It is the “moment of truth” for the international community to stand behind Palestians in the face of the intended annexation of a large portion of their land by Israel, Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said Monday. “Now that the Israeli government has loud and clear and explicitly stated that they are going to annex certain parts of Palestine, no country has an excuse not to stand [against] this injustice,” Shtayyeh told a virtual meeting of the U.N. committee that deals with Palestinian rights. He urged the international community to impose sanctions on Israel if it carries out its annexation plans, and to bilaterally recognize Palestine as a state. Palestine holds only nonmember observer state status at the United Nations. “That should be the most serious reply to what Israel is intending to do,” he said. U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted in 2016, prohibits altering the demographic composition of Palestinian territory and calls for the freezing of Israeli settlement expansion, which it deems illegal under international law. Shtayyeh said the Palestinian leadership will meet Tuesday night to discuss their next steps. After three elections and a year of unprecedented political upheaval, Israel swore in a new unity government Sunday. Incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will remain in his job for 18 months. The head of the centrist Blue and White party, Benny Gantz, will be “alternate prime minister.” Then they will swap jobs. Netanyahu reaffirmed his plans to annex Palestinian lands in the West Bank. FILE – Israeli soldiers take position as Palestinian demonstrators gather during a protest against expansion of Israeli settlements, in the West Bank village of Beita near Nablus, March 2, 2020.“The time has come to apply sovereignty to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria,” he said, using the Israeli government’s term for the West Bank. “This won’t distance peace. It will bring it closer.” Israel wants to annex about 30% of the West Bank. It seized the territory in the 1967 Six-Day War and has occupied it ever since. The Palestinians want the land to be part of their future state. Palestinian Prime Minister Shtayyeh faulted the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump for giving Israel the “green light” for annexation in his so-called “deal of the century” peace plan, which was unveiled in January. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a quick trip to Israel to urge Netanyahu not to rush to annex the territory. “So even if Pompeo arrives in Tel Aviv to try to say whatever he said, the Israelis will not listen to him or to anybody else, because they know they enjoy a green light from the American president,” Shtayyeh said. He said the U.S. has held an unsuccessful “monopoly” over the peace process for too long and reiterated Palestinian calls to move to a multilateral process, starting with an international conference under U.N. auspices.  
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On Monday, International Museum Day, two new studies show that museums are another sector of the world economy that has been significantly weakened by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to the studies conducted by UNESCO and the International Council of Museums (ICOM), 90% of museums worldwide were forced to close their doors and stop in-person operations during the crisis. Of the more than 85,000 museums that have closed, an estimated 13% are at risk of never reopening because of the heavy financial losses incurred during this time. The two studies looked to determine the impact of COVID-19 on museums worldwide and explain how institutions have adapted to the pandemic. UNESCO and ICOM say that they will use this information to find ways to support institutions in the wake of the virus. They also found that only 5% of the museums in Africa and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) were able to offer online content to their visitors. Even museums with digital capabilities will face a substantial decrease in income if they are not able to host visitors in person, debilitating their ability to support their employees and continue operations and outreach. “Museums play a fundamental role in the resilience of societies. We must help them cope with this crisis and keep them in touch with their audiences,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay in a press release. “This pandemic also reminds us that half of humanity does not have access to digital technologies. We must work to promote access to culture for everyone, especially the most vulnerable and isolated.” In the U.S. alone, museums are estimated to be losing $33 million a day, according to the American Alliance of Museums. The U.S. arts and culture industry had lost more than $4.5 billion nationally by early April, according to a survey by Americans for the Arts.  In mid-May, UNESCO plans to begin discussions among international professionals about how to address problems facing museums as part of its ResiliArt movement, which was initially established to support artists affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The first three will center around the situation in the Ibero-American region and will discuss ways to support museums and their staff, according to a UNESCO press release.  “We are fully aware of and confident in the tenacity of museum professionals to meet the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said ICOM President Suay Aksoy in a statement. “However, the museum field cannot survive on its own without the support of the public and private sectors. It is imperative to raise emergency relief funds and to put in place policies to protect professionals and self-employed workers on precarious contracts.” In response to the UNESCO study, officials say their response plan includes the social protection of museum staff and the digitization and inventorying of collections. Substantial funds and resources will be required to achieve these goals, UNESCO said.   
