Author: CensorBiz

The owner of Eskimo Pie is changing its name and marketing of the nearly century-old chocolate-covered ice cream bar, the latest brand to reckon with racially charged logos and marketing.“We are committed to being a part of the solution on racial equality, and recognize the term is derogatory,” Elizabell Marquez, head of marketing for its parent, Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, the U.S. subsidiary for Froneri, said in a statement. “This move is part of a larger review to ensure our company and brands reflect our people values.”The treat was patented by Christian Kent Nelson of Ohio and his business partner Russell C. Stover in 1922, according to Smithsonian Magazine.Eskimo Pie joins a growing list of brands that are rethinking their marketing in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests in recent weeks triggered by the death of George Floyd. Quaker Oats announced Wednesday that it would retire the Aunt Jemima brand, saying the company recognizes the character’s origins are “based on a racial stereotype.”Other companies are reviewing their names or logos. Geechie Boy Mill, a family-owned operation in South Carolina that makes locally grown and milled white grits, said Wednesday that it was “listening and reviewing our overall branding,” though no decisions had been made. Geechie is a dialect spoken mainly by the descendants of African American slaves who settled on the Ogeechee River in Georgia, according to Merriam-Webster.com.Mars Inc. said it’s also reviewing its Uncle Ben’s rice brand. B&G Foods Inc., which makes Cream of Wheat hot cereal, also said this past week it was initiating “an immediate review” of its packaging. A smiling black chef holding a bowl of cereal has appeared on Cream of Wheat packaging and in ads since at least 1918, according to the company’s website.Chicago-based Conagra Brands, which makes Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup, said its bottles — which are shaped like a matronly woman — are intended to evoke a “loving grandmother.” But the company said it could understand that the packaging could be misinterpreted. Critics have long claimed that the bottle’s design is rooted in the “mammy” stereotype.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce a new “one meter plus” social distancing rule to reopen the United Kingdom, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported late on Saturday.The announcement, to be made on Tuesday, will apply to all venues including offices, schools and pubs, the paper reported, adding that it will take effect from July 4.The move will allow people to remain a meter away from others if they take additional measures to protect themselves, such as wearing a mask, according to the report.Earlier on Saturday, culture minister Oliver Dowden said that Britain’s government will announce in the coming days whether it will reduce its two-meter social distancing rule for England.    
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Zimbabwe’s health minister was released from police custody Saturday on about $600 bail after being arrested the day before on corruption charges related to the illegal procurement of COVID-19 medical equipment.James Mutizwa, the attorney for Health Minister Obediah Moyo,  told journalists Saturday outside Magistrate Court in Harare, “Bail was granted. He is out on bail. No comment. Thank you.”Moyo is facing three counts of criminal abuse of office as a public official in relation to the procurement of material worth $60 million to fight COVID-19 in Zimbabwe.Following the arrest, a doctors group said it was worried about the abuse of COVID-19 funds.Dr. Nyika Mahachi, the president of Zimbabwe College of Public Health Physicians, said, “This is an unfortunate development. As an apolitical association, it is our interest in public health to ensure that resources that are allocated for COVID-19 response, health services or public services in general are used in a transparent and fair manner. … What we look forward to is a full understanding of the investigation of what really transpired to ensure that the culprits are brought to book, whoever they are.”Since coming to power in 2017, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said he is committed to fighting corruption, which was associated with senior officials of the government of his predecessor, the late Robert Mugabe.Information Ministry Secretary Nick Mangwana issued a statement Saturday saying, “The biggest mistake I can ever make as a public officer is to doubt President Mnangagwa’s commitment to fighting graft. He has made it clear to us that we are not immune from prosecution and nobody will be insulated from having their day in court.”Moyo is expected back in court this month, when he could get a trial date.
