Cyber-intelligence firms are using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to surveil citizens and threaten civil liberties as Explained by web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa and software engineer and technology and security analyst Patricia Gorky

“We are seeing the coronavirus crisis being used as a way to further attack privacy and civil liberties, not just in the US … but around the world,” said Garaffa .

Last week, Reuters published a special report titled “Cyber-intel firms pitch governments on spy tools to trace coronavirus.”
The report outlines how at least eight surveillance and cyber-intelligence companies around the world are “attempting to sell repurposed spy and law enforcement tools” to supposedly help governments contain the spread of COVID-19. Two of the companies specifically named in the report are Israeli firms Cellebrite and NSO Group.
Garaffa noted “there are at least six other companies involved with various countries around the world,” telling a  RUSSIAN news paper that Cellebrite sells a so-called GrayKey device which is used to extract information from cellphones by bypassing any password protection on them. The device is made by GrayShift, an American mobile device forensics company.
“Ultimately what Cellebrite’s GrayKey does is get a copy of everything on your device. Now, think about what’s on your phone. Not just the photos or emails … So, now Cellebrite is offering these tools to more governments under the guise of tracking the spread of COVID-19. They’re suggesting to governments that they purchase these GrayKey and other devices, and when someone is diagnosed with coronavirus or dies from it, the government actually takes their phone so they can see all of their locations,” Garaffa explained.
According to the Reuters report, a Cellebrite “email pitch” to the New Delhi, India, police force this month stated that its technology can be used to “quarantine the right people.” To accomplish this it would “siphon up” an infected person’s location information and contacts, Reuters explains.
Cellebrite told the Indian government that this process would usually only be done with the phone owner’s consent. However, if an infected person violates the law by not following public gathering guidelines, for instance, the police could use the Cellebrite’s tools to hack into a confiscated phone.
“We do not need the phone passcode to collect the data,” a Cellebrite spokesperson wrote to an officer in an April 22 email obtained by Reuters.
“And then there’s the NSO Group,” Garaffa noted.
“NSO Group sells software called Pegasus to governments. It’s rumored that they sell them to large corporations,” Garaffa explained, adding there isn’t “any hard confirmation of that yet.”
“But what Pegasus is, is a collection of attacks, and these are sometimes called zero-days, because they are not seen in the wild,” Garaffa said. “No one knows about them until you see them. So, the NSO Group, instead of sharing these issues with the manufacturer, they hold them close and keep them secret so Pegasus can use them to compromise and take over people’s phones.”
“The NSO situation is actually, to me, worse. It’s been involved in building a huge tracking platform for the Israeli government. NSO Group claims, and this is kind of controversial, that they can figure out your coordinates to within 3 feet of where you’re standing, and if that's true, that’s some very advanced technology,” Garaffa noted.
The Reuters report notes that NSO Group is marketing COVID-19 tracking platforms to countries across Asia, Latin America and Europe. The technology would allow governments to track those with whom an infected person has been in contact in the previous few weeks.
“There’s absolutely no transparency on the methods used by the NSO or Cellbrite or any of the eight companies mentioned in this article,” Garaffa pointed out, to which Gorky agreed, adding that such companies are using COVID-19 as an excuse to “deepen the surveillance apparatus.”
“These surveillance companies, these Israeli surveillance companies in particular, the way that they test out their software and they test out these surveillance platforms is directly on the Palestinian people … Israel uses these surveillance companies to track what these Palestinians are saying on social media, to track their location, to surveil them … and the fact that these companies are even being floated as possibilities to fight the coronavirus shows the fact that this is not about fighting COVID at all. This is about really deepening the surveillance apparatus and adding to it,” Gorky noted.
While the Reuters article frames the conflict as one of privacy rights versus health concerns, Garaffa believes there’s a larger issue at play.
“Further investment and use of these tools only sets the stage for larger and larger violations of privacy by both governments and corporations, with the assistance of all of these companies that are involved,” Garaffa noted.

