NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Belarus politics: The president of Belarus said Friday that his government thwarted a foreigninspired plot to destabilize the exSoviet nation before the August presidential election in which he is seeking a sixth term. The claim by President Alexander Lukashenko followed the detention Thursday of potentially his top election challenger, the former head of a Russiaowned bank, and reflects the growing strain in his relations with Russia. The authoritarian Lukashenko, who has been in office for nearly 26 years, didn’t name any specific country, but the statement follows his past rants about Moscow’s plans to subdue its ally and neighbor.
2 Yemen aid: The last of three large shipments of medical supplies landed in Yemen on Friday, organizers of the cargo flights said, following a joint initiative by the United Nations and multinational corporations to boost the wardevastated country’s health care system as it battles the coronavirus. The shipments represent a different path for humanitarian relief in Yemen as the U.N. faces a drastic shortage of funds for its operations, even with the virus surging across the Arab world’s poorest country. Friday’s batch followed two earlier shipments from the joint initiative, on Wednesday and Thursday, that each had more than 14 tons of items, including ventilators, coronavirus test kits and personal protective equipment.
3 Drug smuggling: Spanish authorities seized 3.8 metric tons of cocaine in just over a month at Valencia’s port, as drug smugglers presumed police would be offguard during the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Friday. The investigations began in April after a tip from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and Homeland Security investigations, police said. Amid an increase in maritime traffic arriving in Valencia, smugglers thought that “supervision and investigative activities by Spanish authorities would be diminished” because of a state of emergency and national lockdown to stem the spread of the virus, according to a police statement.
4 Syria fighting: A draft U.N. resolution would maintain two border crossing points from Turkey to deliver humanitarian aid to Syria’s mainly rebelheld northwest and reopen an Iraqi crossing to the northeast to deliver medical supplies for the virus pandemic. The proposed Security Council resolution, obtained by the Associated Press, emphasizes that 11 million Syrians need aid and that crossborder deliveries remain “an urgent and temporary solution.” The resolution would extend the mandate for the two border crossings from Turkey — Bab alSalam and Bab alHawa — for a year. And it would reopen the Al Yarubiyah crossing from Iraq for an initial period of six months until Jan. 10, 2021. U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock called the northwest border operation “a lifeline for millions of civilians.” Oxford graduate: Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot by the Taliban for daring to want an education, has completed her degree at Oxford University. The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner, now 22, posted images on Twitter of her celebration Friday upon completing a degree in philosophy, politics and economics. “Hard to express my joy and gratitude right now,” she tweeted. “I don’t know what’s ahead. For now, it will be Netflix, reading and sleep.” The milestone was hard earned. Yousafzai was targeted by the Taliban for her relentless objections to the group’s regressive interpretation of Islam that limits girls’ access to education. She was shot while returning home from school in Pakistan’s Swat Valley in 2012. Her Twitter feed was flooded with expressions of goodwill.