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U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Monday quashed calls by U.S. President Donald Trump for the Justice Department to investigate his predecessor, Barack Obama, saying he doesn’t expect the department to probe either Obama or his vice president, Joe Biden, in connection with the controversial Russia investigation.“As to President Obama and Vice President Biden, whatever their level of involvement, based on the information I have today, I don’t expect Mr. Durham’s work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man,” Barr said at a press conference, referring to a Justice Department review of the Russia investigation led by U.S. Attorney John Durham.Barr claimed the Justice Department’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton involved abuses by law enforcement and intelligence agencies under the Obama administration. But citing a recent Supreme Court ruling involving the so-called Bridgegate scandal, he said not every abuse of power is a federal crime.That scandal involved efforts by associates of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to retaliate against a political opponent by manufacturing massive traffic jams over the George Washington Bridge. On May 7, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that while the two officials had committed “deception, corruption and abuse of power,” federal laws do not “criminalize all such conduct.”Barr’s comments came in response to a question about Trump’s calls for the Justice Department and Congress to investigate Obama for seeking a probe of Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador to Washington shortly before Trump took office in January 2017.FILE – Attorney General William Barr speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, April 1, 2020.That investigation led to Flynn’s guilty plea for lying to the FBI – a plea Barr now is seeking to overturn. In a recent tweet, Trump alleged, without specifying, that Obama had committed “the biggest political crime in American history” as part of the Russia investigation.Asked about Barr’s comments, Trump told reporters Monday at the White House, “I’m a little surprised by that statement. I think he said ‘as of this moment.’ I guess. But if it was me, I guarantee they’d be going after me.”Barr last year ordered an internal Justice Department review of the Russia probe and tapped Durham to lead the effort. The Durham investigation is ongoing, and Barr left open the possibility that other Obama administration officials would be criminally charged.“Our concern over potential criminality is focused on others,” Barr said in response to a question about Trump’s call for an investigation.Although Barr did not identify the targets of the investigation, Durham is believed to be examining the role of former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, among other Obama administration officials.The Justice Department’s investigation of suspected ties between the Trump campaign and Russia ended last year, concluding that despite numerous contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives there was not enough evidence of a criminal conspiracy.Barr was a critic of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe before he was tapped by Trump as his attorney general after Trump fired Jeff Sessions. Echoing Trump’s criticism of the Russia probe, Barr lashed out at “the law enforcement and intelligence apparatus” for promoting a “false and utterly baseless narrative” about Trump’s collusion with Russia.“What happened to the president in the 2016 election, and throughout the first two years of his administration, was abhorrent,” Barr said. “It was a grave injustice and it was unprecedented in American history.”Portraying himself as an impartial chief law enforcement officer, Barr said he would not allow the Justice Department to conduct politically motivated investigations of presidential candidates. “Any effort to pursue an investigation of either candidate has to be approved by me,” he said.FILE – Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, leaves the federal court following a status conference in Washington, Sept. 10, 2019.Barr, who first served as attorney general in the administration of the late President George H. W. Bush, long enjoyed a reputation as a highly respected lawyer.But since returning to the helm of the Justice Department last year, his advocacy of the president’s policies and intervention in high-profile cases involving Trump associates have earned him criticism as the “president’s personal lawyer.”Last week, a group of more than 1,900 former Justice Department and FBI officials signed a letter demanding Barr’s resignation after he directed the Justice Department to drop its criminal case against Flynn. A federal judge is reviewing the recommendation.In February, Barr faced a similar backlash after he intervened in long-time Trump associate Roger Stone’s case, directing prosecutors to lower their sentencing recommendation. At the time, more than 1,100 former Justice Department officials and federal prosecutors demanded Barr’s resignation. 
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South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar Teny and his wife, Minister of Defense Angelina Teny, have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.   “I want to declare that, I, the deputy chair of the high-level task force has been tested [For COVID-19] and found positive.  There are other members who are also tested and found positive. I can only say at this stage that Madam Angelina Teny, the minister of defense and veteran affairs is also found positive,” Machar announced in a televised address to the nation.Angelina Teny, wife of South Sudan’s first vice president Riek Machar, addresses a news conference in Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa, Feb. 26, 2014.Machar’s Press Secretary James Gadet posted a message on his Facebook page confirming that his boss tested positive. “The First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, H.E Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon and Madam Angelina, plus a number of his staff and bodyguard, have tested positive with COVID-19 diseases.’’ Teny, until last week, was the deputy chairman of the country’s high-level task force for COVID-19.  Elizabeth Acuai Yor, South Sudan’s Minister of Health and chairperson for the task force, took a test for the disease last week. Machar said she tested negative. “Fortunately, the minister of health is not among us who have been found positive. She tested the day before we took the test and she was found negative,” Machar said. Machar and his wife are the first senior government officials in South Sudan who tested positive for COVID-19 and have come out to speak about their test results. South Sudan has 347 positive cases of COVID-19, with four recoveries and five deaths. Last week the task force reported one of the four COVID-19 victims was a “high profile person.” 
