:' WWII vets recall war, reject panic over virus

On the 75th anniversary of the allied victory in the World War II, veterans in ex-Soviet countries are reflecting on the lessons they learned during the war that help them to cope with a new major challenge — the coronavirus pandemic.

apnews.com

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‘Fear kills:’ WWII vets recall war, reject panic over virus
ROMAN KUTUKOV and YURAS KARMANAU2 hours ago



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In this photo taken on Thursday, April 30, 2020, Valentina Efremova, a World War II veteran, who served as a nurse in field hospitals on the frontlines throughout the war, speaks during her interview with the Associated Press in Yakutsk, Russia. For Russian World War II veteran Valentina Efremova, the coronavirus pandemic is like going through the war all over again. After the war, the 96-year-old said, "our lives were improving, year after year. And suddenly there's this pandemic, which is like another war ... this time - a biological one." (AP Photo/Alex Lee)
YAKUTSK, Russia (AP) — On the 75th anniversary of the allied victory in the World War II, The Associated Press spoke to veterans in ex-Soviet countries and discovered that lessons they learned during the war are helping them cope with a new major challenge — the coronavirus pandemic. As they recalled the horrors of the war, they also talked about how strength and tenacity were key to survival both then and now. Here is some of their testimony.
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‘GIVING IN TO PANIC IS LIKE SURRENDERING TO THE ENEMY’
For Russian World War II veteran Valentina Efremova, the coronavirus pandemic is like going through the war all over again.


After the war, the 96-year-old said, “our lives were improving, year after year. And suddenly there’s this pandemic, which is like another war ... this time, a biological one.”

But Efremova knows better than to panic and believes the outbreak — just like the Nazis back in the 1940s — will be defeated in the end. “Giving in to panic is like surrendering to the enemy,” she said.

Efremova served as a nurse in field hospitals on the front lines of the Red Army throughout the war and the apartment she shares with her daughter in Russia’s Far Eastern city of Yakutsk is decorated with numerous war-time photos. Dozens of medals weigh heavily on her jacket.

A 17-year-old high school student, she lived with her family in a small town north of Moscow when the Nazis attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941. It was a nice summer, she recalls, and everyone was planning their vacations.

“And then, like a bombshell, Molotov’s (the USSR’s foreign minister) announcement came: On June 22, at 4 a.m., the war started. Hitler attacked us,” Efremova said.

Efremova was first drafted to dig trenches outside Moscow. After several weeks, she volunteered to help out the army medics and started working in field hospitals. “I’d never had anything to do with medicine, not to mention the horror of seeing mutilated men — both young and old,” she said.

She worked as a military nurse for the next four years, moving around the country with her division. She tended wounds, fed and dressed soldiers, played guitar and sang to her patients. “They would sing along,” she said. “They seemed no longer in as much pain. They seemed at home.”

By the end of the war, she carried three war wounds, including one that makes her limp to this day.

Efremova was having lunch not far from Kaliningrad in Western Russia on May 9, 1945, when she heard gun shots. Efremova’s first thought was that it was yet another Nazi attack, but it turns out it was Russian officers firing shots into the air, celebrating victory.


Efremova remembers the joyous moment to this day and says that marking the 75th anniversary of Victory Day is important to Russian veterans. For many of them, it could be the last one.

She is used to celebrating the occasion with lots of guests in the house. On Saturday, they are planning a small parade outside her window. She realizes there might not be that many such celebrations left.

“We’re the last remaining veterans,” she said.
___
FIGHTING SPIRIT HASN’T DIMMED
The coronavirus does not scare Anatoly Grakovich.
The 91-year-old who fought the Nazis as a teenage member of partisan formations in Soviet Belarus intends to take part in Belarus’ Victory Day commemorations on Saturday.
The country has not imposed restrictions despite a growing number of confirmed infections and will hold a large parade in Minsk to mark the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Grakovich began working with the partisans in 1942 at the age of 13, first as a courier for weapons and eventually as a fighter.

“Children are less afraid of death. I did not feel fear, there was excitement. Only after the war, I began to realize that I was walking along the edge,” Grakovich said.

In 1943, he was wounded in his hand during an operation to attack Nazis near the village of Oputok.

“The partisans were hungry and ate the bark of trees all the time, but a wound in the arm and pain helped me to forget about food. Then I realized that there can only be one pain,” he recalled.

Grakovich said he never counted how many Germans he killed, but said he “cried with joy” at saving villages from the occupiers.

“There was a lot of death and filth in the war, but more often it’s the bright moments that come to mind,” he said.

On participation in the parade, he said that “our president says that we don’t need to be afraid of the virus, it’s all panic.”

“War teaches us that fear kills worse than disease. I was not afraid of diseases then, I’m not afraid even now,” he said.
___
Karmanau reported from Minsk, Belarus,
___
Follow AP’s coverage marking the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe at VE-Day 75th Anniversary

 

[Melodi]

I am so happy that one of the very few "good" things that is coming out of this whole mess is the number of WWII veterans (and survivors) on ALL SIDES - the US, Canada, Australia/New Zeland, Germany, Italy, Russia, the former Soviet Republics as well as Japan, China and other parts of Asia.

Most of these people are at or near the Century Mark and in even five or six years most of their voices will be silent.

There was also a newspaper series in Ireland which I hope they expand about living in "neutral" Ireland during the darkest days of the war; when people went back to using horses and buggies/carts (gasoline pretty much went away) and Dublin was bombed "by accident" by the Germans.

I am hoping someone will pick up on that and get more recordings done, I think that would work in the US as well; ask Great Grandpa or Great-Grand Ma to use the "record" function on skype or other programs and start talking and/or have the kids ask questions and record with permission of course.

 

[Plain Jane]

Slovenian cyclists stage anti-government coronavirus protest

Thousands of cyclists took over streets in the centre of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana on Friday evening to protest against the government of Prime Minister Janez Jansa and the restrictions it has imposed to fight the coronavirus.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 8, 2020 / 3:53 PM / UPDATED 19 HOURS AGO
Slovenian cyclists stage anti-government coronavirus protest

Marja Novak
3 MIN READ

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Thousands of cyclists took over streets in the centre of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana on Friday evening to protest against the government of Prime Minister Janez Jansa and the restrictions it has imposed to fight the coronavirus.

Cyclists sounded horns and shouted “thieves, thieves”, following allegations of government corruption in purchasing face masks and ventilators reported by TV Slovenia last month.

The government has denied wrongdoing.

The centre-right government took over after the previous centre-left administration resigned because it lacked sufficient support in parliament.


The protest, organised by civil society groups, was the largest in recent weeks. Cyclists staged a smaller demonstration in Maribor, Slovenia’s second city, on Friday.

The cyclists carried Slovenian flags and held banners saying “Raise workers’ wages”, “Careful, the government is falling”, and “Stronger together”. Most wore face masks.

“I want this government to go. They are taking away our future,” said a young protester who did not want to give her name for fear of being fined for breaking rules against public gatherings during the epidemic.

Police fenced off parliament while a police helicopter flew above the protesters.

We call upon people to respect decrees aimed at protecting public health,” police said. They gave no immediate estimate of the number of protesters but reported no violence.

Slovenia imposed a wide-ranging lockdown in mid-March. So far it has confirmed 1,450 coronavirus cases and 100 deaths.

The government started lifting restrictions on April 20 when car service centres and some shops reopened, while bars and restaurants have been allowed to serve food outdoors since Monday.

Next week, public transport will resume gradually and some pupils will return to school on May 18.

People must still wear face masks in indoor public places and stand at least 1.5 meters apart in any public space.

