UK's Johnson unveils legislative plan to end Brexit deadlock

December 19, 2019

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson signaled an end to Britain’s era of Brexit deadlock Thursday, announcing a packed legislative program intended to take the U.K. out of the European Union on Jan. 31, overhaul everything from fishing to financial services and shore up the country’s cash-starved public services.

The commanding House of Commons majority won by Johnson’s Conservative Party in last week’s general election all but guarantees he will be able to turn those promises into law, although with Brexit casting a shadow over the British economy, there’s a question mark over how he will pay for it all.

In a speech delivered from a golden throne in Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II, Johnson opened the legislative floodgates after three years in which minority Conservative governments tried in vain to win legislators' backing for their Brexit plans.

“This is the moment to repay the trust of those who sent us here by delivering on the people's priorities,” Johnson told lawmakers after the speech. "They want to move politics on and move the country on."

In less than 10 minutes, the monarch rattled through more than two dozen bills the government intends to pass in the coming year. The first will be the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill, the law needed to make Brexit a reality, which is set to receive its first significant parliamentary vote on Friday.

The bill commits Britain to leaving the EU on Jan. 31 and to concluding trade talks with the bloc by the end of 2020. Trade experts and EU officials say striking a free trade deal within 11 months will be a struggle, but Johnson insists he won’t agree to any more delays. That vow has set off alarm bells among businesses, who fear that means the country will face a “no-deal” Brexit at the start of 2021.

The government also plans to pass several other Brexit-related measures, including a new “points-based” immigration system that will be introduced after Brexit, when EU citizens will lose the automatic right to live and work in the U.K.

There are also plans to overhaul agriculture, fishing, trade and financial services after Brexit in ways that will have a huge — though still largely unknown — effect on the British economy. Johnson also promised “an ambitious program of domestic reform,” including a law committing the government to spend more on the overstretched National Health Service after a decade-long funding squeeze by previous Conservative governments.

There were tough-sounding announcements on law and order, including longer sentences for people convicted of terrorist offenses and other serious crimes. The speech also promised to “prioritize investment in infrastructure,” and Johnson hinted he might revive an idea he’s floated before: a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland. Engineers say spanning at least 12 miles (19 kilometers) of the deep and stormy Irish Sea would be difficult to impossible.

Asked by a Northern Ireland lawmaker in Parliament whether he planned to build the “Boris bridge,” Johnson said: “Watch this space, and indeed ... watch that space between those islands.” Several of the measures are likely to prove contentious. The government said it would hold a sweeping review of defense and foreign policy, and set up a “Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission” that could lead to reform of institutions including the Supreme Court. The court angered the government by ruling in September that Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament was illegal.

Shami Chakrabarti, justice spokeswoman for the opposition Labour Party, called the proposal “vindictive revenge" and “another play from the Book of Trump.” The government also intends to pass a law protecting military veterans from “vexatious” prosecutions. The question of whether veterans who served decades ago in Northern Ireland should be open to criminal prosecution is hugely controversial.

Also proposed is a ban on public institutions taking part in “boycott, divestment or sanctions campaigns against foreign countries and those who trade with them” without the government’s approval. The move is aimed at universities that have boycotted Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians.

The government also promised to lessen regional inequality and bring greater unity to the United Kingdom, which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But Brexit is making that more difficult. Scotland voted to remain in the EU in Britain’s 2016 referendum, and last week most Scottish seats in Parliament were won by the anti-Brexit, pro-independence Scottish National Party.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon says Scotland should be able to hold a vote on independence, an option Scots rejected in a 2014 referendum that was billed as a “once-in-a-generation” event. Sturgeon said she had formally written to the prime minister requesting the power to hold a new independence vote.

"The alternative is a future that we have rejected being imposed upon us,” Sturgeon said in Edinburgh. “Scotland made it very clear last week it does not want a Tory government led by Boris Johnson taking us out of the European Union.”

Johnson has said he will refuse, and the two sides look set for a slow-burning constitutional showdown. The Queen's Speech was the centerpiece of the State Opening of Parliament, a blend of politics and pageantry that usually takes place about once a year. Britain saw its last state opening just two months ago, soon after Johnson took over as prime minister from Theresa May through a Conservative Party leadership contest and shortly before the early election that returned him to power.

The pomp was toned down for the queen's second visit this year. There were still officials with titles like Black Rod, scarlet-clad yeomen of the guard and lords in ermine-trimmed robes. But the 93-year-old monarch was driven from Buckingham Palace to Parliament in a car, rather than a horse-drawn carriage, and wore a pale blue dress and matching hat rather than robes and a diamond-studded crown.

Johnson will make his mark on the government more decisively in the new year, when he shakes up his Cabinet and the structure of government. Johnson's office confirmed that one ministry, the Department for Exiting the European Union, will be abolished after Britain leaves the bloc Jan. 31.

Anand Menon, director of political think-tank U.K. in a Changing Europe, said that, with his 80-strong majority in the 650-seat House of Commons, Johnson was in a “very, very strong position.” “It's been so long since we've seen an effective majority government that for the first few months of this one I think we'll just sit there going 'Wow, they're getting things done,'" Menon told the BBC.

UK services industry sees little joy in post-Brexit world

December 18, 2019

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decisive victory in last week's general election provided little comfort to Britain's once world-beating financial services industry, which has been battered by Brexit for more than three years.

While Johnson's triumph buoyed optimism that he would end the country's long-running political stalemate, it virtually guarantees the U.K. will leave the European Union on Jan. 31 and starts the clock on efforts to negotiate a trade deal with the bloc by the end of 2020.

As prime minister prepares to outline his government's priorities Thursday in a speech to lawmakers, the financial industry is seeking assurances that service businesses like theirs won't lose the unfettered access to European markets that has underpinned growth for more than four decades.

“Services are the lifeblood of the U.K. economy and vital to its growth," said Catherine McGuinness, policy chair at the City of London Corp., the historic base for the U.K. financial services industry. “Politicians across the spectrum should recognize that financial and professional services make a significant contribution, employing 2.3 million people across the country – two-thirds outside of London.''

The U.K. financial industry, whose roots stretch back to the investors who financed the British Empire and insured its ships, has flourished as a gateway to Europe for companies from around the world. That helped make London the world's top financial center, before Brexit eroded its advantages.

New York moved past London into the top spot last year, according to a ranking of 114 financial centers compiled by Z/Yen, a London-based commercial think tank, and the China Development Group. In the most recent rankings, published in September, London dropped further behind New York, with Hong Kong just behind in third place. The Global Financial Services Index is based on information provided by more than 3,300 financial professionals around the world.

"Respondents in London continue to be less optimistic than those in other centers, reflecting the continuing uncertainty about future trading relations with the E.U. and the rest of the world after Brexit,'' the report said.

Rather than wait to see the outcome of future discussions, firms ranging from the global investment bank Goldman Sachs to British insurance company Aviva have announced plans to relocate some operations to other EU countries to ensure they maintain a toehold in the bloc.

At least 332 firms in the U.K. banking and finance industry have prepared for Brexit by relocating part of their business, moving staff or setting up new entities in the EU, according to a study by New Financial, a London-based think tank. It also identified some 5,000 staff moves or local hires made in response to Brexit, stressing that the figures are likely to rise when the terms of Britain's departure become clear.

“Financial services have resigned themselves to have a fairly hard Brexit from their point of view," said Jonathan Portes, a senior fellow at The U.K. in a Changing Europe, a non-partisan think tank at King's College London. “What we will essentially see is a slow drift away from London being by far the most dominant financial center in Europe."

Johnson's Brexit deal covers only the so-called divorce issues, including payment of the U.K.'s financial obligations and citizen's rights. The future relationship between Britain and the EU, including a potential free-trade agreement, will be the subject of a second round of negotiations that the government wants to complete by the end of next year.

TheCityUK, which represents Britain's financial services, said that so far Brexit talks have largely focused on trade in goods, neglecting the services sector, which accounts for 80% of the economy. “Ministers should seek to rectify this, consult widely, and focus their efforts on how the U.K.’s global leadership in services industries like ours can be sustained and enhanced over the course of this Parliament,” Chief Executive Miles Celic said.

Financial services alone accounted for 6.9% of the U.K. economy and generated 29 billion pounds ($38.6 billion) of tax revenue in the 2017-18 fiscal year. Related professional services such as accounting and legal services push the industry's total contribution to 10% of GDP.

The EU has already rejected Britain's continued participation in the bloc's ``passporting'' system, which allows financial firms that are authorized in any EU country to do business across the European Economic Area, which comprises all 28 EU countries plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

That leaves Britain and the EU to determine so-called "equivalence'' agreements, which would permit limited access to specified areas if both sides agree to align regulations. Such agreements can be canceled by either side, however, and are subject to wider political considerations.

“This is going to leave loads of uncertainty because these things are not going to be negotiated in a hurry,'' said Vicky Pryce, chief economic adviser at the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research.