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French actor Michel Piccoli, a prolific screen star who appeared in landmark films by directors such as Luis Bunuel – including in his Academy Award winning “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” —and Jean-Luc Godard, has died. He was 94.His family confirmed to French media Monday that he died last week, but they did not give a cause of death.Though less famous in the English-speaking world, in continental Europe and his native France Paris-born Piccoli was a stalwart of art house cinema.French movie star Michel Piccoli (L) stands next to prominent Egyptian movie critic Youssef Cherif Rizkallah at a press conference in Cairo, Egypt, Nov. 1987. (Photo: Diaa Bekheet)Beginning his career in the 1940s, he went on to make over 170 movies, working into his late eighties.His most memorable appearance came arguably during the French New Wave – starring opposite Brigitte Bardot in Godard’s 1963 masterpiece “Contempt,” with his dark hat and signature bushy eyebrows.But Piccoli’s performances for Europe’s most iconic directors will also be remembered, including for France’s Jean Renoir, Jacques Rivette and Jean-Pierre Melville, Britain’s Alfred Hitchcock and Spain’s Bunuel. For the Spanish director, Piccioli starred alongside Catherine Deneuve in the 1967 masterpiece “Belle de Jour” and in 1972’s “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie,” which won the Best Foreign Film award at the Oscars in 1973.FILE – French actor Michel Piccoli talks with Swedish actress Liv Ullmann at the Cannes Film Festival, southern France, May 20, 1974.Despite starring in Hitchcock’s 1969 English-language espionage thriller “Topaz,” Piccoli’s career in Hollywood didn’t take off.In Europe, Piccoli won a host of accolades, including Best Actor in Cannes in 1980 for “A Leap In The Dark” by Marco Bellochio and a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1982 for “Strange Affair” by Pierre Granier-Deferre.The actor’s last major role was in 2011’s Nanni Moretti’s “We Have a Pope,” which premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.Piccoli was married three times, to Éléonore Hirt, the singer Juliette Greco and finally to Ludivine Clerc. He had one daughter from his first marriage, Anne-Cordélia. Piccoli stayed with Clerc, whom he married in 1978, until his death. 
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Some schools in France have closed just a week after reopening, after students or staff tested positive for COVID-19, the education minister said Monday. Speaking to French radio RTL, French education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer confirmed that 70 new cases of the novel coronavirus were reported since 40,000 preschools and primary schools, roughly one-third of the country’s preschools and primary schools, opened last week. But Blanquer stood by the country’s decision to reopen schools, claiming that the relatively small proportion of schools being shuttered indicates how “strict” the measures and protocols around operating schools are. A teacher gives a lesson at the Cour de Lorraine elementary school in Mulhouse, eastern France, on its reopening day for pupils, May 18, 2020, as France eases lockdown measures taken to curb the spread of COVID-19.“This just illustrates the fact that we are strict … we are being prudent every time and enacting strict health protocols,” Blanquer said. The education minister emphasized the importance of children returning to school, saying education is “not secondary.” He did not specify how many of the positive tests were of students, teachers or staff. COVID-19 infections are rare in children, and theories that they may be asymptomatic carriers or super spreaders have largely been debunked. France has confirmed that nearly 180,000 cases of COVID-19 and just over 28,000 related deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.  
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A South Korean professional soccer club has apologized after being accused of putting sex dolls in empty seats during a match Sunday in Seoul.With stadiums empty as precautions against the spread of COVID-19, the Dalkom company offered to provide the management of FC Seoul with mannequins to help them fill their seats for the team’s first match Sunday and the team agreed. The company provided 30 mannequins in all – 28 female and two male.But during the televised match, some viewers noticed some of the female mannequins looked like sex dolls, and, in fact, carried advertisements for adult websites.In a statement, FC Seoul expressed “sincere remorse” over the controversy, and said they had been assured by the company they were using mannequins — not sex dolls — to mimic a home crowd during its 1-0 win over Gwangju FC at the Seoul World Cup stadium.FC Seoul said it was attempting to add “an element of fun” with the mannequins. 
