Harry and Meghan love story takes new turn: a baby boy

May 06, 2019

WINDSOR, England (AP) — The improbable love story between an American actress and a British royal took the best of all possible turns Monday with the arrival of a healthy baby boy. The as-yet-unnamed baby arrived less than a year after Prince Harry wed Meghan Markle in a spectacular televised event on the grounds of Windsor Castle that was watched the world over.

Meghan is now the Duchess of Sussex, but she still does things her own way: The couple bucked royal tradition by declining to say where the baby was born and opting not to come out to pose with the newborn just hours after the birth.

Instead, an obviously overjoyed Harry emerged to tell the world — via its waiting TV cameras — that a baby had been born. It marked a moment the nation is likely to remember as a once-troubled boy undone by the death of his mother Princess Diana in 1997 car crash seemed giddy in his embrace of fatherhood.

"This little thing is absolutely to die for," the ginger-haired, bearded prince said. "I'm just over the moon." The baby weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces (3.26 kilograms) at birth and was born at 5:26 a.m. (0426 GMT; 12:26 a.m. EDT). Harry said their son was a little bit overdue and that had given the royal couple more time to contemplate names.

Harry promised that more details — such as the baby's name — will be shared in the coming days. Harry and the palace didn't immediately provide details on whether the baby was born at a hospital or if it was a home birth. The royal couple had earlier said they wanted to keep details private.

The infant is seventh in line to the British throne and is the eighth great-grandchild of 93-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest reigning monarch. It is a satisfying moment for the queen as the monarchy grows in popularity in part because of public affection for Harry, his older brother Prince William, and their two wives, Meghan and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Harry, the 34-year-old son of Prince Charles, said he was present at the birth. "It's been the most amazing experience I could ever have possibly imagined," he said. "How any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension.

"We're both absolutely thrilled and so grateful for all the love and support from everybody out there. It's been amazing, so we just wanted to share this with everybody," he said. Word that the baby had been born was withheld while senior members of the royal family, including the queen, were told. Princess Diana's family was also informed.

Buckingham Palace said minutes before 2 p.m. that Meghan had gone into labor (in fact the baby had already been born) and Harry emerged less than an hour later to announce the birth in person. Harry's dramatic announcement, and his obvious pleasure, sparked cheers among royal fans and well-wishers who had gathered outside the imposing grounds of Windsor Castle hoping to hear the news.

"Cheers to the newborn baby boy! Hip hip hooray!" said 64-year-old John Loughrey, popping open a bottle of sparkling wine. He was clad in head-to-toe Union flags and royal family memorabilia to mark the occasion.

Some people in Windsor said it would provide a welcome respite from the continuing political stalemate over Brexit. Londoners Pam and Keith Jonson said the news will provide a boost to peoples' spirits.

"You can tell by people around," Pam Jonson said. "Lifts everybody a bit. Definitely. With all that's been going recently. It's nice uplift actually." Buckingham Palace said Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, was also with her daughter and was overjoyed with the baby's arrival.

Harry said he planned to make another announcement, probably in two days' time, "so everyone can see the baby." It's expected they will pose for a family picture at that point. The arrival of a boy was something of a surprise because Britain's legal bookmakers several weeks ago stopped accepting bets on the baby's sex because so many people had placed bets on the baby being a girl.

Bookmakers came to the conclusion that the rumor the baby was a girl must have been based on some type of leak from a person in the know. Meghan has brought something new and different to the royal family. She is an American who enjoyed a successful career in show business before joining "the firm," as the royals are known to many.

The child will be eligible for dual citizenship, but Harry and Meghan have not said whether they plan to apply for American status. Harry has long spoken of his desire to start a family. He had several serious relationships, but they collapsed in part because of the pressure of constant press scrutiny, leading Harry to vow to protect Meghan from intrusive reporting. He has complained publicly about a racist undertone in coverage of Meghan, who has a white father and an African-American mother.

Harry and Meghan recently moved from central London to a secluded house known as Frogmore Cottage near Windsor Castle, 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of London. The move is seen as reflecting a desire for privacy as they raise their first child.