The government has set aside 3 billion euros ($3.25 billion) to help citizens and companies hit by the coronavirus.

Slovenia’s economy is expected to contract by about 8% this year although the fall could exceed 15% if lockdown measures last longer than expected, according to the government’s UMAR macroeconomic institute.

Reporting By Marja Novak; Editing by Giles Elgood
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Belarus holds Victory Day parade, disregarding coronavirus

The eastern European nation of Belarus has shrugged off safety concerns over the coronavirus and held a full-fledged military parade to mark Victory Day. Few of the parade's tens of thousands of spectators wore masks or took other precautions. The president of Belarus has dismissed lockdowns and...

apnews.com

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Belarus holds Victory Day parade, disregarding coronavirus
By YURAS KARMANAUyesterday



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People attend the Victory Day military parade that marked the 75th anniversary of the allied victory over Nazi Germany, in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, May 9, 2020. Belarus remains one of the few countries that hadn't imposed a lockdown or restricted public events despite recommendations of the World Health Organization. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
MINSK, Belarus (AP) — The eastern European nation of Belarus held a full-fledged military parade Saturday to mark Victory Day, shrugging off safety concerns during the coronavirus pandemic that led Russia to curtail its own long-planned 75th anniversary observances.
Tens of thousands of spectators lined the parade route as some 3,000 soldiers and 185 military vehicles passed by in the capital, Minsk.

Some elderly veterans watching from a stand wore masks, but few face coverings or other protective measures were seen in the throng of viewers along the street.


Belarus’ authoritarian president has dismissed the coronavirus as a “psychosis,” despite the number of confirmed cases in the country substantially exceeding those in neighboring Ukraine and Poland, which have populations about four times as large as Belarus.

President Alexander Lukashenko opened the parade, saying the suffering of Belarus during World War II “is incomparable with any difficulties of the present day.”

Belarus was proportionately the hardest-hit of the Soviet republics during the war. An estimated 1.6 million civilians and 600,000 soldiers died, or about 25% of the population. As much as 85% of Minsk was leveled in bombing raids.

The World Health Organization had called on Belarus to cancel Victory Day events, but Lukashenko said he felt morally obliged to veterans and the country to mark Nazi Germany’s defeat. On Saturday, he called observing Victory Day a “sacred action.”

Spectator Anatoly Kudryanok, who did not wear a mask, said he agreed with the president’s position.

“I don’t feel danger, I don’t give in to psychosis. The president said that our medicine will cope with everything. There is no fear,” said Kudryanok, who watched the parade with his wife and 8-year-old son.

But author Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize for literature, harshly criticized Lukashenko, who has stifled opposition throughout his quarter-century tenure as Belarusian president.

“The powerful will of this person is able to subjugate a vast country, and no one is there who will tell him that this is crazy,” Alexievich told reporters.

Belarus, with a population of about 9 million, has recorded more than 21,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 933 new cases in the past day, and 121 deaths, with
___
Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this story.
___
Follow AP’s coverage marking the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe at VE-Day 75th Anniversary

https://apnews.com/c12ea00292e253c45e1d3f11190fe432

 

[Plain Jane]

World War II: The battle over collective memory – DW – 05/09/2020

Russia and Ukraine commemorate the end of the war in very different ways. While Moscow has continued to politicize the historic event, Kyiv has shifted toward an increasingly Western approach.

www.dw.com

World War II and the battle over collective memory in Eastern Europe
Russia and Ukraine commemorate the end of the war in very different ways. While Moscow has continued to politicize the historic event, Kyiv has shifted toward an increasingly Western approach.





Seventy-five years ago, Russian, Ukrainian and other Soviet Red Army soldiers took Berlin. Still, there has not been a common commemoration of that historic event for years.
Recently, according to Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper, Ukraine's ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, turned down an invitation from Berlin Mayor Michael Müller to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony on May 2, alongside representatives from Russia and Belarus. Melnyk pointed to the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine, in which Kyiv views Russia as an occupying force, as the reason for his rejection.
But approaches to how Russia and Ukraine view the end of World War II did not suddenly begin to diverge with Russia's annexation of Crimea or the war in Donbass.

Russia's most important state holiday

This year's commemorations have been upended by the coronavirus pandemic, and that is especially disappointing for Russia, the country that lost the most lives in the war. While the end of hostilities was never celebrated with pomp in the West, that was decidedly different in the Soviet Union and continues to be the case in Russia.

One major difference is the date marking the official end of the war. Whereas May 8, 1945, the day Nazi Germany signed its surrender in Reims, France, has marked the event in the West, Russia celebrates Victory Day on May 9. The later date comes from the fact that Soviet leader Josef Stalin insisted on another signing in Berlin on that date.

Emily Sherwin@EmilyCSherwin
https://twitter.com/EmilyCSherwin/status/1259023520467648512

The Victory Day Parade in Russia was postponed this year but there was an air show in honor of the 75th anniversary of Victory. Despite the quarantine measures, some people have come out to watch near the Kremlin, standing in small groups.
#Victory75 #ДеньПобеды2020



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The decision to postpone this year's traditional military parade in Russia was very difficult for President Vladimir Putin according to his spokesman. It was not until mid-April, after weeks of sticking to original plans despite the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, that Putin announced no military parades would take place on Red Square in Moscow, nor anywhere else in the country.

This year's celebration was set to be one of the biggest in years, one that would have seen the return of high-ranking foreign guests, such as French President Emmanuel Macron, for the first time since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. Still, according to the Kremlin, the health risks, especially for veterans, were simply too grave to proceed. Now, the only part of the event that is still scheduled to go ahead is the air show element of the celebration.


The air show element of the Victory Parade will go ahead this year, despite the coronavirus crisis
Russia inherited the May 9 tradition of "Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War" from the Soviet Union, yet it has undergone a number of changes since the fall of the USSR. In the 1990s, parades took place sporadically and were staged without tanks, missiles and other heavy military machinery.

When Vladimir Putin came to power he took a new tack, unofficially making Victory Day the nation's most important public holiday. From that point, the parade saw ever more soldiers participating, as well as the presentation of the country's most advanced military hardware. Another addition was that of the "Immortal Regiment," which the Kremlin adapted from regional groups marching in the streets carrying pictures of family members who fought in the war. Putin, too, has marched in such processions.

Putin at the front lines of the debate

But the Victory Day parade is not the only forum in which modern Russia eclipses the old Soviet Union when it comes to commemorating World War II. The commemoration of victory over Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany has been expanded into a vehicle for mobilizing vast swaths of Russian society, not only socially, but also politically – the whole fitting seamlessly into Putin's declared ideology of patriotism. Other symbols of this shift can be seen in bumper stickers reading, "Thank grandpa for victory," or, "On to Berlin," as well as a recent increase in the number of new Stalin monuments going up around the country.

Not long ago, Putin interjected himself directly into the debate surrounding the idea of collective memory and the war. In late 2019, he criticized the European Parliament for claiming the Soviet Union had been partially responsible for the outbreak of the waras a result of the non-aggression pact signed by Nazi Germany and the USSR in August 1939 – allowing the two to divide Poland between them.

Putin vehemently denied that assessment, choosing instead to blame Poland, France and the United Kingdom for the start of hostilities as a result of their approval of the 1938 Munich Agreement.

Read more: How Nazi policies of expansion led to World War II

Putin styles himself as a Russian warrior against what he calls the "falsification of history." Moscow author and DW columnist Viktor Jerofejew says the current "war of concepts" will continue as long as Russia sees itself as the "political and historical-ideological heir" of the Soviet Union. Jerofejew says the shift toward a more positive image of Stalin is just one part of this development.

