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The Turkish government’s decision to ban alcohol sales as part of a nearly three-week lockdown to contain COVID-19 is causing a political storm, with opponents accusing the Islamic-rooted government of using the pandemic to pursue a religious agenda.   The alcohol ban is part of a national lockdown that took effect Thursday and will end on May 17. The ban is stoking tensions and suspicion over the Islamist roots of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who critics accuse of seeking to undermine the 90-year-old secular state, said columnist Mehves Evin of the Duvar news portal. “Erdogan’s regime, it’s like trying all the little ways to change the way, he thinks it’s the right way for people to live. Meaning, for example, the way they are building up the Imam Hatip religious schools. The way they are encouraging more and more students to go to those schools, actually is social engineering. So with the alcohol ban, it is actually also the same thing,” Evin said.  A customer shops for alcoholic beverages at a supermarket ahead of a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Istanbul, April 29, 2021.The government denies such accusations. But with the ban coinciding with the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, such denials have done little to quell the controversy.  The head of Turkey’s trader’s association, Bendeki Palandoken, called for the ban’s reversal, asking if is it possible to demand an alcohol ban in a developed and democratic country of law, which is integrated with Europe, and has many foreign customers, as well. The ban is also being challenged in Turkey’s high courts. But the government is vigorously defending the controls, noting that other countries, like South Africa, imposed similar restrictions.  Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Thursday there would be no exemptions and no backing down. The alcohol shops will endure this sacrifice, as everyone else will, he added. But numerous shops are starting to challenge the ban by selling alcohol, with many people posting pictures of their purchases on social media. “Don’t touch my alcohol” is among this week’s Turkish Twitter top trending hashtags.   
 
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Ukraine next week as Washington coordinates closely with Kyiv over Russia’s recent military buildup along Ukraine border.  
 
Blinken will travel to Ukraine on May 5-6, “where he will meet with President Zelensky, Foreign Minister Kuleba, other officials, and representatives of Ukrainian civil society to reaffirm unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement Friday.
 
The United States is keeping a close watch on Russia’s movement after Moscow announced last Thursday that it would begin withdrawing its troops from the border of Ukraine.   
 
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said this week it is too soon to tell and are taking at face value Russia’s claims they are pulling everybody back, while noting “some departure of some [Russia] forces away from Ukraine.”US Keeping Wary Eye on Russian Troops Near UkrainePentagon says too soon to know if the threat from Moscow’s largest military buildup since it seized Crimea in 2014 is truly over Senior American and European Union officials had said roughly 150,000 Russian troops massed along the border of Ukraine and in Crimea, more troops in the area than seven years ago when Russia invaded and seized Crimea in 2014.  
 
The U.S. has reaffirmed its support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrities, urging the Russian Government to immediately cease all aggressive activity in and around Ukraine.
 
Blinken’s trip to Ukraine would be his first as the U.S. secretary of state. In Kyiv, he “will also encourage continued progress on Ukraine’s institutional reform agenda, particularly anti-corruption action, which is key to securing Ukraine’s democratic institutions, economic prosperity, and Euro-Atlantic future,” said Price in the Friday statement.
Prior to traveling to Ukraine, the chief U.S. diplomat will attend a G-7 foreign ministers meeting in London from May 3-5, which is the first in-person such gathering in two years since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.  
 
“The United States will discuss how we can work with other countries to address the key geopolitical issues we face as we build back better from this pandemic,” said the State Department spokesman. “Tackling the COVID-19 and climate crises will feature prominently on the agenda, as will advancing economic growth, human rights, food security, gender equality, and women’s and girls’ empowerment.”
 
While in Britain, Blinken will also meet with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Raab “to discuss shared U.S.-U.K. priorities.”
 
