Trump baby blimp flies in London as protests greet president

June 04, 2019

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of protesters greeted President Donald Trump's U.K. visit with anger and British irony Tuesday, crowding London's government district while the U.S. leader met Prime Minister Theresa May nearby.

Feminists, environmentalists, peace activists, trade unionists and others demonstrated against the lavish royal welcome being given to a president they see as a danger to the world, chanting "Say it loud, say it clear, Donald Trump's not welcome here."

"I'm very cross he's here," said guitar teacher Katie Greene, carrying a home-made sign reading "keep your grabby hands off our national treasures" under a picture of one of Queen Elizabeth II's corgis.

"I find him scary. My sign is flippant and doesn't say the things I'd really like to say." A day of protests began with the flying of a giant blimp depicting the president as an angry orange baby, which rose from the grass of central London's Parliament Square.

One group came dressed in the red cloaks and bonnets of characters from Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," which is set in a dystopian, misogynist future America. Demonstrators filled Trafalgar Square and spilled down Whitehall, a street lined with imposing government offices, before marching half a mile to Parliament.

Many paused to photograph a robotic likeness of Trump sitting on a golden toilet, cellphone in hand. The robot caught the attention of passers-by with its recitation of catchphrases including "No collusion" and "You are fake news."

"It's 16 feet high, so it's as large as his ego," said Don Lessem from Philadelphia, who built the statue from foam over an iron frame and had it shipped by boat across the Atlantic. Lessem, a dinosaur expert who makes models of prehistoric creatures, said "I'm interested in things that are big, not very intelligent and have lost their place in history."

"I wanted people here to know that people in America do not support Trump in the majority . and humor is my weapon," he said. Police erected barricades to stop protesters marching past the gates of Downing St., though the shouts and chants could be heard as Trump met May for talks inside the prime minister's official residence.

Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn addressed the crowd, criticizing the "hatreds that are being fueled by the far-right in politics in Britain, in Europe and the United States." Corbyn declined an invitation to Monday's banquet for the president at Buckingham Palace, but sought a meeting with Trump — which was refused.

"He wanted to meet today or tomorrow and I decided I would not do that," said Trump, calling Corbyn "somewhat of a negative force." Labor confirmed that Corbyn had proposed a meeting. Emily Thornberry, Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman, said Trump was "a sexual predator" and a racist who did not deserve the honor of a state visit hosted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Thornberry told the BBC that the leader of Britain's most important ally should be stood up to "the way you deal with a bully" because "if you bow down in front of them you just get kicked harder." There were occasional scuffles as some of the protesters confronted small pockets of Trump supporters. Police moved in to separate the groups, and bundled some of the combatants into a nearby pub.

One counter-protester, Lewis Metcalfe, said he had traveled from his home in northern England to show support for the president. "I'm obviously going to be a minority today," said Metcalfe. "I don't agree with all his policies. He's not the greatest president in the world, but he does get things done."

Trump has dined with the queen at Buckingham Palace, took tea with Prince Charles and held talks with May during his three-day state visit, which ends Wednesday with commemorations of the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

The president said he was delighted with his reception in Britain, and said he had seen only "a small protest ... very small." He also claimed, exaggeratedly, that there had been "thousands of people on the streets cheering" as he left Buckingham Palace.

May to quit as party leader June 7, sparking race for new PM

May 24, 2019

LONDON (AP) — Bowing to the inevitable, Theresa May announced Friday that she will step down as U.K. Conservative Party leader in two weeks, admitting defeat in her attempt to take Britain out of the European Union and sparking a contest to replace her as prime minister.

May said she will quit as head of the governing party on June 7 but stay as caretaker prime minister until the new leader is chosen, a process the Conservatives aim to complete by late July. The new Conservative leader will become prime minister without the need for a general election, and will take up the task of trying to secure Britain's exit from the EU.

May, who has been battling to unite her fractious party ever since she took the helm almost three years ago, said "I have done my best." But she conceded that had not been enough. Her voice breaking, May said in a televised statement outside 10 Downing St. that she would soon be leaving a job that it has been "the honor of my life to hold."

May became prime minister the month after the U.K. voted in June 2016 to leave the European Union, and her premiership has been consumed by the attempt to deliver on that verdict. May spent more than a year and a half negotiating an exit agreement with the EU, only to see it rejected three times by Britain's Parliament.

Many Conservative lawmakers came to see May as the main obstacle to leaving the bloc, although her replacement will face the same issue: a Parliament deeply divided over whether to exit the EU, and how close a relationship to seek with Europe after it does.

Now she has quit over her failure to take Britain out of the EU on the scheduled date of March 29. Britain is currently due to leave the EU on Oct. 31, but Parliament has yet to approve divorce terms.

"I negotiated the terms of our exit and a new relationship with our closest neighbors that protects jobs, our security and our Union," May said. "I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal. Sadly, I have not been able to do so."

"It is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort," she added. Multiple contenders are already jockeying to replace her and take up the challenge of securing Britain's EU exit. The early front-runner is Boris Johnson, a former foreign secretary and strong champion of Brexit.

Pressure on May reached breaking point this week as House of Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom quit and several Cabinet colleagues expressed doubts about the bill she planned to put before Parliament in a fourth attempt to secure lawmakers' backing for her Brexit blueprint.

Leadsom, another likely contender to replace May, joined colleagues in paying tribute to the departing leader. She tweeted that May's "dignified speech" had been "an illustration of her total commitment to country and duty. She did her utmost, and I wish her all the very best."

Johnson, whose relentless criticism helped push May out of the door, tweeted: "Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit."

But Johnson, or any other successor, will face a tough challenge to unite a country and a Parliament still deeply divided over the country's relationship with Europe. The next British leader is likely to be a staunch Brexiteer, who will try to renegotiate the divorce deal, and if that fails to leave the bloc without an agreement on departure terms.

Most businesses and economists think that would cause economic turmoil and plunge Britain into recession. Parliament has voted to rule out a no-deal Brexit, though it remains the legal default option.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, an opponent of Brexit, tweeted that May's exit "will not solve the Brexit mess that the Tories have created. ... The prospect of an even more hardline Brexiteer now becoming PM and threatening a no deal exit is deeply concerning."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker praised May as "a woman of courage" for whom he has great respect. EU spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said Juncker would "equally respect and establish working relations" with any new British leader. But the bloc insists it will not renegotiate the Brexit deal.

"We have set out our position on the withdrawal agreement and on the political declaration," Andreeva said. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte tweeted that the "agreement reached between the EU and the United Kingdom for an ordered Brexit remains on the table."

Angela Merkel's spokeswoman, Martina Fietz, said the German chancellor noted May's decision "with respect" and would continue to work closely with her successor for "an orderly exit." In an emotional departure speech, with close aides and her husband Philip looking on, May said "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honor of my life to hold - the second female prime minister but certainly not the last."

"I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love."

Associated Press writers Gregory Katz in London, Raf Casert in Brussels and David Rising in Berlin contributed.

UK's May says she'll quit as Conservative leader June 7

May 24, 2019

LONDON (AP) — Bowing to the inevitable, Theresa May announced Friday that she will step down as U.K. Conservative Party leader in two weeks, admitting defeat in her attempt to take Britain out of the European Union and sparking a contest to replace her as prime minister.

May said she will quit as head of the governing party on June 7 but stay as caretaker prime minister until the new leader is chosen, a process the Conservatives aim to complete by late July. The new Conservative leader will become prime minister without the need for a general election, and will take up the task of trying to secure Britain's exit from the EU.

May, who has been battling to unite her fractious party ever since she took the helm almost three years ago, said "I have done my best." But she conceded that had not been enough. Her voice breaking, May said in a televised statement outside 10 Downing St. that she would soon be leaving a job that it has been "the honor of my life to hold."

May became prime minister the month after the U.K. voted in June 2016 to leave the European Union, and her premiership has been consumed by the attempt to deliver on that verdict. May spent more than a year and a half negotiating an exit agreement with the EU, only to see it rejected three times by Britain's Parliament.

Many Conservative lawmakers came to see May as the main obstacle to leaving the bloc, although her replacement will face the same issue: a Parliament deeply divided over whether to exit the EU, and how close a relationship to seek with Europe after it does.

Now she has quit over her failure to take Britain out of the EU on the scheduled date of March 29. Britain is currently due to leave the EU on Oct. 31, but Parliament has yet to approve divorce terms.

"I negotiated the terms of our exit and a new relationship with our closest neighbors that protects jobs, our security and our Union," May said. "I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal. Sadly, I have not been able to do so."

"It is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort," she added. Multiple contenders are already jockeying to replace her and take up the challenge of securing Britain's EU exit. The early front-runner is Boris Johnson, a former foreign secretary and strong champion of Brexit.

Pressure on May reached breaking point this week as House of Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom quit and several Cabinet colleagues expressed doubts about the bill she planned to put before Parliament in a fourth attempt to secure lawmakers' backing for her Brexit blueprint.

Leadsom, another likely contender to replace May, joined colleagues in paying tribute to the departing leader. She tweeted that May's "dignified speech" had been "an illustration of her total commitment to country and duty. She did her utmost, and I wish her all the very best."

Johnson, whose relentless criticism helped push May out of the door, tweeted: "Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit."

