>> the headlines this hour, you are watching france 24. leaders are discussing a 750 billion euro rescue fund. the block is facing its worst downturn in decades because of the coronavirus. if the 20 member seven -- if the 27 member states could find common ground a deal could be sign as early as next month. there is disagreement on who and how ---- on who should pay and w the money should be spent. >> 750 billion euro recovevery fund that the e european commission has proposed in order to deal with the long-term economic effects of this

coronavirus crisis. states, notably the big ones, germany, france, thattaly are in agreement the commission has proposed in its size and scope. this fund would be mostly made up of grants that do not need to be paid back. but the frugal four, netherlands, austria, denmark, and sweden, are opposed of the size and wanted -- and need up of grants. they want a smaller fund that is made up of loans. this is part of the long-term budget for 2021 to 2027. that budget was causing contention between e.u. member states before the coronavirus started. table, aa lot on the lot of contentious issues. this summit is supposed to start at 10:00 a.m., but we do not know when it will end. the longer it goes on, the

better hope there is of progress on this recovery fund issue. if there was -- if it was short, that is a bad sign for agreements here. they will also be talking about brexit, probably, and that is also a very -- an issue that has a timeline problem, because the u.k. sigignaled now that they wl not request an extension to the transition period, which means we are headed towards a no deal brexit if an agreement on a free trade deal cannot be reached. a lot of member states are worried that thaha deal l is not likely so they may y discuss compromising in order to avoid that situation. now, rallies are expected across the united states as the country marks juneteenth, the anniversary of the official end of slavery. this holds particular significance because of the protests against police brutality and racism.

pelosinsions high, nancy has ordered the removal of four portraits of past lawmakers saying there is no representation -- no place of representations of grotesque racism. >> a symbolic moment in the u.s. capitol on thursday. one by one, the portraits of four speakers of the house plucked from the walls. they served in the confederacy. hunter, charles crisp, and james orr, advocates for the preservation of slavery. >> there is no room in this temple of democracy to memorialize people who embodied violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the confederacy. tothe house speaker ordered remove the portraits coinciding with juneteenth, marking the day when the last slave was freed in the united states. theredits have sought

removal of 11 confederate statues from the capital, a move pending following a delay from the senate. the push comes at a time when protesters split the nation after e death of george floyd at the hands of a police officer. amamericans confront a legacy of racism. demonstrators have since targeted by arguments to generals and politicians of the south, pulling down a statue of confederate president jefferson davis. >> it is so odd to have statues proslavery,o were and for a keep in people down, and keeping rights away from them. not -- it doest not make any sense. >> on thursday a statue of christopher columbus was taken down in san francisco but it is unlikely the same will happen in new york with the mayor and state governor labeling him as an imporornt symbol l in americn history. >> there is an effort to get the

companies andnd states that profited from slavery to pay compensation to descendents. the bank k of england andnd llos of london are among those apologizing for having had a role in the slave trade. a regional alliance of caribbean countries says that that is not enough and they want some of the wealth back. there is a similar movement in the united states and joe biden has agreed to examine claims for reparations if he is elected. here he is. rickerert -- richard jenkins was owned b by dr. samuel bard, who was not only geoeoe w washingt's personal physician but the foundiding membeof t this congregagation. >> for 200 years the american church defended slavery, but now the episcopal church would like to make amends. it has created a one million-dollar fund for reparations. >> even though an individual was

not born 200 yeyears ago, thee church was, and the church is what is apologizing, saying that we as a body have sinned, and not only are we sorry for it, but we commit to trying to repair thehe damage that we, in part have done. >> it is an initiative that should be national according to a southh bronx conongressional candidate. on herations on -- are political agenda. she believes that the wealth gap is the legacy of slavery. >> i think in america, if we want to mend a a relationship ad stop what has happened to black people, pay what is owed, because the ancestors did not process the check quick enough does not mean that we are not entitled to the check. i believe we should receive some compensations. >> joe biden has said that he

would be in favor of paying slavery repeparations if f studs found a system that worked. the process to be complicated becacause first, the descendents neneed to be identntified. ththe bodies of more than 400 former slaves were exhumed inn downtown manhattan. yet, we do not know their names and it is possible -- and it is impossible to trace their families. -- ofing the death of you george floyd, the u.s. is doing a lot of soul-searching. many believe that repeparations could be a firirst step. prime minister has warned that the country is facing an increasing number of cyber attacks on businesses and institutions. he blamed a sophisticated state based their but stop short of naming a country. experts have long linked various the twohina and countries are involved in disputes over issues including

the coronavirus and the role of the chinese telecom firm huawei. for australia,s the country came under a large-scale cyberattack on friday as scotott morrison announced that several centers and institutions had been hit. is targetingity organizations across a range of sectors including all levels of government. industry, political organizations, education, health, essential service providers, and o operatorsrs of other critical infrastructure. the australian government is making -- is not makining public attribution over these matters and we feel that this is confident -- this is the accenet of a state-based actor. >> he said it was unclear what the motivation was and then refusing to put a timeframe on when they began. he said no personal data had been comompromised declaring i t unsuccessfulul. while only a select few