It also separates Harry and Meghan from William and his wife Kate, who had been living in the same compound at Kensington Palace in central London with their three children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis — the new baby's cousins.

Gregory Katz reported from London.

UK's Johnson names brother and Brexiteers to House of Lords

July 31, 2020

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson named 36 new members to Parliament’s unelected House of Lords on Friday, including his brother, several prominent Brexit supporters and a Russian-born newspaper owner whose father was a KGB agent.

The list of new peers also includes Brexit-backing former lawmakers and ex-cricket star Ian Botham, a vocal proponent of leaving the European Union. Former Treasury chiefs Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond, who both opposed Brexit, were also appointed to the Lords. So was Evgeny Lebedev, owner of the Independent and Evening Standard newspapers. His father, Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev, once worked for the KGB.

Former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson is on the list, along with Johnson’s chief of staff Eddie Lister and the prime minister’s anti-Brexit brother Jo Johnson, who quit the government last year in opposition to its policies.

Most of the appointees are allied with Johnson’s governing Conservative Party, though the list also includes several former opposition Labor Party lawmakers who supported Brexit, Britain historic departure from the European Union.

A notable omission is former House of Commons Speaker John Bercow. It’s customary for ex-speakers to be appointed to the Lords, but Bercow infuriated the Conservative government by aiding lawmakers’ efforts to change the course of Brexit.

The new members will be given aristocratic titles — baron or baroness — and will join almost 800 others in the House of Lords. The chamber reviews legislation passed by the elected House of Commons, and for most of its 900-year history was composed of hereditary nobles. Nowadays members are appointed for life by the government and are a mix of former lawmakers, other notables and political donors.

There are frequent calls to reform the Lords on the grounds that the body is unwieldy, unaccountable and out of touch. The Speaker of the Lords, Norman Fowler, accused the Conservative government of reneging on a promise to trim the size of the upper house.

Scottish National Party lawmaker Pete Wishart, meanwhile, called Johnson's appointments “the worst kind of cronyism.”

Black UK protester statue removed from pedestal in Bristol

July 16, 2020

BRISTOL, England (AP) — Officials in the English city of Bristol on Thursday removed a statue of a Black Lives Matter activist that was installed barely 24 hours earlier on a pedestal once occupied by a monument to a 17th-century slave trader.

Artist Marc Quinn created the resin and steel likeness of Jen Reid, a protester photographed standing with a raised fist on the pedestal after demonstrators pulled down the statue of merchant Edward Colston and dumped in Bristol’s harbor on June 7.

The statue of Reid was erected before dawn on Wednesday without the approval of city authorities and removed by those same authorities early Thursday, carted away in a waste-removal truck. Bristol City Council said the sculpture "will be held at our museum for the artist to collect or donate to our collection.”

Colston was a trader who made a fortune transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas on Bristol-based ships. His money funded schools and charities in Bristol, 120 miles (195 kilometers) southwest of London.

The toppling of his statue was part of a worldwide reckoning with racism and slavery sparked by the death of a Black American man, George Floyd, at the hands of police in Minneapolis in May. From Confederate monuments in the United States to statues of British slave traders, memorials erected in honor of historical figures have become a global focus of protests — and removal, both authorized and unauthorized.

City authorities fished the Colston statue out of the harbor and say it will be placed in a museum, along with placards from the Black Lives Matter demonstration. Mayor Marvin Rees, who is the first Black leader of Bristol, said the decision about what replaces the statue of native son Colston must be made by the people of the city, not an artist from London.

“There were people in Bristol who were elated that Colston got pulled down.,” he said. "There were some people who were sympathetic that the Colston statue got pulled down but were dismayed by the way it happened. There were people who feel they have lost a bit of themselves in the statue being pulled down.

“None of those people are going anywhere. We all still live in the city together and we have to find a way of leading Bristol that actually shows everyone that they are respected even if they don’t get what they want.”

Bristol Council said officials would speak to Quinn about what should happen to his artwork. He has said that if it is sold, profits will be donated to educational charities chosen by Reid. The speed with which events transpired disappointed people who had heard about the new statue and wanted to see it. Activist Deasy Bamford alluded to a decades-long dispute over the presence of the Colston statue in expressing her exasperation over the new work's quick exit.