I People’s Liberation Army (PLA), China’s new H-20 stealth bomber will likely make its first public appearance at the Zhuhai Air Show in November, assuming the event isn’t cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The world could get its first peek at China’s most advanced aircraft ever at the Zhuhai Air Show, a November venue where Beijing shows off its military might.
The South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based publication, reported on Monday that the H-20 stealth bomber is expected to be completed this year and might be shown off as soon as November 2020. However, a number of factors could influence that decision, including the ongoing pandemic as well as the state of regional political relations.
“The Beijing leadership is still carefully considering whether its commission will affect regional balance, especially as regional tensions have been escalating over the COVID-19 pandemic,” an unnamed military source told the Post. “Like intercontinental ballistic missiles, all strategic bombers can be used for delivering nuclear weapons … if China claimed it had pursued a national defense policy which is purely defensive in nature, why would it need such an offensive weapon?”
The bomber is purported to have a maximum takeoff weight of at least 200 tons (400,000 pounds), a payload of up to 45 tons (90,000 pounds), a range of 5,000 miles (8,050 kilometers) and utilizes a “flying wing” design similar to that used by the United States’ B-2 Spirit and B-21 Raider stealth bombers , the latter of which could also make a 2020 debut.

The PLA has often used the Zhuhai Air Show to show off its new technology. The J-20 “Weilong” stealth fighter was also seen for the first time at the 2011 air show, and the FC-31 experimental stealth aircraft debuted at the 2014 air show, which may or may not become the PLA Navy’s new carrier-based fighter .
The H-20 will round out the PLA’s sweeping new series of modern aircraft intended to replace the aging Cold War-era air fleet, some of which still uses Soviet designs built under license or reverse-engineered. Alongside the H-20 stealth bomber are the Y-20 transport aircraft, the Z-20 helicopter and the J-20 stealth fighter - together dubbed the “20 series” by observers.
According to a report by a news paper in Russia in early 2019 that Beijing was developing two stealth bombers : one, the Hong-20 or H-20, was confirmed by the PLA, but a second aircraft, dubbed the J/H-XX by observers, remains largely in the world of speculation.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a British military think tank, wrote in its annual report “The Military Balance” in February 2020 that the J/H-XX is likely a fighter-bomber somewhat analogous to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. It is purported to be supersonic, with a combat radius of up to 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers).
Some unofficial art depicting the aircraft appeared on the cover of the May 2018 edition of Aerospace Knowledge, a Chinese publication, and the IISS description of the jet similarly assumes it to have a sleek silhouette with four tail surfaces similar to the failed Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23 Black Widow.

One unnamed military source told SCMP on Monday the H-20 could make use of the Russian-made NK-321, built by Kuznetsov Design Bureau for Moscow’s Tu-160 “White Swan” supersonic bomber. However, another said the bomber could get an upgraded Shenyang WS-10 engine, used by several fighters built by the Chinese design firm.
“The WS-10 is still a transitional engine for the H-20 because it is not powerful enough. The eligible replacement may take two to three years for development,” one of the sources said. “That’s why the American air force doesn’t care about the H-20, because it is not strong and powerful enough to cause any challenge to their B-2 and B-21 bombers.”
Of course, neither the B-2 nor B-21 is supersonic, either. But, like both aircraft, the H-20 will carry nuclear weapons, which could help give Beijing a true nuclear triad. If so, China would join the ranks of Russia, India and the US as the only nations able to deliver a nuclear strike by submarine-launched ballistic missiles, intercontinental ballistic missiles and air-deployed nuclear weapons.
China has also been developing an air-launched ballistic missile to be fired from a specially modified H-6 bomber, which would also gi

The Boeing aircraft manufacturer has presented the first three prototypes of an unmanned attack drone that is powered by artificial intelligence for the Royal Australian Air Force

The Boeing aircraft manufacturer has presented the first three prototypes of an unmanned attack drone that is powered by artificial intelligence for the Royal Australian Air Force, the company’s Australian branch announced in a press release on Tuesday.
According to Boeing, the drone, dubbed Loyal Wingman, is the first aircraft to be designed, engineered, and produced in Australia for more than half a century with mass production starting by the middle of the decade.
“This is a truly historic moment for our country and for Australian defence innovation,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in the press release.
According to Boeing, the Loyal Wingman drones will now be subject to rigorous ground and flight testing. Chief of the Royal Australian Air Force Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld praised the cooperation between the armed forces and the aircraft manufacturer.
picture © REUTERS

Boeing's unmanned Loyal Wingman aircraft is seen in this handout picture obtained on May 5, 2020 in an undisclosed location in Australia
“This demonstrates the importance of the relationship Air Force has with Boeing Australia and defence industry more broadly. I look forward to exploring the capabilities this aircraft may bring to our existing fleet in the future,” Air Marshal Hupfeld said in the press release.
In February 2019, the Australian government announced an investment of $25.8 million in the project to produce the unmanned combat drone.
The Loyal Wingman unmanned aircraft can reportedly conduct intelligence missions on its own or provide support to manned aircraft.