But Johnson, or any other successor, will face a tough challenge to unite a country and a Parliament still deeply divided over the country's relationship with Europe. The next British leader is likely to be a staunch Brexiteer, who will try to renegotiate the divorce deal, and if that fails to leave the bloc without an agreement on departure terms.

Most businesses and economists think that would cause economic turmoil and plunge Britain into recession. Parliament has voted to rule out a no-deal Brexit, though it remains the legal default option.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, an opponent of Brexit, tweeted that May's exit "will not solve the Brexit mess that the Tories have created. ... The prospect of an even more hardline Brexiteer now becoming PM and threatening a no deal exit is deeply concerning."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker praised May as "a woman of courage" for whom he has great respect. EU spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said Juncker would "equally respect and establish working relations" with any new British leader. But the bloc insists it will not renegotiate the Brexit deal.

"We have set out our position on the withdrawal agreement and on the political declaration," Andreeva said. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte tweeted that the "agreement reached between the EU and the United Kingdom for an ordered Brexit remains on the table."

Angela Merkel's spokeswoman, Martina Fietz, said the German chancellor noted May's decision "with respect" and would continue to work closely with her successor for "an orderly exit." In an emotional departure speech, with close aides and her husband Philip looking on, May said "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honor of my life to hold - the second female prime minister but certainly not the last."

"I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love."

Associated Press writers Gregory Katz in London, Raf Casert in Brussels and David Rising in Berlin contributed.

Britain approves $3.3M for consortium to develop drone swarm technology

By Allen Cone
APRIL 1, 2019

April 1 (UPI) -- Britain's government has awarded a $3.3 million contract for a consortium to develop drone swarm technology for the military as part of the Many Drones Make Light Work project.

The swarms are planned to operate alongside Britain's F-35 and Typhoon combat aircraft, Britain's Defense Ministry announced Thursday. Funding comes from the Defense and Security Accelerator.

The consortium is led by Blue Bear Systems Research, a world leader in autonomous system solutions. IQHQ, Plextek, Airbus and the University of Durham are also part of the contracted team.

The 18-month "integration concept evaluation" phase will culminate in live flight demonstrations to the military. Twenty unmanned aerial systems will be produced into the final stage of development and will ultimately be managed by the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory.

"The MOD continues to invest in pioneering technology that enhances capability, reduces risk to personnel and enables us to better perform our tasks," Defense Minister Stuart Andrew said in a news release. "Drone swarm technology can revolutionize how we conduct intelligence gathering, humanitarian aid, disposal of explosives and supply our troops on the battlefield.

Currently, operational systems require one or more operators to pilot the aircraft or to closely manage the flight mission.

Swam systems operate collaboratively to achieve a common goal, which the government said is a "great benefit to defense."

A swarm provides increased efficiency, lower costs and greater resilience in situational awareness, medical assistance, logistics resupply, explosive ordnance detection and disposal, and confusion and deception.

"The ability to deploy a swarm of low-cost autonomous systems delivers a new paradigm for battlefield operations," Blue Bear Systems Managing Director Ian Williams-Wynn said. "During this project, we will deploy next-generation autonomy, machine learning, and AI to reduce the number of operators required, the time it takes to train them, and the cognitive burden on any operator during active operations."

Britain's defense ministry sees the swarm system as one possible solution to a multiple domain requirement in which robotic solutions utilize fewer people and equipment. That includes removing the operator from potentially harmful situations.

"The Phase 3 competition requirements were deliberately very challenging, as we wanted to drive rapid innovation and encourage imaginative solutions," Antony Grabham, the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory project technical lead, said. "The winning consortium really highlights the best of U.K. Industry, showcasing how our world-leading small and medium enterprise companies can be harnessed to deliver a transformation in military capability.

In February, the British government authorized $40.7 million for new mini-drones from the $210 million Transformation Fund.

The mini-drones will provide soldiers with an "eye-in-the-sky," the Ministry of Defense said in a news release. The Times reported that the drones will be "smaller than a hand" and weigh less than 200 grams. Some funding will be used to convert existing fighting vehicles into remote-controlled driverless systems.

The Transformation Fund is part of its 2018 Modernizing Defense Program, including two new Littoral strike ships.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency has launched the Gremlins program, named for the imaginary, mischievous imps that became the good luck charms of many British pilots during World War II. Groups of drones would be launched from existing large aircraft such as bombers or transport aircraft as well as from fighters and other small, fixed-wing platforms. C-130 transport aircraft would retrieve them in the air and carry them home for their next use within 24 hours.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Dynetics are designing prototypes.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/04/01/Britain-approves-33M-for-consortium-to-develop-drone-swarm-technology/2331554129836/.

UK official criticized after baby of IS teen dies in Syria

March 09, 2019

LONDON (AP) — British Home Secretary Sajid Javid faced criticism Saturday after the death of a U.K. teenager's baby in a Syrian camp. Shamima Begum, who had left London as a 15-year-old in 2015 to join the Islamic State group, had pleaded with British authorities before her baby was born to let her return to Britain to raise the child.

But Javid revoked her passport, saying Begum hadn't shown any remorse. The teen had told newspaper reporters she didn't have a problem with IS actions, including the beheading of captives. Begum's infant son died Friday. Begum's family said the boy appeared to be in good health when he was born on Feb. 17. No clear cause of death has yet been given, but reports suggested he was having respiratory problems.

Fellow Conservative Party lawmaker Phillip Lee said Saturday he was "deeply concerned" by Javid's handling of the case, suggesting he had taken a hard line in order to please populists. He said it was clear 19-year-old Begum "holds abhorrent views," but called her a child who was a product of British society. Britain had a moral duty to her and to her baby, he said.

When Begum first started speaking to reporters more than three weeks ago, she said the first two children she had given birth to since joining the extremist group had died of malnutrition and other ailments. She said she wanted to come home so she didn't lose another child.

Her predicament sparked a national debate on how the U.K. should handle Britons who had joined the extremists and now seek to return because IS has lost its territory in Syria and Iraq. The challenge faces other European countries as the final IS stronghold in Syria is on the brink of falling, giving its fighters and their often youthful spouses no place left to hide.

U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in on the matter last month, saying European countries have a responsibility to take back and put on trial about 800 IS fighters who have been captured by U.S.-backed forces in Syria.

Begum is married to a Dutch national who joined IS extremists and has since been taken into custody. He said last week that he wanted to be able to live in the Netherlands with his wife and newborn son, who is now dead.

Kirsty McNeill, a director at Save the Children UK, said Britain should "take responsibility for their citizens" in Syria to prevent further unnecessary losses. "It is possible the death of this baby boy and others could have been avoided," she said.

Javid didn't comment directly on the baby's death. A government spokesman said "the death of any child is tragic" and reiterated the British government's advice that citizens avoid travel to Syria.

UK-EU deadlocked in Brexit talks as clock ticks down

May 15, 2020

BRUSSELS (AP) — Talks between the European Union and the United Kingdom on their post-Brexit relationship ground to a near-standstill Friday, with each side accusing the other of blocking progress on a trade deal just weeks before a crucial summit.

The EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, told a news conference in Brussels that a week-long round of talks had been "disappointing, very disappointing.” Barnier said there was no progress on all the most difficult issues and insisted Britain would have to show more realism.

“I am not optimistic in the face of British incomprehension," he said. The British side echoed the glum assessment, calling the mood of the talks “tetchy.” U.K. negotiator David Frost said the talks had "made very little progress towards agreement on the most significant outstanding issues." In a statement, Frost accused the EU of insisting on “an ideological approach which makes it more difficult to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”

The two sides remain at odds over a range of key issues including fishing and the role of high courts in settling future disputes. EU leaders and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson are scheduled to have a summit at the end of June, likely by video, to take stock of the talks’ progress.

Britain officially left the 27-nation bloc on Jan. 31, but remains within the EU’s economic and regulatory orbit until the end of the year. The two sides have until then to work out a new relationship covering trade, security and a host of other issues — or face a chaotic split that would be economically disruptive for both sides, but especially for the U.K.

The U.K.-EU divorce agreement allows for the deadline to be extended by two years, but Johnson’s government insists it won't lengthen the transition period beyond Dec. 31. Most trade deals take years to negotiate, so finishing something as fundamental as this in 11 months would be a Herculean task at the best of times. Many politicians, experts and diplomats believe it is impossible during a coronavirus pandemic that has focused governments’ resources on preserving public health and averting economic collapse.

Both Barnier and Frost fell sick with COVID-19, though both have recovered. While the two men say they have a good personal relationship, the two sides accuse the other of seeking the impossible. Britain wants a a “Canada-style” free-trade deal that would involve the elimination of tariffs and quotas on most, if not all, goods, along with agreements on services and a range of other issues. The EU says Britain can't have that without signing up to a swath of the bloc's regulations on environmental standards, workers’ rights and state aid. Otherwise, they say, there wouldn't be a level playing field.

“We will not trade off our European values for the benefit of the British economy. Our economic and commercial fair play is not for sale," Barnier said. But the U.K. government says that signing up to EU rules and standards amounts to an unacceptable undermining of the country's independence.

Frost said that to make progress, “we very much need a change in EU approach” for the next round of talks, due to start June 1. If no deal on their future relationship is agreed by the end of the year, a cliff-edge economic departure would loom again for Britain, with uncertainly over customs rules, airline slots, financial regulation and other standards.