“It took them 35 years to do nothing and 24 hours to do something,. That says something,'' Bamford said. “However, I understand that they are playing a role, so hopefully that statue will go somewhere in another iconic spot where everyone will see it where there is a proper plaque which explains exactly why it was put up and it belongs to Bristol.''

Jill Lawless in London contributed to this story.

UK Treasury chief plans boost to youth jobs

July 08, 2020

LONDON (AP) — British Treasury chief Rishi Sunak on Wednesday is set to announce a 2-billion-pound ($2.5 billion) program to create jobs for young people as the government tries to revive an economy battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Announcement of the funding, which will create government-subsidized minimum wage jobs for 16- to 24-year-olds, comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans for a “New Deal” similar to the program President Franklin D. Roosevelt created to help the U.S. bounce back from the Great Depression.

Sunak’s office released details of the youth employment program before a speech to Parliament in which he will outline the government’s updated spending plans. Analysts speculate that Sunak may also announce tax cuts to boost consumer spending, buoy the housing market and ease the burden on small businesses.

“Young people bear the brunt of most economic crises, but they are at particular risk this time because they work in the sectors disproportionately hit by the pandemic," Sunak said in excerpts of his remarks released in advance. “We also know that youth unemployment has a long-term impact on jobs and wages and we don’t want to see that happen to this generation.”

The speech comes amid concern that the pandemic and a three-month lockdown may result in a lingering slowdown in the British economy. Though Sunak has organized emergency programs that have prevented millions of job losses, fears are growing about what happens as the programs wind down and expire in October.

While the economy has shown some signs of recovery after output plunged during the lockdown, economic production is still about 15% below its pre-recession peak, according to Kallum Pickering, senior economist at Berenberg Bank in London. Gross domestic product may not return to fourth-quarter levels until early 2023, he said in a note to clients.

“But with the market panic over, the virus mostly under control and the economy recovering, the case for blunt force has lessened somewhat," he said. “Instead, expect Sunak to announce targeted measures to lift the flagging parts of the economy and those areas that may struggle under the continued social distancing measures.”

Britain's top civil servant steps down from powerful role

June 28, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s top civil servant and one of the most powerful people in government announced Sunday that he would step down, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepared to shake up the the country’s civil service.

Mark Sedwill said Sunday he would resign from his roles as Cabinet secretary, national security adviser and head of the Civil Service in September. He said it had been a privilege to serve, but now is the time for change because the Johnson government was shifting to a new phase.

"It was obviously right to stay on for the acute phase of the COVID-19 crisis," Sedwill said in his resignation letter. “As you are setting out this week, the government’s focus is now shifting to domestic and global recovery and renewal.”

Johnson’s Europe adviser, David Frost, will step into the role of national security adviser. The statement from Johnson's Downing Street office didn't say who was stepping into the other roles. Frost will remain the chief negotiator for European Union talks and said “these will remain my top single priority until those negotiations have concluded, one way or another.''

Sedwill, a 54-year-old former diplomat, has been accused of lacking the domestic policy skills needed to respond to the crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. In recent months, reports also had suggested he had fallen afoul of Dominic Cummings, Johnson's powerful aide, who wanted the public servant removed.

Speculation about his future was fueled when Simon Case, who was appointed permanent secretary in Johnson's Downing Street office amid the pandemic, was chosen to lead a review into social distancing restrictions. The review led to an easing of lockdown measures in place since March 23.

Case is considered the favorite to become the next Cabinet secretary. Dubbed the ultimate "securocrat," Sedwill was a trusted lieutenant of Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, during her time as prime minister.

Johnson gave Sedwill a new task, asking him to lead a new Group of Seven nations panel on Global Economic Security as the U.K. assumes the presidency with a mission to ensure that “the global free trading system on which our economy is based remains fair, competitive and secure.”

Johnson praised the outgoing civil servant for 30 years of "outstanding," work. "It has been by any standards a massive contribution — but as PM I have particularly appreciated your calm and shrewd advice,” he wrote to Sedwill as he accepted his resignation.