Johnson's government has said it is seeking a ``Canada-style free-trade agreement,'' stressing that the EU's deal with Canada covers trade in services. But experts question whether the U.K. can hammer out a similar deal by the end of next year. It took Canada more than five years to negotiate its agreement with the EU, plus two more for it to be approved by each EU country.

Johnson says he won't ask for an extension and will introduce legislation to rule one out, leaving open the possibility that Britain could still leave the EU without a trade deal in a little over a year. Economists forecast this would have tough consequences for jobs and investment.

“The most important thing to remember is that Brexit may get done from a legal point of view on Jan. 31, but that does not get Brexit done from an economic point of view,'' Portes said. “British businesses are going to have to face the fact that uncertainty is going to continue.’’

That has weighed on financial markets. The FTSE 100, Britain's benchmark stock index, has gained 4% since last week's election, beating the S&P 500 in the U.S. and Germany's DAX. But the long-term picture is less positive. While the FTSE 100 has risen 14% since Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016, the S&P 500 jumped 51% in the same period and the DAX 31%.

The pound jumped briefly after the election, adding to a rally that began in August on optimism Johnson would secure a deal with the EU. The currency is still down almost 10% since the referendum. “Anyone hoping that the election would draw a line under Brexit was sadly mistaken,'' Craig Erlam, senior analyst at market research firm Oanda.com, said in a note to investors headlined ``Christmas Gift or Exquisitely Wrapped Lump of Coal?''

UK leader Boris Johnson sorry for missing Brexit deadline

November 03, 2019

LONDON (AP) — Britain's election campaign heated up Sunday with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying he would apologize to Conservatives for failing to take the U.K. out of the European Union by Oct. 31 and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage saying he won't personally run for a seat in Parliament.

Johnson's promise to have Britain leave the bloc by Oct. 31 had been the central plank in the party leadership competition that brought him to power in July. He told Sky News on Sunday that it was a matter of "deep regret" that he failed to do so. Asked if he was sorry about missing the deadline, Johnson said: "Yes, absolutely."

Johnson's failure to deliver may cost him some backing from voters drawn to his fiery rhetoric on the need to finalize Brexit, including his famous statement that he would rather "die in a ditch" than seek another extension.

But his pledge to leave by Oct. 31 with or without a divorce deal was blocked by Parliament, which required him to seek a Brexit delay. The EU has granted a three-month Brexit extension until Jan. 31.

Johnson pushed hard for an early national election on Dec. 12 in which he hopes to get a more Brexit-friendly Parliament that will — finally — pass his proposed deal with the EU. He also said on Sunday that his government wouldn't approve another legally binding referendum of independence for Scotland.

The campaign won't officially begin until after Parliament is dissolved on Wednesday, and various party alliances are still being formed. Farage, the leader of the Brexit Party, told the BBC that he can "serve the cause of Brexit" better by traveling throughout Britain to support 600 Brexit Party candidates rather than by seeking a seat for himself.

"I don't want to be in politics for the rest of my life," he said. Farage has failed in multiple attempts to win a seat in the British Parliament, although he has long been a member of the European Parliament, which he has used as a pulpit to criticize the EU.

He said it was difficult to back party candidates nationwide while trying to win over a local district. Farage has vowed that his party will contest every seat in England, Scotland and Wales against the Conservatives unless Johnson drops his Brexit agreement, which Farage and his party think is worse than a no-deal Brexit.

But the Brexit Party hasn't yet named its candidates and it's not clear what kind of impact it will have. All seats in the 650-seat House of Commons are up for grabs in the Dec. 12 election. Johnson's Conservatives have an early lead in most opinion polls, but analysts say the election is unpredictable because Brexit cuts across traditional party loyalties.

The left-wing Labour Party is trying to expand the campaign focus from Brexit to include domestic political issues such as schools, health care and Britain's social inequities. The centrist Liberal Democrats want to cancel Brexit and are trying to woo pro-EU supporters from both the Conservatives and Labour in Britain's big cities and liberal university towns.

The party may enter a tactical alliance with smaller parties also opposed to Brexit.

Former EU head Tusk appeals for boycott of Poland's election

April 28, 2020

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Former European Council president Donald Tusk appealed Tuesday for a boycott of the upcoming presidential election in his native Poland, saying the postal vote the government has proposed carries health risks amid the coronavirus pandemic and would not meet democratic standards for free, equal and transparent elections.

Tusk, who served as Poland’s prime minister during 2007-2014, said in a video on Twitter that he would not “not take part in the voting procedure" for the May 10 balloting. He said the vote promoted by the right-wing ruling party “has nothing to do with an election.”

Poland’s governing Law and Justice party is pushing to have the election held as planned, arguing that an all-mail vote could take place safely. Law and Justice backs the reelection bid of President Andrzej Duda, who currently leads in opinion polls.

The candidate for the centrist Civic Platform founded by Tusk, Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska, said she would not take part in the vote, either. Despite the ruling party's determination, the election could be held up. A bill regulating the proposed postal balloting is pending in the Senate and may not come to final vote until May 7. The opposition and a faction inside the government are in talks about postponing the vote.

The European Union parliament and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have also spoken against holding the election during the pandemic. Poland's influential Roman Catholic bishops issued a carefully worded appeal to Law and Justice and opposition parties, asking them to “seek such solutions through dialogue that would raise no legal doubts" and would respect the democratic principles of “free and honest elections.”

Judge restores New York Democratic presidential primary

May 06, 2020

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Democratic presidential primary must take place June 23 because canceling it would be unconstitutional and deprive withdrawn presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang of proper representation at the Democratic convention, a judge ruled Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan ruled after lawyers for Sanders and Yang argued Monday that they otherwise would be harmed irreparably. The judge said there was enough time before the primary to plan how to carry it out safely. She acknowledged that the reason it was canceled — to prevent the spread of COVID-19 — was an important state interest but said she was unconvinced it justified infringing rights, especially since every voter can use an absentee ballot. She noted that no other state had canceled its primary.

Torres wrote that removing presidential contenders from the primary ballot deprived them of votes for the Democratic Party’s nomination. She said it also diminished the delegates’ influence on the party’s platform and their ability to react to unexpected convention developments.

It also “deprived Democratic voters of the opportunity to elect delegates who could push their point of view in that forum," she said. “The loss of these First Amendment rights is a heavy hardship." The Democratic members of the State’s Board of Elections voted last week to cancel the presidential primary even though New York still planned to hold its congressional and state-level primaries June 23.

They cited fears the coronavirus could spread among an extra 1.5 million voters who would show up for an election in which former Vice President Joe Biden already has been endorsed by the major candidates he had faced.

The fact that the primary was going to occur on June 23 anyway because of other contested races, including a number of congressional primaries, led Torres to question on Monday why the primary wasn't canceled entirely if safety was such a concern.

Asked for reaction, New York state Democratic party chair Jay Jacobs said: “We are reviewing it.” Jacobs had called holding the primary “unnecessary” with the suspension of Sanders’ campaign and said reduced turnout could reduce the need for many poll workers.

State board of elections spokesman John Conklin said: “No comment at this time. Our lawyers are reviewing the decision.” Biden’s campaign declined to comment. The campaign has kept its distance from the situation, not wanting to become embroiled in a new fight over nearly 300 delegates to the summer convention and saying the campaign didn’t ask for the primary to be scrapped.

Biden became the presumptive nominee when Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign last month, but Sanders had made clear that he wanted to continue collecting delegates from remaining primaries, including in New York, to maximize his influence over the party platform and other decisions at the Democratic convention this summer.

Biden’s campaign did not want to be seen as stepping on Sanders’ efforts to do that in a state like New York, where the Vermont senator maintains a significant following. Sanders’ allies celebrated the ruling.

“Credit to Andrew Yang and all the grassroots groups that have been carrying on the fight for democracy in New York,” said Larry Cohen, who chairs Our Revolution, the grassroots organization spun out of Sanders’ 2016 White House bid. “Vote by mail is the answer to the pandemic,” Cohen continued, “not canceling the presidential primary when more than 80% of democrats have other elections the same day.”

Sanders' representatives, in a statement forwarded by attorney Arthur Schwartz, who argued before Torres, called the decision “an extraordinary victory for the democratic process here in New York, a state much in need of something to cheer about."

Attorney Jeff Kurzon, representing Yang and Congressional candidate Jonathan Herzog, said he was thankful that the judge upheld the laws and protected the right to vote. “We are fired up and up and ready to go vote on June 23!," he wrote in an email.

Associated Press Writer Bill Barrow reported from Atlanta and Marina Villeneuve reported from Albany.

Joe Biden picks vetting team as he searches for running mate

April 30, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden announced Thursday the four co-chairs of his vice presidential vetting team, starting the search for his running mate in earnest. Former Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Apple executive and longtime Biden aide Cynthia Hogan will serve as co-chairs on the committee.

They’ll work with vetting teams led by former White House counsel Bob Bauer, campaign general counsel Dana Remus and former homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco to evaluate Biden’s options and collect information on each candidate to help him make his decision.