Both sides are already facing a serious recession because of the pandemic and a chaotic split on Dec. 31 wouldn’t help.

Jill Lawless reported from London.

With joy and sadness, UK lawmakers pack up in Brussels

January 28, 2020

BRUSSELS (AP) — The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union — cardboard boxes and Union Jack socks and all. With the Brexit moment set for Friday at midnight Brussels time ( 11 p.m. U.K. time) some U.K. legislators at the European Parliament in Brussels who have been fervent Brexit pushers were wasting no time getting ready to get out the door.

Lawmaker Nigel Farage’s office on Tuesday was a jumble of boxes and mementos ready to be packed and shipped. His favorite souvenir? A framed Economist cover with him, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin marching to the big drums of populism.

“It's not meant to be flattering, but in a sense, what it sums up is the great battle that's going on," Farage said in an interview with The Associated Press. He was still wearing his Union Jack socks, ready for Wednesday's plenary when the EU parliament should overwhelmingly approve the Brexit withdrawal agreement, the last act needed before the U.K. leaves on Friday.

Downstairs in the parliamentary halls, some fans of the Brexit party, also dressed in British colors were posing among the flags of the member states, laughing and shouting at anyone wanting to hear how the EU was “a dictatorship."

Yet for most of the parliament's legislators and many of the departing British lawmakers, the EU remains one of the greatest experiments in peace-building and democracy following the devastation across Europe from World War II.

Among the British backers of the EU are members of the Greens party, who lit lights outside the European Parliament against the darkening sky, a symbolic "We'll leave a light on" action in case British lawmakers ever do return to Brussels.

For a more official occasion, EU Parliament chief David Sassoli will bid the U.K. legislators a formal farewell during Wednesday's plenary, where the Brexit vote will take place. Even the U.K.'s representation offices will change their name and become the U.K. Mission to the European Union. For insiders, UKReps will become UKMis, and they will still be just as busy, since both Britain and the EU still need to figure their future relationship and trade deals.

One thing is sure though. “We're passing the point of no return," said Farage. “We"re leaving. We're never coming back."

Ringing in Brexit? Plans to celebrate UK exit divide country

January 26, 2020

LONDON (AP) — With Brexit just days away, Britons are fighting over the chimes of Big Ben. And the White Cliffs of Dover are a battleground. As the United Kingdom prepares to leave the European Union on Friday, people are divided over how to mark a historic moment that some are relishing but others are dreading.

Britain’s 2016 referendum on EU membership split the country: 52% opted to leave the 28-nation bloc, 48% voted to remain. The intervening years of political wrangling over the departure terms have not healed the divide.

For pro-Europeans, departure at 11 p.m. (2300 GMT) Jan. 31 will be the melancholy moment that Britain abandons a project that brought once-warring nations together, created a vast free-trading zone of half a billion people and let Europeans study, work and live across the continent.

For Brexit supporters, it will be the instant the U.K. once again becomes a sovereign nation after 47 years of membership in the bloated, bureaucratic EU club. “It’s a momentous occasion,” said Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice, who plans to join party leader Nigel Farage and thousands of supporters for a party outside Parliament on Friday night. “It's a great celebration of the democratic will. And it’s right to celebrate it.”

Organizers are promising music, songs, speeches, a light show and a New Year’s Eve-style countdown in the shadow of Parliament’s clock tower. But, to their chagrin, Brexit probably won’t be marked by the sound of the giant Big Ben bell, whose hourly bongs are a world-famous symbol of British democracy.

Big Ben has been largely silent since 2017 while the clock tower is being repaired, and House of Commons authorities said bringing it back for one night could cost as much as 500,000 pounds ($654,000).

Undaunted, Brexiteers launched a crowdfunding campaign, encouraged by Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said “we’re looking at whether the public can fund it.” But Johnson’s Downing Street office quickly distanced itself from the idea, and Commons authorities made it clear they considered it impractical to have Big Ben bong for Brexit.

Tice chided “the bureaucratic blob” for hobbling the plan. But never fear: “We have a Plan B.” “We will play the sound of Big Ben chiming, that wonderful sound, loudly through our excellent speaker system,” he said. “And in 50 years’ time ... this will be the image of the U.K. leaving the European Union (on) 31st January 2020.

“It'll be a sense of coming together, of pride, of patriotism, of belief in our country.” Many Britons don’t share his excitement. “Spending half a million pounds to ring a few bells is just silly. People who want to do it are off their trolley, frankly,” said Tony Greaves, a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords.

Greaves warned colleagues this week that many people — especially the more than 3 million citizens of other EU countries who live in Britain — feel a sense of loss “akin to bereavement” about Brexit. “A lot of people will not be celebrating. They'll be feeling very sad and very glum,” he said. “People are saying we want to bring the country together now after the division. This is the last possible way to do it.”

A suggestion that church bells should ring, as they did to mark the end of two world wars, also struck a discordant note. The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers stressed that it “does not endorse bell ringing for political reasons.”

Debate also is raging in the English Channel port of Dover, where a pro-EU politician, Liberal Democrat Antony Hook, has raised more than 13,000 pounds ($17,000) to plaster a huge “We still love EU” banner on the famous White Cliffs on Brexit day.

Dover’s pro-Brexit Conservative lawmaker, Natalie Elphicke, has suggested instead a banner proclaiming, “We love the U.K.,” accompanied by a fireworks display that could be seen from France, 32 kilometers (20 miles) away.

Britain’s entry into what was then the European Economic Community at the start of 1973 was marked by similar ambivalence. The country was divided on the issue, and there were quiet demonstrations by activists on both sides, but, at least immediately, no major festivities.

“Britain passed peacefully into Europe at midnight last night without any special celebrations,” The Guardian newspaper reported on Jan. 1, 1973. “It was difficult to tell that anything of importance had occurred.”

Almost half a century on, Johnson’s Conservative government must balance its own enthusiasm for Brexit with the knowledge that half the country opposes the decision to walk away from the EU. The prime minister is scheduled to make a televised address Friday evening, stressing unity and the healing of divisions. As 11 p.m. approaches, government buildings will be lit up and a countdown clock projected onto the black bricks of the prime minister’s 10 Downing St. residence.

Historian Margaret MacMillan urged the government to avoid a tone of triumphalism. She said if ever there were a time for British understatement, this is it. “It is not a time for celebration. It is a time for reconciliation,” said MacMillan, a University of Toronto professor whose books include “Dangerous Games: The Uses and Abuses of History.”

“If the prime minister really wanted to be prime ministerial, he could say, ‘Look, we've had a long, difficult disagreement, but let's sit down and be friends again,’ and just have a tea party or something," she said. “I think low-key is better.”

Associated Press video journalist Jo Kearney contributed to this story.

Top EU officials sign Brexit deal in closed door ceremony

January 24, 2020

BRUSSELS (AP) — The leaders of two of the European Union’s main institutions on Friday signed the divorce agreement governing Britain’s departure from the bloc next week, sealing the penultimate step in Brexit at a ceremony held without media access.

European Council President Charles Michel tweeted photos of the overnight signing with the president of the EU’s powerful executive commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in the presence of their Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

Both institutions rejected repeated media demands for access to what is a small but legally significant step marking the first time a member state has ever left the world’s biggest trading bloc. Time stamps on the official photos show that the ceremony took place at around 2 a.m. local time (0100 GMT).

“Charles Michel and I have just signed the Agreement on the Withdrawal of the UK from the EU, opening the way for its ratification by the European Parliament,” Von der Leyen tweeted about six hours after the signing.

“Things will inevitably change but our friendship will remain. We start a new chapter as partners and allies,” Michel tweeted in reference to ties with Britain, also hours after the signing ceremony, adding: “I can’t wait to write this new page together.”

After the signing, U.K. and EU officials took the document to London, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson put his own signature on it — also without journalists present. Britain’s delayed and disputed Brexit bill became law in the country on Thursday, removing the last U.K. obstacle for it to leave on Jan. 31, more than 3 1/2 years after voters narrowly opted to do so in a June 2016 referendum.

The EU Parliament is expected to ratify the Brexit divorce deal next Wednesday just days before the deadline. It appears a formality after the assembly’s influential constitutional affairs committee voted in favor by a large margin on Thursday.

SpaceX's 1st astronaut launch breaking new ground for style

May 24, 2020

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first astronauts launched by SpaceX are breaking new ground for style with hip spacesuits, gull-wing Teslas and a sleek rocketship — all of it white with black trim. The color coordinating is thanks to Elon Musk, the driving force behind both SpaceX and Tesla, and a big fan of flash and science fiction.

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken like the fresh new look. They'll catch a ride to the launch pad in a Tesla Model X electric car. “It is really neat, and I think the biggest testament to that is my 10-year-old son telling me how cool I am now,” Hurley told The Associated Press.

“SpaceX has gone all out" on the capsule's appearance, he said. "And they’ve worked equally as hard to make the innards and the displays and everything else in the vehicle work to perfection.” The true test comes Wednesday when Hurley and Behnken climb aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and, equipment and weather permitting, shoot into space. It will be the first astronaut launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center since the last shuttle flight in 2011.