In addition to G-7 countries, officials from Australia, India, South Africa, South Korea, and Brunei, in its capacity as Chair of ASEAN, will join the G-7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ meeting as guests. Price said, “these meetings will lay the groundwork for the 46th Leaders’ Summit in Cornwall in June.”VOA’s Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
 
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German officials say they have reached an agreement with Nigeria to return some of the famed Benin Bronzes that were looted from Nigeria in the 19th century.About 500 of the plundered artifacts are on display in several German museums.The handoff is expected to take place next year under an agreement reached between Germany and Nigeria on Thursday.The return of the artifacts is “a turning point in our approach to colonial history,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.In 1897, British soldiers snatched thousands of exquisitely decorated bronze and brass plaques and sculptures created by guilds in the Kingdom of Benin in what is now Nigeria.  The objects have become known as the Benin Bronzes and are on display in museums around the world.The British Museum has more than 900 of the objects.  Germany’s agreement with Nigeria pertains only to the artifacts that are in Germany.
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The trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin made headline news in France. But much of the reporting about the trial, and its underlying themes of police violence and racism, largely zoomed in on the United States.“I think it’s viewed as an American problem with some resonance in France,” said Steven Ekovich, a U.S. politics and foreign policy professor at the American University of Paris.American University of Paris professor Steven Ekovich says the French viewed the Derek Cauvin trial in the death of George Floyd as an American problem, but with some resonance in France. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)”It also feeds into a certain strain of French anti-Americanism, on the left and on the right, so that the French can moralize about the United States, and its difficulties and its flaws,” he said.That wasn’t the case last year, when George Floyd’s death caused many French to look inward. They joined spreading global protests for police accountability. Traore deathAlong with Floyd, many chanted the name of Frenchman Adama Traore, 24, whose family said he died under circumstances similar to Floyd’s, although that claim is disputed. The Black American’s death opened a broader spigot here of soul-searching about France’s colonial past and continuing injustices today.French authorities vowed zero tolerance of police racism and brutality and pledged to ban a controversial police chokehold. President Emmanuel Macron called racial profiling “unbearable.”Police representatives deny systemic racism. They say police are overworked and underappreciated as they tackle violence in tough neighborhoods, and they sometimes become targets of terrorism.David-Olivier Reverdy of the National Police Alliance union said the country’s police aren’t racist. To the contrary, he said, they’re Republican and diverse, from all ethnic origins and religions. There may be some problematic individuals, he added, but the force itself isn’t racist.Critics argue otherwise. A 2017 report by an independent citizens rights group found young Black or Arab-looking men here are five times more likely to be stopped for police identity checks than the rest of the population. Four Paris police officers were suspended last November after TV footage showed them punching a Black music producer. In January, six nongovernmental groups announced the country’s first class-action lawsuit on alleged racial profiling by police.’Struggling’ for a decade“We’ve been struggling with the state for 10 years,” said Slim Ben Achour, one of the lawyers representing the groups in the case.“The French Supreme Court convicted the state in November 2016 for discrimination, and after that we could have expected from the state … which should respect the rule of law — to do police reform. They have done nothing,” he said.Allegations of police violence and racism are an old story in France. In 2005, the deaths of two youngsters fleeing police sparked rioting in the banlieues — code word for the multicultural, working-class suburbs ringing cities here. Activists point to bigger, long-standing inequalities going far beyond policing.Some aren’t waiting for change from above. In the Paris suburb of Bobigny, youth group Nouvel Elan 93 is mentoring youngsters, helping them with schoolwork and giving them alternatives to hanging in the streets.Aboubacar N’diaye, left, helped launch a youth group in the Paris suburb of Bobigny. He says police profiling is something that could happen to him. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)One of Nouvel Elan’s founders, Aboubacar N’Diaye, said the group is trying to push youngsters to the maximum of their potential. They’re talented, he said, in sports, music, theater — everything.N’Diaye said Floyd’s death has resonated in this community and that it could happen to Blacks here like him. There’s a close relationship, he added, in the protests for Floyd and Traore.He and other activists said it would take time for the lessons from Floyd’s death — and France’s colorblind creed of liberty, equality and fraternity —to take hold.
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Reports of police violence and racial injustice resonate especially strongly in France, with its large population of ethnic Africans and Arabs. Yet cautious optimism by some in the United States and elsewhere that the guilty verdict in American former police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial might trigger societal change is less shared in France. From the Paris suburb of Bobigny, Lisa Bryant reports for VOA.   Camera:   Lisa Bryant, Agencies  
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The World Health Organization’s Europe Regional Director Hans Kluge reported Thursday the number of new COVID-19 infections in the region dropped significantly in the last week for the first time in two months. Speaking from WHO regional headquarters in Copenhagen, Kluge said hospitalizations and deaths were also down in the past week. He also said as of Thursday, 7% of Europeans have been totally vaccinated, more than the 5.5% of the population that has contracted COVID-19. Kluge cautioned that while that is good news, the virus remains a threat, as infection rates remain high in several areas. He said individual and collective public health and social measures remain dominant factors in shaping the pandemic’s course. A man receives his first dose of the of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, at a vaccination center in Piraeus, near Athens, April 29, 2021.But he also noted that in those areas where high-risk groups such as health and other frontline workers were prioritized with vaccines, admissions to hospitals and death rates are falling. Kluge said in the context of the pandemic, it is a combination of vaccines and strong public health measures that offer the clearest path back to normal. But noting it is European Immunization Week, the WHO regional director said he wanted to send a message beyond COVID-19 and pressed the value of vaccines in general. He said before the pandemic, vaccines had protected the world against life-threatening diseases for more than 200 years. While vaccines bring the world closer to ending the pandemic, he said they could also end measles, cervical cancer and other vaccine-preventable diseases. He said when COVID-19 interrupted routine vaccine programs around the world, the results can be other severe infectious disease outbreaks just down the line. He urged public health systems to maintain routine primary health care while continuing to control the pandemic. “Once again, vaccines are about to change the course of history — but only if we act responsibly and get vaccinated when offered the opportunity to do so,” Kluge said. 
 