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China unveiled the details Saturday of a planned national security law for Hong Kong that will allow the Communist Party to markedly expand its power in and tighten its control of the Asian financial hub.China’s top lawmaking body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, wound up its meeting Saturday without the legislation being formally approved, though the details released by China’s official Xinhua News Agency prompted widespread unease among legal experts and analysts.China repeatedly has prompted Hong Kong leaders to enact legislation to plug the “loophole” of national security in the wake of the yearlong protests in Hong Kong sparked by a controversial extradition bill that could see individuals sent to China for trials.According to an explanation of the law released by Xinhua, a new national security commission headed by its Beijing-appointed top leader — but supervised by the Chinese government —  will be established in Hong Kong. Chinese security agents, which it says are required to follow Hong Kong laws, also will be stationed in the city to deal directly with some cases there.The release said an agency would be established to analyze the national security situation in Hong Kong and “monitor, supervise, coordinate and support” the local government’s efforts, collect intelligence and handle relevant cases.The release said the new legislation would grant power to Hong Kong’s top leader to choose judges to handle national security cases in the city — a move sharply criticized by legal experts as undermining the principle of the rule of law and the separation of powers.Basic LawAlthough Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997, its post-handover mini-constitution, the Basic Law, safeguards the city’s basic freedoms and civil liberties, as well as the rule of law according to the common law tradition.Experts say the national security law, which the state media release says “will supersede local legislation should conflicts arise,” will effectively sabotage the rule of law. The statement added that the power of interpreting the new law is vested in the Chinese legislature’s top committee, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.Echoing a senior Chinese official’s rhetoric from Monday, the statement says the enforcement of the national security law will be mainly carried out by Hong Kong authorities, except in “‘very few cases” where Beijing’s national security commissioner based in Hong Kong will retain jurisdiction.”[This will] manifest the central government’s comprehensive jurisdiction over Hong Kong, which will be beneficial for strengthening national security and avoiding emergency situations,” it reads.Tam Yiu Chung, Hong Kong’s representative to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, speaks during an interview in Hong Kong, June 15, 2020.Tam Yiu Chung, Hong Kong’s sole member of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, told reporters the Chinese authorities would directly intervene only in “exceptional” circumstances, such as if unrest turned into war or the local government “became out of control.”The Xinhua statement says the draft also contains penalties for offenses relating to separatism, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, but it did not give details.Tam said the jail sentences were likely to range from three years for minor cases to five to 10 years for more serious cases. He also said it was likely the law would not be retroactive.Additionally, the statement also said while Hong Kong’s police are to set up a special unit to enforce the national security law, the city’s department of justice will create a special prosecution unit for national security crimes.The law also will require the Hong Kong government to strengthen supervision and management of schools and other organizations on matters relating to national security.’Stabbing … like a sword’Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung, a barrister, said the details of the legislation show “Beijing’s power is stabbing right into Hong Kong’s judicial and administrative organs like a sword.””Hong Kong’s worst nightmare has been mapped out,” he said, adding that the lack of details on specific criminal actions was “extremely worrying.”Kenneth Chan, a political science professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, said Hong Kong’s top leader being empowered to choose judges to hear national security cases undermines the rule of law and violates the principle of independent judiciary.Jerome Cohen, a New York University law professor and Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow, said the Xinhua statement left many questions unanswered.“How are the national security crimes being defined? By what criteria will the [top leader] select judges, and why is this special system necessary?” he said.Although the Xinhua statement mentions that when enacting the law, Hong Kong authorities shall also “respect and protect human rights” and safeguard citizens’ rights and freedoms in accordance with the Basic Law and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Cohen called these “eye candies.” He pointed out “the very provisions in the national security law violate those protections.”“The handover has clearly become the takeover,” he said, referring to the Hong Kong’s 1997 handover of sovereignty.No ability to challenge lawMichael Davis, a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center and former law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said it appeared that Hong Kong’s courts would not be able to contest the new legislation for possibilities of being unconstitutional.He also was worried about the fact that the law allows the Chinese government to select cases over which it will claim jurisdiction. “Whether this is a ‘rare case’ or not, it opens the door to the very sort of criminal justice people feared in opposing the extradition law,” he said.Political science expert Chan said, “We now see that the Basic Law and the institutional guarantees that are supposed to buttress the ‘one country, two systems’ policy is being dismantled by Beijing.”“The mainland Chinese practice of law and politics, which are not supposed to have any place in the city, now takes precedence in the name of national security, patriotism and sovereignty,” he said.Beijing reportedly wants to bring the law into force quickly, before the September election of the legislature, which currently is dominated by pro-Beijing lawmakers.  Analysts have said the authorities were wary that pro-democracy politicians could repeat the success they experienced in the district council election last November and garner more seats in the legislature in the wake of the anti-government movement.Chan said candidates who have opposed the national security law probably will be disqualified, as pro-Beijing politicians repeatedly have warned.“The world should care about [this development] because it means Hong Kong is being taken over by the communist system and fast becoming just another coastal city of China,” he said.