It will also mark the first attempt by a private company to send astronauts into orbit. Only governments — Russia, the U.S., and China — have done that. The historic send-off deserves to look good, according to SpaceX. It already has a nice ring. Musk named his rocket after the “Star Wars” Millennium Falcon. The capsule name stems from “Puff the Magic Dragon,” Musk’s jab at all the doubters when he started SpaceX in 2002.

SpaceX designed and built its own suits, which are custom-fit. Safety came first. The cool — or wow — factor was a close second. “It’s important that the suits are comfortable and also are inspiring,” explained SpaceX’s Benji Reed. a mission director. “But above all, it’s designed to keep the crew safe.”

The bulky, orange ascent and entry suits worn by shuttle astronauts had their own attraction, according to Behnken, who like Hurley wore them for his two previous missions. Movies like “Armageddon” and “Space Cowboys” stole the orange look whenever actors were “trying to pretend to be astronauts.”

On launch day, Hurley and Behnken will get ready inside Kennedy’s remodeled crew quarters, which dates back to the two-man Gemini missions of the mid-1960s. SpaceX techs will help the astronauts into their one-piece, two-layer pressure suits.

Hurley and Behnken will emerge through the same double doors used on July 16, 1969, by Apollo 11′s Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins — the Operations and Checkout Building now bears Armstrong’s name.

But instead of the traditional Astrovan, the two will climb into the back seat of a Tesla Model X for the nine-mile ride to Launch Complex 39A, the same pad used by the moonmen and most shuttle crews. It's while they board the Tesla that they'll see their wives and young sons for the last time before flight.

Making a comeback after three decades is NASA’s worm logo — wavy, futuristic-looking red letters spelling NASA, the “A” resembling rocket nose cones. The worm adorns the Astro-Tesla, Falcon and even the astronauts' suits, along with NASA’s original blue meatball-shaped logo.

The white-suited Hurley and Behnken will transfer from the white Tesla to the white Dragon atop the equally white Falcon 9. “It’s going to be quite a show,” Reed promised.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

First commercial space taxi a pit stop on Musk's Mars quest

May 24, 2020

(AP) It all started with the dream of growing a rose on Mars. That vision, Elon Musk’s vision, morphed into a shake-up of the old space industry, and a fleet of new private rockets. Now, those rockets will launch NASA astronauts from Florida to the International Space Station -- the first time a for-profit company will carry astronauts into the cosmos.

It’s a milestone in the effort to commercialize space. But for Musk’s company, SpaceX, it’s also the latest milestone in a wild ride that began with epic failures and the threat of bankruptcy. If the company’s eccentric founder and CEO has his way, this is just the beginning: He’s planning to build a city on the red planet, and live there.

“What I really want to achieve here is to make Mars seem possible, make it seem as though it’s something that we can do in our lifetimes and that you can go,” Musk told a cheering congress of space professionals in Mexico in 2016.

Musk “is a revolutionary change” in the space world, says Harvard University astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, whose Jonathan’s Space Report has tracked launches and failures for decades. Ex-astronaut and former Commercial Spaceflight Federation chief Michael Lopez-Alegria says, “I think history will look back at him like a da Vinci figure.”

Musk has become best known for Tesla, his audacious effort to build an electric vehicle company. But SpaceX predates it. At 30, Musk was already wildly rich from selling his internet financial company PayPal and its predecessor Zip2. He arranged a series of lunches in Silicon Valley in 2001 with G. Scott Hubbard, who had been NASA’s Mars czar and was then running the agency’s Ames Research Center.

Musk wanted to somehow grow a rose on the red planet, show it to the world and inspire school children, recalls Hubbard. “His real focus was having life on Mars,” says Hubbard, a Stanford University professor who now chairs SpaceX’s crew safety advisory panel.

The big problem, Hubbard told him, was building a rocket affordable enough to go to Mars. Less than a year later Space Exploration Technologies, called SpaceX, was born. There are many space companies and like all of them, SpaceX is designed for profit. But what’s different is that behind that profit motive is a goal, which is simply to “Get Elon to Mars,” McDowell says. “By having that longer-term vision, that’s pushed them to be more ambitious and really changed things.”

Everyone at SpaceX, from senior vice presidents to the barista who offers its in-house cappuccinos and FroYo, “will tell you they are working to make humans multi-planetary,” says former SpaceX Director of Space Operations Garrett Reisman, an ex-astronaut now at the University of Southern California.

Musk founded the company just before NASA ramped up the notion of commercial space. Traditionally, private firms built things or provided services for NASA, which remained the boss and owned the equipment. The idea of bigger roles for private companies has been around for more than 50 years, but the market and technology weren’t yet right.

NASA’s two deadly space shuttle accidents -- Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003 -- were pivotal, says W. Henry Lambright, a professor of public policy at Syracuse University. When Columbia disintegrated, NASA had to contemplate a post-space shuttle world. That’s where private companies came in, Lambright says.

After Columbia, the agency focused on returning astronauts to the moon, but still had to get cargo and astronauts to the space station, says Sean O’Keefe, who was NASA’s administrator at the time. A 2005 pilot project helped private companies develop ships to bring cargo to the station.

SpaceX got some of that initial funding. The company’s first three launches failed. The company could have just as easily failed too, but NASA stuck by SpaceX and it started to pay off, Lambright says.

“You can’t explain SpaceX without really understanding how NASA really kind of nurtured it in the early days,” Lambright says. “In a way, SpaceX is kind of a child of NASA.” Since 2010, NASA has spent $6 billion to help private companies get people into orbit, with SpaceX and Boeing the biggest recipients, says Phil McAlister, NASA’s commercial spaceflight director.

NASA plans to spend another $2.5 billion to purchase 48 astronaut seats to the space station in 12 different flights, he says. At a little more than $50 million a ride, it’s much cheaper than what NASA has paid Russia for flights to the station.

Starting from scratch has given SpaceX an advantage over older firms and NASA that are stuck using legacy technology and infrastructure, O’Keefe says. And SpaceX tries to build everything itself, giving the firm more control, Reisman says. The company saves money by reusing rockets, and it has customers aside from NASA.

The California company now has 6,000 employees. Its workers are young, highly caffeinated and put in 60- to 90-hour weeks, Hubbard and Reisman say. They also embrace risk more than their NASA counterparts.

Decisions that can take a year at NASA can be made in one or two meetings at SpaceX, says Reisman, who still advises the firm. In 2010, a Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad had a cracked nozzle extension on an engine. Normally that would mean rolling the rocket off the pad and a fix that would delay launch more than a month.

But with NASA’s permission, SpaceX engineer Florence Li was hoisted into the rocket nozzle with a crane and harness. Then, using what were essentially garden shears, she “cut the thing, we launched the next day and it worked,” Reisman says.

Musk is SpaceX’s public and unconventional face -- smoking marijuana on a popular podcast, feuding with local officials about opening his Tesla plant during the pandemic, naming his newborn child “X Æ A-12.” But insiders say aerospace industry veteran Gwynne Shotwell, the president and chief operating officer, is also key to the company’s success.

“The SpaceX way is actually a combination of Musk’s imagination and creativity and drive and Shotwell’s sound management and responsible engineering,” McDowell says. But it all comes back to Musk’s dream. Former NASA chief O’Keefe says Musk has his eccentricities, huge doses of self-confidence and persistence, and that last part is key: “You have the capacity to get through a setback and look ... toward where you’re trying to go.”

For Musk, it’s Mars.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Last British governor says Hong Kong 'betrayed' by China

May 24, 2020

HONG KONG (AP) — The last British governor of Hong Kong said China has betrayed the semi-autonomous territory by tightening control over the city it had promised could keep freedoms not found on the mainland.

“What we are seeing is a new Chinese dictatorship,” Chris Patten told an interview with The Times of London. “I think the Hong Kong people have been betrayed by China, which has proved once again that you can’t trust it further than you can throw it.”

He said the British government “should make it clear that what we are seeing is a complete destruction of the Joint Declaration,” a legal document under which the former British colony was returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” framework.

It gives Hong Kong its own legal system and Western-style freedoms until 2047. But many fear those are being chipped away after authorities clamped down on massive pro-democracy protests that rocked the city last year.

Last week, Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers sharply criticized China’s move to enact national security legislation in the territory, which was submitted on the opening day of China’s national legislative session. It would forbid secessionist and subversive activity, as well as foreign interference and terrorism.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the move “a death knell for the high degree of autonomy” that Beijing had promised Hong Kong. Patten told Times he believed that “one country, two systems,” the treaty logged at the United Nations, would be enough to protect Hong Kong's capitalist economy and its way of life.

“China cheats, it tries to screw things in its own favor, and if you ever point this out their ‘wolf warrior’ diplomats try to bully and hector you into submission," he said. “It’s got to stop otherwise the world is going to be a much less safe place and liberal democracy around the world is going to be destabilized.”

He called on Britain to do more to stand up to China and protect Hong Kong under its legal obligations. “Britain has a moral, economic and legal duty to stand up for Hong Kong,” he said. “The real danger is that we are entirely limp on this. We have obligations because we signed the agreement … If we don’t have any responsibilities for the people of Hong Kong and their way of life, who do we have responsibility for?”

China has criticized Patten's comments before. China’s foreign ministry said last week Hong Kong is China’s internal affair and “no foreign country has the right to intervene.”

