Briefly

GERMANY

Merkel pushes for EU fund approval

German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed on Friday for a quick agreement on a recovery fund aimed at pulling the European Union out of the coronavirus recession, arguing that "every day counts". Germany, which has the EU's biggest economy and is its most populous country, took over the rotating EU presidency for six months on Wednesday. Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in May proposed creating a one-time $563 billion recovery fund that would be filled through shared EU borrowing. The EU's executive arm expanded on the proposal, putting forward plans for a $842 billion fund made up mostly of grants.

FRANCE

Plea to keep Turkey's Hagia Sophia as is

France's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the sixth-century Hagia Sophia museum originally built as a Christian cathedral in Istanbul must remain open to all. A Turkish court on Thursday heard a petition seeking to convert the Hagia Sophia, one of Turkey's most visited and beloved tourist sites, back into a mosque. "A symbol of tolerance and diversity, this place must remain open to all," a French Foreign Ministry spokesman said. Greece also said on Thursday that Turkey risked opening up "a huge emotional chasm" with Christian countries if it pressed ahead with a proposal to convert the Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque.

UNITED STATES

Epstein friend charged with trafficking girls

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on Thursday on charges she helped lure at least three girls－one as young as 14－to be sexually abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of victimizing dozens of girls and women over many years. According to the indictment, Maxwell, who lived for years with Epstein, facilitated his crimes and on some occasions joined him in sexually abusing the girls. Epstein, 66, killed himself in a federal detention center in New York last summer while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Agencies via Xinhua