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World Refugee Day is being observed Saturday with the aim of raising awareness of refugees throughout the world. In Italy, a special prayer vigil was held in Rome this week titled “Dying of Hope,” in memory of the thousands who lose their lives at sea, on their journeys in search of a better life in Europe.Inside the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome, many gathered to pray in memory of those who have drowned in their attempt to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa and for those who continue to do so. Africans and Italians maintained social distancing inside the church as they prayed together. The Secretary General of the Italian Bishops Conference, Monsignor Stefano Russo, addressed the congregation.A woman with a face mask speaks with medical staff in protective clothing at a refugee camp after two suspect cases of coronavirus were allegedly confirmed and the area cordoned off as a red zone, on the outskirts of Rome, April 8, 2020.Marco Impagliazzo is a member of the Catholic Community of Sant’ Egidio who organized the vigil. He said it is essential that everyone, Africans and Europeans, deal with the pandemic on the African continent together.Impagliazzo said that if this does not happen, there will be other long waves of migrant arrivals and the virus must help us understand that we must all row in the same direction.More than 40,000 migrants are believed to have died in efforts to reach Europe via land or sea crossings since 1990. 
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U.N. officials, on the occasion of World Refugee Day, are warning the COVID-19 pandemic poses an additional threat to millions of refugees and displaced people, among the most vulnerable in the world. More people live in forced exile than ever before.  The U.N. refugee agency says refugees account for nearly 30 million of the record-breaking 79.5 million uprooted by conflict and persecution.  An overwhelming majority live in poor countries with fragile economies and health systems.Pandemic Pushes World Refugee Day Observances OnlineThis year’s theme is ‘Every Action Counts’ to highlight the contributions of refugees to the COVID-19 response as essential workersWorld Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, says refugees’ living conditions put them at particular risk of coronavirus infection.“They often have limited access to adequate shelter, water, nutrition, sanitation and health services …,” said Tedros. “WHO is deeply concerned about the very real and present danger of widespread transmission of COVID-19 in refugee camps.”U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi agrees with this assessment.  However, he notes most refugees are not in camps but in communities with local people.   In some places, he says, those communities have been devastated by the pandemic.“I am thinking of Latin America where 17 to18 countries host more than 4 million Venezuelans on the move,” said Grandi. “I am thinking of many urban centers in Africa that are host to large refugee populations.  I am thinking of Afghans in Pakistan and Iran that share… facilities and accommodation with communities that have been impacted very severely by COVID.” Grandi says he also is extremely concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on livelihoods.  He says most refugees have lost their jobs because of lockdowns and other measures.He says refugees who have lost their incomes cannot pay for health care.  It is of utmost importance, he says for governments to include refugees, displaced people and other people on the move in their national health responses to the pandemic.  He says this is key to stopping the pandemic, noting the coronavirus makes no distinction between citizens of a country and those who have been forcibly uprooted from their homes and live within their midst. 
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At least one hospital in Canada’s British Columbia province is under investigation after allegations that healthcare staff made up a “racist” game that involved guessing the alcohol level of Indigenous patients in the emergency room. British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix said if the allegations are true the staff’s behavior was “racist and completely abhorrent.”  He said the staff members might have targeted other racial groups in the game said to be called ‘The Price Is Right,’ after a popular television game show.The health minister did not identify the hospital but said all hospitals in the province would be investigated for racist practices. The allegation about the game was revealed during a cultural training session for healthcare workers. The BBC reports that Daniel Fontaine, CEO of Metis Nation British Columbia filed a formal complaint.Fontaine told the BBC the government has known about racism in the healthcare system for years. 