Israel's Netanyahu attacks justice system as trial begins

May 24, 2020

JERUSALEM (AP) — To the sounds of his impassioned supporters chanting outside, a defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strode into a Jerusalem courtroom Sunday to face corruption charges in a long-awaited trial that has overshadowed three inconclusive elections and deeply divided the country.

As he entered the courthouse to become the country’s first sitting prime minister to go on trial, Netanyahu launched into a lengthy tirade against the nation's justice system in which he accused police, prosecutors, judges and the media of a deep state-type conspiracy aimed to oust him against the will of the people.

“I stand before you with a straight back and head raised high," he said, surrounded by leading Cabinet ministers of his Likud party. “The objective is to depose a strong, right-wing prime minister, and thus remove the nationalist camp from the leadership of the country for many years."

The standoff, and Netanyahu’s own fiery rhetoric, looked to worsen the nation’s deep divisions just after Netanyahu swore in what he called a “unity” government with a former rival. Critics have said Netanyahu’s repeated attacks on the legal system risk irreversible damage to citizens’ faith in state institutions.

Outside the courthouse, hundreds of supporters rallied in his defense, packing a narrow street while waving Israeli flags and banners denouncing what they called a corrupt prosecution seeking to topple a leader of historic proportion. Others gathered at his official residence to demonstrate against what they called a “crime minister” and carried posters calling for his resignation. They faced off across police barricades with more of the prime minister’s backers.

Netanyahu faces charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of corruption cases stemming from ties to wealthy friends. He is accused of accepting lavish gifts and offering to grant favors to powerful media moguls in exchange for favorable coverage of him and his family. He denies the charges, which come after years of scandals swirling around the family.

Netanyahu entered the Jerusalem courtroom wearing a blue surgical mask, following public health restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. He refused to sit until TV cameras left the room, and remained in the front row throughout the session.

During the proceedings, the lawyers and judges also wore masks, with the three-judge panel sitting behind a glass divider. In a hint of what could lie ahead, his lawyer said the defense would need several months to study the hundreds of reams of evidence and to build its legal team.

Netanyahu did not speak during the one-hour session, rising just once to confirm he understood the charges. He will not be required to attend future hearings during a case that legal analysts expect to stretch over several years. The next hearing was scheduled for July 19.

Before the session, Netanyahu said police and prosecutors had conspired "to stitch up” a case against him, and said the evidence was “contaminated” and exaggerated. He called for the court proceedings to be broadcast live on TV to ensure “full transparency.”

“While the media continues to deal with nonsense, with these false, trumped up cases, I will continue to lead the state of Israel and deal with issues that really matter to you,” he said, including efforts to resuscitate the economy and prepare for a possible second wave of the coronavirus.

Netanyahu is not the first prime minister to go on trial. His predecessor, Ehud Olmert, went to prison for corruption but resigned long before the trial. Netanyahu's fitness for office was the key issue in the three deadlocked elections over the past year. After vowing never to sit with an indicted prime minister, Netanyahu's challenger, Benny Gantz, agreed in March to form a power-sharing coalition with his rival, in part to prevent another election.

Gantz, who has made the defense of the legal system one his hallmarks, said he was sure Netanyahu would receive a fair trial. “I repeat and emphasize that my colleagues and I have full faith in the justice system and law enforcement,” he tweeted.

Their new government was sworn in just last week for Netanyahu's fourth consecutive term. Netanyahu held his first Cabinet meeting with the new government just hours before heading to court. Neither he nor any of his ministers addressed the looming trial.

Netanyahu and his allies have spent months lashing out at the law enforcement system, and a new round of attacks could test the new government. Dozens of Netanyahu supporters outside the court in east Jerusalem wore masks and T-shirts depicting Netanyahu as a martyr and held posters lambasting the attorney general who indicted him.

“We won’t allow an image of Netanyahu being humiliated,” said Ran Carmi Buzaglo, one of the protesters. “The only reason that they forced him to come here, even though the law allows him to be absent, is to show an image of him in the defendant’s chair.”

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who recently filed a police complaint following anonymous threats against him, vowed that the case will be handled like any other — “in a professional, business-like manner and within the courtroom halls.”

“We will continue to act without fear, even against the preposterous attempts to associate non-professional interests to law enforcement agencies,” he said. Several of Netanyahu’s Likud Cabinet ministers, including the newly appointed internal security minister who overseas the police, came to the court to back him.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that Netanyahu's “wild and inciteful outburst" at the courthouse was “final proof that a criminal defendant cannot continue to be prime minister.” In a sign of the tensions, the prosecutor in the case left the courtroom accompanied by a state-issued bodyguard because of threats against her.

Under the coalition deal, Netanyahu will remain prime minister for the next 18 months, and “alternative prime minister” for the 18 months after. He will not be legally required to step down during what is expected to be a lengthy trial.

Associated Press writer Ilan Ben Zion contributed to this report.

Israel's Netanyahu, unbeaten in elections, is going on trial

May 23, 2020

JERUSALEM (AP) — After entering the record books last year as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu will once again make history when he becomes the country’s first sitting leader to go on trial.

Surrounded by security guards, Netanyahu is set to march into Jerusalem’s district court for arraignment on a series of corruption charges on Sunday. The stunning scene will push Israel into uncharted political and legal territory, launching a process that could ultimately end the career of a leader who has been undefeatable at the ballot box for over a decade.

Netanyahu has been charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of cases. He is accused of accepting expensive gifts, such as cartons of champagne and cigars, from wealthy friends and offering favors to media moguls in exchange for favorable news coverage of him and his family.

In the most serious case, he is accused of promoting legislation that delivered hundreds of millions of dollars of profits to the owner of a major telecom company while wielding behind-the-scenes editorial influence over the firm’s popular news website.

Netanyahu has denied the charges, claiming he is the victim of an “attempted coup” by overaggressive police, biased prosecutors and a hostile media. “It’s the classic deep state argument,” said Gayil Talshir, a political scientist at Israel’s Hebrew University. Netanyahu claims “an unelected movement is trying to remove him from power just because he is a representative of the right,” she said.

Netanyahu is not the first Israeli leader to go on trial. Both former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former President Moshe Katsav went to prison in the 2010s — Olmert on corruption charges and Katsav for rape. But they stepped down to fight the charges.

As opposition leader in 2008, Netanyahu led the calls for Olmert to leave office, famously saying a leader “up to his neck” in legal troubles had no business governing a country. But as the investigations have piled up, culminating with his indictment last November, Netanyahu has changed his tune. He has rejected calls to resign while repeatedly lashing out at the country’s legal system.

Among his favorite targets have been a former police chief and the current attorney general — both Netanyahu appointees — and the country’s Supreme Court. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit recently filed a complaint to police over anonymous threats sent to his mobile phone.

Netanyahu’s conspiratorial claims of victimhood have played well with his base of religious and nationalist supporters. But it is unclear whether they will hold up in court, given the lack of evidence.

In the courtroom, the legal arguments are more likely to focus on his claims that his gifts were genuine shows of affection from close friends and that he never received anything in return for the favors he is accused of offering.

The case is expected to last for several years, given the vast number of witnesses and documents that are expected to be presented. Netanyahu has done his best to avoid this moment. During a three-year investigation, which was slowed by Netanyahu's trips abroad and occasional security crises, he repeatedly claimed that investigators would “find nothing because there is nothing.”

He briefly tried, but failed, to win parliamentary immunity from prosecution. In March, his hand-picked justice minister delayed the trial by two months, citing coronavirus restrictions. This week, judges rejected Netanyahu’s request to stay home on Sunday and allow his lawyers to represent him. Netanyahu had argued that his presence was unnecessary and costly, and that having his security detail in the courtroom would violate social-distancing requirements.

Nonetheless, he enters the courtroom with renewed strength. After three bruising elections over the past year, Netanyahu was sworn into office this week for a fourth consecutive term. All three elections were seen as referendums on his fitness for office, and all ended in deadlock. After the most recent vote in March, his rival, Benny Gantz, appeared to have mustered enough support in parliament to pass legislation that would have disqualified Netanyahu from serving as prime minister while under indictment.

But in a stunning turnaround, Gantz, citing fears of a fourth expensive election and the coronavirus pandemic, agreed to shelve the legislation and instead form a power-sharing government with Netanyahu.

The Supreme Court cleared the way for Netanyahu to remain in power. In a key ruling, it said an indicted politician may serve as prime minister — even though Israeli law requires all other office-holders to resign if charged with a crime.

Under their deal, Netanyahu was forced to yield some powers to Gantz, with each wielding a veto over most key decisions. Gantz will hold the title of “alternate prime minister,” and after 18 months, they will swap jobs.

Talshir, the political scientist, said the agreement creates troubling conflicts of interest. Netanyahu made sure he would be involved in the appointments of key officials, including Supreme Court judges and the next attorney general, who could influence any appeals process.

“Netanyahu’s perspective all this year was interfering with his own trial,” she said. Under the deal, the alternate prime minister, like the premier, will not be required to resign due to criminal charges. That could ensure that Netanyahu remains in office throughout his trial and even into a possible appeals process.

It will also give him the opportunity to continue to attack the legal system. Netanyahu’s eldest son Yair, who often acts as his unofficial spokesman, posted a profile picture on Twitter that spells the word “prosecution” with a sewing machine as the first letter. The message: the case against the prime minister is unfairly “stitched up.”