“Selecting a vice presidential candidate is one of the most important decisions in a presidential campaign and no one knows this more than Joe Biden,” Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. “These four co-chairs reflect the strength and diversity of our party, and will provide tremendous insight and expertise to what will be a rigorous selection and vetting process.”

Biden, a former vice president himself, has committed to picking a woman and has told donors his team is thinking about naming his running mate far in advance of the August Democratic convention. Biden has offered some hints about his thinking. He frequently says he’s looking for someone who’s “simpatico with where I want to take the country.” He’s also said he can easily name 12 to 15 women who meet his criteria but would likely seriously consider from six to 11 candidates. Biden has given no indication of whether he’ll look to the Senate, where he spent six terms, to governors or elsewhere.

Those believed to be potential picks include some of Biden’s former primary opponents, such as Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, as well as some women outside Washington, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

Kim reappears in public, ending absence amid health rumors

May 03, 2020

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made his first public appearance in 20 days as he celebrated the completion of a fertilizer factory near Pyongyang, state media said Saturday, ending an absence that had triggered global rumors that he may be seriously ill.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, reported that Kim attended the ceremony Friday in Sunchon with other senior officials, including his sister Kim Yo Jong, who many analysts predict would take over if her brother is suddenly unable to rule.

State media showed videos and photos of Kim wearing a black Mao suit and constantly smiling, walking around facilities, applauding, cutting a huge red ribbon with a scissor handed by his sister, and smoking inside and outside of buildings while talking with other officials.

Seemingly thousands of workers, many of them masked, stood in lines at the massive complex, roaring in celebration and releasing balloons into the air. A sign installed on a stage where Kim sat with other senior officials read: “Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory; Completion Ceremony; May 1, 2020.”

There was no definite sign that Kim was in discomfort, although there were moments where his walking looked a bit stiff. He was shown moving without a walking stick, like the one he used in 2014 when he was recovering from a presumed ankle surgery. However, he was also seen riding a green electric cart, which appeared similar to a vehicle he used in 2014.

It was Kim’s first public appearance since April 11, when he presided over a ruling Workers’ Party meeting to discuss the coronavirus and reappoint his sister as an alternate member of the powerful decision-making Political Bureau of the party’s Central Committee. That move confirmed her substantial role in the government.

North Korea has said it hasn't had a single virus case, but the claim is questioned by many outside experts. It wasn’t immediately clear what had caused Kim’s absence. Speculation about his health swirled after he missed the April 15 birthday celebration for his late grandfather Kim Il Sung, the country’s most important holiday, for the first time since taking power in 2011.

The possibility of high-level instability raised troubling questions about the future of the secretive, nuclear-armed country that has been steadily building an arsenal meant to threaten the U.S. mainland while diplomacy between Kim and President Donald Trump has stalled.

“I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well!” Trump tweeted Saturday. Some experts say South Korea, as well as its regional neighbors and ally Washington, must begin preparing for the possible chaos that could come if Kim is sidelined by health problems or even dies. Worst-case scenarios include North Korean refugees flooding South Korea or China, or military hard-liners letting loose nuclear weapons.

“The world is largely unprepared for instability in North Korea,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “Washington, Seoul and Tokyo need tighter coordination on contingency plans, while international organizations need more resources and less controversy over the role of China.”

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which deals with inter-Korean affairs, confirmed Kim’s visit to the fertilizer factory and said it was part of his efforts to emphasize economic development. The ministry called for discretion on information related to North Korea, saying that the “groundless” rumors of past weeks have caused “unnecessary confusion and cost” for South Korea’s society and financial markets.

South Korea’s government, which has a mixed record of tracking Pyongyang’s ruling elite, repeatedly downplayed speculation that Kim, believed to be 36, was in poor health following surgery. The office of South Korean President Moon Jae-in said it detected no unusual signs in North Korea or any emergency reaction by its ruling party, military or Cabinet. Seoul said it believed Kim was still managing state affairs but staying at an unspecified location outside Pyongyang, the capital.

The KCNA report said workers at the fertilizer factory broke into “thunderous cheers” for Kim, who it said is guiding the nation in a struggle to build a self-reliant economy in the face of a “head wind” by “hostile forces.”

The report didn’t mention any direct comment toward Washington or Seoul. During his nearly three-week absence, state media reported that Kim was carrying out routine activities outside public view, such as sending greetings to the leaders of Syria, Cuba and South Africa, and expressing gratitude to workers building tourist facilities in the coastal town of Wonsan, where some speculated he was staying.

Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at South Korea’s Sejong Institute, said the video footage of Kim suggested that he is recovering from some sort of medical setback that affected his walking, possibly related to his ankle.

In 2014, Kim vanished from the public eye for nearly six weeks before reappearing with a cane. South Korea’s spy agency said at the time that he had a cyst removed from his ankle. Analysts say Kim's health could become an increasing factor in years ahead: He’s overweight, smokes and drinks, and has a family history of heart issues.

If he’s suddenly unable to rule, some analysts have said his sister, believed to be around four years younger than her brother, would be installed as leader to continue Pyongyang’s heredity dynasty that began after World War II.

But others question whether core members of North Korea’s elite, mostly men in their 60s or 70s, would be able to accept a young and untested female leader who lacks military credentials. Some predict a collective leadership or violent power struggles.

Following an unusually provocative run in missile and nuclear tests in 2017, Kim used the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea to initiate negotiations with Washington and Seoul later that year. That led to a surprising series of summits, with Kim and Trump meeting three times.

But negotiations have faltered in recent months over disagreements in exchanging sanctions relief and disarmament steps, raising doubts about whether Kim would ever fully deal away an arsenal he likely sees as his strongest guarantee of survival.

South Korea maintains Kim Jong Un health rumors are untrue

April 27, 2020

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A top South Korean official said his country remains confident there have been no “unusual developments” in North Korea, suggesting that rumors about the possible ill health of leader Kim Jong Un are untrue.

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul told a closed-door forum in Seoul on Sunday that South Korea has “enough intelligence to confidently say that there are no unusual developments” in rival North Korea that would back up speculation about Kim Jong Un's health, according to his ministry.

The minister said he would not reveal what specific intelligence led to that conclusion, but stressed that it had undergone a complex analysis. The rumors about Kim’s health began to swirl after he missed the April 15 commemoration of the 108th birthday of his grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung. Kim Jong Un is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, and he hadn’t missed the event, one of the most important in the North, since assuming power after his father Kim Jong Il’s death in late 2011.

The unification minister's comments are a reiteration of earlier South Korean statements that Kim Jong Un appeared to be handling state affairs normally and that no unusual activities had been detected in North Korea. Those comments failed to dispel the rumors about Kim, which have been fed by the silence of North Korea's state media about their leader's whereabouts.

As the absolute leader of a country with a nuclear weapons program, Kim's health is matter of intense interest both regionally and globally. If something were to happen to Kim, some experts say it could lead to instability in North Korea.

South Korea’s presidential office earlier said it has information that Kim has been staying out of Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, and that there had been no emergency readiness order issued by the North’s military or the ruling Workers’ Party that likely would have been made if Kim were truly in serious condition.

On Monday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in repeated an offer to conduct some inter-Korean cooperation projects such as a joint anti-coronavirus quarantine campaign. Moon also said he will strive for mutual prosperity “based on confidence between Chairman Kim and me and our firm resolve to (achieve) peace.”

Monday is the second anniversary of Moon’s first summit with Kim at the Korean border village of Panmunjom. Satellite photos released Saturday by 38 North, a website specializing in North Korea studies, showed that a train likely belonging to Kim has been parked at his compound on the country’s east coast since last week.

“The train’s presence does not prove the whereabouts of the North Korean leader or indicate anything about his health, but it does lend weight to reports that Kim is staying at an elite area on the country’s eastern coast,” 38 North said.

Clashes and unity calls at UN on World War II anniversary

May 09, 2020

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. Security Council meeting on the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe on Friday saw a clash between Russia and some Europeans, calls for unity to fight COVID-19, and warnings that the seeds of a new global conflict must be prevented from growing.

Nearly 70 speakers, including more than 45 foreign ministers and the European Union’s top diplomat, took part in the informal video meeting organized by Estonia, which holds the council presidency this month, on lessons learned from the war for preventing future atrocities and the Security Council’s responsibility.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the world is facing “its biggest crisis since the end of World War II” triggered by the outbreak of the coronavirus, which “is shaking the foundations of our societies and exposing the vulnerabilities of the most fragile countries.”

“It has the potential to deepen existing conflicts and generate new geopolitical tensions,” Borrell warned. Beyond the immediate public health challenges, he said, “millions of people around the world are still displaced by persecution, conflict and atrocities.”

He urged the international community to tackle inequalities and uphold human rights equally everywhere, singling out Syrians, Yemenis, Venezuelans, Palestinians and Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims. And he said “we must act against the re-emergence of anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia and authoritarian politics.”

Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the hope for a better future after the war that killed over 60 million people led to the creation of the United Nations and the European Union, “and it found its expression in the forgiveness that my country has received from its former enemies,” which “to this day ... fills us with immense gratitude and humility.”