Two of China's major telecoms have successfully built several 5G masts Mount Everest to show how telecoms can operate under extreme conditions.

Two of China's major telecoms have successfully built several 5G masts Mount Everest to show how telecoms can operate under extreme conditions, it was reported.
Huawei and China Mobile built the world's highest 5G network, commemorating the anniversary of two major Chinese milestones in mountaineering.
Five 5G AAU base stations were built on the mountain at its Base, Transition and Forward Camps at 5,300, 5,800 and 6,500 metres above sea level, respectively.
The base stations aim to demonstrate the efficacy of Huawei's compact and integrated access points, with the Chinese tech firm announcing its base stations can offer 20 times the networking capacity while being three times smaller than a traditional ones.
— Zain Malik🇵🇰 (@izainmanzoor) May 4, 2020
The stations will offer download speeds of over 1.7Gbps (1,700 megabytes) and upload speeds of 215Mbps, even at 6,500 metres above sea level, and will be used to measure Mount Everest along with several specialists stationed on the mountain.
Compact base stations reduce the time and work needed for installations, with smaller footprints boosting the number of sites in an area. The technologies enhance speeds via its massive multi input, multi output (MIMO) technology, increasing speed and capacity by monitoring users per base station and using beamforming, which transmits data directly to each device.
According to a press release , such advancements allow cheaper, faster installations for building networks across numerous regions, including urban and harsh environments.
The news comes 60 years after mountaineers first climbed the world's tallest mountain at its north ridge and 45 years after the first official and accurate measurement of the summit.
The announcement comes nearly a decade after Huawei installed the world's highest GSM network at 5200m above sea level.
— Huawei (@Huawei) August 26, 2010
The company said in a statement: "Huawei strongly believes that technology means to make the world better. The beauty of Mount Everest can be displayed via 5G high-definition video and VR experience, which also provides further insights for mountaineers, scientists and other specialists into the nature. The ground-breaking establishment on Mount Everest once again proves that 5G technology connect Mankind and the Earth harmoniously".
The news comes amid the US trade war on China, where Washington placed Huawei, ZTE and over 70 Chinese tech firms on an Entity List in May last year, citing national security concerns and allegations that such companies could be used to spy for the Chinese government. Both Huawei and Beijing have sharply and repeatedly denied the accusations and have demanded US officials to provide evidence to support its claim, 

The 5 eyes intelligence dismisses allegations and speculations that Covid19 originated due to an accident in a Chinese laboratory

Information shared among the Five Eyes, the intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, dismisses as "highly unlikely" speculations that the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak originated due to an accident in a Chinese laboratory, writes CNN.
Instead, judging by an assessment put together by the intelligence-sharing coalition, the source of the current pandemic can potentially be traced to a Chinese market, claim two Western diplomatic officials cited by the outlet.
"We think it's highly unlikely it was an accident… It is highly likely it was naturally occurring and that the human infection was from natural human and animal interaction."
Member-states of “Five Eyes” are suggested as being increasingly unanimous in converging around this assessment, claimed the cited sources.