Meet Wilfred: UK leader's baby name announced

May 02, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson and fiancee Carrie Symonds have named their baby boy Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson in honor of their grandfathers and doctors who saved the U.K. leader’s life when he was hospitalized with COVID-19.

Symonds made the announcement on her Instagram page Saturday, posting a picture of her cradling her 3-day-old son and explaining the name choice. She praised the maternity team at University College Hospital in London and said her “heart is full.?

“Introducing Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson born on 29.04.20 at 9am.” she wrote in the post. “Wilfred after Boris’ grandfather, Lawrie after my grandfather, Nicholas after Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart - the two doctors that saved Boris’ life last month.’’

The birth came just days after Johnson returned to work following his hospitalization for the coronavirus. He spent a week at London’s St. Thomas’ hospital, including three nights in intensive care. Johnson was present for the birth but back working at 10 Downing St. within hours amid the ongoing pandemic. Johnson’s office said he would take paternity leave later in the year.

Johnson, 55, and Symonds, 32, announced their engagement in February and said they expected a baby in the summer. Wilfred is the third baby born to a sitting British prime minister this century. The wives of Tony Blair and David Cameron had children during the tenures of their husbands.

UK leader Boris Johnson, fiancee announce birth of baby boy

April 29, 2020

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, announced the birth of a son on Wednesday, just two days after Johnson returned to work following hospitalization for the coronavirus.

Johnson's office said Symonds gave birth to a “healthy baby boy" in a public hospital in London on Wednesday morning, and that both mother and infant were doing well. Johnson was present for the birth but was back at work in 10 Downing St. within hours, as his government faces a deadline of next week to amend or extend the country's coronavirus lockdown. Johnson's office said he would take paternity leave later in the year.

Conservative leader Johnson, 55, and Symonds, 32, announced in February that they were engaged and expecting a child together. At the time they said the baby was due in early summer. Johnson only returned to work Monday after suffering from a bout of coronavirus that left him dangerously ill. He spent a week in London's St. Thomas' hospital, including three nights in intensive care. When he was discharged on April 13, he thanked medical workers at the hospital for saving his life, saying his condition “could have gone either way.”

Symonds, an environmental campaigner and former Conservative Party staffer, also said she was sick for a week with COVID-19 symptoms, though she wasn't tested for the virus. Johnson’s office would not confirm Symonds' due date or say whether the couple’s son had been born prematurely.

There has been speculation about links between the coronavirus in pregnant women and premature births. But Andrew Shennan, professor of obstetrics at King's College London, said “there is currently no evidence that coronavirus causes preterm labor.”

The newborn boy is Symonds' first child. Johnson has four children with his second wife Marina Wheeler, from whom he is divorced, and has fathered at least one other child outside his marriages. Downing St. would not confirm now many other children Johnson has, saying only that he was “delighted about the birth of his baby son.”

The baby is the third born to a sitting British prime minister this century. The wives of leaders Tony Blair and David Cameron also had babies while their husbands were in office. The birth comes as the British government faces big decisions about how and when to ease the nationwide lockdown imposed March 23 to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The measures are due to be in place at least until May 7.

Britain is among the countries hardest hit by the pandemic. On Wednesday the official death toll of people with the coronavirus in the U.K. leapt to 26,097, from 21,678 a day earlier, after deaths outside hospitals — in nursing homes and other settings — were added for the first time.

Johnson's government faces growing criticism over its slowness in getting enough protective equipment to medics and nursing home staff and its struggle to increase the number of tests being performed for the virus.

Johnson missed the weekly Prime Minister's Questions session on Wednesday after the birth. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab stood in for him. Opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer, who had been due to face off against Johnson in the Commons, said he hoped the birth brought the couple “incredible relief and joy."

Buckingham Palace said Queen Elizabeth II had sent a message to Johnson and Symonds. Congratulations also came from world leaders including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who tweeted: “My dear friend, @BorisJohnson, warmest congratulations on the birth of a sweet baby boy!”

House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle also congratulated the couple. “Such happy news amid so much uncertainty – 2020 is certainly a year they will never forget,” he said.

UK opens EU trade talks with threat to walk away

February 27, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Britain laid out its opening demands for the upcoming trade talks with the European Union on Thursday, including a blunt threat to walk away from the negotiating table if there is no progress within four months.