Ukraine moves towards more European tradition

Neighboring Ukraine, which was the second most populous republic in the USSR, has taken an altogether different approach to May 9. From 1991 onward, the country upheld Soviet tradition and continued to commemorate the date, although increasingly without military hardware.

As time went on, there was also an increase in attempts – especially in western Ukraine – to elevate and honor nationalist rebels who fought against the Soviet Union. Such sentiments were controversial as some of those nationalists had in fact collaborated with the occupying Nazis. Some politicians today seek to exploit and instrumentalize the tensions that such efforts have given rise to.

Read more: Russia angry over Ukraine president's Nazi collusion remark

Ukraine then took a very big step away from Soviet tradition under President Petro Poroshenko. Since 2015, the country has observed May 8 as a day of remembrance and reconciliation focusing on the memory of the millions of lives the war took, much like it is in the West. While May 9 remains a national holiday, it marks the end of World War II and not the "Great Patriotic War."

Ukraine is currently in a transitional phase that has had hitches. For instance, bans on Soviet symbols such as the hammer and sickle have been the source of conflict, including some during May 9 marches.

The Saint George's Ribbon is another symbol that was banned in Ukraine in 2017. The black and orange striped ribbon has become a central symbol of Victory Day celebrations in Putin's Russia, where it is worn by veterans, politicians, artists and citizens.

In eastern Ukraine, however, it is also a symbol favored by pro-Russian separatists. That is likely yet another reason the Ukrainian ambassador decided to steer clear of commemorations alongside his Russian colleagues.

This story has been updated to reflect the Munich Agreement was signed in 1938.

 

[Plain Jane]

Coronavirus anger foments violence against journalists – DW – 05/10/2020

Protesters from across Germany's political spectrum are demonstrating against coronavirus restrictions. But their ire is also directed at established media outlets, making life increasingly dangerous for journalists.

www.dw.com

Coronavirus anger foments violence against journalists
Protesters from across Germany's political spectrum are demonstrating against coronavirus restrictions. But their ire is also directed at established media outlets, making life increasingly dangerous for journalists.





In Germany, resistance is growing to the measures imposed by the government to try and stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. Critics of the measures say that the restrictions on basic rights go much too far. Many are even worried that vaccinations against it may be made compulsory — even though a vaccine against COVID-19 has yet to be found.

The biggest demonstration against the coronavirus measures took place last Saturday in the southern city of Stuttgart, with organizers claiming that it drew some 5,000 participants. Police described the rally as largely peaceful.

But such demonstrations do not always go off without violence. In particular, it sometimes becomes ugly for journalists covering the protests. In the capital, Berlin, two camera teams from public service broadcasters were attacked within the space of a few days.

The satirist Abdelkarim was filming in Berlin for a show when his team was attacked
A crew from the TV broadcaster ZDF had finished filming a so-called Hygiene Demonstration on May 1 for the satirical "Heute Show" ("Today Show") when it was set upon by some 15 hooded people, possibly with malice aforethought. Several members of the crew were injured, some severely. According to media reports, the attackers used metal bars and cudgels.

The incident provoked consternation across Germany. The secretary general of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Paul Ziemiak, wrote on Twitter that he was "stunned by the cowardly attack on the crew of the Heute Show and thus on the freedom on the press" in Germany.

The "Hygiene Demonstrations" have recently attracted an unusual mixture of participants. Right-wing populists and far-right extremists have joined forces with leftist critics of capitalism and anti-vaxxers. Conspiracy theorists have also been among the demonstrators.
The attack on the ZDF team is being investigated by police from the state security department, which investigates politically motivated crimes. Six people were arrested shortly after the attack near the scene of the assault. The first indications seem to suggest they could be part of the far-left scene. But police have said that contradictions between witness statements are making the investigation difficult.

Read more: Opinion: Do not silence journalists during coronavirus pandemic


This demonstrator is protesting against 'vaccine terrorism'

Just a day before the attack on the journalists, on April 30, a former moderator for the radio station Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb), Ken Jebsen, published an editorial on his website "KenFM," where he regularly promulgates conspiracy theories. In it, an author by the name of Bernhard Loyen wrote that he had "learned by chance" that the ZDF wanted to deliberately pick out the most irrational and confused protesters to "make them look like fools" in front of its "thirsting" viewers. Loyen claimed that public service media saw anyone who took to the streets as "conspiracy theorists, confused souls or Nazis, or all three in individual combinations." The editorial then calls for resistance: "Resistance must grow. Now."

Conspiracy theories about the media

Another attack on representatives of the media occurred in the same week. At a rally of some 400 participants in front of Berlin's Reichstag building, one of the demonstrators emerged from the crowd and, according to police, tried to kick a boom microphone operator from public broadcaster ARD. In the process, he hit the boom mic, which then struck the cameraman's head. Police say the 46-year-old attacker is facing criminal assault charges. Videos of the incident on Twitter show that police reacted quickly and arrested the attacker.

Felix Huesmann

✔@felixhuesmann
· May 6, 2020

Replying to @felixhuesmann
Die TeilnehmerInnen-Zahl ist mittlerweile längst auf mehrere Hundert angewachsen. Die Stimmung kocht immer wieder hoch. Die Polizei ist bislang ziemlich deeskalativ unterwegs.

Felix Huesmann

✔@felixhuesmann

Ein Demonstrant der Corona-Demo vor dem Reichstagsgebäude hat gerade ein @ARDde-Kamerateam angegriffen. Voran gingen dem Angriff "Lügenpresse"-Rufe. Festnahme folgte prompt.



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The rally had been called by the prominent chef Attila Hildmann, who has recently attracted attention for his promulgation of conspiracy theories, such as the one that claims Microsoft founder Bill Gates is behind the spread of the novel coronavirus. Hildmann also regularly delivers diatribes against "the media." In one post, he said people should never trust what is said or shown by the media, claiming that media were "a staged front to make it easier to grab power."

This statement seems to have fallen on fertile ground with his supporters: The attack on the ARD crew at the demonstration he initiated was preceded by calls of "lying press." And after the attack, demonstrators even supported the attacker and called on police to release him. The German foreign minister, Heiko Maas, posted on Twitter after the incident, saying that whomever attacked journalists was opposing democracy.


Police have made several arrests at the demonstrations
Read more: German attack on journalists to be investigated for political motives

No critical reporting, please

It is not just physical attacks by people opposed to coronavirus measures that are putting journalists under pressure. In Stuttgart, too, where the biggest peaceful demonstration against the restrictions in Germany took place, lambasting the media was part of the protest agenda. Particularly the organizer of the demonstration, the IT entrepreneur Michael Ballweg, criticized media outlets such as ARD and RTL for a style of reporting that in his opinion is one-sided and erroneous. As one example, he claimed that the broadcasters had incorrectly cast the demonstrators as anti-vaxxers, PEGIDA supporters and conspiracy theorists.


Some of the protesters see the restrictions as violating their basic rights
For this reason, Ballweg has called on ARD and RTL to correct their reporting and to show footage of the demonstrations that confirms the falsity of their coverage. Otherwise, he says, he will exclude representatives of the media from future demonstrations. Even now, all journalists who want to talk with Ballweg and his fellow campaigners have to fill out a form online in which they undertake "to report truthfully, impartially and in full." Ballweg has instructed journalists that this form also has to be taken along to the demonstrations and presented.

