Europe / United States Tuesday, June 16, 2020 07 US ends emergency authorisation of US ‘outraged’ as Russian court hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 convicts American of spying AFP in treating COVID-19 or in tory approval. AFP Whelan at the hands of Rus- WASHINGTON preventing infection among Both drugs are approved WASHINGTON sian authorities has been ap- people who have been ex- for use against malaria, as palling,” Pompeo said. THE United States on Mon- posed to the virus. well as the autoimmune con- THE United States expressed Pompeo said Russian au- day withdrew emergency use Meanwhile, safety con- ditions rheumatoid arthritis outrage on Monday over a thorities “put his life at risk authorisations for two an- cerns have been raised around and lupus. Russian court’s conviction of by ignoring his long-standing timalarial drugs favored by their use -- particularly the Doctors will therefore American Paul Whelan on es- medical condition.” President Donald Trump to risk of causing irregular heart still be able to prescribe them pionage charges, saying he was Whelan’s conviction is an- treat the new coronavirus, ef- rhythm in certain patients. “off label” against COVID-19, deprived of a fair trial. other impediment in relations fectively shutting the door on “It is no longer reasonable though this is strongly dis- Whelan, a former Marine between the two powers, which the politically charged treat- to believe that oral formula- couraged by US health au- arrested in December 2018, are at odds over Ukraine, Syria, ments. tions of HCQ and CQ may thorities. was sentenced Monday to 16 Libya, arms control and a host Hydroxychloroquine be effective in treating COV- Even so, the end of the au- years of hard labour after being Paul Whelan of other issues. (HCQ) and chloroquine (CQ) ID-19,” Denise Hinton, chief A bottle and pills of Hydroxychlo- thorisations presents a blow found guilty of receiving classi- President Donald Trump were authorised in March af- scientist of the Food and Drug roquine. (AFP) to Trump, who has personally fied information. “We demand Paul Whelan’s nonetheless recently said he ter they were found to inac- Administration (FDA) wrote backed HCQ on numerous oc- “The United States is out- immediate release,” he said. hoped to invite his counter- tivate the virus in test tubes, in a letter. use of HCQ and CQ to treat casions, calling it a potential raged by the decision of a Rus- Just days earlier, Pompeo part Vladimir Putin to the and early small studies ap- “Nor is it reasonable to be- COVID-19.” The emergency “game changer” based on his sian court today to convict US had publicly called on Russia to United States, welcoming him peared to show they worked lieve that the known and po- approvals paved the way for gut feelings. citizen Paul Whelan after a se- release Whelan, who contends back into the elite club of the well in humans, too. tential benefits of these prod- the medicines to be donated He has also said he used cret trial, with secret evidence, that he was on holiday in Rus- Group of Seven major indus- Since that time, however, ucts outweigh their known from a national stockpile to the drug to ward off infection and without appropriate allow- sia when he was given a USB trial democracies, thereby end- larger, better-controlled ex- and potential risk. hospitals to fight COVID-19, -- but a recent clinical trial ances for defense witnesses,” drive thinking it contained ing Russia’s suspension over periments have found that the “Accordingly, FDA re- and were seen as an interme- found it to be ineffective for US Secretary of State Mike family photographs. its annexation of Crimea after two medicines are ineffective vokes the EUA for emergency diary step before full regula- this purpose too. Pompeo said in a statement. “The treatment of Paul seizing it from Ukraine. News in brief French court orders jail terms for six UK’s Johnson announces over 1990s arms deal kickbacks PARIS: A Paris court on Monday found three former French gov- ernment officials and three others guilty on charges involving millions of euros in kickbacks from arms sales to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed in 1994. inequality review after The court handed the men prison sentences of two to five years over the so-called “Karachi affair” which has dogged former prime minister Edouard Balladur, facing trial on charges he used the kickbacks to help fund his failed 1995 presidential bid. They were the first convictions to emerge after more than a anti-racism protests quarter-century of investigations named after the Pakistani city where a bus carrying French defence engineers was blown up in AFP 2002, killing 15 people. LONDON Al Qaeda was initially suspected of the attack, but the