A third source was cited as acknowledging that the level of certainty voiced by Trump and Pompeo was "way out in front of" the current Five Eyes assessment, alleging there was yet nothing to disclaim that the virus originated from a laboratory.
Adding that there was no proof yet to substantiate this as a legitimate theory, the source said "clearly the market is where it exploded from". However, that leaves open the question of just how the virus reached the market.
More cooperation and transparency from the Chinese side could bring about greater certainty regarding the issue, underscored the source.
The possibility was also acknowledged that the US was not sharing all of its intelligence.
There has not yet been an official assessment of the information by the US.
The US intelligence community issued a statement on 30 April saying it is still working to "determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan".
CNN has cited a senior Office of the Director of National Intelligence official claiming on Monday that there was evidence supporting both theories regarding the virus.
"We regularly share intelligence with our partners on a variety of threats and COVID is no different… The IC stands by the statement that the ODNI released last Thursday and we underscore three points: the IC believes the virus started in China. We're down to two theories and have evidence on both. We agree that it does not appear to have been purposeful."
US-China War of Words
The report appears to contradict earlier emphatic claims by US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who have been doubling down on the assertion that the virus originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, where the pandemic initially started last December, and accusing the country of a deliberate cover-up in the critical early stages.
The rhetoric from Washington at this point has not been substantiated by any proof.
In a Sunday interview with ABC, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke of "enormous evidence" that the outbreak of the respiratory disease originated in a Wuhan laboratory, stopping short of actually offering any details.
Statements by the former CIA director followed US President Donald Trump's claims on 30 April that he had seen evidence giving him a "high degree of confidence" the virus originated in a Chinese lab.
“It got out. China should’ve stopped it.”
“[China] didn’t want to have us see it. Maybe they were worried about competence, maybe they were worried about something else.”
Beijing has been forcefully dismissing all accusations, with the state-owned Global Times newspaper saying in an editorial on Monday that Pompeo had "stunned the world with groundless accusations."
"Since Pompeo said his claims are supported by 'enormous evidence', then he should present this so-called evidence to the world, and especially to the American public who he continually tries to fool,” says the editorial.
China has accused the US of “telling lies” about the pandemic to deflect attention from criticism at home over the Trump administration’s efforts to deal with the outbreak.
"They have only one objective: to try to shirk responsibility for their own epidemic and prevention and control measures and divert public attention," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on 28 April.
Debate Around Virus Origins
As the world struggles with the pandemic, scientists both in China and the West have cited research indicating the virus is likely to have originated in bats and jumped to humans from an intermediate host, similarly to how the SARS epidemic started in 2002 and 2003.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence in its Thursday meeting had emphasised that the "Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified."

The World Health Organisation has not received any data from the US proving that the COVID-19 virus was not of natural origin, Michael Ryan, the organisation's executive director of Health Emergencies Programme, said. The WHO also called for a 'scientific-based' rather than a political probe into the origin of the coronavirus.
To date, the US has recorded more than 1.1 million cases of the coronavirus, with over 68,000 deaths related to COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University.

When Paul Kagame secretly met marshal Mobutu Seseko at N'sele in 1991

Paul Kagame at N ' sele, March 1991.
It was on the sidelines of the signing of the "N ' saddle agreement", signed as part of the indirect negotiations between the Government of Rwanda and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), under the mediation of President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire.
It is 4 months earlier (on 22 November 1990) in Goma, that Zaire calls for the first time at the negotiating table the delegates of the two belligerents to the Rwandan conflict. A month earlier (October 1st), while Ugandan presidents Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda Juvenal Habyarimana are in New York, some hundred elements of the RPF had launched their first historic offensive on the Rwandan territory, attacking the post of Kagitumba, before reaching Gabiro (90 kms from Kigali).
After this first round of the November 1990 negotiations in Goma, Zaire once again called the two belligerents in Brussels (Belgium) in December 1990. The delegation of the Rwandan government was composed of Shamukiga Charles (Luxembourg's Consul in Rwanda) , André Katabarwa (Ambassador of Rwanda to Rome), Father Mahame (Superior of the Jesuits in Rwanda) and Pastor Musabe (Deputy Director of the African Continental Bank-Rwanda). The delegation delegation was composed of Jacques Bihozagara, Patrick Mazimpaka, Pastor Bizimungu and Jean Barahinyura.
A 3th round of negotiations was held in Dar-Es-Salaam (Tanzania) in February 1991, before the signing of an agreement on 29 March 1991 in N ' saddle (suburb de Kinshasa, capital of the rd Congo).
The N ' saddle agreement introduced a ceasefire between the Government of Rwanda and the Rwandan Patriotic Front. On the side of the Government of Rwanda, it was signed by Dr. Casimir Bizimungu (then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda) and on the side of the RPF, by Pastor Bizimungu (then to Information Commissioner) and General Major Paul Kagame (then Military Chief of the Rwandan Patriotic Front).
Unfortunately, the N ' saddle agreement was broken the following day by the RPF's resumption of hostilities. The two belligerents were again invited to the negotiating table and the Agreement was amended in Gbadolite (Zaire) on 16 September 1991 and in Arusha (Tanzania) on 12 July 1992.
The N ' saddle agreement was one of the few official documents Paul Kagame signed his signature. In the next, he will pull the strings, prefer to delegate Pastor Bizimungu or Alexis Kanyarengwe.