He said Germany’s commitment to global solutions and multilateralism “is based on our historic experience — that nationalism leads to destruction.” Maas said that during the last months, “we have witnessed attempts to stir up nationalist feelings by trying to rewrite history.”

“Those who try to turn the victims into perpetrators and the attacked into attackers are violating the memory of the victims,” he said. “This is unacceptable.” Maas warned that political backing for international institutions is too often missing today, especially in the Security Council, whose mandate is to maintain international peace and security. He pointed to its failure to end wars in Syria and Libya and bring peace to the Middle East and Ukraine.

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the world today is witnessing “a brutalization of international life,” pointing to conflicts and “the multiplication of faits accomplis" from the South China Sea to Eastern Europe, the use of chemical weapons in Syria, Malaysia and on European soil, terrorism, new threats from cyberspace, and stiffening international competition.

Estonia’s Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu, who chaired the meeting, rejected Russia’s recent attempts “to manipulate historical events" and justify the August 1939 non-aggression treaty between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, with its secret protocol dividing Europe into spheres of influence for each of them.

Reinsalu said the pact “paved the way for the outbreak of World War II.” “We should remember that after the war, for half a century, many European nations remained under direct Soviet suppression, deprived of freedom, sovereignty, dignity, human rights and free development,” Reinsalu said.

He stressed that World War II “taught us to protect our freedom, to reject and condemn the illegal use of force and to cooperate in order to achieve and preserve peace.” Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia countered that “the Soviet Union was the main victim in that war and at the same time it made the biggest sacrifice.”

“Attempts to challenge this, to present the Soviet Union as allegedly equally responsible for starting the war that surface today and circulate today by some modern politicians and ... historians are not only immoral but disgusting and sacrilege to the truth and to our historical memory,” he said.

And claims the Soviet Red Army didn’t liberate countries from Nazism but put them “into enslavement” are also an “insult,” he said. “Rewriting history has become a popular trend,” Nebenzia said. “The aim is clear, to shift the blame to deprive Russia retroactively of its status as one of the heroes of World War II.”

He said perhaps the greatest lesson of the war “was that mankind realized the need for a vaccine against the ideology of hate.” “What fortunately the world has not seen is another world war which would have been nuclear and catastrophic, but we shouldn’t be complacent about it,” he said. “Current international relations show some trends that are reminiscent of those before World War I and World War II - deep distrust among major international players, attempts to achieve hegemony, unilateral actions, scapegoat — to name a few.”

Nebenzia expressed hope that the wisdom and will to act together against common threats and challenges will prevail today as it did during World War II, warning that a new global war “may become the final for mankind.”

Israel's high court to hear petitions against Netanyahu rule

May 03, 2020

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's high court was set Sunday to begin hearing petitions against Benjamin Netanyahu forming a government while facing criminal indictments. The proceedings, held by an exceptionally large panel of 11 justices and in a rare instance to also be broadcast live, will focus on the issue of whether an politician can form a government while under indictment — something the Israeli legal code does not explicitly prohibit.

If the court voids Netanyahu’s ability to serve as prime minister, Israel could be plunged into political chaos, and it would likely trigger the country’s fourth consecutive election in just over 12 months.

The high court has become a lightning rod for criticism by Netanyahu and his political allies, who accuse it of overreach and political interference, while the long-time leader's opponents consider it a bastion of democracy under dangerous assault.

Pro-democracy demonstrators have been taking to the streets weekly to protest Netanyahu's continued rule. Last week, counter-protesters against the court demonstrated against its hearing the petitions against Netanyahu's rule.

In an unprecedented move, Sunday’s hearing would be broadcast live on the high court’s website while most of the country remains under coronavirus movement restrictions. Netanyahu was indicted earlier this year on charges of accepting bribes, fraud and breach of trust. He has denied any wrongdoing. His trial was postponed due to restrictions his hand-picked interim justice minister placed on the courts after the coronavirus crisis erupted and is scheduled to commence later this month.

Last week, Israel’s attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, said in an opinion to the court that while Netanyahu's indictments “raise significant problems,” there was no legal basis for barring him from serving while facing criminal charges.

Israeli law mandates that Cabinet ministers and mayors resign if indicted, but prime ministers are not specifically required to step down. In January, the Supreme Court declined to rule on whether Netanyahu could form a government under indictment, saying the matter remained “theoretical” ahead of March’s elections.

On Monday, the court will address petitions concerning Netanyahu's power-sharing coalition deal with his main rival, former military chief Benny Gantz. Netanyahu and Gantz signed the agreement to form a national government last month after Israel's third consecutive, deadlocked election in just over a year. The deal would have Netanyahu serve the first 18 months as prime minister, after which Gantz would assume power for the next 18 months.

The coalition deal and Netanyahu's upcoming corruption trials have triggered large protests in Tel Aviv's main square. Participants in the demonstrations observed social distance in accordance with public health regulations.

The petitions against Netanyahu were filed by advocacy groups that have asked the high court to ban any indicted politician, including Netanyahu, from being allowed to form a new government. They also say that parts of the coalition deal are illegal.

Eliad Shraga, head of one of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the groups petitioning the court, said in a statement ahead of Sunday's proceedings that it was “unconscionable that a man like this will go in the morning to court to sit in the dock and in the evening will manage the security cabinet and send us and our children to battle.”

Netanyahu, Israel's longest serving prime minister, has held onto power as a caretaker leader for more than a year as political stalemate prevented the creation of a government and triggered successive elections.

Russian volunteers search for fallen World War II soldiers

May 09, 2020

KHULKHUTA, Russia (AP) — Crouching over the sun-drenched soil, Alfred Abayev picks up a charred fragment of a Soviet warplane downed in a World War II battle with advancing Nazi forces. “You can see it was burning,” he says, pointing at the weathered trace of a red star.

Abayev and members of his search team rummage the steppe for remains of the Red Army soldiers who fell in the autumn of 1942 in fierce fighting with Nazi troops pushing toward the Caspian Sea south of Stalingrad.

Stiff resistance by the Red Army stopped the Wehrmacht onslaught in the steppes of Kalmykia, and months later the enemy's forces were encircled in Stalingrad and surrendered, a major defeat for the Nazis that marked a turning point in World War II.

The search for remains of fallen Red Army soldiers near Khulkhuta, in Kalmykia, a southern province that lies between the Volga River and the Caspian Sea, is part of a broad effort by myriad volunteer groups across Russia to pay tribute to fallen World War II soldiers.

Russia's losses stood at a staggering 27 million, and the war's enormous suffering and sacrifice has been deeply engraved in the nation's psyche. The defeat of the Nazis, which Russia marks on May 9 as Victory Day, is the nation's most important holiday, lavishly celebrated across the country with annual military parades, fireworks and other festivities.

The coronavirus pandemic has scuttled President Vladimir Putin's plan to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe with a massive Red Square parade involving top foreign leaders. The big show was intended to emphasize a decisive role the Soviet Union played in the war and underline Moscow's global clout.

The Russian capital will still mark the anniversary Saturday with a flyby of dozens of warplanes over Red Square and lavish fireworks. Similar celebrations will be held in other cities across the country as most Russians have remained in lockdown since late March to stem the coronavirus outbreak.

Putin has vowed to hold a full-fledged Red Square parade later this year once the spread of contagion slows down. While authorities have focused on festivities, numerous volunteers across the country have continued to search World War II battlefields for soldiers' remains.

Abayev, who leads the volunteers in Kalmykia, sees it as his duty to bury the fallen soldiers. “We believe it's necessary to do this,” he said. “It's important for me because my ancestors fought here.”

Abayev said that his group have found the remains of more than 4,500 troops, most of them Red Army soldiers, but also some Wehrmacht troops. Some Germans visited Khulkhuta to see the place where their ancestors died, he said.

The remains that can't be identified are buried in a mass grave in Khulkhuta under an austere, gray monument. The head of Khulkhuta's local administration, Galina Nasurova, sees paying tribute to the fallen soldiers as an important mission.

"This place is sacred. They call it ‘Small Stalingrad’ because of fierce battles that took place here," she said. The sun-dried steppes of Kalmykia made it easier for volunteers to find personal items helping identify at least some of the dead.

But the task is much more daunting in the forests and marshlands of western Russia that became the arenas of fierce battles with the Nazi armies that invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. The Wehrmacht quickly overtook huge chunks of Soviet territory, advancing as close as 30 kilometers (about 20 miles) from Moscow in October 1941.

A successful Soviet counter-offensive pushed the Nazis back from the outskirts of the Soviet capital at the end of 1941, but the Red Army continued to suffer a string of devastating defeats in the following year until the battle of Stalingrad reversed its fortunes.

According to official estimates, the Red Army's casualties stood at 8.7 million, but many historians have argued that the figure was significantly higher. As the Soviet soldiers were rolling back under the Nazi onslaught, they had little or no chance to give their fallen comrades a proper burial.

Some were hastily buried in collective graves that later lost their markings, and remains of countless others were left in the fields and forests of the western part of the Soviet Union. Millions were taken prisoner and died of starvation and from slave labor in Nazi concentration camps.

