The findings from this nationwide seroprevalence study for SARS-CoV-2 indicate that the prevalence of IgG antibodies against this coronavirus is around 5% in Spain.
[...]
Despite the high impact of COVID-19 in Spain, prevalence estimates remain low and are clearly insufficient to provide herd immunity. This cannot be achieved without accepting the collateral damage of many deaths in the susceptible population and overburdening of health systems. In this situation, social distance measures and efforts to identify and isolate new cases and their contacts are imperative for future epidemic control.

In July 1995, forces from Bosnia's breakaway Republika Srpska and paramilitary allies killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica. International tribunals later classified the killings as a genocide.

Young people in Bosnia-Herzegovina are working to keep the massacre in the global consciousness. "You must never forget what happened," the journalist Lamia Bravo told DW. "If you do, they can happen again: There must never be a second Srebrenica."

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) spent years investigating the massacre. The ICTY found that Bosnian Serb forces began planning the genocide during the final stage of the three-year Bosnian War, in March 1995.

His views are in line with those of most Serb politicians in Republika Srpska, the Serb-dominated entity that makes up half of Bosnia's complicated post-war political system. Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, has called the Srebrenica genocide "a fabricated myth", and the Republika Srpska authorities have set up a commission to investigate the events. Its report, due later this year, is expected to whitewash the crimes of Bosnian Serb forces.

"This is the next phase, even worse than genocide denial: to try to create a new historical reality," said Serge Brammertz, who spent nearly a decade as chief prosecutor at the UN international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. The tribunal convicted the Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadžić and the military commander Ratko Mladić of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Mladić's appeal is still under way.

The genocide has long been an inspiration for far-right extremists and Islamophobes. The Christchurch mosque attacker last year played a song glorifying Karadžić just prior to the assault, and years earlier Anders Breivik also sought inspiration in the Balkan wars and Serb ultra-nationalism.

Congratulations to @AndrzejDuda for his reelection as President of 🇵🇱Poland and look forward to working with him on the many challenges Europe and Poland have to face together.

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 13, 2020

Europe's second-highest court on Wednesday overturned a ruling ordering tech giant Apple to reimburse Ireland for €13 billion ($15 billion) in back taxes.

The General Court ruled in favor of Apple and Ireland in a joint appeal of a 2016 ruling from the European Commission, saying the US tech firm does not have to pay the sum.

"The General Court annuls the contested decision because the Commission did not succeed in showing to the requisite legal standard that there was an advantage for the purposes of Article 107(1) TFEU1," judges in Luxembourg said in a statement, making reference to EU competition rules.

"The Commission was wrong to declare'' that Apple "had been granted a selective economic advantage and, by extension, state aid," the statement read.

The Commission has two months to appeal the decision at the European Court of Justice -- the bloc's highest court -- on points of law only.

The FT's reaction is not entirely what you would have guessed:

Apple ruling strengthens case for tax crackdown

If anything, the Apple case underscores the need to press on with international collaboration against avoidance techniques by multinationals. The OECD initiative on corporate taxes is more important than ever. But the US pulled out of talks last month, which means any progress will have to wait until next year at the earliest. European governments are rightly pursuing their own plans while holding off collecting revenue until after the US election. The commission will resume its push for a pan-EU digital tax regime.

Brussels is also opening up a new front by testing an unused power to correct national tax practices that distort the EU's single market. Crucially, such measures would be taken by a qualified majority rather than the unanimity normally required on tax affairs. The plan is likely to enrage low-tax jurisdictions such as Ireland and the Netherlands. Other member states may balk at an encroachment on national sovereignty. But the threat could help deter the most egregious practices that suppress other countries' revenues. These were iniquitous before the coronavirus crisis. They are indefensible now that maximising tax revenues will be an important way to reduce public deficits. Accepting this is an expression of solidarity on a par with the EU's planned €750bn recovery fund.