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In his first court appearance since ending a three-week hunger strike, Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “naked, thieving king.” Navalny appeared Thursday in a video link from prison to a Moscow courtroom where he was appealing a guilty verdict for defaming a World War 2 veteran. According to news reports, Navalny appeared thin, and his head was shaved. “I looked in the mirror. Of course, I’m just a dreadful skeleton,” he said. Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, is seen in a courtroom, in Moscow, Russia, April 29, 2021, in this still image taken from video. (Press Service of Babushkinsky District Court of Moscow/Handout via Reuters)Navalny began his hunger strike March 3 and ended it April 23. Later in Thursday’s hearing, he took the opportunity to attack Putin. “I want to tell the dear court that your king is naked,” he said of Putin. “Millions of people are already shouting about it, because it is obvious. … His crown is hanging and slipping.” He also reiterated his claim of innocence on the embezzlement allegations that ostensibly landed him in prison. “Your naked, thieving king wants to continue to rule until the end. … Another 10 years will come, a stolen decade will come,” Navalny said referring to Putin. Last week, authorities in Russia disbanded several regional offices of Navalny’s anti-corruption group, the Anti-Corruption Foundation. A Russian court is considering branding the group extremist. FILE – Demonstrators march during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, April 21, 2021.Last week, more than 1,900 Navalny supporters were detained during protests in cities across the country. From his Instagram account, he said he felt “pride and hope” after learning about the protests. Navalny survived a near-fatal poisoning last year and was arrested when he returned to Moscow in January following lifesaving treatment in Germany. The Kremlin denies any role in the poisoning. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison in February on an embezzlement charge and was being held at the Pokrov correctional colony, which he described as “a real concentration camp.” The United States and other countries have sanctioned Kremlin officials over the poisoning, and many are calling for Navalny’s release. 
 
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Germany’s highest court ruled Thursday that the government has to set clear goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions after 2030.
 
A 2019 law committed Germany to cutting emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and includes specific policies for achieving the goal such as incentivizing renewable energy, expanding electric car infrastructure and carbon trading.   
 
The country also aims to be largely carbon-neutral by 2050.
 
The court said Thursday that the government lacks specificity about how it will achieve the further carbon reductions after 2030.
 