Ever since, their families have lived in gnawing uncertainty about when and how they died, and volunteers see it as their patriotic duty to determine the fallen soldiers' fate. Alexander Trubakov, the leader of a group of volunteers from the southern Astrakhan region next to Kalmykia, said so far this year his team has managed to identify two fallen soldiers whose remains were found in the steppe near Khulkhuta.

One carried his Red Army ID in his purse, and another had his “death medallion,” a tiny Bakelite cylinder with a tiny piece of newsprint containing personal data, he said. “We are searching for relatives to invite them to a burial of those who fought here,” Trubakov said.

Isachenkov reported from Moscow.

Fire, rioting breaks out at Siberia prison

April 10, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials said a large fire was blazing Friday at a prison in Siberia where inmates and guards have clashed. There was no official information about casualties or damage at the prison in Angarsk, 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) east of Moscow.

But Pavel Glushenko, a local human rights activist, said on social media that “full-scale hostilities” were taking place at the maximum-security prison. Details were unclear about what set off the clashes, with reports either that prisoners attacked guards or that a guard beat a prisoner.

State news agency RIA-Novosti late Friday cited a local official as saying the fire covered about 30,000 square meters (300,000 square feet) but had been localized. The prison holds about 1,200 inmates.

Religious freedom watchdog pitches adding India to blacklist

April 29, 2020

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is urging that the State Department add India to its list of nations with uniquely poor records on protecting freedom to worship — while proposing to remove Sudan and Uzbekistan from that list.

The bipartisan commission, created in 1998 by Congress to make policy recommendations about global religious freedom, proposed designating India as a “country of particular concern” in the annual report it released Tuesday. That lower ranking for a long-running U.S. ally amounts to a stark show of disapproval of India's divisive new citizenship law, which has sparked broad worries about disenfranchisement of Muslims.

President Donald Trump declined to criticize the citizenship measure during his February visit to India, where his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi was punctuated by skirmishes between Hindus and Muslims.

The commission, by contrast, is empowered as an independent arbiter to look only at nations' religious freedom records, apart from their relationship with the United States, vice chair Nadine Maenza said.

Beyond the citizenship law, Maenza said in an interview, India has a broader “move toward clamping down on religious minorities that’s really troublesome.” A spokesman for India's Ministry of External Affairs, Anurag Srivastava, responded to the report with a statement blasting the commission's “biased and tendentious comments against" that nation. Noting that some members dissented from the commission's decision to recommend India for the lowest ranking of religious freedom protections, Srivastava appeared to use the commission's internal terminology as a dig.

“We regard (the commission) as an organization of particular concern and will treat it accordingly,” he said. In the cases of Sudan and Uzbekistan, the Trump administration got out ahead of the commission in raising its ranking of religious freedom protections. The State Department decided in December to no longer rank Sudan as a nation “of particular concern" after having taken Uzbekistan off the list earlier.

Following last year's military ouster of authoritarian leader, Omar al-Bashir, new Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok met with the commission and committed to improve religious freedom, Maenza said.

Among the other significant recommendations in Tuesday's report was a call for the U.S. government to “exert significant pressure on Turkey to provide a timeline for its withdrawal from Syria.” Turkey's incursion into northern Syria last fall sparked broad concern about resulting threats to religious minorities in the region.

The commission proposed four other nations join India in the ranks of most egregious religious freedom offenders; Nigeria, Russia, Syria and Vietnam. The State Department's current list of “countries of particular concern” regarding religious freedom includes China, Saudi Arabia, North Korea and Iran.

Inclusion among the nations with the poorest religious freedom records can lead to new sanctions, although the executive branch is also empowered to rely on already-imposed sanctions or issue a waiver.

Sudan and Uzbekistan are currently on a State Department watch list for nations where religious freedom infringement is not as widespread, constant and significant as those in the lowest-ranked tier.

The commission's latest annual report recommends the addition of 11 more nations that the State Department has not yet put on that watch list: Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Turkey.

Associated Press writer Emily Schmall contributed from New Delhi.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through the Religion News Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Leaders balance optimism with threat of second virus wave

May 11, 2020

HOUSTON (AP) — Trump administration officials spoke optimistically about a relatively quick rebound from the coronavirus Sunday as life within the White House reflected the stark challenges still posed by the pandemic, with Vice President Mike Pence “self-isolating” after one of his aides tested positive.

A balancing act was playing out the world over, with leaders starting to loosen lockdowns that have left millions unemployed while also warning of the threat of a second wave of infections. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin predicted the American economy would rebound in the second half of this year from unemployment rates that rival the Great Depression. Another 3.2 million U.S. workers applied for jobless benefits last week, bringing the total over the last seven weeks to 33.5 million.

“I think you’re going to see a bounce-back from a low standpoint,” said Mnuchin, speaking on “Fox News Sunday.” But the director of the University of Washington institute that created a White House-endorsed coronavirus model said the moves by states to re-open businesses “will translate into more cases and deaths in 10 days from now.” Dr. Christopher Murray of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation said states where cases and deaths are going up more than expected include Illinois, Arizona, Florida and California.

A reminder of the continued threat, Pence's move came after three members of the White House’s coronavirus task force placed themselves in quarantine after coming into contact with the aide. An administration official said Pence was voluntarily keeping his distance from other people and has repeatedly tested negative for COVID-19 since his exposure. He plans to be at the White House Monday.

Families, meanwhile, marked Mother’s Day in a time of social distancing. For many, it was their first without loved ones lost in the pandemic. Others sent good wishes from a safe distance or through phone and video calls.

The virus has caused particular suffering for the elderly, with more than 26,000 deaths in nursing homes and long-term care facilities in the United States, according to an Associated Press tally. At a senior center in Smyrna, Georgia, 73-year-old Mary Washington spoke to her daughter Courtney Crosby and grandchild Sydney Crosby through a window.

In Germany, children who live outside the country were allowed to enter for a Mother’s Day visit. Germany's restrictions currently forbid entry except for “compelling reasons,” such as work. In Grafton, West Virginia, where the tradition of Mother’s Day began 112 years ago, the brick building now known as the International Mother’s Day Shrine held its first online-only audience. Anna Jarvis first held a memorial service for her mother and all mothers on the second Sunday of May in 1908.

“Sheltered safely at home with the family together would be viewed by Anna Jarvis as exactly the way she wanted Mother’s Day to be observed,” said Marvin Gelhausen, chairman of the shrine's board of trustees, in an address on YouTube.

Matilda Cuomo, the mother of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, called into her son’s daily briefing so he and his three daughters could wish her a happy Mother’s Day. “I am so blessed as many mothers today are,” she said.

The governor announced two policy reversals a day after an Associated Press report in which residents’ relatives, watchdog groups and politicians alleged he was not doing enough to counter the surge of deaths in nursing homes, where about 5,300 residents have died. Nursing home staff in New York will now have to undergo COVID-19 tests twice a week, and facilities will no longer be required to take in hospital patients who were infected.

The U.S. has seen 1.3 million infections and nearly 80,000 deaths, the most in the world by far, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, 4 million people have been reported infected and more than 280,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins.

In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a modest easing of the country’s coronavirus lockdown but urged citizens not to surrender the progress already made. Those in jobs that can’t be done at home “should be actively encouraged to go to work” this week, he said. Johnson, who has taken a tougher line after falling ill himself with what he called “this devilish illness,” set a goal of June 1 to begin reopening schools and shops if the U.K. can control new infections and the transmission rate of each infected person.

“We will be driven not by mere hope or economic necessity,” he said. “We’re going to be driven by the science, the data, and public health.” Germany, which managed to push new infections below 1,000 daily before deciding to loosen restrictions, has seen regional spikes in cases linked to slaughterhouses and nursing homes.

France is letting some younger students go back to school Monday after almost two months out. Attendance won’t be compulsory right away. Residents of some Spanish regions will be able to enjoy limited seating at bars, restaurants and other public places Monday, but Madrid and Barcelona will remain shut down.

China reported 17 new cases on Monday, the second day of double-digit increases. Five were in the city of Wuhan, the original epicenter of the pandemic where a strict lockdown was lifted last month. Another five were in northeastern provinces, including Jilin, which borders North Korea.

Despite the new cases raising concerns about a reignited outbreak, 82,000 third-year middle school students in Beijing returned to classes Monday to prepare for their high school entrance exams. And Shanghai Disneyland, closed since late January, reopened, with reservations required and social distancing measures in place. Visitors wearing masks and often Mickey Mouse ears or character costumes were checked for fevers at the gate.

South Korea reported 35 new cases Monday, the second day in a row that its daily jump was above 30 for the first time in a month. Many of its recently confirmed cases were tied to nightclubs that welcomed hundreds of people after reopening. Authorities in the Seoul metropolitan area subsequently ordered the temporary closing of its nightlife establishments to guard against a possible resurgence.

Jordans reported from Berlin. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed.

UK's Johnson lays out road map for easing virus lockdown

May 11, 2020

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday outlined a “conditional plan” for reopening British society in the coming months, including the possible return to school for some young children at the start of June, as well as some easing of the coronavirus lockdown in England.