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North Korea is preparing to send anti-South leaflets to South Korea, the state media of the communist country said Saturday.”Enraged” North Koreans “are actively pushing forward with the preparations for launching a large-scale distribution of leaflets,” into the South, KCNA news agency said.”Every action should be met with proper reaction and only when one experiences it oneself, one can feel how offending it is,” the North Korean agency said.It is the most recent retaliatory act by the North and prompted harsh criticism from the South as tensions between two Koreas have risen.South Korea’s unification ministry said in a statement Saturday that the North’s campaign to send leaflets was “extremely regrettable,” and urged it to immediately abandon the plan.  North Korea has blamed defectors from the country for launching leaflets across the border and has threatened military action.The two Koreas, which are technically at the state of war after the fighting stopped by an armistice in 1953, have engaged in leaflet campaigns for decades.On Tuesday North Korea used explosives to destroy the building on its side, pretending that Pyongyang was angered by South Korean propaganda leaflets and aid supplies crossing the border into the North.Inter-Korean relations had frozen for months after the collapse of a summit in Hanoi between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump. 
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Days after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a bloody clash with Chinese soldiers along their Himalayan border, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India has not lost any territory.“Nobody has intruded into our border, neither is anybody there now, nor have our posts been captured,” Modi said in televised comments that followed a meeting on Friday with top opposition leaders to discuss the crisis.His remarks are being seen as an effort to cool tensions following the most serious clash in nearly five decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors whose border in the high Himalayas has many disputed stretches.India and China have accused each other of instigating the clash that occurred Monday night in eastern Ladakh, an icy, barren desert mountain region that has strategic significance for both countries.Earlier in the week, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had told his Chinese counterpart that the dispute was triggered after “the Chinese side sought to erect a structure in Galwan valley on our side of the LAC,” according to a statement by the Indian foreign ministry. The LAC refers to the Line of Actual Control that demarcates the unsettled border between them.“The entire country is hurt and angry at the steps taken by China,” Modi said. “India wants peace and friendship, but upholding sovereignty is foremost.”Angry reactionThe clash has led to a wave of popular anger in India. The hand-to-hand fighting involved crude weapons that included stones and clubs — a photo doing the rounds on social media in India apparently shows rods studded with nails.For its part, China says that it was Indian troops who crossed the LAC and built fortifications and barriers on the Chinese side. “The right and wrong is very clear and the responsibility lies entirely with the Indian side,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Friday.A long-standing protocol between the two armies prohibits the use of guns and explosives along the border, which is patrolled by troops that are often close to each other.According to reports in the Indian media, 76 Indian soldiers were also wounded in the clash.Modi vowed to defend the border, saying that India’s armed forces had been given a free hand to take all necessary steps and were capable of protecting Indian territory.The incident has intensified a standoff that began in early May when Indian officials accused Chinese troops of crossing the border at three places.Attempts to defuse tensionThe Times of India newspaper reported Saturday that India has moved fighter jets to air bases facing China and deployed additional warships in the Bay of Bengal region in a signal that it is prepared for an escalation. In the past month both countries had already deployed additional forces following tensions that were sparked by Indian accusations that China has entered Indian territory.Military commanders have been holding talks since the clash to defuse the tensions and both countries have said they want a peaceful resolution. But so far there appears to be no breakthrough. Both countries say they are also communicating through diplomatic channels.Opposition parties have slammed the government for not detecting what it says are Chinese intrusions and called for tough action in getting China to leave Indian territory. “Does the government not receive, on a regular basis, satellite pictures of the borders of our country?” Sonia Gandhi, leader of the opposition Congress Party, has asked.
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Britain’s education minister said the county should be “incredibly proud” of its history and that should be reflected in the program of study at schools.Speaking to reporters on Friday during the government’s daily briefing on COVID-19, Gavin Williamson said students need to learn about both the positive and negative aspects of the British Empire.“We mustn’t forget that in this nation we have an incredibly rich history, and we should be incredibly proud of our history, because time and time and time again, this country has made a difference and changed things for the better, right around the world,” he said. “And we should, as a nation, be proud of that history and teach our children about it.”Williamson also said “tolerance and respect’’ must be “at the cornerstone” of all British schools.”Tolerance and respect have to be and, I believe are, at the cornerstone of absolutely everything that this country does and teaches in all of our schools, in all of our colleges and in all of our universities, and that’s how it should be,” he said. “And that is what I want to see everyone teaching in schools right across the United Kingdom and in England.’’Williamson’s comments came in the wake of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in many parts of the world following the death of George Floyd, an African American, while in police custody.