The government has until the end of next year to come up with the new targets.
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For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, crowds are expected to return on Sunday to Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, the spiritual home of this controversial spectacle. Six matadors will do battle with bulls in front of 6,000 cheering aficionados amid tight health restrictions that included limiting ticket sales to 25% of capacity.  However, for lovers of what is known in Spain as the fiesta nacional it will be a huge emotional boost after a year in which rings across the country have remained closed. The charity bullfight will raise money for matadors and some of the 200,000 people who work in this sector who have been hard-hit by the coronavirus. In normal times, the bloody spectacle generates $4.8 billion for the economy annually, almost 1% of GDP, according to the National Association of Organizers of Bullfights. Regarded as an art by admirers in Spain, bullfighting has met with increasing criticism in recent years from a growing animal rights lobby which has been supported by left-wing parties. Fighting back Now, after the pandemic has pushed the industry onto the ropes financially, the men who wear the colorful “suit of lights” are staging a fight back. “For bullfighting this will be hugely symbolic. It will be the first time we return to Las Ventas, the world home of bullfighting, since before the start of the pandemic,” Antonio Lorca, bullfighting critic of El País, one of Spain’s major newspapers, told VOA. “The hope is that this will be the start of many more fights. It will be in aid of those who work in the industry. They have all struggled to get through the past year.” Victorino Martín, president of the Foundation of Fighting Bulls that represents breeders, believes this weekend’s contest will mark the start of a recovery for an industry which, he says, has cultural as well as economic importance for Spain. “This bullfight will be strategically important as it will mark the start of a series of similar fights in Madrid next month,” he told VOA. “This industry has suffered economically but it is also a part of Spanish culture, a little like theatre.” Tradition and politics The pandemic has accelerated the decline of a spectacle which in the past has inspired artists including Francisco de Goya, Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso. In 2012, there were 1,997 fights but this fell to 1,425 by 2019, according to Spain’s ministry of culture which deals with bullfighting as it is considered an art form. After the financial crisis of 2008, many local councils, which traditionally pay for bullfights, cut their budgets. A younger generation are attracted as much to Tik Tok or YouTube as a paying to see a spectacle which is seen by some as old fashioned. Bullfighting has recently become an increasing political issue. Rocio Monasterio, the candidate for the far-right Vox party in regional elections in Madrid on May 4, took on a bull in the ring – with the aid of a real matador – to kick off her campaign. Vox, which is the third largest party in the Spanish parliament with 52 deputies, supports countryside pursuits. “I wasn’t scared at all. In fact, I enjoyed it a lot. It was great in spite of the nonsense of the totalitarians who oppose bullfighting,” she told VOA afterwards. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the current conservative president of Madrid who polls suggest will win, has promised to organize 18 bullfights in small towns in coming months and pledged $3.63 million in subsidies. Spaniards have been split over the issue of bullfighting in recent years with some considering it an art, while others see it as cruelty. FILE – People hold banners reading in Spanish: “92% of Spain, don’t attend the bullfights” during a protest against bullfighting in downtown Madrid, Spain, Sunday, July 12, 2020.A 2019 poll for the online newspaper El Español found 56.4% of Spaniards opposed bullfighting while 24.7 per cent supported it and 18% were indifferent. José Zaldivar has been campaigning to ban bullfighting but holds out little hope of success – at least in the short term. He works from an office that contains an arsenal of the weapons which matadors use to battle with the bull, from the sword which ends the animal’s life to the banderillas which are punctured into its back to weaken it during the duel. “What the animal goes through in terms of stress and pain cannot be anything else but torture,” said Zaldivar, who is president of the Association of Veterinarians for the Abolition of Bullfighting. He believes as long as bullfighting is protected as part of Spain’s cultural heritage it will be impossible to deal the estocada – the sword thrust in which the matador kills the bull. In 2013, the then conservative government passed a law which established the “indisputable” cultural character of bullfighting. This meant that in 2016 the Constitutional Court was able to annul a ban on bullfighting by regional authorities in Catalonia and in the Balearic Islands. 
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