The zambian army still occupies some DRCs villages

The Zambian army still occupied the villages Moliro, Kibanga and Kalubamba
05.05.2020,
The Zambian military forces have occupied the border villages of Muliro, Kibanga and Kalubamba in Tanganyika Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 20 March. These Zambian military incursions into the city of Moliro, where they operate, and conduct land and aerial patrols with helicopter in several areas.
These areas claimed by Zambia were at the base of diplomatic meetings between Congolese and Zambian authorities in Lusaka, capital of Zambia, but no result has been achieved for these Zambian armed forces to leave Congolese soil." Everyone is stand bye. The reality is that the Zambian military are still on the side of Kibanga over there. This even justifies the presence of several military members in the of Territory, which has become an operational zone for them. The inhabitants of there look in earthenware dogs there " regrets provincial deputy Alexis Katempa.
Since the start of the clash in the game, some civil society organizations have been violating serious violations of international humanitarian law following the destruction of schools, and hospitals by Zambian reds. This has caused massive movements from local people to other areas.
According to an on-site source, " Kinshasa's silence on this foray remains a tree that hides the forest. Congolese citizens are not so informed about this foray that is taking such a great magnitude. The country is leaving. The DRC faces two wars, one against the Covid-19, and the other against Zambia. But only the evolution of a war is informed to the Congolese, the one against the Covid-19 ".
" No police and Congolese armed forces in the lands conquered by the Zambian military forces. This means that the country is already cut off without the other Congolese knowing. Zambian military patrolling in several quarters here in Moliro " worries a citizen of Moliro.
It should be noted that the Zambian forces on 20 March made an foray into the villages of Muliro, Kibanga, and Kalubamba by pushing the Congolese army away. Until this moment the Zambian flag floats on Congolese soil.

The LUCHA Nyamilima has just turned into an armed group and carries out operations with the Mai-Mai AFRC" (Army)

"The LUCHA Nyamilima has just turned into an armed group and carries out operations with the Mai-Mai AFRC" (Army)
04/05/2020

According to our sources,the Congolese army accuses the citizen movement Fight for Change (LUCHA), section of Nyamilima in the territory of Rutshuru (North Kivu) of participating in unintentional actions to destabilize the region.
In a statement made public this Monday, May 2020, 4, the command of operations Good 2 North Kivu says that since mid-January, the pro-democracy movement has been taking action with Mai-Mai AFRC tailings, actions that have cost the lives of Congolese soldiers.
" It is with regret that the operating sector Good 2 has just noticed that the movement has just become an armed group and is now carrying out operations together with the residues armed group. From 20 January until 2 May 2020, the Nyamilima, in complicity with the AFRC, organized actions against FARDC. During these attacks, FARDC lost 2 AK47 weapons and 2 military ", it is read in this document with the signing of brigade General Yamba Kabangu Willy, Commander a. i of the operating sector Good 2 North Kivu.
The Armed Forces say they take witness to the Congolese community and ask the militants of the LUCHA Nyamilima to "return to common sense to avoid taking all the consequences".
...... wait for more information about this issue as our team is keenly putting the eye on it.....

6 killed in lubumbashi

Six (6) people killed, several injured and more than 38 houses in the night from Sunday to Monday, May 2020, 4, this is the record of the rogue s' foray into several areas of the city of Lubumbashi (Haut-Katanga). Information is reported on local civil society.
She explains that these armed bandits popped up in the area around 23 local hours. The target areas are in particular Kilobelobe and the municipality annex.
The civil society framework of Haut-Katanga also says that the attackers have vandalized several houses and even kidnapped a child "without being worried".
" It was around 23 p. m the presence of these highly armed criminals. We alerted the police. But the latter dragged the steps ", outraged Bertrand Kloz, a civil society actor.
It should be noted that investigations are already underway to identify those responsible for these packages.

