Police in Slovakia are investigating after Peter Sabo, a reporter for the news outlet Aktuality, found a bullet in his mailbox.The threat against Sabo comes just over two years after the February 2018 murder of Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak, who worked for the same outlet.Sabo joined Aktuality a few months after the killing, to help continue Kuciak’s investigations. Sabo had recently reported on international tax fraud and drug crimes.  The outlet condemned the threat in an People gather at Slovak National Uprising square for a rally against corruption and to pay tribute to murdered Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kusnirova, March 9, 2018, in Bratislava, Slovakia.Police said an investigation is under way, the International Federation of Journalists reported. The Slovak Minister of the Interior Roman Mikulec and President of Police Milan Lučansk were informed of the threat, Bárdy told the International Press Institute (IPI).  “This kind of intimidation must be taken seriously,” IPI deputy director Scott Griffen said in a FILE – Suspects in the 2018 slaying of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kusnirova, are escorted by armed police officers from a courtroom in Pezinok, Slovakia, December 19, 2019.Kuciak had been investigating tax fraud of several businessmen who had connections to Slovak politicians and Kočner. He was shot dead along with his fiancée, Martina Kusnirova, in their home in Velka Maca, a village east of the Slovak capital Bratislava.In the weeks after the murder, protests over corruption and the murder led to a series of high-profile resignations including of the prime minister.  Earlier this year, a court sentenced two people for the murder. Kočner is currently on trial accused of ordering the killing. He denies the charge. In a show of solidarity after the murder, Kuciak’s colleagues helped finish his unfinished work, and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) founded the “Kocner Library” – an electronic archive made up of files police collected in their investigation into the businessman that journalists can use to further report on corruption.  
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Belgium’s King Philippe expressed regret Tuesday for 75 years of his country’s exploitative rule in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The king spoke on the African country’s 60th anniversary of independence. “I want to express my deepest regret for these past injuries, the pain of which is regularly revived by the discrimination that is still all too present in our societies,” Philippe wrote in a letter to Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi.  FILE – Belgium’s King Philippe, wearing a face mask, walks down a main shopping street in Brussels, May 10, 2020.The statement is the closest a reigning Belgian monarch has come to an apology. The Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960 after 52 years as a colony and 23 years of brutal private ownership under Leopold II. Millions of Congolese died under Belgian rule, which exploited land and people for rubber, copper, diamonds, gold and other natural resources.  
 
In a statement to the Agence France-Presse news agency, Congo Foreign Minister Marie Ntumba Nzeza said the king’s letter was “balm to the heart of the Congolese people. This is a step forward that will boost friendly relations between our nations.” 
 
A spokesman for Tshisekedi had no comment on the letter. But in a TV address on the eve of independence day, the president said Philippe was “searching, just like me, to strengthen the ties between our two countries without denying our common past, but with the goal of preparing a bright and harmonious future.” 
 
Other Congolese activists and scholars said Philippe’s letter, which did not include an explicit apology or mention Leopold II by name, did not go far enough. “It’s not enough to say, ‘I feel regret,'” Lambert Mende, a spokesman for former Congo President Joseph Kabila, told AFP. “People should be willing to repair the damage in terms of investment and compensation with interest. That’s what we expect from our Belgian partners.” 
 
Some have also called for Belgium to return Congolese artifacts, double down on investigations of colonial violence and issue reparations for 75 years of bloody rule.  A bust of Belgium’s King Leopold II is hoisted off of its plinth by a crane as it’s removed from a park in Ghent, Belgium, June 30, 2020.The Belgium city of Ghent took a statue of Leopold II off public display Tuesday, just hours after Philippe’s letter. The city of Antwerp removed another statue of the ruler earlier this month to repair it after anti-racism protesters defaced it with paint, though a spokesman for the city’s mayor said it probably would not be put back. 
 
Burundi and Rwanda, also former Belgian colonies, will celebrate their independence on July 1.Leslie Bonilla contributed to this report. 
 