countries are capable of attacks like these, major publications have been quick to suspect china. australia had previously enraged china by calling for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic as well as leveling accusations of economic lawyers and. -- coition. beijing recently put trade sanctionons on australian products. >> there is further pressure on ties between russia and germany. berlin has accused moscow of ordering the murder of a former chechen commander. russia denies any a man -- involvement and says it will retaliate if berlin fails to withdraw the accusation. >> the k killing was cararryingt -- carried o out in this park in august, 2019. a man was attacked from behind riding aeged hit men bike. one bullet in the torso, the

victim was shot two times in the head. the suspect was caught minutes later. [speaking foreieign language] >> the victim was a 40-year-old georgia national, a former commander who had found refuge in berlin where he sought asylum and lived under a fake identity. onces presented as haviving been a close advisor of the chechen leader, killed by russian forces 15 years ago. german prosecutors accuse russia of ordering the killing of the man it had once flagged as a terrorists. -- as a terrorist. >>[speaking in foreign language]

>> russia's ambassador in berlin wrote "the allegations made against state authorities are unjustified and unacceptable," adding "russia will retaliate to any new sanctions." this is the latest in a series of assassinations of russian dissidents living abroad like kreipal and a russian intelligence services defefect e murdered in 2006 in the u.k.. prosecutors in ukraine have dropped a demand for the former president to be taken into custody while he awaits trial. opposition lawmaker and accused of abusing power and could face up to 10 years in prison. he and his supporters claim the case is politically motivated by the current president.

[shouting] >> thousands of protesters outside a district court in key have to voice support for the former president. instead of demanding his arrest while he awaits trial, prosecutors called for noncustodial pretrial restrictions. but the surprise decision is unlikely to appease him or his supportersrs. they decry what they have's seen as selective jusustice. >> [speaeaking foreign language] >> he was defefeated by -- in lt april's presidential election acute -- is accused of issuing an illegal decree to appoint an official as deputy head of the foreign intelliligence service,a position that did not legally

exist. stamping out corruption and investigating officials from the previous administration were among the central campaign promises. critics accuse him of using his powers to settle political scores. then she rosose to powell, the power,president -- to the former president has been questioned in 16 different cases. >>[speaking in foreign language] tim: firm -- >> for many, the case is evocative of the janne cove h era -- is of -- is evocative of another error. this is a move that many inteternational leaders condemnd as politically motivated. >> that is it from the news this hour. much more to come on france 24. ♪ versailles, the louvre, san

michelle, well-known stars of frenenchharon t tate, but french genius and france harbors many hidden treasurures. the arts, architecture as well as nature's wonders. come along with france 24 and discover the living heritage. says torint and michelin start ship -- chefs, meet the people who preserve and drive frfrench heritage. you are here on france 24 and www.france24.com. onwelcome to the interview france 24. our guest is vivian, he is singapapore's minister for foren affairs and joins us from singapore, thank you very much for being with us. morning, pleased to join

you. >> as of this friday, singapore the second phase of its opening. gatherings up to five people will be allowed and people will be allowed to go back to restaurants and shop at retail outlets. does this s mean this is the end of the pandemic in your country? >> it is notot the end of the papandemic, but i w would say tt today is a speciaial day and peopople are happy because it marks the day that almost a all economic activities resesume, peoplele are going to work,, getting opopportunity to meet friendnds. faces o onl s see moree ththe street, more happy f face. it is not thenend of thehe pandemic. in fact, reopening is a t time where you needed more vigigilan. if you l look at what is happeng in many y other places, this is

the moment where youou let your guguard down. we will get subsequent waves. we spent the l last two months rerepairing for this, in particular steppining up medical facilitieses and t the ability o test at scale and ququickly. andd also, in the field of contact tracining. what happens i is that if you gt anyesurgencee anywhere, you want t to be able to identify it early,y, clamp it down and make sure that it does not t become a super clcluster. anticipation onof the part of people and a time of greater vigilance and some anxiety on the p part of authorities.s. obviously your country had over 41,0000 cases. clearly, you went after the virus by massive testing. are you planning to step up testing in this very delicate

state, as you described it? >> absolutely. in fact, we intend b before the end of the year r to tesest 40,a day. if you look at our testing r ras on a perer capita basasis, we aa one ofof theighestst in the e w. it is this meticululs testing at scale and contact tracing which will prevent the virus fromm having a resururgence. the ultimate solution is a vaccccine, that at this point in time it isis anybody's g gas. it could take 18 monthss -- it s anybody's g -- guess. it could take 18 months. but you have to resusume your life. and i expect this new normal to persist for a year or longerer. >> you mentioned contact tracing. there are debates about privacy. essentially,ded,