COVID19 may leave USA's assumed superpowership in doubt,A new world order may see CHINA as the new super power!

The unfolding global health crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic is profoundly changing the world order built under the auspices of the United States after World War II, claim journalists in an editorial for Le Monde.
In a series of investigations, writes the outlet, it has probed the geopolitical faults laid bare by the epidemic and its fallout for economies and populations.
As they ponder whether the dynamics at work stem from an acceleration of pre-existing trends or from a radical paradigm shift in the context of the pandemic, they believe a transformation of the geopolitical environment is already underway.
While we still do not know just how hazardous and how protracted the health crisis will be, they write, it is already possible, at this stage, to draw certain lessons from the shock inflicted by COVID-19 on the prevailing world order.
Dramatic Rise of China
Firstly, claim the authors, the already-fragile international order moulded after the Second World War has shown itself to be no longer adapted to the reality of the 21 century’s balance of power, which has witnessed a dramatic rise of China as a key player on the arena.
The end of the Cold War, the dissolution of the USSR and China’s heightened role gradually unbalanced a world order that hinged on American-Soviet duality, writes the editorial. This bipolar order was succeeded by a multipolar disorder, which over time began to increasingly fail to accommodate what was in reality a multilateral mode of global governance.
The delay with which the World Health Organisation alerted the international community to the risk of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted Beijing's “leverage” over this institution, with the WHO’s “deference to China” widely criticised amid mutual accusations hurtled between Washington and Beijing regarding transparency over the origins of the disease.
The journalists of Le Monde deplore the exacerbated rivalry between China and the United States against the backdrop of the pandemic, as more energy is channelled into mutual confrontation than efforts to better manage the health crisis.
Meanwhile, they claim that China has been savvy in moving quickly to fill a void left by the US, as the latter repudiates its previous leadership role in international organisations.

President Donald Trump had to be asked to agree to participate, by videoconference, in international meetings he should have chaired, writes Le Monde, with the gatherings subsequently failing to produce results. At the UN, the Security Council is, in fact, paralysed, they add.
Failed Solidary
The onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc with the unity of Europe, as the union failed to display solidarity towards the most affected member states, as was the case with Italy, writes the publication.
With lockdowns and shut borders legislated in an effort to slow the spread of the epidemic, the selfishness of the member states endangered two pillars of the European Union: the Schengen area and the single market.

Abandoned by the United States, coveted by China, and in a “chilly” relationship with Russia, conclude the authors, Europe still believes in multilateralism. But if it wants to influence the development of a fairer and more secure post-crisis world order, it must start by resolutely organising its own economic reconstruction, in a solidarity effort.
US, China Trade Insults
As the coronavirus pandemic spreads unabated, Washington and Beijing have been
trading mutual accusations , with US President Donald Trump criticising China for its allegedly poor handling of the health crisis, accusing it of concealing vital data about the pandemic during its initial stage and ordering an investigation into reports that the virus had been caused by an accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
In April, Trump halted US funding to the WHO, claiming the international body had covered up the spread of the infection after it was first reported in China.
China had vehemently rejected all accusations levelled against it, stressing that it has been transparent while reporting on the coronavirus pandemic.
European Tensions
The pandemic has also highlighted divisions within European structures, deepening existing tensions between the hardest-hit southern nations, such as Italy and Spain, and the financially stronger north.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen extended a “heartfelt apology” to Italy on 16 April, as many Italians have been angry at the perceived lack of help they received from the EU in the early days of the outbreak in March, with states slow to send extra supplies of masks and other PPE equipment to the country.
Speaking at a debate in the European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen said that "too many were not there on time when Italy needed a helping hand at the very beginning", admitting the continent’s worst-affected country had been ignored by its neighbours.
“We need truth about everything, about our own actions,” said von der Leyen, while claiming that “Europe has now become the world’s beating heart of solidarity”, underscoring joint efforts by EU institutions and member states to distribute medical equipment, and hammer out agreements on financing recovery.