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In 2011, the industrial city of Nizhny Tagil was dubbed “Putingrad” for its residents’ fervent support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.  
Nine years later, it appears the city 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) east of Moscow no longer lives up to that nickname.
Workers are speaking out against the constitutional changes that would allow Putin to stay in office until 2036 amid growing frustration over their dire living conditions, which have not improved despite all the promises. A nationwide vote on the amendments has been scheduled for July 1, with polling stations opening a week earlier and staying open for seven days to prevent crowds on the main voting day.
“I am against the constitutional changes, most importantly because they are a coronation of the czar, who reigns but does not rule — Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin,” says Nikolay Nemytov, a 43-year-old engineer at Russian Railways, a state-run monopoly. He says his monthly salary, the equivalent of $430, is not nearly enough.
Anton Zhuravlyov, a 33-year-old operator at the Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Works Plant, or NTMK, agrees with him on the vote.
“I think (the vote) is just a show. It is more for Putin to show that, ‘Look, the people support me, I am still needed, I am in demand,'” said Zhuravlyov, whose employer is one of the two biggest companies in the city. He says his salary hasn’t changed in four years, adding: “The majority of people are against him.”
Commentators say dwindling  public support is the reason why the Kremlin rushed to push through the changes that effectively would allow Putin, already in power for two decades, to hold office for another 16 years if he chooses.
 
The coronavirus outbreak forced officials to postpone an April 22 vote on a set of constitution amendments that included a clause that resets the term count for Putin, allowing him to run for two more six-year terms after his current term ends in 2024.
At the first sign of the outbreak slowing down, Putin rescheduled the plebiscite for Wednesday, even though Russia’s daily number of new infections is still just under 7,000. His historically high approval rating is at an all-time low — 59% in May, according to Levada Center, Russia’s top independent pollster — and  the Kremlin is clearly struggling to rally the enthusiasm and the turnout needed for the vote to be seen as a nationwide triumph.
Economic woes, like those in Nizhny Tagil, have been eroding Putin’s ratings for years, said Denis Volkov, a sociologist with the Levada Center.
“Over the past five years, poverty has been continuously growing, people’s financial situation was worsening, and in the midst of it, the (approval) ratings have been slowly declining,” he said.
The mood was far different in 2011-12, when Nizhny Tagil, with its 360,000 residents, became a bedrock of support for Putin.
Igor Kholmanskih, a foreman at the state tank and railroad car factory Uralvagonzavod, appeared on Putin’s annual nationwide phone-in marathon in December 2011 and denounced the mass protests occurring in Moscow at the time as a threat to “stability.”
“Today, our staff of many thousands has work, has salaries, has a future, and we value this stability very much. We don’t want to go back,” the foreman said in proposing that he “and the guys” travel to Moscow to help suppress the unrest.
 