I have terrible news. Chris Dickey, the legendary foreign correspondent, has died suddenly in Paris of what seems to be heart failure. He was a mentor, a friend, a comrade-in-arms, and just about the best guy on the planet to meet in a cafe. [_link]

— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) July 16, 2020

BREAKING: The EU's Court of Justice has just invalidated the "Privacy Shield" data sharing system between the EU and the US, because of overreaching US surveillance. All details available here: https:/t.co/xN4HKhZaBT #PRISM #FISA702 #Privacy #PrivacyShield #SCCs #GDPR #CJEU

— Max Schrems 🇪🇺🇦🇹 (@maxschrems) July 16, 2020

Véra: I am afraid the Court will declare our divorce on Thursday.
Wilbur: But we always tried to pretend we have a good relationship.
Véra: Max told them you installed spy apps on my phone.
Wilbur: *
Véra: You have to re-consider your behaviour towards partners.#privacyshield https:/t.co/1j8qdzfJjy

— Ralf Bendrath (@bendrath) July 14, 2020

Stamps celebrating Ukrainian resistance - in pictures [_link]

— The Guardian (@guardian) July 18, 2020

Top US military commander in Europe says more Javelins will help Ukraine

Amnesia and Gaza Genocide

Green Party members now have to email party to cancel membership

Between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, a number of prominent members of the party publicly stated they had left the party, including one time MEP candidate Saoirse McHugh, who said her concerns over the programme for government and the "toxic" behaviour she had seen within the party sparked her resignation.

Chair of the Queer Greens, Rob O'Sullivan also left the party over alleged lack of support for LGBTQ+ members of the party in the aftermath of a hate-campaign against Minister Roderic O Gorman.
[...]
The resignations come ahead of a leadership ballot result between current leader Eamon Ryan and deputy leader Catherine Martin, due to be announced around 7pm tonight.

Does anyone in the @greenparty_ie actually give a flying fuck with all these resignations??? Do they even realise they've destroyed the party going into this coalition??

— Fíona Ní mhistéil 🐊 (@fionamitchell56) July 23, 2020

Italy's Lombardy region denies allegations of fraud over COVID medical gear

MILAN (Reuters) - The governor of Lombardy, the Italian region hardest hit by the coronavirus, denied wrongdoing on Saturday after he was placed under investigation for suspected fraud over a supply of medical equipment from a company owned by his brother-in-law.

Magistrates are investigating Attilio Fontana, 68, a member of the right-wing League party, over a 250,000 euro payment to the company, in which Fontana's wife has a 10% stake, Fontana's lawyer Jacopo Pensa confirmed on Saturday.

Predictable reaction:

League leader Matteo Salvini, a former interior minister, defended Fontana, saying the magistrates were politically motivated.

A question about face maks, they are required in Rotterdam and Amsterdam why not everywhere? Rutte doubles (triples, says for the 50th time) down on the idea that masks are only useful in places where the distance isn't possible, like on public transport.

— DutchNews.NL (@DutchNewsNL) August 6, 2020

Given the ongoing collapse of the US COVID-19 strategy, the election campaigns just now getting rolling, and the predictable turmoil of the last two months of the current US administration, the UK can pretty much count on nobody picking up the phone on this side of the pond until next February or March...

Kloots recently told "CBS This Morning" that Cordero had been so critically ill that he may have needed a double lung transplant.

"That is most likely the possibility," she said. "A 99% chance that he would be needing that in order to live the kind of life that I know my husband would want to live."

FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian passes a notice for the Revival International Center (Centro Internacional de Avivamiento) food pantry, in a city hard hit by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Chelsea, Massachusetts, U.S., July 9, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill's gag order in the cases against former Minneapolis officers Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng.
[...]
The nine-page ["news outlet"] motion includes a lengthy list of officials and others who could find themselves silenced under the order, which prohibits "all parties, attorneys, their employees, agents or independent contractors working on their behalf" from speaking to the public or press about "any information, opinions, strategies, plans or potential evidence that relate" to the cases, including discovery and exhibits.

