CURBS EASE IN EUROPE, ASIA WITH NEW RULES

The first day of June saw Covid restrictions ease from Asia to Europe on

Monday, even as US protests against police brutality sparked fears of new

outbreaks.

The Colosseum opened its ancient doors in Rome, ferries restarted in

Bangladesh, golfers played in Greece, students returned in Britain and Dutch

bars and restaurants were free to welcome hungry, thirsty patrons.

Countries around the Mediterranean Sea began tentatively to kickoff a summer

season in which tourists could bask in their famously sunny beaches while

still being protected by social distancing measures from a virus that is

marching relentlessly around the world.

"We are reopening a symbol. A symbol of Rome, a symbol for Italy," said

Alfonsina Russo, director of the Colosseum's archaeological park.

"(We are) restarting in a positive way, with a different pace, with a more

sustainable tourism, compatible with our cities." Greece lifted lockdown

measures Monday for hotels, campsites, open-air cinemas, golf courses and

public swimming pools, while beaches and museums reopened in Turkey and

bars, restaurants, cinemas and museums came back to life in the Netherlands.

A long line of masked visitors snaked outside the Vatican Museums, which

include the Sistine Chapel, as they reopened for the first time in three

months. Italy is eager to reboot its tourism industry, which accounts for

13% of its economy.

In Asia, Bangladesh restarted bus, train, ferry and flight services Monday,

hoping that a gradual reopening revives an economy in which millions have

become jobless.

Traffic jams and crowds of commuters clogged Manila, as the Philippine

capital embraced a high-stakes gamble to kickstart the economy.

Around 6.18 million infections have been reported worldwide, with over

372,000 people dying, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

GEORGE FLOYD'S DEATH: TRUMP THREATENS TO DEPLOY MILITARY IN U.S. CITIES TO

QUELL VIOLENCE

As protests, rioting and looting spread across the United States following

the police killing of George Floyd, an African American man last week, U.S.

President Donald Trump said he would deploy the military in cities and

states if local authorities could not bring the violence under control.

"Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement

presence until the violence has been quelled," Mr. Trump said at the White

House Rose Garden on Monday evening (Tuesday morning India time).

"If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to

defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the

United States military and quickly solve the problem for them," he said.

Earlier on Monday Mr. Trump told state Governors on a call that they needed

to "dominate" protesters and if they did not, they would end up looking

"like a bunch of jerks."

Warning Washington DC citizens of a seven o'clock curfew, he said he was

deploying, "thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military

personnel, and law enforcement officers" in the city.

All Americans were rightly sickened and revolted by the brutal death of

George Floyd. My administration is fully committed that, for George and his

family, justice will be served," Mr. Trump said.

"The biggest victims of the rioting are peace-loving citizens in our poorest

communities, and as their President, I will fight to keep them safe. I will

fight to protect you. I am your President of law and order, and an ally of

all peaceful protesters."

Before Mr. Trump started speaking, police fired rubber bullets, flash-bang

shells and gas into protesters in Lafayette Square - which is just outside

the White House. Before curfew, the authorities cleared the park with a

series of explosions, The Washington Post reported.

Democrat leaders began calling out Mr. Trump for his reaction and the

optics.

"Calling out the American military for a photo opportunity. That's what it

was. I mean, it was shameful. It was really, truly shameful," New York

Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

GLOBAL ANGER GROWS OVER FLOYD KILLING

Several thousand people marched in New Zealand's largest city on Monday to

protest the killing of George Floyd in the US as well as to stand up against

police violence and racism in their own country.

Many people around the world have watched with growing unease at the civil

unrest in the US after the latest in a series of police killings of black

men and women. Floyd died on May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police

officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck until he stopped breathing. The

officer was fired and charged with murder.

The protesters in Auckland marched to the US Consulate, where they kneeled.

They held banners with slogans like "I can't breathe" and "The real virus is

racism." Hundreds more joined the peaceful protests and vigils elsewhere in

New Zealand, where Monday was a public holiday.

At a gathering in central London on Sunday, thousands offered support for

American demonstrators, chanting "No justice! No peace!" Protests were held

in Belgium also.

In Brazil, hundreds of people protested crimes committed by the police

against black people in Rio de Janeiro's working-class neighborhoods, known

as favelas. Police used tear gas to disperse them

In Canada, an anti-racism protest degenerated into clashes between Montreal

police and some demonstrators. Police declared the gathering illegal after

they say projectiles were thrown at officers who responded with pepper spray

and tear gas.