In his speeches at demonstrations in Stuttgart and his YouTube videos, Ballweg frequently refers to the German constitution, or Basic Law, particularly Article 5, which guarantees freedom of opinion in Germany. That's another thing the journalists have to declare their commitment to in the online form, particularly the phrase: "There shall be no censorship."

No journalist is going to have a problem with this part of the law. But perhaps some will take issue with Ballweg himself: Germany also has a law on public assembly, which among other things stipulates that no one is allowed to exclude journalists who have a valid press ID from attending public gatherings.

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[Plain Jane]

PM Boris Johnson's address to British people on easing lockdown

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a televised address to the nation on Sunday to explain what would change and what would stay the same during the next phase of the country's coronavirus lockdown.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 10, 2020 / 2:22 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
PM Boris Johnson's address to British people on easing lockdown


11 MIN READ
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a televised address to the nation on Sunday to explain what would change and what would stay the same during the next phase of the country’s coronavirus lockdown.

The full text of his address is below:

It is now almost two months since the people of this country began to put up with restrictions on their freedom – your freedom – of a kind that we have never seen before in peace or war, and you have shown the good sense to support those rules overwhelmingly.

You have put up with all the hardships of that programme of social distancing, because you understand that as things stand, and as the experience of every other country has shown, it’s the only way to defeat the coronavirus - the most vicious threat this country has faced in my lifetime.

And though the death toll has been tragic, and the suffering immense, and though we grieve for all those we have lost, it is a fact that by adopting those measures we prevented this country from being engulfed by what could have been a catastrophe in which the reasonable worst-case scenario was half-a-million fatalities.

And it is thanks to your effort and sacrifice in stopping the spread of this disease that the death rate is coming down and hospital admissions are coming down.

And thanks to you we have protected our NHS and saved many thousands of lives. And so I know - you know - that it would be madness now to throw away that achievement by allowing a second spike.

We must stay alert. We must continue to control the virus and save lives.

And yet we must also recognise that this campaign against the virus has come at colossal cost to our way of life. We can see it all around us in the shuttered shops and abandoned businesses and darkened pubs and restaurants.

And there are millions of people who are both fearful of this terrible disease, and at the same time also fearful of what this long period of enforced inactivity will do to their livelihoods and their mental and physical wellbeing, to their futures and the futures of their children.

So I want to provide tonight - for you - the shape of a plan to address both fears. Both to beat the virus and provide the first sketch of a road map for reopening society. A sense of the way ahead, and when and how and on what basis we will take the decisions to proceed.

I will be setting out more details in Parliament tomorrow and taking questions from the public in the evening.

I have consulted across the political spectrum, across all four nations of the UK, and though different parts of the country are experiencing the pandemic at different rates, and though it is right to be flexible in our response, I believe that as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, there is a strong resolve to defeat this together, and today a general consensus on what we could do.

And I stress could, because although we have a plan, it is a conditional plan. And since our priority is to protect the public and save lives, we cannot move forward unless we satisfy the five tests.

We must protect our NHS.

We must see sustained falls in the death rate.

We must see sustained and considerable falls in the rate of infection.


We must sort out our challenges in getting enough PPE to the people who need it, and yes, it is a global problem but we must fix it.

And last, we must make sure that any measures we take do not force the reproduction rate of the disease - the R - back up over one, so that we have the kind of exponential growth we were facing a few weeks ago.

And to chart our progress and to avoid going back to square one, we are establishing a new Covid Alert System run by a new Joint Biosecurity Centre, and that Covid Alert Level will be determined primarily by R and the number of coronavirus cases, and in turn that Covid Alert Level will tell us how tough we have to be in our social distancing measures – the lower the level the fewer the measures, the higher the level, the tougher and stricter we will have to be.

There will be five alert levels.

Level One means the disease is no longer present in the UK and Level Five is the most critical – the kind of situation we could have had if the NHS had been overwhelmed.

Over the period of the lockdown we have been in Level Four, and it is thanks to your sacrifice we are now in a position to begin to move in steps to Level Three.

And as we go everyone will have a role to play in keeping the R down by staying alert and following the rules.

And to keep pushing the number of infections down there are two more things we must do. We must reverse rapidly the awful epidemics in care homes and in the NHS, and though the numbers are coming down sharply now, there is plainly much more to be done.

And if we are to control this virus, then we must have a world-beating system for testing potential victims, and for tracing their contacts. So that – all told - we are testing literally hundreds of thousands of people every day.

We have made fast progress on testing – but there is so much more to do now, and we can.

When this began, we hadn’t seen this disease before, and we didn’t fully understand its effects. With every day we are getting more and more data. We are shining the light of science on this invisible killer, and we will pick it up where it strikes, because our new system will be able in time to detect local flare-ups – in your area – as well as giving us a national picture.

And yet when I look at where we are tonight, we have the R below one, between 0.5 and 0.9 – but potentially only just below one, and though we have made progress in satisfying at least some of the conditions I have given, we have by no means fulfilled all of them.

And so no, this is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week. Instead we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures. And the first step is a change of emphasis that we hope that people will act on this week.

We said that you should work from home if you can, and only go to work if you must. We now need to stress that anyone who can’t work from home, for instance those in construction or manufacturing, should be actively encouraged to go to work.

And we want it to be safe for you to get to work. So you should avoid public transport if at all possible – because we must and will maintain social distancing, and capacity will therefore be limited.

So work from home if you can, but you should go to work if you can’t work from home. And to ensure you are safe at work we have been working to establish new guidance for employers to make workplaces COVID-secure.

And when you do go to work, if possible do so by car or even better by walking or bicycle. But just as with workplaces, public transport operators will also be following COVID-secure standards.

*******
Continued on next post.

 

[Plain Jane]

Johnson's speech continued.
*********

And from this Wednesday, we want to encourage people to take more and even unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise.

You can sit in the sun in your local park, you can drive to other destinations, you can even play sports but only with members of your own household.

You must obey the rules on social distancing and to enforce those rules we will increase the fines for the small minority who break them.

And so every day, with ever increasing data, we will be monitoring the R and the number of new infections, and the progress we are making, and if we as a nation begin to fulfill the conditions I have set out, then in the next few weeks and months we may be able to go further.

In step two – at the earliest by June 1 – after half term – we believe we may be in a position to begin the phased reopening of shops and to get primary pupils back into schools, in stages, beginning with reception, Year 1 and Year 6.

Our ambition is that secondary pupils facing exams next year will get at least some time with their teachers before the holidays. And we will shortly be setting out detailed guidance on how to make it work in schools and shops and on transport.

And step three - at the earliest by July - and subject to all these conditions and further scientific advice; if and only if the numbers support it, we will hope to re-open at least some of the hospitality industry and other public places, provided they are safe and enforce social distancing.

Throughout this period of the next two months we will be driven not by mere hope or economic necessity.

We are going to be driven by the science, the data and public health.

And I must stress again that all of this is conditional, it all depends on a series of big Ifs. It depends on all of us – the entire country – to follow the advice, to observe social distancing, and to keep that R down.

And to prevent re-infection from abroad, I am serving notice that it will soon be the time – with transmission significantly lower – to impose quarantine on people coming into this country by air.

And it is because of your efforts to get the R down and the number of infections down here, that this measure will now be effective.

And of course we will be monitoring our progress locally, regionally, and nationally and if there are outbreaks, if there are problems, we will not hesitate to put on the brakes.

We have been through the initial peak – but it is coming down the mountain that is often more dangerous.

We have a route, and we have a plan, and everyone in government has the all-consuming pressure and challenge to save lives, restore livelihoods and gradually restore the freedoms that we need.

But in the end this is a plan that everyone must make work.