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Observers say the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is using the coronavirus crisis to exploit prevention measures to consolidate its control. Syria’s health ministry has so far reported 59 cases of COVID-19, with three deaths, accounting only for people in areas under Assad’s control. But Western intelligence officials believe the official tally is far too low. Concerns are growing that the pandemic could devastate crowded displacement camps and conflict-ridden regions in Syria’s northwest and northeast.In this photo released on April 18, 2020, by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows a Syrian woman with her sons wearing masks due to the coronavirus, as they walk on a street in Damascus, Syria.Sandy Alkoutami and Khulood Fahim, junior fellows at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, are tracking the Assad government’s response to COVID-19. From what they have seen, they say the coronavirus may be killing Syrians, but it seems to have boosted the government’s control by creating political openings for Bashar al-Assad. Sandy Alkoutami tells VOA that the Syrian regime has practiced misinformation and intimidation over COVID-19 from the start. “It sought to control and severely limit the amount of information about the virus in the country, the reporting, and the number of cases confirmed,” said Alkoutami. “Even with the increase of cases from Iran, which has a very close relationship with Syrians in the country as well as the regime, the Assad regime continued to deny any cases. It threatened hospitals and doctors that cited coronavirus cases. It deployed members of the secret police in hospitals across regime-held territories to control and oversee the narratives of coronavirus discussions and cases across hospitals.” Alkoutami and Fahim report a U.S.-based cybersecurity firm uncovered that Syrian authorities have planted spyware in citizens’ cell phones through a coronavirus prevention application. This new application, called “Covid19,” is a digital thermometer that serves as a decoy while the encrypted AndoServer malware spies on the user.   “There are a trove of malicious apps that are embedded with spyware that secretly spy on the users. One has a fake thermometer embedded in it.  It’s just a disguise while the malware is secretly spying on users. It points to the regime’s ability to infiltrate various spaces, not just physical and hospital ones, but also the cyberspace in a time of crisis,” said Alkoutami. 
 FILE – In this March 24, 2020 file photo, workers spray disinfectant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, on a street lined with billboards showing Syrian President Bashar Assad, in Qamishli, Syria.Syria’s government controls the country’s biggest cities and says it has imposed several preventative measures to combat the virus including a night-time curfew, restricted travel between provinces, shut schools and universities, and banned gatherings at mosques and other public events. Only 64 percent of public hospitals are fully functioning and there is a shortage of trained staff, according to the World Health Organization. Syria’s health ministry says it is taking needed measures “to guarantee health security of the citizens and curb the infections.” Meanwhile, areas outside of Assad’s control in the northwest and northeast are vulnerable.  FILE – This April 19, 2020 photo shows a large refugee camp on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey, near the town of Atma, in Idlib province, Syria.Medics in in Idlib told the Washington, D.C.-based group, Refugees International, that they will be ill-prepared to handle a severe outbreak among the three million Syrians sheltering in the country’s last rebel-held area where the regime has bombed hospitals. Kurds in the northeast have set up a 120-bed hospital and carried out very limited COVID-19 and antibody testing, but fears remain over a lack of medical supplies where there are overcrowded displacement camps. 
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It’s easy to get a bit paranoid during these times of pandemic. Real estate agents in the U.S. say some of their clients are so worried, they’re looking for a bit of extra security. Lesia Bakalets has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Yuriy Zakrevskiy  
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Do American workers need more financial help from the government? That’s the question being argued by U.S. lawmakers as another coronavirus relief bill now goes to the Senate. Many Democrats and Republicans have very different views on what it is going to take to help the U.S. economy after it was devastated by the pandemic. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details.Camera: Elizabeth Lee  Produced by: Elizabeth Lee 
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На українському міжбанківському валютному триває тенденція останніх тижнів – повільне посилення гривні, яке відбувається під контролем Національного банку України.