RUSSIA TO ROLL OUT COVID-19 DRUG NEXT WEEK

Russia will start giving its first drug approved to treat COVID-19 to

patients next week, its state financial backer said, a move it hopes will

ease strains on the health system.

Russian hospitals can begin giving the antiviral drug, which is registered

under the name Avifavir, to patients from June 11, the head of Russia's RDIF

sovereign wealth fund told Reuters in an interview. He said the company

behind the drug would manufacture enough to treat around 60,000 people a

month.

There is currently no vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new

coronavirus, and human trials of several existing antiviral drugs have yet

to show efficacy.

Avifavir, known generically as favipiravir, was first developed in the late

1990s by a Japanese company later bought by Fujifilm as it moved into

healthcare.

RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev said Russian scientists had modified the drug to

enhance it, and said Moscow would be ready to share the details of those

modifications within two weeks. Japan has been trialling the same drug,

known there as Avigan. It has won plaudits from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

and $128 million in government funding, but has yet to be approved for use.

OLI CALLS NETANYAHU AS NEPAL-ISRAEL DIPLOMATIC TIES MARK 60TH YEAR

Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli of Nepal and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin

Netanyahu greeted each other on Monday as both sides marked the 60th

anniversary of formal establishment of diplomatic ties.

Nepal was the first South Asian country to establish diplomatic relations

with the Jewish State on June 1, 1960 and Prime Minister Bishweshwar Prasad

Koirala was the first elected South Asian leader to be hosted by Israel's

founding leader David Ben Gurion in 1960.

"The two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction on the state of bilateral

relations that grew and consolidated in the past 60 years and agreed to

further strengthen it in the future. They agreed on the exchange of

high-level visits at an appropriate time for the expansion and deepening of

bilateral cooperation," said a press release from the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs of Nepal after the two leaders spoke.

A number of Nepalese nationals work in Israel and Israelis constitute a

significant part of tourists who visit the Himalayan country every year.

Prime Minister Oli urged Mr. Netanyahu to share Israel's technological and

scientific innovations with Kathmandu especially in view of the COVID-19

threat. The discussion between the two came shortly after Nepalese foreign

minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali greeted his Israeli counterpart Gabi

Ashkenazi on the special occasion.

WILL RETALIATE ON MOVES OVER HONG KONG, CHINA WARNS US

China said on Monday US attempts to harm Chinese interests will be met with

firm countermeasures, criticising a US decision to begin ending special

treatment for Hong Kong as well as actions against Chinese students and

companies.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China firmly opposed the

U.S. steps. "The announced measures severely interfere with China's internal

affairs, damage US-China relations, and will harm both sides. China is

firmly opposed to this," Zhao told reporters during a regular briefing.

"Any words or actions by the US that harm China's interests will meet with

China's firm counterattack," he said.

But Hong Kong shares surged more than 3% on Monday as investors took comfort

that Trump did not immediately end the special U.S. privileges.

At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 3.36%, its biggest one-day

percentage gain since March 25.

"Chinese policymakers would likely want to see precisely what the US

implements before responding with further policy adjustments or retaliation

of their own," Goldman Sachs wrote in a note on Sunday.

U.K. EXPERIENCED SUNNIEST MONTH ON RECORD IN MAY

Last month was the United Kingdom's sunniest calendar month on record, the

Met Office said on Monday, beating a previous record set in 1957.

The UK's national weather service said there had been 266 hours of sunshine

in May. The previous record was 265 hours, set in June 1957. It was also the

driest May on record in England, with just 17% of the average rainfall for

the month.

It has also been the United Kingdom's sunniest spring on record, the Met

Office said, with 626 hours of bright sunshine recorded, well above the

previous high of 555 hours set in 1948.

"The sunshine figures for spring would even be extremely unusual for summer

and only three summers would beat spring 2020 for sunshine hours," Mark

McCarthy, head of the Met Office's National Climate Information Centre, said

in a statement.

"The principal reason for the dry and sunny weather is the extended period

of high pressure which has been centred over or close to the U.K. This has

suppressed the development of clouds and rainfall over the U.K., while

allowing plenty of sunshine to reach the surface."

PAKISTAN SC TURNS DOWN PLEA TO SUSPEND VERDICT IN PEARL CASE

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition filed by the Sindh

government to suspend a high court verdict that overturned convictions of

al-Qaida leader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and his three aides in the

kidnapping and murder case of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

Pearl, the 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal,

was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story in

2002 on the alleged links between the ISI and al-Qaida.