And when I look at what you have done already, the patience and common sense you have shown, the fortitude of the elderly whose isolation we all want to end as fast as we can, the incredible bravery and hard work of our NHS staff, our care workers, the devotion and self-sacrifice of all those in every walk of life who are helping us to beat this disease, police, bus drivers, train drivers, pharmacists, supermarket workers, road hauliers, bin collectors, cleaners, security guards, postal workers, our teachers and a thousand more, the scientists who are working round the clock to find a vaccine, when I think of the millions of everyday acts of kindness and thoughtfulness that are being performed across this country and that have helped to get us through this first phase, I know that we can use this plan to get us through the next.

And if we can’t do it by those dates, and if the alert level won’t allow it, we will simply wait and go on until we have got it right.


We will come back from this devilish illness. We will come back to health, and robust health. And though the UK will be changed by this experience, I believe we can be stronger and better than ever before. More resilient, more innovative, more economically dynamic, but also more generous and more sharing.

But for now we must stay alert, control the virus and save lives.

Thank you very much.

Reporting by Estelle Shirbon, Editing by Kylie Maclellan
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

French Resistance hero Cecile Rol-Tanguy dies at age 101

PARIS (AP) — French Resistance member Cecile Rol-Tanguy, who risked her life during World War II by working to liberate Paris from Nazi occupation, has died.

apnews.com

French Resistance hero Cecile Rol-Tanguy dies at age 101
Associated Pressyesterday

FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 file photo, French President Francois Hollande awards Cecile Rol-Tanguy, the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor medal, during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A French female figure of the Resistance during World War II, Cecile Rol-Tanguy, has died at the age of 101. She had actively helped liberating Paris from the Nazi occupation in 1944. French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute on Saturday, May 9, 2020 to a “freedom fighter.” (Ian Langsdon/Pool photo via AP, file)

PARIS (AP) — French Resistance member Cecile Rol-Tanguy, who risked her life during World War II by working to liberate Paris from Nazi occupation, has died. She was 101.

Rol-Tanguy died on Friday at her home in Monteaux, in central France, as Europe commemorated the 75th anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany to Allied forces. The cause of her death was not disclosed by French officials.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Rol-Tanguy on Saturday, calling her a “freedom fighter.”

Rol-Tanguy joined the Resistance at age 21, typing out calls for rebellion on the day German troops occupied Paris in June 1940,


With her husband, Henri Rol-Tanguy, who became a prominent fighter in the French Resistance, she started living a dangerous and clandestine existence as a liaison officer for the French Forces of the Interior (FFI). The couple had to hide their relationship to keep their activities secret and use fake identities.

She later recalled how she used their children’s strollers to transport messages, weapons and explosive material.

In August 1944, when her husband was the leader of FFI fighters in the Paris region, she worked alongside him to set up a command post in an underground shelter in central Paris.
On 19 August 1944, they wrote and published a pamphlet calling citizens to arms in Paris. The French capital was liberated six days later.

When Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle marched in a victory parade down the Champs-Elysees on August 26, 1945, Rol-Tanguy was the only woman at the reception the general gave to thank the Parisian fighters.

Rol-Tanguy later helped highlight the roles of women who heroically fought for France during the war. She received the Legion of Honor, France’s highest distinction, in 1984.
Her husband died in 2002.

 

[Plain Jane]

Italy: China's Trojan Horse Into Europe

Chinese leaders "believe they have a narrow window of strategic opportunity to strengthen their rule and revise the international order in their favor.."

www.zerohedge.com

Italy: China's Trojan Horse Into Europe

by Tyler Durden
Mon, 05/11/2020 - 02:00
TwitterFacebookRedditEmailPrint


Authored Giulio Meotti via The Gatestone InStitute,
A few days after China had announced it was sending medical supplies to Italy, Chinese state media aired pictures of Italians on balconies and streets applauding the Chinese national anthem. "In Rome, with the Chinese anthem playing, some Italians chanted 'Grazie, Cina!' on their balconies, & their neighbors applauded along", wrote Zhao Lijian, the spokesman for China's foreign ministry who shamefully and wrongly suggested that the U.S. military had brought the Covid-19 to Wuhan.
China presented itself in the role of the savior, willing to rush to the bedside of the sick patient Italy.
Now a Financial Times investigation reveals that those videos were manipulated as part of Beijing's coronavirus propaganda. Hashtags #ThanksChina and #GoChina&Italy were further generated by bots. A report by the Carnegie Endowment called Italy "a target destination for China's propaganda".

An article called, "Why the Covid-19 epidemic is so politicized" and posted on the Chinese embassy website in Paris, said, "Some Westerners are beginning to lose confidence in liberal democracy" and "some [Western countries] have become psychologically weak".

Antoine Bondaz, a researcher at France's Foundation for Strategic Research, told Politico:

"China considers Europe the soft belly of the West. In their logic, there is the West, and in it the U.S. that will oppose China for structural and ideological reasons, and their European allies that need to be neutral in case of conflict between China and the U.S."

According to Lt. Gen. (ret.) H.R. McMaster, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, in his new book Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World, Chinese leaders "believe they have a narrow window of strategic opportunity to strengthen their rule and revise the international order in their favor".




There is now a huge risk that Italy is becoming "China's Trojan horse into Europe".

A leading French official, Pierre-Henri d'Argenson, wrote in Le Figaro that "Europe has now become the buffer zone for the confrontation between China and the United States". Beijing chose Italy as its soft belly in Europe and is following its script.

In April 2019, the Italian government of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was the first G7 country to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on China's "Belt and Road Initiative" during a state visit by President Xi Jinping. According to an analysis by The Economist, the Chinese Belt and Road plan could surpass the Marshall Plan, by which the US revived Europe's war ravaged economies.

Italy has a government coalition led by the Five Star Movement, an extremely pro-Chinese party, whose founder Beppe Grillo has been spotted frequently at the Chinese embassy in Rome. As the European Council on Foreign Relations reported, "in Italy business and political lobbies for China have been on the rise". The former PM Matteo Renzi has visited Beijing for conferences.

Five years ago, China National Chemical Corp bought Pirelli, a 143-year-old Italian company, and the world's fifth-largest tire maker. A study published by KPMG before the Pirelli deal revealed Chinese acquisitions in Italy have totaled 10 billion euros in five years (in a total of 13 billion euros investments). A third of foreign purchases in Italy are Chinese. The goal is to turn Italy into "Europe's top destination for highly coveted investment from China".

Now, China is trying to dominate southern Europe's infrastructure. China was already granted a license to run Greece's largest seaport, Athens' Piraeus harbor, which Beijing plans to turn into Europe's biggest commercial harbor. Then China started to project its expansion in Italy's ports, where four major ports are also in line for Chinese investments. Zeno D'Agostino, the president of Trieste's northern port, says that "China is opening because it feels strong".

Italy's political appeasement of China was on display during the fatal early days of the coronavirus crisis.

On January 21, Italy's culture and tourism minister hosted a Chinese delegation for a concert at the National Academy of Santa Cecilia to inaugurate the year of Italy-China Culture and Tourism. Michele Geraci, Italy's former undersecretary for development, was not sure that was his place. "Are we sure we want to do this?", Geraci said looking at his colleagues. "Should we be here today?". A few days later, in many Italian cities, such as Florence and Prato, where there is a Chinese manufacturing stronghold, mayors and local communities promoted the initiative, "hug a Chinese" to fight xenophobia and racism.