In a televised address to the nation, Johnson said this is "not the time, simply, to end the lockdown this week,” but that it was appropriate to make some changes, including encouraging people with jobs that cannot be done from home to return to work.

However, his plan of action lacked many details and raised a series of new questions, not least over potentially divergent approaches by the four constituent nations of the U.K. — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. More details will be unveiled in Parliament on Monday.

Johnson said it would be “madness” to loosen restrictions so much that a second spike in cases emerges. The U.K. recorded as of Sunday almost 32,000 virus-related deaths, the most in Europe and the second-highest pandemic toll worldwide. Johnson said that without the lockdown, in place since March 23, half a million people may have lost their lives.

“We must continue to control the virus and save lives,” the prime minister said from an office at 10 Downing Street. “And yet we must also recognize that this campaign against the virus has come at colossal cost to our way of life.”

The lockdown has reduced the transmission of the novel coronavirus in the community, but has come at a heavy economic cost. Johnson, who returned to work only two weeks ago following his hospitalization for COVID-19, has come under pressure to relieve the pressure on the economy.

He said the government would proceed cautiously but that he could announce “the first careful steps” in relaxing the lockdown in England. He said people who cannot work from home, such as those in construction or manufacturing, “should be actively encouraged to go to work” starting this week. However, he said they should not commute by public transportation and adhere to social distancing guidelines. It was unclear how those with children can return if schools remain closed and how workplaces can be designated as safe.

And starting Wednesday, the government will also allow people to take “unlimited amounts” of exercise outdoors instead of being limited to once a day, Johnson said. Members of the public will be able to sunbathe, drive to destinations such as beaches, and play sports such as golf and tennis — but only with members of the same household.

The changes permit individuals to sit with a friend in a park provided they keep 2 meters apart, something prohibited during the lockdown. In theory, that means people can meet their mother or father, but not both. No details were provided on when people can meet with friends and family again.

Johnson said fines for violations of the social distancing rules would be increased. The governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, extended their lockdowns prior to Johnson's speech and eased restrictions less than the steps the prime minister announced for England. That prompted questions over the potential for divergent approaches across the U.K. in the months ahead. Up until now, they have moved in lockstep on virus regulations.

Johnson is at odds with the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland after his government replaced its “Stay at Home” public health slogan with a new “Stay Alert” message, wording that raised concerns about the potential danger of mixed messaging. They said they would retain the “Stay at Home” message.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she didn’t know what the new advice meant and has asked the U.K. government not to promote a “vague and imprecise” message in Scotland. Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labor Party, said he was worried about the four nations “pulling in different directions” and that Johnson failed to provide the necessary “clarity and consensus.”

Health experts also expressed concern about the new slogan. Professor Til Wykes of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, said it "will just be confusing, be open to misinterpretation and likely to increase risky behavior.”

Johnson also laid out what he called “the first sketch of a road map for reopening society” in coming months, including the potential opening of shops and the return to school for some younger children as early as June 1.

He also expressed hope that segments of the hospitality industry and more public places could reopen a month later. “Throughout this period of the next two months, we will be driven not by mere hope or economic necessity,” he said. “We are going to be driven by the science, the data and public health, and I must stress again that all of this is conditional, it all depends on a series of big ifs.”

He said the U.K. government was introducing a scale for measuring the threat from the virus. Johnson explained the COVID Alert Level will guide policy — the lower the level, the fewer the measures. “We will be monitoring our progress locally, regionally, and nationally, and if there are outbreaks, if there are problems, we will not hesitate to put on the brakes,” he said.

Johnson also said it will “soon be the time” to require those arriving in the country by plane to quarantine. No further details were provided but there's speculation that the quarantine would be 14 days unless travelers are coming from Ireland. Anyone arriving from France will be exempt, Johnson's office confirmed after a conversation between the prime minister and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Belarus holds Victory Day parade, disregarding coronavirus

May 09, 2020

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — The eastern European nation of Belarus held a full-fledged military parade Saturday to mark Victory Day, shrugging off safety concerns during the coronavirus pandemic that led Russia to curtail its own long-planned 75th anniversary observances.

Tens of thousands of spectators lined the parade route as some 3,000 soldiers and 185 military vehicles passed by in the capital, Minsk. Some elderly veterans watching from a stand wore masks, but few face coverings or other protective measures were seen in the throng of viewers along the street.

Belarus’ authoritarian president has dismissed the coronavirus as a “psychosis,” despite the number of confirmed cases in the country substantially exceeding those in neighboring Ukraine and Poland, which have populations about four times as large as Belarus.

President Alexander Lukashenko opened the parade, saying the suffering of Belarus during World War II “is incomparable with any difficulties of the present day.” Belarus was proportionately the hardest-hit of the Soviet republics during the war. An estimated 1.6 million civilians and 600,000 soldiers died, or about 25% of the population. As much as 85% of Minsk was leveled in bombing raids.

The World Health Organization had called on Belarus to cancel Victory Day events, but Lukashenko said he felt morally obliged to veterans and the country to mark Nazi Germany's defeat. On Saturday, he called observing Victory Day a “sacred action.”

Spectator Anatoly Kudryanok, who did not wear a mask, said he agreed with the president's position. “I don’t feel danger, I don’t give in to psychosis. The president said that our medicine will cope with everything. There is no fear," said Kudryanok, who watched the parade with his wife and 8-year-old son.

But author Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize for literature, harshly criticized Lukashenko, who has stifled opposition throughout his quarter-century tenure as Belarusian president. “The powerful will of this person is able to subjugate a vast country, and no one is there who will tell him that this is crazy,” Alexievich told reporters.

Belarus, with a population of about 9 million, has recorded more than 21,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 933 new cases in the past day, and 121 deaths, with

Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this story.

Coronavirus takes a toll in Sweden's immigrant community

May 09, 2020

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The flight from Italy was one of the last arrivals that day at the Stockholm airport. A Swedish couple in their 50s walked up and loaded their skis into Razzak Khalaf's taxi. It was early March and concerns over the coronavirus were already present, but the couple, both coughing for the entire 45-minute journey, assured Khalaf they were healthy and just suffering from a change in the weather. Four days later, the Iraqi immigrant got seriously ill with COVID-19.

Still not able to return to work, Khalaf is part of the growing evidence that those in immigrant communities in the Nordic nations are being hit harder by the pandemic than the general population. Sweden took a relatively soft approach to fighting the coronavirus, one that attracted international attention. Large gatherings were banned but restaurants and schools for younger children have stayed open. The government has urged social distancing, and Swedes have largely complied.

The country has paid a heavy price, with 3,175 fatalities from COVID-19. That's more than 31 deaths per 100,000 population, compared with about 8 per 100,000 in neighboring Denmark, which imposed a strict lockdown early on that is only now being slowly lifted.

Inside Sweden's immigrant communities, anecdotal evidence emerged early in the outbreak that suggested that some — particularly those from Somalia and Iraq — were hit harder than others. Last month, data from Sweden’s Public Health Agency confirmed that Somali Swedes made up almost 5 percent of the country's COVID-19 cases, yet represented less than 1 percent of its 10 million people.

Many in these communities are more likely to live in crowded, multigeneration households and are unable to work remotely. “No one cares for taxi drivers in Sweden,” said Khalaf, who tested positive and was admitted to a hospital when his condition deteriorated. Despite difficulties breathing, the 49-year-old says he was sent home after six hours and told his body was strong enough to “fight it off.”

In Finland, Helsinki authorities warned of a similar over-representation among Somali immigrants in the capital — some 200 cases, or about 14%, of all confirmed infections. In Norway, where immigrants make up nearly 15% of the general population, they represent about 25% of confirmed coronavirus cases.

“I think a pandemic like this one, or any crisis will hit the most vulnerable people in society the most wherever in the world, and we see this in many many countries," said Isabella Lovin, Sweden's deputy prime minister, in an interview with The Associated Press.

Noting that the virus was spreading faster in some crowded Stockholm suburbs, Lovin said said the city is providing short-term accommodation to some people whose relatives are vulnerable. Sweden, Norway and Finland recognized early failings in community outreach in minority languages and are seeking to fix this. The town of Jarfalla, outside Stockholm, has had high school students hand out leaflets in Somali, Persian, French and other languages, urging people to wash their hands and stay home if sick.

With Sweden's relatively low-key approach to fighting the virus that relies mainly on voluntary social distancing, there are concerns the message has not reached everyone in immigrant neighborhoods. “It’s important that everyone living here who has a different mother tongue gets the right information,” said Warda Addallah, a 17-year-old Somali Swede.

Anders Wallensten, Sweden’s deputy state epidemiologist, said officials have worked harder on communicating with such groups "to make sure they have the knowledge to protect themselves and avoid spreading the disease to others.”

But teacher and community activist Rashid Musa says the problem runs much deeper. “I wish it were that easy — that you needed to just translate a few papers,” he said. “We need to look at the more fundamental issue, which is class, which is racism, which is social status, which is income.”