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The Trump administration has abruptly dropped its insistence on secrecy for a $600 billion-plus coronavirus aid program for small businesses.The administration announced Friday it will publicly disclose the names of recipients of the taxpayer-funded loans, the amounts they received in ranges, as well as demographic data on the businesses.The unexpected move came after Democratic lawmakers, government watchdogs, ethics advocates and news organizations called for the administration to make the information public.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin refused to do so at a Senate hearing last week, saying the data on the Paycheck Protection Program was “proprietary information.” The Small Business Administration, which manages the loan program, has only provided general information, such as the total amounts of loans awarded in a given time period.Mnuchin said in a statement Friday that the new position resulted from a bipartisan agreement with leaders of the Senate Small Business Committee.The new approach “will strike the appropriate balance of providing public transparency, while protecting the payroll and personal income information of small businesses, sole proprietors and independent contractors,” Mnuchin said.To that end, information on loans of less than $150,000 will only be disclosed in totals by industry, business type and demographic category. Nearly 75 percent of the total loan amounts approved are over $150,000 and will be subject to full disclosure, according to the Treasury Department and the SBA.In addition, business owners’ personally identifiable information, such as a home address associated with the loan, will be withheld.Critics had denounced the refusal to open the information to the public as an attempt to dodge accountability for how the federal aid money is spent. They said it raised questions about how the money was being distributed and who was benefiting.Businesses struggled to obtain loans in the early weeks of the program in April, and several hundred publicly traded companies received loans despite their likely ability to get funding from private financial sources. Publicly shamed, a number of big corporations said they would return their loans.The SBA — an agency with about 3,200 employees and an annual budget shy of $1 billion — is shouldering the massive relief effort for U.S. small businesses and their employees left reeling by the economic punch of the pandemic. A signature piece of Congress’ multitrillion-dollar coronavirus rescue, and touted by President Donald Trump, the unprecedented lending program is intended to help small employers stay afloat and preserve jobs in a cratering economy losing tens of millions of them.As of Friday, the SBA says it has processed 4.6 million loans worth about $512 billion. The loans can be forgiven if businesses use the money to keep employees on payroll or rehire workers who have been laid off.For the larger loans, the SBA will disclose the business names, addresses, zip codes, business types, demographic data, number of jobs supported, and loan amount ranges: from $150,000 to $350,000, $350,000 to $1 million, $1 million to $2 million, $2 million to $5 million and $5 million to $10 million.It wasn’t immediately clear when publication of the data was to begin. 
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The Philadelphia Phillies shut their spring complex after five players tested positive for COVID-19 and at least two other teams closed camps Friday, raising the possibility the coronavirus pandemic could scuttle all attempts at a Major League Baseball season.  The Toronto Blue Jays shuttered their site in Dunedin, Florida — about five miles from the Phillies’ camp in Clearwater — after a player showed symptoms consistent with the virus.   The San Francisco Giants’ facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, was shut after one person who had been to the site and one family member exhibited symptoms Thursday.   Also, the Houston Astros said a player working out at their spring camp in West Palm Beach, Florida, tested positive several days ago and was recovering.   The closures came while MLB owners and players try to negotiate a deal to begin the season amid the pandemic, with the parties stuck in a bitter dispute over money.  The sides had hoped to have players begin testing Tuesday and then start a second round of spring training by next weekend. Most teams would likely hold those workouts at their home ballparks, rather than at their spring camps in Florida and Arizona.  Earlier this week, Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem wrote in a letter to players’ union chief negotiator Bruce Meyer that “the proliferation of COVID-19 outbreaks around the country over the last week, and the fact that we already know of several 40-man roster players and staff who have tested positive, has increased the risks associated with commencing spring training in the next few weeks.”   Regarding the implications of the outbreak on the season, the Phillies said “it is too early to know.”   The players’ union proposed a 70-game regular-season schedule Thursday, a plan immediately rejected by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. The sides are 10 games and about $275 million apart. The sides had talked about having opening day on July 19.  “MLB has informed the Association that it will not respond to our last proposal and will not play more than 60 games,” the union said in a statement Friday night.  Philadelphia became the first big league team known to be struck by the outbreak. Three staff members at the camp also tested positive, and the Phillies didn’t identify any of those affected.   Florida has experienced rising incidents of new cases and rates of those testing positive for COVID-19. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases in Florida has increased by 1,422.7, or 144.4%.  A person with knowledge of the situation says the Tampa Bay Lightning closed their facilities Thursday after five team employees tested positive for the coronavirus. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the NHL and the team are not announcing the closure.  It was not clear how many Lightning players tested positive. The NHL is also no longer having teams announce individual players testing positive.   