to be aggressive when it comes to contact tracing. is there a risk foror privacy, because you want to know exactly who is meeting whom. but up to what popoint can you ? all, , these are exexceptional times. i i do not think any populalation would continene contact tracing at scacale. this is an ememergency and a crcrisis. secondly, the way w we have done it is to avoid the two extremems where e it is a cacan treat lee anonymymous system o on one han- a compleletely anonymous sysm on one hahand and a completelely centralized system where the government k knows everybobody's interaction. andnd thehybrid,d, information never leaves the person's advice in the unlikely

event that they are d diagnosedo be positive. at that point is that data uploaded in order to identifify close contatacts so they can be worn and have testing done. in t turn, we couldd have e a sd round of contact tracing. in a safe -- in a a sense, you have to go after contatact to contact. it w was not posossible in the t when you did not have sophisticated contact tracing, but withth thehese two avavaila, yoyou can n now getet back to se semblance of a norormal life and still live with the virus and deal with it aggressively. a balanceout getting right. i think evevery society has to find the right balanan between respect for privivacy on one had and protectction of public healh on the other hand. and every society wilill have a slightlyly different answewer depending on national circumstances, history, , and te

streaked -- the strength of the social compact and trust within society. >> i want to get to the consequences. clearly singapore has been a hub for trade. trade is a big part of your economy. clearly the consequences will be drastic. are you concerned that this might b be even worse than the pandemic? concerneded. very this is not just a a public heah disaster.. this has been the biggest economomic slowdown i think for all of us in our lifetime. so, , there is n no question tht this is a major disruption. wen in n the case of singapore estimate that ou economy will be affected to -4% t to -7%. this wilill be the worst recessn we have ever faced.

if we look at terms of the government's response, in terms ofof the fiscal r response, we e put an extra 100 b billion singapore dollars to support our pepeople,o increasese the lev of health facilitieies, protecect , to keep cash flows for compapans going, to extend credit lines, and legigislative train -- changes. ththese are unprerecedentnted interventionons -- interventions but we believe that these aree essential because you need to keep your r workers anand enterprises viable, and reaeady for the time thahat the pandemic recedes, and then you cann redodound. that is the immediate r respons. there is a another, longer t tem covid-1-19 hasat not altered the course ofof history or e economic dedevelop. changesesforrm instance the impact of jobsalization, impact onn

and skills that pepeople need,dl ofof thesese require a massive restructururing of youour ecocoy of rescale -- r reskilling ur workforce. you need to o invest the time ad effort to get ththis done. the bibiggest mistake would be, fifirst not to do anything, in which case you have a massive crash and it t will be impossibe to rebeboot the econonomy. we have bebeen focusining a lotf efforts on helping you people, restructurinththe economy and reretaining - -- maintainining r status and r reputation of rereliability and honongng contracts. fewew --lall of these p past the airports have continued to function. obviously, tourism has fallen off a cliff and many flights on the passenger p planes are carrying cargo. this has been important to keep

lines of communication open, a d for singapore t to continue to t goods, food,for bototh services,on, essential and also, since you are calling me from france, for people who have b been stranded who want to geget back home. many of ththese people have transit in singapopore. so we have quietly but effectively play this role. >> i want to get to the rising tetensions between u.s. and chc. a new coldspeaking of war. how concncerned are you? clearly this will have an effect on your country. will -- we are very concernened. let me explain why. america is the lalargest foreign invevestor inn singagapore. in f fact, amemerica has m more invested in singapore and

southeheast asia than america hs invested in china, korea, anand japan combinined. so i always admirere -- remind e american administratioion that they havave real stakekes in southeast asia. thatis a relalationship benefitsts people e in america,r pepeople in singapapore. largestly, amamerica is our trading partner where services are concerned, and third-largest for goods. you lolook at china, china is or largest t trading partner. paradoxoxically, singapore is the largestororeign invevestment in china - -- inver in china. if you add all of these d data points, sisingape dodoes best tn the relationship between america and china isis gooood, s strongd constructive.. then w we play a role adadding

value, being a connector, a hub, and part of global value chains. clearlrly, if that relationshihp breaks dowown, then it t will ba tough time for a allf us, n not just in singapore, but also in southeast asia. >> are you really concerned about a breakdown?n? >> of course w we are concerned, but t for what i it is worth, we keepep counseling for cool head, more dialogue, f for a recognitn that for both china and america, they will have to learn n to compmpete and collaborate. let me give you examples off tht , , because i used to be invnvod on the climate changnge circuit. the biggest problems that the world will confront in the future, climate change, pandemics, terroriri, these arae all transboundary y problems. negativehe two biggest

-- resesident powers i in the w, and i would add europope to that equatition. without that c cooperation and cocollaboration we will not sole any of the exixistential transboundndary problemems the d willll face. those of usus who continue to believe e in m multilateralism d to speak up,p, make the cacase r it, anand o operate o on t that. these e arnot t ju wordsds, bute have to show through o o actions and our acactions in the midsdsf a crisis, speak even morere louy than just mere, land, pronouncements. muchwant to thank you very for granting us this interviewew on france 24. and thank you for watching it. ♪

[singe v vocaling]g] vverlaing g trsmissisis] [high-pitch t tones tatatic ssining] uug aien: : arwe accerating?