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U.S. President Donald Trump has called his predecessor Barack Obama an “incompetent president” following Obama’s criticism of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. Obama told college graduates in a live-streamed speech on Saturday that “this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing.” He did not mention anyone by name.   Asked about the remark on Sunday, Trump said:  “Look, he was an incompetent president, that’s all I can say. Grossly incompetent.” The U.S. has become the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 1.5 million confirmed cases and close to 90,000 deaths. Critics have accused the administration of exacerbating the situation by ignoring the gravity of the outbreak in the crucial early weeks. Earlier Sunday, the top U.S. health official rejected the charge that the government had failed its people.  “It could have been vastly, vastly worse,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told CNN. He said the U.S. over the last two months was “able to flatten the curve” of the number of coronavirus cases in order to give health care workers a chance to deal with the onslaught of patients needing care. Trump said on Twitter, “Doing REALLY well, medically, on solving the CoronaVirus situation (Plague!). It will happen!”Doing REALLY well, medically, on solving the CoronaVirus situation (Plague!). It will happen!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) A youngster approaches a team of New York City police officers as they walk with face masks to hand out to anyone who needs or asks for one during the current coronavirus outbreak, Sunday, May 17, 2020, in Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York.Most of the country’s 50 states are beginning to relax restrictions on businesses, while urging residents to continue keeping a social distance of at least two meters between people, wearing masks in public, and avoiding congregations.  With millions of Americans suffering from cabin fever after two months of confinement at home, the reopening of bars and restaurants in some Midwestern states and beaches in the coastal states have attracted crowds as if there were no remaining health concerns from the pandemic.  The White House continues to blame China for the global pandemic. The White House trade adviser Peter Navarro reiterated Trump’s blame of China for the advance of virus from the central Chinese city of Wuhan to Europe and the United States.  Trump also accused the World Health Organization for siding with China and has suspended the U.S. contribution to the Geneva-based U.N. agency. “Yes, I do blame the Chinese,” Navarro told ABC News’ “This Week” show on Sunday. He said Beijing, “behind the shield of the World Health Organization — for two months — hid the virus from the world.”  Both China and the WHO have rejected the accusation. 
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Iran is warning the United States against threatening its tankers carrying fuel to Venezuela, where gasoline and oil are in desperately short supply despite Venezuela being a major oil production center. As many as five Iranian ships loaded with gasoline are believed to be on their way to the South American country. U.S. sanctions forbid Iran from selling oil and the U.S. is also pressuring all countries against supplying fuel to Venezuela, as part of Washington’s efforts to drive President Nicolas Maduro from power. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif wrote a letter Sunday to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about Tehran’s concerns over whatever action the U.S. might take. Iran “reserves its right to take all appropriate and necessary measures and decisive action…to secure its legitimate rights and interests against such bullying policies and unlawful practices,” Zarif wrote. “This hegemonic gunboat diplomacy seriously threatens freedom of international commerce and navigation and the free flow of energy. Zarif said Iran would consider any “coercive measures” by the U.S. as a “dangerous escalation.”  Iranian officials delivered a similar message to the Swiss ambassador in Tehran who handles all U.S. interests in Iran.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin brief reporters about additional sanctions placed on Iran, at the White House, Jan. 10, 2019, in Washington.U.S. officials have not yet said specifically how they plan to respond if Iran is sending gasoline to Venezuela. But the State Department, Treasury, and Coast Guard warned all global shipping companies and governments not to help Iran, or anyone else, dodge sanctions. U.S. President Donald Trump re-imposed sanctions on Iran when he pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal, leaving the Iranian economy in shambles. The U.S. has also imposed a variety of sanctions against Venezuela, whose economy was destroyed by a drop in global oil prices, corruption, and Maduro’s failed socialist policies. The sanctions have made it difficult for Venezuela to send crude oil to refineries. “We have to sell our oil and we have access to its paths,” Iranian cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei says. “Iran and Venezuela are two independent nations that have had trade with each other, and they will.” 
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The first named tropical storm of the 2020 season is moving toward North Carolina after drenching eastern Florida.  The storm, named Arthur, formed in the Atlantic Ocean two weeks before the start of the official hurricane season.It swirled around the eastern coast of Florida last week, dumping a heavy rainfall on the area between Miami and Fort Lauderdale before moving north. Meteorologist say that Arthur will brush past North Carolina’s Outer Banks islands on Monday, bringing rain and high winds to the state’s coast.Officials have issued a warning asking residents in the eastern parts of North Carolina to be prepared for winds of up to 60 kilometers per hour starting late Sunday up until Monday morning. The winds could be strong enough to break some trees and cause some power outages.  But meteorologists do not expect the storm to make landfall.Arthur will bring dangerous waves and, together with the rainfall, they could flood low-lying areas of the coastal region. People are advised to stay away from the ocean.Weather officials say that as the system moves across the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, it could build up strength.  Sea surface are above the average across most of the Atlantic but are cooler in the North Atlantic.Arthur is expected to push away from the U.S. Coast after passing by North Carolina, in the middle of the week.In Florida, rains fell at the rate of almost 5 centimeters per hour, causing widespread flooding in Miami and the surrounding area. A severe thunderstorm with gusty winds and lightening hit the metro area again Saturday evening.The U.S. hurricane season typically starts June 1, but there have been exceptions. Last year, subtropical storm Andrea formed south of Bermuda a week before Memorial Day, but did not last long.   In 2018, tropical storm Alberto made a Memorial Day landfall along the Florida Panhandle, and made it all the way to lower Michigan in the north before dispersing.   Some tropical storms have formed in April. 
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