Amir Fuchs, a researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, said such attacks on the courts have caused great damage by persuading many Israelis to question the authority and integrity of Israel’s democratic institutions.

“It might be the most harmful thing that has happened to Israel’s democracy, this one and a half years of attacking the whole basis of the rule of law,” he said. “I hope we will have a long rehabilitation from that. But we’re not even in the start of it.”

In fight against virus, South Africa expects a long wait

May 24, 2020

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — With her winning smile and outgoing nature, Fino Dlamini was a natural to succeed in South Africa’s booming tourism industry. Her bicycle tours of Soweto took visitors to historic sites, including the homes of Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and to restaurants where they could meet South Africans. The tourists and locals would quickly connect over shared interests in sports or TV shows, forming instant bonds that were "magic,” she said.

Business was good in January and February, and projections for the rest of 2020 were excellent. Then the coronavirus brought everything to an abrupt halt. Dlamini was confined to her small home under a strict lockdown, with few options for earning money.

Millions of other South Africans share in the same misfortune. The country with the continent’s most developed economy also has its highest number of confirmed infections — more than 22,000, representing 20% of Africa's total. And because the disease may not hit its peak for four more months, leaders expect to spend an especially long time balancing the risks to public health with the economic activity essential to the national welfare.

“The risk of a massive increase in infections is now greater than ever,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told the nation Sunday night even as he announced a further loosening of the lockdown starting June 1 to allow some 8 million more people to return to work.

While South Africa has not seen the explosion of virus infections that emerged in Europe, cases “have now started to rise sharply,” Ramaphosa warned, with one-third of cases recorded in the past week alone.

Health experts have suggested that a contributing factor in the lower number in cases is the country's youthful population, with just 3% of people above the age of 60. Africa's small elderly population may help explain why the disease is spreading relatively slowly across the continent.

South Africa is still in the early stages of the pandemic, leading health experts to predict the peak could come as late as August or September. A surge of cases in Cape Town suggests that city might reach its maximum near the end of June. The forecasts portend a lengthy wait to resume normal activity.

Other African countries appear to be on a similar trajectory. Forty-three of the continent's 54 nations have imposed containment measures, including lockdowns, bans on public gatherings, school closures and curfews.

The lockdown that began March 27 in South Africa is increasing tensions in Soweto, said Dlamini, who closed her tourism business. “People are destitute and feeling desperate,” Dlamini said. “It’s heartbreaking and scary. I tell friends that we must get through this hard time, that a vaccine will be found and we can get back to business. ... But right now, it’s hard.”

With 25 bicycles, a vehicle and a trailer sitting idle, Dlamini decided to move into something entirely new. She is now selling meat products from her car to Soweto residents. “Ribs, pork trotters, beef bones — these are all popular,” she said. “People are calling me for repeat orders, so business is looking good.”

Five weeks into the lockdown, South Africa began a gradual easing on May 1, allowing selected mines, factories and businesses to reopen with up to 30% of employees. Restaurants can serve takeaway meals, and people are permitted to walk outside for exercise from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

But the economy, already in recession, keeps plummeting. The unemployment rate was at a staggering 29% even before the virus hit, and the jobless rate could rise to 50%, according to the Chamber of Commerce. Lines of hungry South Africans stretch for miles at sites where the government or charities distribute food.

“Our people need to eat. They need to earn a living,” Ramaphosa said when launching a $26 billion recovery package, the largest in Africa. It includes increased payments to 16 million people already on welfare and monthly payments to the newly unemployed.

The economic downturn is expected to shrink Africa’s economies by more than 5%, according to the NKC African Economics research firm. Most punishing are the effects on the millions of Africans who rely upon daily trading to earn money to eat.

Ghana, in West Africa, was the first country to lift its restrictions, on April 20, in response to economic pressures. Ten days later, the country registered a spike in confirmed cases of COVID-19. South Africa is still a long way from full economic activity, and further easing will be determined by the spread of the disease and hospitalizations.

The country is “taking a science-based approach," said Dr. Salim Abdool Karim, who leads the national coronavirus council. Cape Town and the surrounding Western Cape province are at the center of the outbreak, with 65% of the country's total cases. South Africa has screened more than 8 million of its population of 57 million and is now testing more than 20,000 people per day. Tens of thousands of community health workers with experience in tracking contacts of tuberculosis patients are now doing the same for positive cases of COVID-19.

In preparation for more infections, South Africa has built field hospitals with an estimated 20,000 beds and has created areas where people living in crowded conditions can be quarantined if they test positive. However, the country is short of intensive care beds.

Amid the medical challenges, the imploding economy puts pressure on Ramaphosa to reopen more of the country. Other African economies face the same problem as they endure two simultaneous blows: the virus outbreak and a slump in demand for key exports to Europe and Asia.

With the majority of Africans eking out their living on a day-to-day basis, any restrictive measures are quickly felt and “risk civil disobedience if protracted,” said Benedict Craven, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s country risk manager for Africa.

In the effort to balance health and economic needs, “there is no way of successfully attending to the one issue without disregarding the other,” said Pieter du Preez, senior economist at NKC African Economics. He warned of an “economic quagmire,” including increased unemployment, widespread hunger and a humanitarian crisis.

South Africa is rated as one of the world's most unequal countries, and the president has said in his evening addresses to the nation that his response to the pandemic aims to build a more equitable country.

Dlamini, the tour operator now selling meat, said she is inspired by Ramaphosa's approach, which includes government deliveries of water to areas that did not have it and discussions about the possible installation of toilets in schools that offered only pit latrines.

“We are showing that we can doing something here in South Africa, that we can build a more equal society,” Dlamini said. "We must work for that!”

Bram Janssen in Johannesburg contributed.

Turkey confirms 32 deaths, 1,141 new COVID-19 cases

May 24, 2020

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey's health minister on Sunday announced 32 new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the death to in the country to 4,340. Fahrettin Koca also tweeted there were 1,141 new infections confirmed in the past 24 hours. The total number of infections has reached 156,827.

Turkey ranks ninth in a global tally by Johns Hopkins University but experts believe the number of infections could be much higher than reported.More than 118,000 people have recovered, according to the health ministry statistics.

The Muslim holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, traditionally a time of gathering, was marked by a nationwide lockdown, the first of its kind in Turkey to combat the coronavirus. Previous weekend and holiday lockdowns affected a maximum of 31 out of 81 provinces.

Senior citizens above 65 were allowed out for a few hours for a third Sunday. People under 20 and above 65 have been under full lockdown, but days and times outside have been allotted according to age groups as part of easing efforts.

Europeans soak up the sun but virus travel rules a mishmash

May 24, 2020

BERLIN (AP) — Europeans soaked up the sun where they could, taking advantage of the first holiday weekend since coronavirus restrictions were eased, while governments grappled with how and when to safely let in foreign travelers to salvage the vital summer tourist season.

Yet even as social distancing rules spread families and friends out Sunday across beaches and parks, the virus remained a constant threat. Europe has seen over 169,000 dead, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Across the continent, a mishmash of travel restrictions appears to be on the horizon, often depending on where travelers live and what passports they carry. Germany, France and other European countries aim to open their borders for European travel in mid-June, but it isn’t clear when intercontinental travel will resume.

Spain, one of the worst-hit countries in the pandemic and also one of the world’s top destinations for international travelers, says it won’t reopen for foreign tourists until July. To boost the economy, the country’s leader has encouraged Spaniards to “start planning their vacations” for late June inside Spain.

“Come July, we will allow the arrival of foreign tourists to Spain under safe conditions,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said. “We will guarantee that tourists aren't at risk and that they don’t represent a risk (to Spain).”

For now, travel between Spain’s provinces isn’t allowed and many other restrictions remain — although on Monday, residents in worst-hit Madrid and Barcelona will be able to join the rest of the country in dining outdoors at bars and restaurants, which can offer only 50% of their usual tables.

Also Monday, local sunbathers and swimmers will be permitted in some of Spain’s coastal provinces. The number of beach-goers will be limited and umbrellas must be at least four meters (13 feet) apart.

In Germany, domestic tourists will be allowed to return Monday to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state in the northeast — home to the country’s Baltic Sea coast — and to hotels in Berlin, the popular capital.

But tourism campaigns will require a new approach. “We don’t think people want closely packed big-city bustle at the moment,” Burkhard Kieker, the chief of visitBerlin, told RBB Inforadio. His agency has launched a campaign showing “how much green space and how much water there is” in Berlin.

In Paris, where all city parks remain closed, residents soaked up the sun along the embankments of the Seine River and lounged on ledges outside the Tuileries Gardens. In some spots, people sat safely spaced apart. Elsewhere, groups of maskless teens crowded together, shrugging off social distancing rules.

Beginning Monday, France is relaxing its border restrictions, allowing in migrant workers and family visitors from other European countries. But is calling for a voluntary 14-day quarantine for people arriving from Britain and Spain, because those countries imposed a similar requirement on the French.

Italy, which plans to open regional and international borders on June 3 in a bid to boost tourism, is only now allowing residents back to beaches in their own regions — with restrictions. In the northwestern Liguria region, people were allowed a dip in the sea and a walk along the shore, but no sunbathing. In Savona, a dozen people were fined for violating sunbathing bans. Rimini, on Italy’s east coast, attracted beach-goers beginning at dawn, and many sat in widely spaced groups. Still, authorities had to work at enforcing distancing on a popular beach in Palermo.