Meanwhile, Texass Exempts Private Schools From Reopening Restrictions
"'blanket orders closing religious private schools' are violating the U.S. and Texas constitutions and the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act." Free uighurs.

Report of the Commission on Unalienable Rights

Among the traditions that formed the American spirit, three stand out. Protestant Christianity, widely practiced by the citizenry at the time, was infused with the beautiful Biblical teachings that every human being is imbued with dignity and bears responsibilities toward fellow human beings, because each is made in the image of God. The civic republican ideal, rooted in classical Rome, stressed that freedom and equality under law depend on an ethical citizenry that embraces the obligations of self-government. And classical liberalism put at the front and center of politics the moral premise that human beings are by nature free and equal, which strengthened the political conviction that legitimate government derives from the consent of the governed.

de jokes Unalienable vs. Inalienable - What's the Difference?

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

Robert Daly, a former diplomat with extensive experience in China, including translating for Nixon's former national security adviser and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, calls Pompeo's view of the Chinese people and their hostility toward the government in Beijing "a dangerous illusion."

"In confronting China, we're not dealing with a wholly good people who have been 'imprisoned' or 'enslaved' by a purely malign party," Daly, now director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the U.S. at The Wilson Center think tank, said in an emailed statement. "Chinese are often frustrated by a government [that] ignores their wishes, moves too slowly or moves in the wrong direction, but the available evidence is that, as citizens of the PRC, most Chinese people feel proud and enabled, not constrained."

Pompeo described a Chinese people that he believes are broadly oppressed by the central government, and heralded dissidents - including some in attendance - saying the U.S. must "engage and empower the Chinese people - a dynamic, freedom-loving people who are completely distinct from the Chinese Communist Party."

Most Chinese people support their government most of the time, Daly said, citing 33 years of experience working in the country. The support is partly due to propaganda, but also economic progress, he said.

"China is not a land of innocent captives and evil master trolls. U.S.-China relations are not a children's story," Daly said. "In China, the United States faces something far more formidable than Secretary Pompeo suggests: China is a vast, complex, wealthy, ambitious, aggrieved nation. Americans should face this challenge squarely and stop blinding themselves with morally flattering fables."

A dangerous development that deserves more attention [_link]

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) July 12, 2020

Syv begravelsesbyråer har søkt om koronastøtte for det økonomiske tapet i bedriftene, Ifølge Skatteetaten. En av grunnene til de økonomiske problemene er at det har det vært færre å gravlegge.

Residents of Russia's Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk have continued to show their support for imprisoned former governor Sergey Furgal, with the city's streets seeing mass protests for the 15th day in a row.

Furgal, a highly popular politician in the Far East, was arrested on July 9 on suspicion of ordering two successful murders, and a third failed murder, dating back to the 2000s. Following his detainment, the former governor was flown immediately to Moscow, where he currently awaits his day in court. Many Khabarovsk locals, over 6,000km from the capital, are infuriated that Furgal has been removed by federal powers and will stand trial so far away. Furgal maintains his innocence.

Protesters in Khabarovsk see the charges against Furgal as unsubstantiated and demand he stand trial at home.

"People are offended," said protester Dmitry Kachalin on Saturday. "I think people take to the streets because their vote in the 2018 election was taken away."

Unlike Moscow, where police usually move quickly to disperse unsanctioned opposition protests, authorities have not interfered with the unauthorised demonstrations in the city of Khabarovsk, located 6,100km (3,800 miles) east of the Russian capital.

But daily protests, peaking at weekends, have continued for two weeks, reflecting anger against what residents see as Moscow's disrespect of their choice for governor and simmering discontent with Putin's rule. Local officials' attempts to discourage people from joining the demonstrations by warning about the risk of coronavirus infection have been unsuccessful.