The closure comes some two weeks after players were allowed to return to their respective facilities to take part in voluntary on and off-ice workouts. Players were allowed to skate in groups of up to six at a time.  The move to open facilities was the next step in the NHL’s bid to resume its season with a proposed 24-team expanded playoff format, with games being played in two hub cities. The NHL projects teams to open training camps on July 10.   The Phillies said the first confirmed case occurred Tuesday. The club said eight staff members have tested negative for the virus, while 12 staff members and 20 players — both major leaguers and minor leaguers — living in the Clearwater area are being tested.  The Phillies closed their facility in March when the coronavirus pandemic shut down sports. Players returning from injuries were allowed to continue their rehab after the facility was cleaned thoroughly. A few of the team’s athletic trainers and staff remained to supervise and safety precautions were taken.  Several more players began working out at the facility over the past few weeks but group sizes were limited.  In a statement, managing partner John Middleton said, “The Phillies are committed to the health and welfare of our players, coaches and staff as our highest priority.” “As a result of these confirmed tests, all facilities in Clearwater have been closed indefinitely to all players, coaches and staff and will remain closed until medical authorities are confident that the virus is under control and our facilities are disinfected,” he said.  The World Series champion Washington Nationals, who didn’t reopen the spring camp they share with Houston after closing their portion in mid-March, said they’d had one minor league player test positive at their facility in the Dominican Republic. 
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Keedron Bryant, the 12-year-old who grabbed attention on social media with his passionate performance about being a young black man in today’s world, has signed a deal with Warner Records. The song’s official release on Friday coincides with Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of slaves in the U.S. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo reports.
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Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here​. Daily Debunk”[Fact Check] Is it Still Safe to Wear Contact Lenses During the Coronavirus Pandemic? What About Eye Glasses?”Read the full story: The Science Times, June 19​ Social Media DisinfoScreenshotClaim: The acronym “COVID” in COVID-19 stands for “Certificate Of Vaccination Identification.”Verdict: FalseRead the full story at: Check Your Fact
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European governments are working with the United States on plans to overhaul the World Health Organization, a top health official for a European country said, signaling that Europe shares some of the concerns that led Washington to say it would quit.The European health official, who spoke on condition of anonymity while discussing initiatives that are not public, said Britain, France, Germany and Italy were discussing WHO reforms with the United States at the technical level.The aim, the official said, was to ensure WHO’s independence, an apparent reference to allegations that the body was too close to China during its initial response to the coronavirus crisis early this year.”We are discussing ways to separate WHO’s emergency management mechanism from any single country influence,” said the official.Reforms would involve changing the WHO’s funding system to make it more long-term, the official said. The WHO now operates on a two-year budget, which “could hurt WHO’s independence” if it has to raise funds from donor countries in the middle of an emergency, the official said.U.S. President Donald Trump has accused the WHO of being too close to China and announced plans to quit and withdraw funding.European countries have occasionally called for reform of the WHO but have generally shielded the organization from the most intense criticism by Washington. In public the European position has usually been that any reform should come only after an evaluation of the response to the coronavirus crisis.Evaluation and reformBut minutes of a videoconference of EU health ministers last week suggested European countries were taking a stronger line and also seeking more European influence at the WHO in future.The German and French ministers told their colleagues “an evaluation and reform of the WHO was needed,” the minutes said.That was stronger wording than in a resolution last month which the EU drafted, and which was adopted by all 192 WHO member countries. That resolution called for an evaluation of the response to the coronavirus crisis, but it stopped short of calling for reforms.The German and French ministers also told their colleagues, “The EU and its MS (member states) should play a bigger role at the global level,” the minutes showed.A spokesperson for the German health ministry said Berlin sought stronger engagement with the WHO ahead of Germany taking over the EU presidency on July 1.A German government source told Reuters the aim of the intervention at the health ministers’ meeting was to encourage debate among EU member states about how to reform the WHO. Asked whether Germany was now pushing for quicker changes, instead of waiting until after the crisis, the official said: “Reforms of international organizations normally take years, not months.”A French health ministry spokesman also said the WHO would be on the agenda of Germany’s presidency of the EU, and Paris would work on it with Berlin. France backed WHO reform, but changes should follow the evaluation of the organization’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, he said.A British government spokesperson said Britain worked with organizations including the WHO “to encourage and support transparency, efficiency and good management.”The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the WHO did not respond to requests for comment.The WHO drew criticism for public praise of China’s efforts to combat the new coronavirus in the early days of the crisis, even as evidence emerged that Chinese officials had silenced whistleblowers.The EU and its governments funded around 11 percent of the WHO’s $5.6 billion budget in the 2018-19 period, and the United States provided more than 15 percent. China covered just 0.2 percent. 