“The rich have the opportunity to put themselves into quarantine, they can go to their summer houses,” Musa said. A key government recommendation for individuals to work from home if possible is harder in marginalized areas where many have jobs in the service sector.

“How can a bus driver or a taxi driver work from home?” Musa asked. Evidence of this disparity can be found in anonymous data aggregated by mobile phone operator Telia, which has given the Swedish Health Authority information about population mobility. By comparing the number of people in an area early in the morning with those who traveled to another area for at least an hour later in the day, Telia estimates how many go to work and how many stay home.

“We do see certain areas that are maybe more affluent with a bigger number of people working from home,” said Kristofer Agren, the head of data insights for Telia. Data shows a 12 percentage point difference between Danderyd, one of Stockholm’s most affluent suburbs, and Botkryka, one with the highest percentage of first- and second-generation immigrants.

“Many of our members have contracted the coronavirus,” said Akil Zahiri, who helps administer the mosque on the outskirts of Stockholm. "But you do the best you can.” Zahiri spoke to the AP as he sat alone in Sweden’s largest Shiite mosque coordinating a video call with the congregation to pray for a member who died of COVID-19. The sound of prayer crackled through the computer, breaking the silence in the empty hall.

During Ramadan, the month when Muslims fast during the day, the mosque canceled all public events. Zahiri reminded the congregation to take part in social distancing, urging them to stay home for the Iftar, the daily breaking of the fast after sunset, and to avoid sharing food with friends.

Associated Press writers Jari Tanner in Helsinki, Finland, and Mark Lewis in Stavanger, Norway, contributed.

Governors disregarding White House guidelines on reopening

May 08, 2020

(AP) Many governors across the U.S. are disregarding or creatively interpreting White House guidelines for safely easing restrictions and letting businesses reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, an Associated Press analysis found.

The AP determined that 17 states did not meet a key benchmark set by the White House for loosening up — a 14-day downward trajectory in new cases or positive test rates. And yet many of those have begun to reopen or are about to do so, including Alabama, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah.

Because of the broad way in which the nonbinding guidelines are written, other states, including Georgia, have technically managed to meet the criteria and reopen despite not seeing a steady decline in cases and deaths.

Asked Thursday about states reopening without meeting the benchmarks, President Donald Trump said: “The governors have great power as to that, given by us. We want them to do that. We rely on them. We trust them. And hopefully they are making the right decisions.”

The push to ease state lockdowns comes amid pressure from businesses that are collapsing by the day. Over 33 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits over the past seven weeks, and a highly anticipated report on Friday is expected to show U.S. joblessness as high as 16%, a level not seen since the Great Depression nearly a century ago.

Elsewhere around the world, the Bank of England projected that Britain’s economy will shrink by 14 percent this year, its biggest decline since 1706, when Europe was embroiled in the War of the Spanish Succession.

The United Nations urged governments, companies and billionaires to contribute to a $6.7 billion appeal to fight the coronavirus in poor countries, warning that failure to help could cause a “hunger pandemic,” famine, riots and conflict. U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said the initial $2 billion appeal launched March 25 was being increased because of the worsening situation.

The economic woes have affected even brand-name businesses, with Neiman Marcus filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the first U.S. department store chain to be toppled by the outbreak. The reopening debate in the U.S. echoes that underway in Europe, where regional and political rifts are emerging over how fast to lift the lockdowns.

French mayors are resisting the government’s call to reopen schools, while Italian governors want Rome to ease restrictions faster. As Britain looks to reopen the economy, Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon has warned that acting too fast could let the virus wreak havoc again — something public health experts worldwide have cautioned could happen without widespread testing and tracing.

The U.S. has recorded over 74,000 deaths and 1.2 million confirmed infections. But this week, University of Washington researchers nearly doubled their projection of deaths in the U.S. to about 134,000 through early August, largely to reflect the loosening of stay-at-home restrictions.

When Trump announced the guidelines April 16, he said he was “establishing clear scientific metrics and benchmarks on testing, new case growth and hospital capacity that must be met before advancing each phase.”

Since then, many states have reopened while daily cases and positive test rates have either plateaued or continued to climb, the AP analysis found. Some are going it alone, using their own criteria. The White House has not been specific about how states should calculate the 14-day downward trajectory. Depending on how that's done, a state might pass or fail. The AP analyzed counts of tests and confirmed cases compiled by Johns Hopkins University and looked at the numbers using a rolling seven-day average to account for day-to-day variability in test reporting.

As governments grapple with when to restart their economies, the Trump administration has shelved a 17-page Centers for Disease Control and Prevention document with step-by-step advice to help local authorities do it safely.

Agency scientists were told that the report — supposed to be published last Friday — “would never see the light of day,” said a CDC official who was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

There are few specifics to the White House guidelines that say that before reopening, states should have a downward trend in flu- and COVID-19-like illnesses for 14 days; hospitals should be able to treat all patients without crisis care; and robust testing should be in place for at-risk health workers.

It says local officials “may need to tailor the application of these criteria to local circumstances.” In Nebraska new cases and positivity rates increased in recent weeks, but Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican, eased rules to allow salons, tattoo parlors and restaurants to reopen with restrictions in most counties. Churches also were allowed to resume in-person services, weddings and funerals last Monday, with some restrictions.

Ricketts said Wednesday that the number of new cases is naturally going to increase as testing ramps up, and suggested a statewide lockdown was too drastic. “We could ban just about all deaths on the interstate by reducing the speed to 5 mph, but we don’t do that," he said.

Georgia has the most aggressive reopening schedule in the country. The state recorded a decrease in positivity rates, meeting one White House criteria, but it has had nearly 600 more deaths and an emerging hot spot in a poultry-processing area since restrictions were loosened.

Utah is following its own color-coded reopening system. “We had that plan long before there was a federal plan,” said retired Utah National Guard Maj. Gen. Jeff Burton, who heads the state's response. “It’s a solid plan that lays out the road to recovery.”

Of the 33 states that have had a 14-day downward trajectory of either cases or positive test rates, 25 are partially opened or moving to reopen within days, the AP analysis finds. Nevada Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak said Thursday the state will begin letting restaurants, salons and other non-essential businesses open starting Saturday. Casinos, nightclubs, spas and gyms must remain closed .

Other states such as Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Virginia and Wisconsin, which have not seen a 14-day decline, remain closed despite meeting some benchmarks. Oregon hit a new low in cases last week and is moving to loosen restrictions May 15 for daycare centers and retailers statewide and on other select businesses in the least affected counties.

California, the most populous state and the first to impose a comprehensive lockdown, is letting retailers and manufacturers reopen with safety measures as soon as Friday. The state has met at least one of the federal benchmarks, according to the AP analysis.

Public health experts say the guidance from the White House has been anything but clear. In addition to burying the CDC report, the administration has tried to push responsibility for expanding testing onto the states.

States share some blame, said Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert at Georgetown University, but “the responsibility for coordinating and enforcing and implementing a national plan comes from the White House."

He compared the situation to “an orchestra without a conductor.” Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 3.8 million people and killed over a quarter-million, by Johns Hopkins' count, which experts agree understates the dimensions of the pandemic because of limited testing, differences in counting the dead and concealment by some governments.

Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.

The second virus wave: How bad will it be as lockdowns ease?

May 06, 2020

ROME (AP) — From the marbled halls of Italy to the wheat fields of Kansas, health authorities are increasingly warning that the question isn’t whether a second wave of coronavirus infections and deaths will hit, but when — and how badly.

As more countries and U.S. states chaotically re-open for business — including some where infection rates are still rising — managing future cases is as important as preventing them. In India, which partly eased its virus lockdown this week, health authorities scrambled Wednesday to contain an outbreak at a massive market. Experts in hard-hit Italy, which just began easing some restrictions, warned lawmakers that a new wave of virus infections and deaths is coming. They urged intensified efforts to identify possible new victims, monitor their symptoms and trace their contacts.

Germany warned of a second and even a third wave, and threatened to re-impose virus restrictions if new cases can’t be contained. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was meeting Wednesday with the country's 16 governors to discuss further loosening restrictions that have crippled Europe's largest economy.

“There will be a second wave, but the problem is to which extent. Is it a small wave or a big wave? It’s too early to say,” said Olivier Schwartz, head of the virus and immunity unit at France’s Pasteur Institute.

Many areas are still struggling with the first wave of this pandemic. Brazil for the first time locked down a large city, the capital of Maranhão state. Across the ocean, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Africa has shot up 42% in the past week and infections are expected to surpass 50,000 on Wednesday.

An Associated Press analysis, meanwhile, found that U.S. infection rates outside the New York City area are in fact rising, notably in rural areas. It found New York's progress against the virus was overshadowing increasing infections elsewhere.

“Make no mistakes: This virus is still circulating in our community, perhaps even more now than in previous weeks,” said Linda Ochs, director of the Health Department in Shawnee County, Kansas. The virus is known to have infected more than 3.6 million and killed more than 251,000 people, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins that all experts agree is an undercount due to limited testing, uneven victim criteria and deliberate concealment by some governments.