"We can't forget that the virus exists and is circulating,” deputy health minister Pierpaolo Sileri told Sky TG24. “Even if the numbers of new cases are low, we must respect the rules.” For the first time in months, well-spaced faithful gathered in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square for the traditional Sunday papal blessing. About 2,000 Muslims gathered for for Eid al-Fitr prayers at a sports complex in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, carefully spaced a meter (about three feet) apart and wearing masks.

Beachside communities along England’s coast urged Londoners and others to stay away after rules were eased to allow people to drive any distance for exercise or recreation. The southern coastal city of Brighton put it: “Wish you were here — but not just yet.” Wales kept up its “Later” tourism campaign, reminding people that its hotels, restaurants and tourist sites were still closed.

Associated Press writers from around Europe contributed to this report.

UK leader Johnson stands by aide over 250-mile lockdown trip

May 24, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday he wouldn't fire his chief aide for allegedly violating the national lockdown rules that he helped to create by driving the length of England to his parents' house while he was infected with the coronavirus.

Defying a growing clamor from public and politicians, Johnson said Dominic Cummings had acted “responsibly, legally and with integrity” when he drove 250 miles (400 kilometers) from London to Durham, in northeast England, with his wife and son at the end of March.

Britain's lockdown, which began March 23, stipulated that people should remain at their primary residence, leaving only for essential local errands and exercise. Anyone with coronavirus symptoms was told to completely isolate themselves.

Cummings says he traveled to be near extended family because his wife was showing COVID-19 symptoms, he correctly thought he was also infected and he wanted to ensure that his 4-year-old son was looked after.

Johnson told a news conference that Cummings had "followed the instincts of every father and every parent.” He said Cummings, his wife and son followed the rules by self-isolating for 14 days once they reached Durham.

But critics of the government expressed outrage that Cummings had broken strict rules that for two months have prevented Britons from visiting elderly relatives, comforting dying friends or even attending the funerals of loved ones. The opposition Labour Party has called for an official investigation.

Labour leader Keir Starmer said Johnson's defense of Cummings was “an insult to sacrifices made by the British people.” “The prime minister’s actions have undermined confidence in his own public health message at this crucial time," he said .

Former Labour lawmaker Helen Goodman, whose father died in a nursing home during the outbreak, said Cummings’ behavior was “repellent.” “What was the point of the sacrifice that we all made? What was the point of the miserable, lonely death that my father had?” she told the BBC.

Speaking inside the prime minister's 10 Downing St. residence, Johnson said “I can totally get why people might feel so confused and ... so offended by the idea that it was one thing for the people here and one thing for others."

But he said Cumming's “particular childcare needs” left him “no alternative” but to make the 250-mile trip. Government ministers have denied a claim that Cummings was spotted again in Durham on April 19, after he had recovered and returned to work in London. But they have not confirmed or denied report that Cummings visited a scenic area 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Durham on April 12.

Cummings is a key but contentious figure in Johnson’s administration. A self-styled political disrupter who disdains the media and civil service, he was one of the architects of the successful campaign to take Britain out of the European Union, and orchestrated the Conservatives’ decisive election victory in December.

The coronavirus cut a swath through the top ranks of Britain’s government in March and April, infecting people including Cummings, Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Johnson himself, who has said that the medical staff at a London hospital saved his life.

Despite the government's support for Cummings, several lawmakers from Johnson’s Conservative Party joined the opposition in calling for the aide to be sacked. “Dominic Cummings has a track record of believing that the rules don’t apply to him and treating the scrutiny that should come to anyone in a position of authority with contempt,” tweeted Conservative lawmaker Damian Collins. “The government would be better without him.”

Another Tory legislator, Steve Baker, said Cummings must resign for not “abiding by the spirit, at least, of the slogans which he has enforced on the rest of the country.” Johnson’s government is already facing criticism for its response to a pandemic that has hit Britain harder than any other European country. Britain’s official coronavirus death toll stands at 36,793, the second-highest confirmed total in the world after the United States. Statistics that include suspected as well as confirmed virus cases put the toll well over 40,000.

The U.K. is gradually easing its lockdown, allowing more outdoor recreation and letting some shops and businesses reopen. Johnson confirmed Sunday that primary schools can start reopening in June, though many parents and teachers worry that it isn't yet safe to do so.

Johnson said the government was still aiming to have pupils in the first and final years of primary school back in classrooms on June 1, though he acknowledged that “may not be possible for all schools.”

Cummings is one of several senior U.K. officials to be accused of flouting the lockdown rules. Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson stepped down as government scientific adviser earlier this month after a newspaper disclosed that his girlfriend had crossed London to stay with him during the lockdown. In April, Catherine Calderwood resigned as Scotland’s chief medical officer after twice traveling from Edinburgh to her second home.

Spain's far-right holds car protest against virus lockdown

May 23, 2020

(AP) Several thousand followers of Spain’s far-right Vox party gathered Saturday in their cars and on motorbikes in the center of Madrid and other Spanish cities to protest the Spanish government’s handling of the nation’s coronavirus crisis.

The party accuses the government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of lying about the impact of the health crisis and of violating Spaniards’ rights by confining people to their homes and closing businesses during the lockdown.

Vox called for protesters to attend the protests in their vehicles and thus skirt the ban on social gatherings in effect under the nation’s two-month long state of emergency designed to reduce contagion risks.

Vox called the protest the “Caravan for Spain and Liberty.” “We will never forget what they have done,” Vox leader Santiago Abascal said from the open-top bus leading the caravan as it inched down a Madrid boulevard.

“Do not doubt that we will make them face justice. They know it and fear our freedom. That is why they try to intimidate us.” Most cars and motorbikes were decked with Spanish flags. There were also small groups of people who participated on foot, with some not respecting the two-meter social distancing rules. Protests were also held in Barcelona, Sevilla and other provincial capitals.

Spain's government says that the confinement measures have been necessary to save the nation's hospitals from collapse and save thousands of lives. Sánchez said that the protesters were exercising their constitutional rights, but that he asked them “to respect the criteria, rules, and decisions that health authorities have made."

“This government will preach for concord, peaceful co-existence, respect and tolerance, and not for hate and rage,” he said. Over 28,000 Spaniards have been confirmed to have died from COVID-19. The government says that all the information it makes public on virus deaths and infections are provided by the regions, some of which are governed by opposition parties. No region has accused the government of relaying incorrect data.

Spain’s left-wing coalition government declared a state of emergency on March 14. The lockdown applied under the state of emergency, which has limited the right to free movement and assembly, has successfully reined in the outbreak.

Abascal and another leading Vox politician both fell ill with the virus after holding a massive party rally in early March. The party apologized for going ahead with the rally but blamed the government for not warning the nation of the danger. Abascal and his colleague recovered.

Vox, which is strongly anti-migrant and anti-women’s rights, won its first seats in Spain’s Parliament in April 2019. It then made huge gains in a repeat election in November and is the third-largest party in the legislature.

“I’m here to ask for the government to resign. We are tired of being kept in prison,” said 47-year-old bank employee Almudena Camara at the Madrid protest. Saturday’s car protest follows a week of small protests in one of Madrid’s wealthiest neighborhoods and other cities that Vox has backed.

With its hospitals now able to handle the smaller load of cases, Spain is slowly moving toward gradually reactivating its economy and recovering social activities. On Monday, Madrid and Barcelona, the two hardest hit areas, will be able to join the rest of the country in reopening 50% of outdoor seating at bars and restaurants and gathering in groups of under 10 people.

Sánchez’s minority government of his Socialists and the left-wing United We Can party is under increasing pressure from opposition parties and some regional leaders to move forward with the rollback to reduce the already huge impact to the economy.

Spanish government spokeswoman María Jesús Montero said Friday that the right to protest “cannot be confused with a right to infect.” “This is a country where people can protest freely, but we would like them to transmit the truth about what is happening in this country, where the right to expression is protected,” Montero said.

Wilson reported from Barcelona.

Virus cases drop to zero in China but surge in Latin America

May 23, 2020

TOKYO (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic continued to drop in much of Asia on Saturday even as the outbreak surged in Latin America, as the world grappled with balancing the urge to restart economies with fears about health risks.

China, where the outbreak began late last year, reported no new confirmed cases for the first time. In South Korea, there were 23 fresh infections, mostly from the densely populated Seoul area where authorities shut down thousands of nightclubs, bars and karaoke rooms to stem transmissions.

The encouraging signs are likely to set off a much awaited thrust to get back to business as governments have been readying social-distancing measures to reopen economies. In Japan, a group representing bar hostesses and other nightlife workers issued guidelines to protect employees as outfits reopen, telling them to wear masks, gargle every 30 minutes and disinfect karaoke microphones after each use.

The Bank of Japan, which recently announced measures to ensure easy lending in the world’s third largest economy, said in a joint statement with the government that both sides “will work together to bring the Japanese economy back again on the post-pandemic solid growth track.”

Japan’s new cases have dwindled lately to double-digit figures each day. Deaths related to the coronavirus are below 800 people. South Korea had been reporting around 500 new cases a day in early March before using aggressive tracing and testing to stabilize its outbreak. More than 200 of the recent infections have been linked to clubgoers in Seoul as the country began easing restrictions.