With help from his Senior Advisor @sykimsy, @USAmbROK Harris visited a classic local barbershop to become a little "cooler" during the hot summer months. Curious about how it went? Watch the video to find out more. pic.twitter.com/cpabketRfd

— U.S. Embassy Seoul (@USEmbassySeoul) July 25, 2020

US envoy to South Korea shaves off moustache amid colonialist row

Amnesia and Gaza Genocide

RAW FOOTAGE: Massive explosion shakes Lebanon's capital Beirut; no word yet on cause or casualties @AbirGhattas

pic.twitter.com/U0OgSxVGZc

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 4, 2020

Bees and other wild pollinators are not being protected from decline by the EU, with loopholes even allowing for the use of banned pesticides known to be major killers of key species.

A report from the European court of auditors has found that Brussels' efforts to prevent the decline of bees, wasps, hoverflies, butterflies, moths, and beetles have been largely ineffective.

Just one full-time official within the European commission has been tasked with working on an EU "pollinators initiative" launched with great fanfare two years ago.

Supreme Court rules broad swath of Oklahoma is Native American land for purposes of federal criminal law

The question before the court involved a case brought by Jimcy McGirt, a member of Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, who argued that his case ought to be tried by the federal government because the crimes were committed on the land of historic Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

State, Muscogee (Creek), Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole Nations Release Joint Statement in Response to SCOTUS Decision in McGirt Case

"On the far end of the Trail of Tears was a promise. We are asked whether the land these treaties promised remains an Indian reservation for purposes of federal criminal law. Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word." Justice Gorsuch

— The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma (@SeminoleNation_) July 9, 2020

A Russian ice cream maker has been accused of promoting homosexuality after using a rainbow on its packaging.

The head of Russia's official Union of Women said the image amounted to "propaganda" for gay and lesbian relations in a video conference with President Vladimir Putin.

Homosexuality was decriminalised in Russia in 1993, but those deemed to be promoting "homosexual behaviour among minors" face fines of up to 500,000 roubles ($7,000).

"They're quietly promoting these nice rainbow colours, using nice words, they're advertising an ice cream called Rainbow," Yekaterina Lakhova, who is also a former MP, told the Russian president.

This, Ms Lakhova added, could potentially make Russian children more accepting of the rainbow flag used by the LGBTQ community.

A Twitter insider was responsible for a wave of high profile account takeovers on Wednesday, according to leaked screenshots obtained by Motherboard and two sources who took over accounts.

On Wednesday, a spike of high profile accounts including those of Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Uber, and Apple tweeted cryptocurrency scams in an apparent hack.

"We used a rep that literally done all the work for us," one of the sources told Motherboard. The second source added they paid the Twitter insider. Motherboard granted the sources anonymity to speak candidly about a security incident. A Twitter spokesperson told Motherboard that the company is still investigating whether the employee hijacked the accounts themselves or gave hackers access to the tool.

The accounts were taken over using an internal tool at Twitter, according to the sources, as well as screenshots of the tool obtained by Motherboard.

Starting at 1pm ET I'll be talking about my new book with @MartinxHodgson - join us! [_link]

— Nina Lakhani (@ninalakhani) July 24, 2020

I remember Putin/Kremlin getting pilloried for doing this same thing: wage big public scare campaign against a successful business, claiming it's a national security threat--force it to sell to domestic company in bed with your state security serviceshttps://t.co/j8EAabPRt6

— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) July 31, 2020

The former Spanish king, Juan Carlos, goes into exile amidst a huge corruption scandal within the Spanish monarchy. #ThisIsTheRealSpain #Spain #JuanCarlos [_link]

— Helle Kettner (@HelleKettner) August 3, 2020

🟥ÚLTIMA HORA | Juan Carlos I comunica a su hijo oficialmente, el rey Felipe VI, la decisión de abandonar España en estos momentos. Aquí el comunicado ⬇️#Monarquía #España #Comunicado #FelipeVI #JuanCarlos pic.twitter.com/9VTZodqYRt

— InfoDiario.es (@Infodiarioes) August 3, 2020

Juan Carlos I comunica a su hijo su decisión de trasladarse fuera de España| El País |

Amnesia and Gaza Genocide