The U.S. has seen over 71,000 deaths amid its 1.2 million infections, and Europe has endured over 144,000 reported coronavirus deaths. Behind each of those vast numbers is a family in pain. “Burying both parents at the same time? It’s hard,” said Desmond Tolbert, who lost his mother and father in rural southwest Georgia. Because they had the virus, he couldn’t be with them when they died.

U.S. President Donald Trump, with his eye on being reelected in November, is pushing hard to ease state stay-at-home orders and resuscitate the U.S. economy, which has seen over 30 million workers lose their jobs in less than two months. Trump is expected to wind down the country’s coronavirus task force, possibly within weeks, despite concerns that states aren’t being careful enough as they reopen.

A century ago, the Spanish flu epidemic’s second wave was far deadlier than its first, in part because authorities allowed mass gatherings from Philadelphia to San Francisco. As Italy’s lockdown eased this week, Dr. Silvio Brusaferro, president of the Superior Institute of Health, urged “a huge investment” of resources to train medical personnel to monitor possible new cases. He said tracing apps — which are being built by dozens of countries and companies and touted as a possible technological solution — aren’t enough to manage future waves of infection.

“We are not out of the epidemic. We are still in it. I don’t want people to think there’s no more risk and we go back to normal,” said Dr. Giovanni Rezza, the head of the institute’s infectious disease department.

In Germany, authorities may reimpose restrictions on any county that reports 50 new cases for every 100,000 inhabitants within the past week. Lothar Wieler, head of Germany's national disease control center, said scientists “know with great certainty that there will be a second wave" of infections but said Germany is well-prepared to deal with it. The country has been hailed for testing widely and has suffered four times fewer deaths than Italy or Britain, which both have smaller populations.

Britain has begun recruiting 18,000 people to trace contacts of people infected. British officials acknowledge that they should have done more testing and tracing earlier and could learn from South Korea, which brought its outbreak under control by rigorously testing, tracing and isolating infected people.

South Africa, which has years of experience tracking HIV and other infections, is already testing and tracing widely. Turkey has an army of 5,800 teams of contact tracers who have tracked down and tested nearly half a million people linked to infected cases. Israel plans to conduct 100,000 antibody tests to determine how widespread the coronavirus outbreak has been and prevent a second wave.

India was concentrated on the immediate drama around the market in the southern city of Chennai, which is now tied to at least 1,000 virus cases. Another 7,000 people connected to the now-shuttered Koyambedu market are being traced and quarantined. Experts are worried about a health catastrophe in a country of 1.3 billion people with an already stressed medical system.

New confirmed daily infections in the U.S. exceed 20,000, and deaths per day are well over 1,000, according to the Johns Hopkins tally. And public health officials warn that the failure to lower the infection rate could lead to many more deaths — perhaps tens of thousands — as people venture out and businesses reopen.

“The faster we reopen, the lower the economic cost — but the higher the human cost, because the more lives lost,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sai d. “That, my friends, is the decision we are really making.”

Trump acknowledged the toll but argued that keeping the U.S. economy closed carries deadly costs of its own, such as drug abuse and suicides. “I’m not saying anything is perfect, and yes, will some people be affected? Yes. Will some people be affected badly? Yes. But we have to get our country open and we have to get it open soon,” he said during a visit to Arizona in which he did not don a face mask.

Charlton reported from Paris and Blake from Bangkok. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.

2 Russian doctors dead, 1 in ICU after mysterious accidents

May 06, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Two Russian doctors have died and one remains in the intensive care unit in serious condition after falling out of windows in hospitals under mysterious circumstances. The tragic incidents last week made national headlines, with media reports saying all three have come under pressure from their superiors over working conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In recent weeks, medical workers all over Russia have decried shortages of protective equipment and questionable infection control procedures that turned dozens of hospitals into virus hotbeds, with hundreds of doctors and nurses contracting the virus. Many said they have been threatened with dismissal or even prosecution for going public with their grievances.

Dr. Alexander Shulepov, an ambulance doctor from the Voronezh region, 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of Moscow, fell out of a window in a hospital early Saturday where he was being treated for COVID-19, breaking several ribs and sustaining a skull fracture.

Shulepov, 37, was admitted to the hospital more than a week before the accident after testing positive for coronavirus. That day, colleague Alexander Kosyakin posted a video on social media of himself and Shulepov complaining about protective equipment shortages. In the video, Shulepov said he was being forced to finish his ambulance shift despite being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Five days later, local health officials shared another video of Shulepov on social media in which he retracted his earlier complaints, saying he was just being emotional. Five days later, Shulepov fell out of a two-story hospital building. The cause of the accident remains unknown. Some local media suggested he was merely attempting to smoke on a window sill, while others reported that Shulepov was under a lot of pressure for publicly complaining.

Another doctor’s window fall occurred in Siberia on April 25. Dr. Yelena Nepomnyashchaya, acting head of a hospital in Krasnoyarsk, a city in western Siberia, fell out of a window of her office on the fifth floor. Local media reported, citing anonymous sources, that the tragedy took place right after she had a conference call with regional health officials.

Media reports alleged that Nepomnyashchaya was arguing against re-purposing a ward in her hospital for coronavirus patients because of severe shortages of protective equipment and trained medical personnel, but she failed to convince the officials. Krasnoyarsk health officials denied that the conference call took place. On Friday, Nepomnyashchaya died in intensive care.

Just the day before Nepomnyashchaya's fall, on April 24, another doctor sustained deadly injuries after falling out of a window in a hospital in Moscow. Dr. Natalya Lebedeva ran an ambulance station in the Star City, Russia's spaceflight training facility just outside Moscow, which reported several dozen coronavirus cases in late April. She was admitted to a hospital in southeast Moscow with suspected COVID-19.

Levedeva died immediately after the fall, with health officials insisting it was just a tragic accident. Some Russian media, however, claim Levedeva was accused of not protecting her staff from becoming infected and committed suicide because of it.

Russia has reported 166,000 infections and 1,537 virus deaths, but health officials in the West have described those numbers as laughably low. There is no official data on how many Russian health workers have died working on the front lines of the pandemic and Russia's Health Ministry did not respond to numerous requests for comment by The Associated Press.

Last week, a group of Russian doctors compiled an online Memory List of doctors, nurses and other medical personnel who died during the outbreak. The list currently has 111 names.

Russia, Belarus mark Victory Day in contrasting events

May 09, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin marked Victory Day, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, in a ceremony shorn of its usual military parade and pomp by the coronavirus pandemic.

In neighboring Belarus, however, the ceremonies went ahead in full, with tens of thousands of people in the sort of proximity that has been almost unseen in the world for months. Putin on Saturday laid flowers at the tomb of the unknown soldier just outside the Kremlin walls and gave a short address honoring the valor and suffering of the Soviet army during the war.

Victory Day is Russia’s most important secular holiday and this year’s observance had been expected to be especially large because it is the 75th anniversary, but the Red Square military parade and a mass procession called The Immortal Regiment were postponed as part of measures to stifle the spread of the virus.

The only vestige of the conventional show of military might was a flyover of central Moscow by 75 warplanes and helicopters. The ceremony was the first public appearance in about a month for Putin, who has worked remotely as the virus took hold.

In his speech, he did not mention the virus — Russia has nearly 200,000 confirmed cases — or how its spread had blocked the observances that were to be a prestige project for him. But he promised that full commemorations would take place.

“We will, as usual, widely and solemnly mark the anniversary date, do it with dignity, as our duty to those who have suffered, achieved and accomplished the victory tells us,” he said. “There will be our main parade on Red Square, and the national march of the Immortal Regiment — the march of our grateful memory and inextricable, vital, living communication between generations.”

The sharply reduced observances this year left a hole in Russia's civic and emotional calendar. The war, in which the Soviet Union lost an estimated 26 million people including 8.5 million soldiers, has become a fundamental piece of Russian national identity.

Beyond the stern formalities of the Red Square military parade and smaller parades in other cities, Russians in recent years have turned out in huge numbers for the Immortal Regiment processions, when civilians crowd the streets displaying photographs of relatives who died in the war or endured it. Russian officials routinely bristle at criticism of the Red Army's actions in the war, denouncing the comments as attempts to “rewrite history.”

An online substitute for the processions was taking place Saturday and many people are expected to display relatives' photos from their balconies and windows in the evening. A full military parade of some 3,000 soldiers was held Saturday in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, which has not imposed restrictions to block the virus' spread despite sharply rising infection figures. Tens of thousands of spectators, few of them wearing masks, watched the event.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has dismissed concerns about the virus as a “psychosis,” said at the parade that Belarus’ ordeal in the war “is incomparable with any difficulties of the present day.”

Belarus's more than 21,000 recorded infections is higher than in neighboring Ukraine and Poland, both with populations about four times the size. In the capitals of Latvia and Estonia, both former Soviet republics with large ethnic Russian populations, small groups were seen arriving throughout the day to lay flowers on Soviet war memorials.

Yuras Karmanau in Minsk, Belarus, and Jari Tanner in Helsinki contributed to this report.