In Rome, Italy's President, Sergio Mattarella, visited a school that has a high percentage of Chinese students to counter "discrimination" and Nicola Zingaretti, the leader of the Democratic Party, met the Chinese ambassador in Rome. Meanwhile, Italian televisions organized live tastings of Chinese products. That was Italy's fatal initial mistake: fighting racism instead of the virus, which only a few days later would devastate the country.

China has been able to brainwash Italian public opinion. In a poll published April 17, 50% of Italians consider China a "friend" (just 17% of Italians think as much of the United States). And in the race for the global power to which Italy should be allied China is ahead of the US, 36% to 30%.

Italy's foreign minister, Luigi Di Maio, welcomed a plane-load of Chinese medical supplies on March 12. "We will remember those who were close to us in this difficult period", Di Maio said. It is not necessary, China will remind them.

Walter Ricciardi, an advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Italian government, tweeted: "Thanks China!".

We know now that while the Chinese regime misled the world about the contagiousness of Covid-19, it stockpiled medical supplies. As the editor of the German BILD wrote in a letter to Chinese president Xi:

" I suppose you consider it a great 'friendship' when you now generously send masks around the world. This isn't friendship, I would call it imperialism hidden behind a smile – a Trojan Horse".

Not a single Italian minister or official blamed China for the cover up of the epidemic or causing witnesses to "disappear".

"For the first time in many years, Western countries united behind the request to China for clarifications on how Covid-19 was born and then spread", Paolo Mieli wrote in a front-page editorial for Italy's largest newspaper, Il Corriere della Sera. Mieli mentioned the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, France and Germany.

"Who is missing? Italy, the only country in the Western world to have welcomed half a million masks sent to us (for a fee) from China with a truly excessive blaze".

The world-renowned Italian textile industry was one of the major victims of a globalization expansion led by Chinese dishonest economic dumping. China is now reducing Italy to a setting to help spread and implement its propaganda and will to power. As Italian analyst Francesco Galietti wrote, Italy is going to become "the target of a Chinese 'charm offensive', a combination of hard cash and 'soft power', money and influence". He notes as an example the People's Bank of China:

"It has steadily amassed stakes above 2 percent (the disclosure threshold in Italy) in a slew of Italy's largest shareholder-owned companies, including FCA (the Fiat Chrysler group), Telecom Italia, and Generali Group, Italy's largest insurer".

China has also invested in strategic Italian energy entities such as Eni and Enel and Italian oil services group Saipem.

This economic penetration will also have immense security consequences. During the first days of the Covid-19 epidemic, Italy, which is being lured by the promise of a $3 billion Huawei investment in its telecommunications system, announced that it has no plans to stop Chinese telecom firms playing a role in the country's future 5G network. It is a project that US Attorney General William P. Barr defined a "monumental danger".

"The geopolitical effects of the pandemic could be significant," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
"Some allies (are) more vulnerable for situations where critical infrastructure can be sold out" in a Chinese "buying spree".

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has also warned that China will exploit the virus "to further their own interests and try to sow division in the Alliance and in Europe".

Italy is most vulnerable to this Chinese offensive. It is one of the most indebted countries in the world and has an economic growth close to zero. It is also one of Europe's most unstable and fragile governments and had one of Europe's highest coronavirus death tolls -- an experience that an Italian nurse compared to a "world war".

Italy is now Europe's sick man. Due to the Chinese coronavirus crisis, the country will see a collapse of its GDP (-9.5%) and the explosion of its public debt which is set to 160% of gross domestic product -- the highest since World War II. Beijing knows this and claims that "Italy has many economic problems, Europe is in crisis and the Belt and Road Initiative is the only major global investment plan".

"The possibility that Europe will become a museum or a cultural amusement park for the nouveau riche of globalization is not completely out of the question", said the late historian Walter Laqueur.

Rome's dramatic fall could mean Beijing's equally dramatic rise. It is a huge warning for the West.

 

[Plain Jane]

Hungary summons Nordic diplomats over rule-by-decree row

Hungary summoned the ambassadors of four Nordic countries on Monday over their countries' criticism of a controversial law that empowers Prime Minister Viktor Orban to act by decree against the novel coronavirus.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 11, 2020 / 3:39 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Hungary to summon Nordic diplomats over rule-by-decree row

Marton Dunai
3 MIN READ

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary will summon the ambassadors of five Nordic countries on Monday over their countries’ criticism of a controversial law that empowers Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to carry out measures by decree against the novel coronavirus.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Facebook on Sunday that he would summon the diplomats as Hungary “wanted no pitiful hypocritical tutelage” and reiterated Budapest would go its own way.

The law, which authorises Orban to bypass Parliament indefinitely in measures to contain the virus and mitigate its after-effects, has provoked an international wave of criticism, including from rights groups and the EU Commission.

The Council of Europe, the EU’s main human rights body, was among the first to warn Hungary about its democratic backslide and its issues over freedom of expression in a March 24 letter by Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric.


“An indefinite and uncontrolled state of emergency cannot guarantee that the basic principles of democracy will be observed and that the emergency measures restricting fundamental human rights are strictly proportionate to the threat which they are supposed to counter,” Buric wrote then.

The foreign ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden wrote to Buric on May 6 that they “share the concerns expressed in that letter. Even in an emergency situation the rule of law must prevail.”

Orban has been at odds with European Union institutions since taking power in 2010, going head to head over economic policies, alleged corruption, immigration and his ever-expanding influence over all walks of life.

The combative premier has used that pretext to paint the EU as an adversary in massive campaigns, an electoral strategy that has paid handsome dividends at the polls, helping to cement his rule, but has left him ostracised among his European peers.

The European People’s Party suspended the membership of Orban’s Fidesz from the mainstream conservative group over such conflicts, but the premier continues to use the issue for political gain.

Orban on March 26 told Buric that the law did not give him unlimited powers and could be withdrawn by Parliament - where his Fidesz holds a two-thirds majority - at any time.

“If you cannot help us in the current crisis, please at the very least refrain from blocking our defence effort,” Orban wrote to the secretary general. The vast government-controlled or loyal press repeated that phrase for weeks.

Reporting by Marton Dunai, editing by Larry King
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
MORE FROM REUTERS

 

[Plain Jane]

Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

A Legal Nightmare": In Latest European "Freakshow", EU Threatens To Sue Germany Over QE Ruling

by Tyler Durden
Mon, 05/11/2020 - 10:50
TwitterFacebookRedditEmailPrint


In the latest European farce, the European Commission threatened to sue Germany after the country’s top court questioned the legality of the ECB’s bond-buying program, Bloomberg reported over the weekend. In what Nordea's Andrewas Steno Larsen dubbed the "ongoing freakshow in the Euroarea", the EC president - a German no less - Ursula von der Leyen said that "The final word in EU law is always spoken in Luxembourg. Nowhere else."
In other words, following last week's shocking decision by Germany's constitutional court which found that some aspects of the ECB's QE are not constitutional and gave the ECB a 3 month ultimatum in which to demonstrate that QE was a proportional response, "we are gearing up for a remarkable legal stand-off between EU and Germany" writes Larsen, who adds that "the German head of the EU Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, is now openly battling her mother country's constitution as she hinted that Brussels is considering taking legal steps that could result in Germany being sued in Europe's highest court over the ruling from its constitutional court on ECB bond buying in a letter to the German Press Agency. Never underestimate the arrogance of EUR-crats!"
And here is the German European who is tasked with leading the onslaught on the German constitution.
German head of the EU Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen.