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South Korea’s unification minister resigned Friday over heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, days after the North destroyed its liaison office with the South.President Moon Jae-in “accepted Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul’s offer to resign,” the presidency said in a statement, without offering further details.Kim, the key official for relations with the North since April of last year, offered to quit the post on Wednesday, taking responsibility for the worsening of inter-Korean relations.On Tuesday, North Korea used explosives to destroy the building on its side, angered by South Korean propaganda leaflets and aid supplies crossing the border into the North.Inter-Korean relations had frozen for months after the collapse of a Hanoi, Vietnam, summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump. 
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Amy Klobuchar said she is dropping out of the running to be vice president and is urging Democrat Joe Biden to select a woman of color instead.The white Minnesota senator, who had seen her prospects fall as racial tensions swept the nation, said Thursday that she called the presumptive presidential nominee Wednesday night and made the suggestion. Biden had already committed to choosing a woman as his running mate.“I think this is a moment to put a woman of color on that ticket,” Klobuchar said on MSNBC. “If you want to heal this nation right now — my party, yes, but our nation — this is sure a hell of a way to do it.”Biden praised Klobuchar in a tweet Thursday, citing her “grit and determination” and saying, “With your help, we’re going to beat Donald Trump.”Klobuchar’s chances at getting the VP nod diminished after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. Klobuchar was a prosecutor years ago in the county that includes Minneapolis, and during that period, more than two dozen people — mostly minorities — died during encounters with police.Floyd’s death last month set off days of protests across the country and criticism that as the county’s top prosecutor, Klobuchar didn’t charge any of the officers involved in citizen deaths. Officer Derek Chauvin, who was charged with Floyd’s murder, had been involved in one of those cases, the fatal 2006 shooting of a man accused of stabbing people and aiming a shotgun at police.Klobuchar, 60, was among a large field of Democrats who had sought the 2020 presidential nomination, running as a pragmatic Midwesterner who has passed over 100 bills. She dropped out and threw her support behind Biden before the crucial March 3 “Super Tuesday” contests after struggling to win support from black voters, who are crucial to Democratic victories. Her best finish of the primary was in overwhelmingly white New Hampshire, where she came in third.The third-term senator had to cancel one of the final rallies of her campaign after Black Lives Matter and other activists took the stage in Minnesota to protest her handling of a murder case when she was prosecutor that sent a black teen to prison for life.Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, a close Biden ally and Congress’ highest-ranking black lawmaker, said in the days after Floyd’s death that he believed it made Klobuchar a less likely pick for vice president, though he said she is “absolutely” qualified for the job.“This is very tough timing for her,” Clyburn said.Even before Floyd’s death, activists were pushing Biden to consider a woman of color, saying it would help build a multiracial coalition behind the Democratic ticket and motivate people — particularly younger voters — who may be underwhelmed by the 77-year-old former vice president’s bid. The founder of She the People, a network of women of color, called news that Biden had asked Klobuchar to undergo formal vetting “a dangerous and reckless choice.”“To choose Klobuchar as vice president risks losing the very base the Democrats need to win, most centrally women of color, and could be a fatal blow to the Democrats’ chance to win the White House,” Aimee Allison said in May.Others wanted Biden to choose a more progressive candidate who could bring in support from voters who backed Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in the primary. Like Biden, Klobuchar disagreed with Sanders and Warren during the campaign on major issues such as health care, calling “Medicare for All” unachievable and pushing instead for changes to the Affordable Care Act.Democrats with knowledge of the process told The Associated Press last week that Biden’s search committee had narrowed the choices to as few as six serious contenders after initial interviews. Among the group still in contention: Warren, California Sen. Kamala Harris and Susan Rice, who served as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser. Warren is white; both Harris and Rice are black.Biden has said he will announce his VP decision by August 1. 
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