The two sides appear headed for a rocky first round of negotiations as they try to forge a new relationship following the U.K.’s departure from the now 27-nation bloc. Britain and the EU both say they want to reach a free trade agreement, but have starkly divergent views on how it should be overseen and what constitutes fair competition between their two economies.

The EU says Britain must agree to follow the bloc’s rules in areas ranging from state aid to environmental protections, and give European boats access to U.K. fishing waters, if the two sides are to strike a good deal.

But the U.K. is demanding the right to diverge from the bloc’s rules in order to strike new trade agreements around the world that it thinks will bolster the British economy. “In pursuit of a deal we will not trade away our sovereignty,” Michael Gove, the minister in charge of Brexit preparations, told lawmakers in the House of Commons.

“We will not be seeking to dynamically align with EU rules on EU terms, governed by EU laws and EU institutions.” Britain’s negotiating mandate insists that “we will not agree to any obligations for our laws to be aligned with the EU’s, or for the EU’s institutions, including the Court of Justice, to have any jurisdiction in the U.K.”

That conflict will be one of the big hurdles in talks, which are due to begin Monday in Brussels. Fishing is likely to be another flashpoint. EU nations — especially France — want Britain to grant European fishing boats long-term access to U.K. waters. Britain wants to negotiate fishing quotas annually.

Britain left the EU on Jan. 31 but remains bound by the bloc's rules until a post-Brexit transition period ends on Dec. 31. A divorce agreement between the two sides allows for the transition to be extended for two more years, but British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists he will not agree to that.

Johnson’s Conservative government says the U.K. will be leaving the bloc’s structures — including its single market for trade in goods and services — as of Jan. 1, 2021. Britain hopes by then to have a trade agreement with the bloc similar to the one struck between the EU and Canada. Such a deal would eliminate tariffs and quotas on trade and goods, but it’s less clear what it would mean for the services sector that makes up four-fifths of Britain’s economy. The U.K. also aspires to strike side agreements in areas including fisheries, law enforcement and judicial cooperation.

The British government is warning businesses that no matter what happens there will be new barriers to trade between Britain and the EU, which currently accounts for almost half of U.K. trade. Even with a free trade deal there will be new border checks and customs forms to fill out.

The EU-Canada deal also took years to strike — now the two sides have just months. Britain’s negotiating guidelines insist that there is “limited, but sufficient time” to get an agreement. The document says a “broad outline” of an agreement should be done by June. It warns that if there is not sufficient progress by then, the U.K. could walk away and focus on “domestic preparations to exit the transition period in an orderly fashion.”

Britain’s tough talk is unlikely to impress EU negotiators, who already accuse Johnson of trying to water down commitments Britain made in the divorce deal that paved the way for the country's seamless departure on Jan. 31. That withdrawal agreement dealt with three broad issues — citizens' rights after Brexit, Britain's liabilities after 47 years of membership and the need to keep people and goods flowing freely across the border between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K.

The two sides have agreed to maintain an open border by keeping Northern Ireland aligned to EU rules even if the rest of the U.K. diverges. But recent comments by Johnson's government seeming to downplay the significance of that agreement have set off alarm bells among EU leaders.

Behind the hard rhetoric, the two sides do have room for agreement. Britain has promised it won’t undercut the EU by lowering standards on environmental protection, food hygiene or workers’ rights. But it won’t agree to let the EU be the judge of whether it is living up to those commitments. The challenge for negotiators will be to find a way to make that commitment binding that both sides can agree on.

"We're not going to engage in some race to the bottom,” Johnson said. "All we want is mutual recognition of each other's high standards, and access to each other's markets.” In Brussels, EU spokeswoman Dana Spinant said she “wouldn’t want to jump to conclusions about the outcome” of talks.

“However, the commission maintains its capacity to prepare for a no-deal (U.K. exit)” even as it prepares for “a positive result of those negotiations,” she said.

Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this story.

UK employers fear worker shortages in new immigration plan

February 19, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Vegetables rotting in the fields, food going unprocessed, the elderly and disabled left without care. That’s the alarming picture painted by some British employers about the impact of new U.K. immigration rules set to be introduced in less than a year.