And just to make sure the Germans are really pissed off, the ECB has tasked its staff to study if they should consider buying junk corporate bonds according to Reuters, "as if the ECB hasn’t manipulated credit prices enough already" as Nordea helpfully adds, noting that "ultimately, we think the EUR-ship will be glued together again – but markets are rightfully pricing in a risk of an ugly political showdown for the time being (wider spreads, relatively low EUR/USD etc)."

Going back to the EU threat to sue Germany, one which as Bloomberg notes "has major implications for the European project itself and the monetary policy that underpins it" and would be a "legal nightmare", here is how it might play out, courtesy of Bloomberg:

1. What infringement would the EU claim?

Germany’s constitutional court decided last week it wouldn’t follow a 2018 judgment by the EU Court of Justice that cleared the central bank’s debt purchases, totaling 2.7 trillion euros ($2.9 trillion) since 2015. But under EU treaties, the top European court ranks higher. The German judges said they could deviate because the bloc’s top judges overstepped their powers when they backed the ECB’s policy in a previous ruling. It was a stinging challenge to the 68-year-old EU tribunal. That prompted a rebuke by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday. “The final word on EU law is always spoken” by the European court, she said. “Nowhere else.”

2. How can the EU sue a member country?

The European Commission, the EU’s executive and administrative body, has the task of policing whether member states are abiding by EU law. If it finds that an EU country isn’t complying, it has to take action. The commission first informs the country that it’s in breach and tries to negotiate a solution. If that goes nowhere, the commission files a court case.

3. How real is the risk of the case going to court?

This warning by the Brussels-based guardians of the EU doesn’t necessarily trigger an infringement procedure. Yet von der Leyen also has to consider the deterrent effect. “On the other hand, the commission cannot simply ignore this challenge to EU law,” Miguel Maduro, a former advocate general at the EU Court of Justice, said in an interview. Otherwise, such national challenges “might be replicated by other states. What would the commission do if the Hungarian constitutional court or the Polish constitutional court, or others, do something like this.”

4. Is there a road map for such lawsuits?

So-called infringement proceedings aren’t unusual. Most of them don’t make headline because they often address very technical questions on EU regulations. However, they’ve usually resulted in a kind of give-and-take where EU complaints are resolved with policy changes or, in extreme cases, fines. Yet it’s unlikely that Germany’s top court would reverse its ruling if the European court overturned it. That could trigger an institutional crisis for the EU. “Making this statement that they’re considering opening an infringement procedure without actually opening it is a smart, prudent approach,” Maduro said.

5. Would the EU sue the German court or the German government?

The EU can only sue member states. That kicks in if an institution in a country — even a court — allegedly breaks EU law. Under international law, countries need to ensure that their agencies are in line with the law and must fix any transgressions.

6. Which court would hear the EU’s suit – and is that a problem?


The case would be heard by the EU’s top court, the same one the German judges attacked in their May 5 ruling. A 15-judge panel handed down the December 2018 judgment on the ECB’s asset purchases. Since the court has 27 judges, that gives it some leeway to make sure that all of the same judges don’t rule on this case if it goes to court.

7. What’s the politics behind the dispute?

German opponents of euro-area bailouts and ECB bond-buying to protect the shared currency repeatedly challenged those policies in the country’s high court, which until last week broadly went along with the rescue measures. Former German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, a veteran of Europe’s bailout battles, warned that letting nations cast doubt on the EU court’s authority could eventually threaten the euro’s survival.

 

[Plain Jane]

London honours Captain Tom Moore, 100, in ancient ceremony

British World War Two veteran Tom Moore, who has become a national hero after raising more than $40 million for the health service, was awarded the ancient honour of the Freedom of the City of London on Tuesday.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 12, 2020 / 7:09 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
London honours Captain Tom Moore, 100, in ancient ceremony


3 MIN READ

LONDON (Reuters) - British World War Two veteran Tom Moore, who has become a national hero after raising more than $40 million for the health service, was awarded the ancient honour of the Freedom of the City of London on Tuesday.

Moore, 100, struck a chord with locked-down Britain by walking around his garden with the help of a walking frame to raise almost 33 million pounds for the National Health Service. His endeavor spread joy amid the grim news of the coronavirus outbreak.

In a bizarre online ceremony, Moore, wearing his war medals, was awarded the freedom of the City of London by the chamberlain, wearing a ermine-trimmed gown, and the Lord Mayor, who wore a tricorne hat trimmed with black ostrich feathers.


“Today we are paying tribute to a very special man,” said Peter Kane, who occupies the ancient office of Chamberlain of the City of London. “Just an incredible achievement - we could run out of adjectives trying to describe this.”

The freedom of the City of London dates back to 1237 and signified that the holder was not owned by a feudal lord and had to right to trade in the heart of London’s ancient core.

Moore, who was raised in Yorkshire, northern England, swore an oath to be “good and true to our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth the Second” and to keep “the Queen’s Peace”.

He signed the Freedom declaration with a wave of the pen and thanked the chamberlain for being given the “Rules for the Conduct of Life” which date from the mid-18th century. He was given a detailed history of his privileges as London’s “youngest freeman”.

Moore, with what appeared to be a glass of champagne, was toasted. He smiled when told that the ancient privileges include being hanged with silk - rather than hemp - and the right to wander the city with his sword drawn.

“Captain Tom - you raised the spirits of people across the country, you showed us all the importance of community spirit and brought people together during this difficult time,” Lord Mayor William Russell said.

The City of London traces its ancient rights to beyond the Norman Conquest of 1066, when the crucible of trade and commerce was formally granted freedoms and privileges which had developed during the dawn of English history.

The honour is the latest bestowed on Moore. For his 100th birthday last month, Queen Elizabeth agreed that he should be made an honorary colonel, and he was also made an honorary member of the England cricket team.

($1 = 0.8108 pounds)

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Michael Holden
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Italian police nab 91 mafia suspects in 'mega-raid' – DW – 05/12/2020

Dozens of alleged members of the Sicilian mafia were arrested across the entire country. Authorities are concerned organized crime may be using the pandemic to increase its power even as violent crime drops.

www.dw.com

Italian police nab 91 mafia suspects in 'mega-raid'
Dozens of alleged members of the Sicilian mafia were arrested across the entire country. Authorities are concerned organized crime may be using the pandemic to increase its power even as violent crime drops.



[IMG alt="Palermo
(DW/D. Dedovic)"]https://www.dw.com/image/51948092_303.jpg[/IMG]

Italian media reported on Tuesday that 91 bosses, deputies, extortionists and figureheads of several Sicilian mafia clans had been detained in a "mega-raid".

The Guardia di Finanza, which is in charge of financial crimes and regularly tasked with bringing down organized crime figures, made the arrests in what is known in a series of simultaneous raids across nine different regions of the country from the very north to the far south.

Read more: The trans woman who defied her mafia upbringing
Amongst those arrested were members of the Acquasanta, Arenella, Ferrante, and Fontana families, which have historically exercised control over parts of the Sicilian capital Palermo. They are being charged with a range of crimes including money laundering, drug trafficking, sports fraud, receiving stolen goods, extortion, and of course belonging to a mafia organization.

Some of the suspects are believed to have been involved in corrupt work contracts for projects at the Palermo shipyard, as well as running illegal slot machines and online gambling. Charges also relate to corruption in the Palermo fruit and vegetable market.

Assets amounting to €15 million ($16.2 million) were also seized.

One of the men arrested was Daniele Santoianni, a former contestant on the Italian iteration of the popular reality show Big Brother. He had been appointed the legal spokesman for a company called Mok Caffe, which claimed to be a coffee importer but is believed to be a front for organized crime.