“Do come over!” Putin said with a smile. Several days after his inauguration in May 2012, the president visited Nizhny Tagil. A week later, he appointed Kholmanskikh to be his envoy in the Ural mountains region.
In a stark contrast, the once-vehement Putin supporter later criticized authorities for embellishing statistics on salaries that didn’t reflect the dire living conditions. Kholmanskikh’s unremarkable political career ended in June 2018 when Putin dismissed him, and he returned to Uralvagonzavod as chairman of the board — only to step down and completely vanish from public view by January of this year.  
“The majority doesn’t see this kind of money in their wallets. When people hear about average salaries in their cities and regions, they just assume they’re being lied to,” Kholmanskikh said in a rare public appearance at a conference in December.
His sentiment tracked the shifting mood of Nizhny Tagil residents, from support to opposition, after several years of falling living standards.
“Indeed, we used to be ‘Putingrad.’ We used to support the government’s agenda,” says Nadezhda Zhuravlyova, 36, a local activist. “A lot has changed. The agenda that the government is promoting no longer satisfies local residents’ needs.”  
Zhuravlyova, who worked at NTMK for seven years and is now on maternity leave, is the face of a local opposition movement, Tagil for Changes, that was founded in 2018 — the year of the election that gave Putin another six years.
She says protests have been rising since then, with people no longer afraid to take a public stand.
“In March, we organized a mass picket against the constitutional amendments, and many city residents (who attended) we were not acquainted with — they were not just from our circle. People just saw the protest and came forward,” Zhuravlyova says.  
Zhuravlyova blames unpopular government policies such as raising the retirement age and increasing tariffs on garbage collection. She says wages are rising slowly but living conditions are worsening.
“Many people get their salary and immediately spend it — (on) utility bills, paying off loans … education, health care, groceries and medicine,” Zhuravlyova said.
Nemytov, who worked at NTMK for 12 years before joining Russian Railways, says he spends almost half of his $430 salary on utility bills that go up every year.
“This is just not enough for my family,” said the engineer, who adds that he cannot take his four children on fun outings or on vacations to southern Russia.
Zhuravlyov echoes his sentiment, blaming Putin.
“He’s the most important boss. (People) do as he says,” the worker says.  
Nemytov believes the constitutional changes won’t improve life for workers in Nizhny Tagil.
“They only care for us as numbers on a piece of paper. We don’t exist for them,” the engineer says.
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The European Union’s most powerful member, Germany, takes over the bloc’s rotating presidency in July amid a raft of challenges — from COVID-19 and the economic devastation it has wrought, to Brexit, trade with China and tensions with the United States.
Germany’s presidency comes as its leader, Angela Merkel — the European Union’s longest serving current head of state — is expected to leave office next year. Both she and the bloc have a long list of challenges.   On the EU’s immediate agenda is overcoming differences to push through an 843 billion-dollar coronavirus recovery fund, aimed at boosting a so-called green economic reboot. Then there is getting agreement on the EU’s next multi-year budget, with a proposed price tag of more than a trillion dollars.  FILE – A worker wears a protective mask at the Volkswagen assembly line after VW re-started Europe’s largest car factory after a coronavirus shutdown, in Wolfsburg, Germany, April 27, 2020.Meeting Monday with France’s President Emmanuel Macron in Mesenberg, Germany, Merkel said she hoped the 27-member bloc would strike a deal on both at a July summit.  The Germany presidency comes as Merkel is riding a crest of popularity, partly over what some see as her successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic. While Germany often sides with more frugal bloc members who are reluctant to offer large non-repayable grants, Merkel teamed up with Macron to push for a massive coronavirus recovery package.    German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron give a joint press conference after a bilateral meeting at Meseberg Castle, in Meseberg, Germany, June 29, 2020. The EU and Britain have also intensified negotiations aimed to define their post-Brexit relationship, with London eager to wrap things up speedily.  John Springford is deputy director of the Centre for European Reform research institute in London.  “Now, I think, there’s a realization that she wants to have been a chancellor that has made Europe stronger, and so they’re kind of a happy marriage of interests going on between her and Macron,”   he said.Sebastien Maillard, head of the Jacques Delors Institute research organization in Paris agrees Merkel is thinking about her legacy.  ‘It’s really a time for her to make history. So this presidency surely will make a difference compared to previous ones,” he said.  But making a difference does not promise to be easy. Reuters reports Germany wants more reciprocity with China, following complaints by European companies of an uneven playing field when it comes to market access.  FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talks to U.S. soldiers based in Grafenwoehr, Germany, Nov. 7, 2019.Tensions between the EU and the United States have also grown under the Trump administration, which plans to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Germany.  “I think there is a strong desire to have some strong relationship because we know we share many common values, and there is much for both economies to share together, but to really be treated on even terms and for the US to consider the EU as a whole — not to try to divide us,” he said.But analysts like Daniel Gros are skeptical about just how far Germany can go as European Council president. “The presidency of a big country cannot achieve a lot. Because if it tries to push its own priorities, the other countries will react allergically,” says Gros who directs the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels.   What is clear is there is plenty of work ahead for Berlin and for Brussels in the months ahead.     
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A Parisian court Monday found former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon guilty of using public money to pay his wife more than $1 million for work she never performed.Fillon was sentenced to five years in prison — three years suspended — and fined more than $423,000. He is also barred from running for public office for 10 years. His wife, Penelope, was convicted as an accomplice. She was given a three-year suspended sentence and was also fined more than $423,000. Both are free pending appeal, which their lawyers say they will do.  ”Naturally, this decision, which is not fair, is going to be appealed. … The ludicrous conditions under which this investigation was triggered, the scandalous conditions in which the discovery was opened, the surprising conditions in which the investigation was then run,” Fillion’s attorney Antonin Levy said. Penelope Fillion’s attorney, Pierre Cornut-Gentille, says prosecutors failed to determine whether her activities were simply traditional help and support a politician’s wife gives her husband.  She said her duties included writing reports about local issues, reading mail, preparing speeches and meeting with voters — work she said allowed her to have a flexible schedule and still raise her children.  Prosecutors argued that there was little evidence that Penelope Fillion ever worked and said her salary was excessive.  Fillion’s lawyers argued that the state cannot interfere with how a politician sets up his office.  The scandal broke shortly before the 2017 French presidential election where Fillon went from being the front-runner to finishing in third place.
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In the wake of the death of George Floyd in police custody in the U.S. city of Minneapolis, the passionate debate has spread to France, sparking protests against alleged police brutality and racism. French policemen rebuke the criticism as unfair.For the past few weeks, protesters in France have been demanding police reforms and the end an alleged police immunity.  Their protests have met strong resistance from the security forces and their unions.  Officers have been organizing counter-protests, throwing their handcuffs on the ground as a sign of anger and what they see as a lack of support by the government.At one of those demonstrations – on the Champs-Elysées in Paris – a French police officer declined to give his name.He believes police officers are stigmatized in France and he feels the need to speak out because, he says, the police are not racist. He says the other big issues that should be addressed are the chokehold technique and what he says is the lack of consideration of police officers. He says that five years ago (during the 2015 Paris attacks) French policemen were considered as heroes and now – he says – they would be nobody.Chokehold banThe chokehold is a controversial technique that the French government wanted to ban in order to show it has zero tolerance for racism and violence among its security forces. Facing a backlash from policemen and women, the authorities have backtracked. Instead, the government has ruled this technique will no longer be taught to police officers and prison staff, but the leadership stopped short of imposing a total ban.Besides this important victory for them, policemen argue that they are being abandoned by the state. Police unions have been organizing frequent rallies to pressure the government.The protests show how difficult it is to carry out a thorough reform of the police sector.But Human rights advocates say the protests show France, and the world, have no choice. Cecile Coudriou, is president of Amnesty International in France. “We think it is a sign that what we really need in France is a global reform, not only one measure or the other but a true revision of the doctrine itself, based on de-escalation because law and enforcement is too often based on repression, use of force before trying to rely on dialogue, communication and de-escalation,” said Coudriou.In a further attempt to quell police officers’ discontent, France said it was widening the testing of tasers. French Interior minister Christophe Castaner pledged unconditional support for the rank and file.He explains that only security forces have the authority to use legitimate force, that it is only they who defend democratic order. That, he says, is the core of their missions and they need to accomplish it with restraint and exemplarity.  Castaner says French policemen should work without fear when they perform their duty according to the rules.A police watchdog in France says it received almost 1,500 complaints against officers last year – half of them for alleged violence.
 