Farms, food factories and care homes said Wednesday that they will face severe labor shortages under the government's plans to open Britain to skilled and educated immigrants while shutting out those its deems “low-skilled” workers.

The message from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government was blunt: “Employers will need to adjust.” “We need to shift the focus of our economy away from a reliance on cheap labor from Europe and instead concentrate on investment in technology and automation,” the government said in a paper laying out its immigration plans.

WHY ARE U.K. IMMIGRATION RULES CHANGING?

Britain’s exit from the European Union last month after 47 years of membership is triggering the biggest change to the country’s immigration rules for decades.

When Britain was part of the EU, citizens of the bloc’s 27 other countries were free to live and work in the U.K. and vice versa.EU workers came to Britain by the hundreds of thousands. More than 3 million EU citizens currently live in the U.K. They are all entitled to stay. But once a post-Brexit transition period runs out on Dec. 31, that free movement will end and the new U.K. immigration rules will apply to EU and non-EU citizens alike.

Britain’s 2016 decision to leave the EU was driven in part by a belief that large-scale immigration had pushed down wages and increased joblessness among British-born workers. Many economists say there is little evidence that’s true. The U.K. already has low unemployment, and immigrants create jobs as well as fill them. Nevertheless, “taking back control” of immigration was a key promise made by Johnson and other proponents of Brexit — one the government can now claim to have delivered.

“The real message that is being sent to the electorate in the U.K. is: ‘We have control,’” said Rob McNeil, deputy director of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University.

WHAT ARE THE NEW RULES?

Starting next year, most people hoping to move long-term to Britain will need to speak English to a “required level” —the level of fluency is not specified —and have the offer of a job paying at least 25,600 pounds ($33,000) a year. Prospective immigrants who earn less may still be able to come if they have other skills or work in an area where there are shortages, such as health care.

The new rules don’t cover refugees or asylum-seekers, and there will be separate routes for students and highly talented scientists, artists and athletes. But there will be no system of visas for “low-skilled workers" or most self-employed people.

WHAT DO BUSINESSES THINK?

The British immigration proposals mean a radical — and unwelcome — change for sectors of the U.K. economy that rely heavily on EU workers. The British government's own estimate is that 70% of the more than 1 million EU citizens who have moved to the U.K. since 2004 would not have qualified for visas under the new rules.

Many migrants from eastern Europe have jobs picking Britain’s fruit and vegetables and working in food-processing factories. Toby Williams, chairman of the National Farmers’ Union in southern England’s Kent county, said British workers simply don’t want those tough, relatively low-paid jobs. He said Britain’s fruit, vegetable and flower farms need about 70,000 seasonal workers, but the government is proposing to give visas to only 10,000 a year.

He said automation could help some, but not in the short term. “There is work being done on that but it’s not going to be in five minutes’ time,” Williams told Sky News. “You’re talking 10 years’ out, probably.”

More than 100,000 EU citizens work in caring for Britain's elderly, disabled or chronically ill — just under 1 in 10 of the total workforce in a sector that already has many unfilled positions. Christina McAnea, assistant general secretary of the Unison trade union, said the new immigration rules "spell absolute disaster for the care sector.”

Businesses that employ bakers, butchers and baristas are also worried. Mark Harrison, policy manager at the Food and Drink Federation, urged the Conservative government to open up an immigration route for entry-level workers.

“The food and drink industry is reliant on workers at all skill levels,” he said. “We have concerns about access to those potential employees who won't qualify through these 'skilled' routes, such as bakery assistants, meat processors, and workers essential to the production of huge array of basic foodstuffs such as cheese, pasta and sausages.”

The government appears unmoved by their concerns. "It is about time businesses started to invest in people in this country," Home Secretary Priti Patel said Wednesday.

WILL U.K. IMMIGRATION FALL? HOW WILL THAT AFFECT THE U.K ECONOMY?

The government claims the new rules will reduce net immigration from its current level of more than 200,000 people a year. But it’s unclear whether the numbers really will fall. Jonathan Portes, professor of economics and public policy at King’s College London, said “most of the impact has already happened – migration from the EU has dropped sharply” since the 2016 Brexit referendum.