Lockdown loan-sharking

Although violent crimes have dropped significantly in Italy during its coronavirus lockdown, authorities are worried that the Sicilian mafia, also called Cosa Nostra, as well as the ‘Ndrangheta and Camorra syndicates in Calabria, are taking advantage of the situation for purposes of extortion and loan-sharking.

Read more: Teens hijack ambulance, kidnap crew in Naples

With unemployment climbing, people in Sicily have reported receiving much needed funds, essential supplies, and groceries from local mafia members. The practice of appearing to step in with help where state institutions are lacking has long been a tactic of maintaining control and gathering tacit public approval throughout the Cosa Nostra's centuries-long history.

 

[Plain Jane]

Italy magistrates open probe after freed aid worker bombarded by hate mail

An Italian aid worker, freed at the weekend after being held hostage for 18 months by Islamist militants in Africa, has been deluged with hate mail because she converted to Islam, judicial sources said on Tuesday.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 12, 2020 / 8:53 AM / UPDATED 7 HOURS AGO
Italy magistrates open probe after freed aid worker bombarded by hate mail

Emilio Parodi
3 MIN READ

MILAN (Reuters) - An Italian aid worker, freed at the weekend after being held hostage for 18 months by Islamist militants in Africa, has been deluged with hate mail because she converted to Islam, judicial sources said on Tuesday.

Magistrates have opened an investigation into the abuse to see if charges of aggravated criminal threat can be laid against some of the senders, the sources said.

Silvia Romano was working as a volunteer in an orphanage in a village in southeast Kenya when she was seized by gunmen in November 2018. She was smuggled across the border into Somalia, where she was believed to have been detained by the Islamist group al Shabaab.

Romano, 24, was greeted by the prime minister and foreign minister when she arrived back by plane on Sunday, smiling broadly and wearing a hooded garment that covered her hair.

Although she has not spoken in public about her ordeal, her family have confirmed that she converted to Islam during her imprisonment and has changed her name to Aisha.

Newspapers quoted her as telling officials that she had chosen to become a Muslim of her own free will after reading the Koran and had not been abused by her captors. However, reports of her conversion sparked fury in some circles.


“Islamic and happy. Silvia the ungrateful,” said the front-page headline of right-wing daily Il Giornale on Monday.

A politician from the province of Treviso posted on Facebook that Romano should be hanged. The post was swiftly removed.

Italy is predominantly Roman Catholic and the Church warmly welcomed Romano’s safe return. “At this time, we all feel her to be our own daughter,” said Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti.

Italian media reported that Rome paid a ransom of some 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) to secure Romano’s release. As always in such cases, the government declined to comment.

“Imagine the Islamic terrorists: They have brought home the money, committing a criminal act, and ‘won’ the cultural battle in the name of the Islamic veil and conversion,” said Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right opposition League party.

In an interview with La Repubblica newspaper, a spokesman for al Shabaab, named as Ali Dehere, confirmed a ransom had been paid, but declined to say how much.

Some will be used to buy weapons, which we need more and more of to fight jihad (holy war). The rest will be used to run the country: to pay for schools, to buy the food and medicine we distribute to our people, to train the policemen who maintain order and enforce the laws of the Koran,” he said.

The spokesman said Romano had converted voluntarily “because she clearly saw with her own eyes a better world than she knew before”.

Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Giles Elgood
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Russia suspends use of ventilator type sent to U.S. after fatal fires

Russia on Wednesday suspended the use of some Russian-made medical ventilators after two fatal hospital fires reported to involve the machines, a setback in its fight against the novel coronavirus.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 13, 2020 / 4:07 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Russia suspends use of ventilator type sent to U.S. after fatal fires

Anastasia Teterevleva, Tom Balmforth
3 MIN READ

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday suspended the use of some Russian-made medical ventilators after two fatal hospital fires reported to involve the machines, a setback in its fight against the novel coronavirus.

The ventilators’ safety was called into question a day earlier after a fire at Saint George’s Hospital in St Petersburg in which five people died. That followed another fire at a hospital in Moscow which killed one person on Saturday.

In both cases, sources told the TASS news agency that the source of the fires had been faulty Aventa-M ventilators.

Authorities have procured hundreds of Aventa-Ms to help hospitals cope with coronavirus patients. Though Russia has so far suffered a low number of virus-related deaths compared to other countries, at 242,271 its infections tally is now the second highest in the world after the United States.

Russia sent a batch of the same ventilators to the United States in early April, though U.S. officials say the machines were not needed in the end.


Roszdravnadzor, the state healthcare regulator, said in a statement it was suspending the use in Russia of all such machines made after April 1.

It gave no explanation for the suspension, but noted that the ventilators had been used in the two hospitals where the recent fires had taken place which it said a day earlier it was looking into.

It was not immediately clear exactly how many new ventilators the suspension would cover.

Public procurement data cited by the Interfax news agency said that the Saint George Hospital in St Petersburg spent 441 million roubles ($6 million) last month on buying 237 Aventa-M ventilators.

The procurement contract was finalised on April 24, it said. Each ventilator cost 1.86 million roubles.

The ventilators are made at the Urals Instrument Engineering Plant (UPZ) in the region of Sverdlovsk.

Radio-Electronic Technologies Concern (KRET), which controls UPZ, said on Tuesday that its ventilators had passed all the necessary tests and had been used by medical facilities in Russia since 2012 without any safety concerns.

It urged people to avoid rushing to conclusions until the outcome of official investigations into the fires was known.

Additional reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Andrew Osborn
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Chinese lab boosts Serbia's coronavirus testing capacity

BELGRADE (Reuters) - A Chinese-built state-of-the-art laboratory is helping to nearly double Serbia's testing capacity for COVID-19, the lung disease caused by the new coronavirus, in the latest example of close ties between Belgrade and Beijing.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 13, 2020 / 6:36 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Chinese lab boosts Serbia's coronavirus testing capacity


2 MIN READ

(This May 12 story corrects Chinese name of lab to Huo-Yan, not Huo-Yun)
BELGRADE (Reuters) - A Chinese-built state-of-the-art laboratory is helping to nearly double Serbia’s testing capacity for COVID-19, the lung disease caused by the new coronavirus, in the latest example of close ties between Belgrade and Beijing.

The Huo-Yan National Laboratory for Molecular Detection of Infectious Agents in Belgrade is the first that the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) has helped to build in Europe and has the capacity to carry out more than 2,000 tests a day.

The laboratory’s 40 employees were all trained by Chinese colleagues who previously set up COVID-19 testing laboratories in Wuhan, where the new coronavirus first emerged, and 10 other Chinese cities.
To prevent infections, all 40 employees are being accommodated in nearby hotels and cannot see their families.

Jelena Begovic, a coordinator in charge of the laboratory, said another lab with a daily capacity for 1,000 samples, would also be built in the southern Serbian town of Nis.

Once the pandemic ends, the labs will remain at the disposal of Serbia’s healthcare system, she said, adding that there had been talks with the BGI about future partnership.

“Information is nowadays sometimes more valuable than gold. In that sense, (the lab) is also a source of information for them (the BGI) regarding this region... Through cooperation like this, I think we both can have huge benefits,” she said.

The BGI runs similar laboratories in the United Arab Emirates and Brunei, according to its website.

China sent doctors, ventilators and medical masks to Serbia in March, as the virus was beginning to spread across Europe, in a sign of what Beijing’s ambassador to Belgrade, Chen Bo, called the “iron friendship” between the two nations.

Beijing has also extended loans worth billions of dollars to build railways, roads and power plants in Serbia, a candidate for European Union membership.

Reporting by Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Gareth Jones
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.