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Some are calling it an historic moment for France’s Greens party, others for the environmental movement in general. The Greens went from controlling just one major French city — Grenoble — to capturing a string of other large and mid-sized towns, including Bordeaux, Lyon, Strasbourg and Besançon.  “What changed this election, the most important idea is ecology,” said Maud Lelievre a spokeswoman for Les Eco Maires, a group of environmentally minded local officials across France. She believes coronavirus and the lockdown helped reshape people’s priorities.   Lelievre said it’s more important for people,  for climate, for biodiversity, for food.    But turnout was low, with just 40% of France’s electorate casting ballots.   Greens party lawmaker Yannick Jadot hailed the victory, saying the environment and solidarity drove the vote. He said he hoped President Emmanuel Macron got the message.  The vote was indeed a blow for President Macron, who faces re-election in two years. His young, centrist Republic on the Move party has yet to gain a strong local foothold. Critics say Macron has failed to deliver on his environmental promises, including fighting climate change.  On Monday, Macron promised nearly $17 billion in new climate-related financing. He is also expected to reshuffle his cabinet in the coming days. That might include ousting his popular prime minister, Edouard Philippe, who scored one of the government’s rare victories in being elected mayor of the northern city of Le Havre.  In Paris, Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo won by a wide margin, with support from the Greens. Hidalgo’s push to make the capital bike and pedestrian friendly has been divisive — but it seems to have paid off.  France’s far right National Rally party scored one major victory, winning control of the southern city of Perpignan.
 
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A British judge said Monday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange must attend his next court hearing unless he can provide medical evidence to support his absence.Lawyers for Assange said he could not attend the latest hearing on his U.S. extradition case by video link from prison for medical reasons.District Judge Vanessa Baraitser set another hearing date of July 27 and said Assange must appear “unless there is medical evidence” to explain his non-attendance.  The 48-year-old Australian has been indicted in the U.S. on 18 charges over the publication of classified documents. Prosecutors say he conspired with U.S. army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to crack a password, hack into a Pentagon computer and release secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Last week the U.S. Justice Department added a new, superseding, indictment that alleges Assange conspired with members of hacking organizations and sought to recruit hackers to provide WikiLeaks with classified information. The indictment does not add any new charges, but broadens the allegations against Assange.Assange was arrested last year after being evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he had sought refuge to avoid being sent to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault.  He is in London’s Belmarsh Prison awaiting a full extradition hearing, which has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Originally due to begin in May, it is now scheduled to start on Sept. 7. 
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