focus later shifted to the arms deals on suspicions the bombing may PRIME Minister Boris John- have been in retaliation for non-payment of promised bribes. son on Monday announced a The three former aides are Nicolas Bazire, Balladur’s former government review into “all as- campaign manager; Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, a former pects of inequality” following a advisor to his defence minister Francois Leotard; and Thierry wave of anti-racism protests in Gaubert, a former aide to then budget minister Nicolas Sarkozy Britain, but was accused of us- who became president in 2007. (AFP) ing it to delay real action. Johnson said there had been “huge progress” in tackling rac- Italy reports lowest daily COVID-19 ism “but there is much more death toll since March 2 that we need to do, and we will”. ROME: Only 26 people have died from Covid-19 over the last “It is time for a cross- 24 hours in Italy, the country’s Civil Protection Agency said on governmental commission to Monday, giving the lowest daily death toll in more than three look at all aspects of inequal- It is time for a cross-govern- months. ity -- in employment, in health mental commission to look The last time a lower figure was registered was on March outcomes, in academic and all 2, when 18 people died. The cumulative death toll from other walks of life,” he wrote in at all aspects of inequality COVID-19 rose to 34,371. the Daily Telegraph newspaper. -- in employment, in health Authorities also said the number of infected climbed to Britain has been rocked by outcomes, in academic and 237,290, up 303 from Sunday. protests against racial discrimi- all other walks of life The northern Lombardy region remained the most seriously nation, some of them violent, affected by the pandemic, with 259 new infections, bringing following the death of George Activists attend a Black Lives Matter protest at Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square in London recently. (AFP) British PM Boris Johnson the total to 91,917, and 16,457 fatalities, up eight from the Floyd, an unarmed black man, previous day. Italy was particularly hard-hit by the pandemic as he was arrested by police in He said the government Colston, while in London, a Violent clashes broke out fended him as a “hero”, despite that emerged in February, with Lombardy the epicentre of the the United States. should focus on implement- statue to World War II leader and 113 people were arrested, claims his policies led to the outbreak. (DPA) In a broadcast interview, ing the recommendations of Winston Churchill was defaced. while 23 police officers suffered deaths of millions of people in Johnson said he wanted to numerous reviews already The toppling of Colston’s minor injuries at the hands of a famine in the Indian state of “change the narrative so we completed, including one by statue sparked moves by insti- people Johnson condemned as Bengal in 1943. Germany takes Russia’s leading stop the sense of victimisation Lammy himself about discrimi- tutions across the country to “thugs”. “We need to tackle the sub- stake in vaccine newspaper editors and discrimination”. nation in criminal justice. remove or review monuments A 28-year-old man was stance of the problem, not the firm CureVac quit over censorship “We stop the discrimina- “Get on with the action, leg- to Britain’s colonial past. But it jailed for 14 days on Monday symbols. We need to address tion, we stamp out racism, and islate, move!” he urged Johnson also drew condemnation from after he pleaded guilty to uri- the present, not attempt to re- FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Berlin MOSCOW: Senior editors at we start to have a real sense of in an interview with BBC radio. politicians as well as public an- nating next to a memorial to a write the past,” he wrote. will take a stake in German Russia’s leading business expectation of success.” But “Black people aren’t playing ger, particularly after Church- police officer killed in a 2017 at- But he added: “Rather biotech company CureVac, newspaper quit on Monday in David Lammy, justice spokes- victims, as Boris indicates, they ill’s statue outside parliament tack on parliament. than tear down the past, why Economy Minister Peter Alt- protest against what they say is man for the main opposition are protesting precisely because was boarded up to protect it Andrew Banks admitted not add some of the men and maier said Monday, months censorship under new owner- Labour party, said the lack of the time for review is over and from further protests. one charge of outraging public women -- most often BAME after reports the US was ship, as a months-long dispute detail about the new review the time for action is now.” Self-styled “patriots” decency.