In the U.S., some regions were opening more quickly than others. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extended the state’s stay-at-home order by slightly more than two additional weeks, through June 12, while keeping theaters, gyms and other places of public accommodation closed until at least then.

The Democratic governor also kept her coronavirus emergency declaration through June 19. Both the stay-at-home measure and state of emergency had been set to expire late next Thursday, though Whitmer said extensions were likely.

“While the data shows that we are making progress, we are not out of the woods yet. If we’re going to lower the chance of a second wave and continue to protect our neighbors and loved ones from the spread of this virus, we must continue to do our part by staying safer at home,” said Whitmer, whom President Donald Trump has pushed to reopen the state.

Michigan on Friday reported 5,158 confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 complications, the fourth largest tally of any state. The daily death toll rose by 29 and the number of new confirmed cases in the state increased by 403, to nearly 54,000 since the pandemic started.

Nevada is preparing to reopen its shuttered casinos, including glitzy ones in Las Vegas. Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, has set a tentative June 4 date, as Nevada continues to see decreasing cases of the coronavirus and hospitalizations of COVID-19. Some restrictions began to be lifted nearly two weeks ago.

Nevada’s gambling regulators plan to meet Tuesday and will consider reopening plans submitted from casinos, which need to be approved at least seven days before restarting. By country, the U.S. has been the hardest hit, with more than 96,000 deaths among 1.6 million confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, the United Nations said there have been 75 cases of COVID-19 in the U.N.’s 13 far-flung peacekeeping missions, which have a total of 110,000 troops, police and personnel. U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told reporters that preventive measures taken early on in the crisis appear to have prevented the spread of the virus, with the exception of conflict-torn Mali where 58 cases were reported. He said there have been no deaths and none of the cases was serious.

Latin America’s two largest nations — Mexico and Brazil — reported record numbers of infections and deaths almost daily this week, fueling criticism of their presidents, who have slow-walked shutdowns in an attempt to limit economic damage.

Brazil has reported more than 330,000 confirmed cases, surpassing Russia to become the nation with the second-highest number of infections, behind only the U.S., according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. Brazil also has recorded more than 21,000 deaths, though experts believe the numbers are higher.

The virus “does not forgive,” Uber driver Bruno Almeida de Mello said at the burial of his grandmother Vandelma Rosa, 66, in Rio de Janeiro. “It does not choose race or if you are rich or poor, black or white. It’s a cruel disease.”

De Mello said his grandmother’s death certificate reads “suspected of COVID-19,” but the hospital didn’t have the tests necessary to confirm it. That means her death was not counted in the official toll.

Experts said the surging deaths across Latin America showed the limits of government action in a region where millions have informal jobs and many police forces are weak or corrupt and unable to enforce restrictions. Infections also rose and intensive-care units were swamped in Peru, Chile and Ecuador, countries lauded for imposing early and aggressive business shutdowns and quarantines.

Colombia’s Ministry of Health also reported its biggest daily increases Friday, with 801 new confirmed infections and 30 deaths. Nearly 20,000 people have been diagnosed with the virus in a country that has been locked down for nearly two months.

Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.

Mysterious glowing coral reefs are fighting to recover

Southampton UK (SPX)
May 22, 2020

A new study by the University of Southampton has revealed why some corals exhibit a dazzling colorful display, instead of turning white, when they suffer 'coral bleaching' - a condition which can devastate reefs and is caused by ocean warming. The scientists behind the research think this phenomenon is a sign that corals are fighting to survive.

Many coral animals live in a fragile, mutually beneficial relationship, a 'symbiosis' with tiny algae embedded in their cells. The algae gain shelter, carbon dioxide and nutrients, while the corals receive photosynthetic products to fulfill their energy needs. If temperatures rise just 1?C above the usual summer maximum, this symbiosis breaks down; the algae are lost, the coral's white limestone skeleton shines through its transparent tissue and a damaging process known as 'coral bleaching' occurs.

This condition can be fatal to the coral. Once its live tissue is gone, the skeleton is exposed to the eroding forces of the environment. Within a few years, an entire coral reef can break down and much of the biodiversity that depends on its complex structure is lost - a scenario which currently threatens the future of reefs around the world.

However, some bleaching corals undergo an, until now, mysterious transformation - emitting a range of different bright neon colors. Why this happens has now been explained by a team of scientists from the University of Southampton's Coral Reef Laboratory, who have published their detailed insights in the journal Current Biology.

The researchers conducted a series of controlled laboratory experiments at the coral aquarium facility of the University of Southampton. They found that during colorful bleaching events, corals produce what is effectively a sunscreen layer of their own, showing itself as a colorful display. Furthermore, it's thought this process encourages the coral symbionts to return.

Professor Jorg Wiedenmann, head of the University of Southampton's Coral Reef Laboratory explains: "Our research shows colorful bleaching involves a self-regulating mechanism, a so-called optical feedback loop, which involves both partners of the symbiosis. In healthy corals, much of the sunlight is taken up by the photosynthetic pigments of the algal symbionts. When corals lose their symbionts, the excess light travels back and forth inside the animal tissue -reflected by the white coral skeleton. This increased internal light level is very stressful for the symbionts and may delay or even prevent their return after conditions return to normal.

"However, if the coral cells can still carry out at least some of their normal functions, despite the environmental stress that caused bleaching, the increased internal light levels will boost the production of colorful, photoprotective pigments. The resulting sunscreen layer will subsequently promote the return of the symbionts. As the recovering algal population starts taking up the light for their photosynthesis again, the light levels inside the coral will drop and the coral cells will lower the production of the colorful pigments to their normal level."

The researchers believe corals which undergo this process are likely to have experienced episodes of mild or brief ocean-warming or disturbances in their nutrient environment - rather than extreme events.

Dr. Cecilia D'Angelo, Lecturer of Molecular Coral Biology at Southampton, comments: "Bleaching is not always a death sentence for corals, the coral animal can still be alive. If the stress event is mild enough, corals can re-establish the symbiosis with their algal partner. Unfortunately, recent episodes of global bleaching caused by unusually warm water have resulted in high coral mortality, leaving the world's coral reefs struggling for survival."

Dr. Elena Bollati, Researcher at the National University Singapore, who studied this subject during her PhD training at the University of Southampton, adds: "We reconstructed the temperature history of known colorful bleaching events around the globe using satellite imagery. These data are in excellent agreement with the conclusions of our controlled laboratory experiments, suggesting that colorful bleaching occurs in association with brief or mild episodes of heat stress."

The scientists are encouraged by recent reports suggesting colorful bleaching has occurred in some areas of the Great Barrier Reef during the most recent mass bleaching there in March-April 2020. They think this raises the hope that at least some patches of the world's largest reef system may have better recovery prospects than others, but emphasize that only a significant reduction of greenhouse gases at a global scale and sustained improvement in water quality at a regional level can save coral reefs beyond the 21st century.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Mysterious_glowing_coral_reefs_are_fighting_to_recover_999.html.

Britain's Brexit bill passes final hurdle in Parliament

January 23, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Britain's Brexit bill passed its final hurdle in Parliament on Wednesday after the House of Lords abandoned attempts to amend it, leaving the U.K. on course to leave the European Union next week.

The bill was approved by Parliament's upper chamber after the House of Commons overturned changes to the government’s flagship Brexit bill made a day earlier by the unelected House of Lords. The bill will become law when it receives royal assent from Queen Elizabeth II, a formality that could come as soon as Thursday.

Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union on Jan. 31, more than three and a half years after voters opted for Brexit in a June 2016 referendum, and after many rounds of political wrangling. "Ät times it felt like we would never cross the Brexit finish line, but we've done it," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

The Lords voted Tuesday to demand that post-Brexit Britain continues to let unaccompanied migrant children in EU countries join relatives living in the U.K. The promise was made in 2018 by former British Prime Minister Theresa May, but it was removed from the Brexit legislation after Johnson’s Conservatives won a big parliamentary majority in an election last month.

Johnson's government says it intends to continue resettling child migrants in Britain after the country leaves the EU but argues that the issue does not belong in the EU withdrawal bill, which sets out the terms of Britain’s departure from the 28-nation bloc.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said an agreement on taking in the children “is ultimately a matter which must be negotiated with the EU, and the government is committed to seeking the best possible outcome in those negotiations."

But Labor lawmaker Yvette Cooper accused Johnson's Conservative government of planning to “betray the commitments that have been made to the most vulnerable children of all." The House of Commons also stripped out changes made by the Lords to bolster the rights of EU citizens in Britain, protect the powers of U.K. courts and ensure a say for Scotland and Wales in post-Brexit legal changes.

The wrangling didn't stop the Brexit bill from becoming law, because the House of Commons can override the unelected Lords. Members of the Lords acknowledged Wednesday that they would have to give way.

“We are at the end of a very long road," said Martin Callanan, a Conservative Brexit minister in the Lords. The EU parliament also must approve the Brexit divorce deal before Jan. 31. A vote by the European Parliament is expected next week.

Despite Johnson’s repeated promise to “get Brexit done” on Jan. 31, the departure will only mark the start of the first stage of the country's EU exit. Britain and the EU will then launch into negotiations on their future ties, racing to strike new relationships for trade, security and a host of other areas by the end of 2020.