A majority of immigrants to Britain now come from outside the 27-nation EU — and the new rules will actually make it easier for them to move to the U.K. by lowering education and salary thresholds. The government's plans still need to be turned into law, and many questions remain about visa fees, paperwork and other aspects of the system.But Johnson's Conservatives won a substantial majority in Britain's general election in December, so the party has the numbers to pass its plan into law.

“If the government delivers on its promises to make the new system quicker, more efficient, less bureaucratic and more user-friendly, it could be good news for employers and the wider economy,” Portes said. “But that is a very big ‘if’.”

UK unveils immigration overhaul for 2021 focused on skills

February 18, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Britain announced new post-Brexit immigration rules Tuesday that will make it tougher for European Union citizens, but easier for people from many other nations, to move to the U.K. starting next year.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative government said the new rules would “open up the U.K. to the brightest and the best from around the world” while ending “the reliance on cheap, low-skilled labor coming into the country.” But U.K. employers said the radical changes could bring about a labor crisis for sectors such as health and social care.

Britain’s exit from the EU last month after 47 years of membership is triggering the biggest change to the country’s immigration rules for decades. During Britain’s EU membership — and until a post-Brexit transition period runs out on Dec. 31 — citizens of any of the EU's 27 nations can freely live and work in the U.K.

More than 3 million EU citizens currently living in the U.K. are entitled to stay. But from January 1, 2021, new immigration rules will apply to EU and non-EU citizens alike. Home Secretary Priti Patel said Britain's new “points-based immigration system” would assess prospective immigrants on a range of skills, qualifications, salaries or professions.

People hoping to work in Britain will need a job offer paying at least 25,600 pounds ($33,000) a year. That’s less than the current 30,000 pounds ($39,000) set for non-EU immigrants, a figure that is more than the country's average annual wage. Prospective immigrants who earn less may be able to come if they have other skills.

Skilled immigrants are currently required to have a university degree but in future will only need the equivalent of Britain's pre-university “A levels.” The government says the new rules will cut net immigration from its current level of more than 200,000 people a year. But it has abandoned a pledge made by previous Conservative governments to cut Britain's annual net immigration figure to below 100,000 a year.

The immigration plan still has to be passed by Parliament — which is highly likely since the Conservatives have a large majority. The government said it would come up with specific proposals for scientists, graduates, health care workers and those in the agricultural sector. But there is no specific immigration route for what the government calls “low-skilled workers” — a category it says includes 70% of the more than 1 million EU citizens who have moved to the U.K. since 2004.

Hundreds of thousands of EU citizens currently hold jobs in sectors including farming, health care and restaurants that are relatively low-paid. Employers in those industries have warned there will be worker shortages under the tighter immigration rules. The U.K. Homecare Association described the lack of provisions for low-paid immigrant workers in the proposals as "irresponsible.”

"Cutting off the supply of prospective care workers under a new migration system will pave the way for more people waiting unnecessarily in hospital or going without care,” it said. But the government was unsympathetic.

“We need to shift the focus of our economy away from a reliance on cheap labor from Europe and instead concentrate on investment in technology and automation,” it said in a policy paper. “Employers will need to adjust.”

Many people who voted in 2016 for Britain to leave the EU were believed that immigration had driven down wages and driven up joblessness among British-born workers. The evidence for this is partial at best.

The Migration Advisory Committee, an independent body consulted by the government on immigration plans, said introducing a points-based system would only “very slightly increase GDP per capita, productivity, and improve the public finances” compared to continued free movement of EU citizens, and would also reduce Britain's economic growth.

Diane Abbott, the immigration spokeswoman for the opposition Labour Party, called the proposed new system flawed. "This isn't an 'Australian points-based system', which is a meaningless government soundbite,” she said. “It's a salary threshold system, which will need to have so many exemptions — for (the health service) — for social care and many parts of the private sector, that it will be meaningless.”

UK grapples with severe floods, storm death toll rises to 3

February 17, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Britain issued severe flood warnings Monday, advising of life-threatening danger after Storm Dennis dumped weeks' worth of rain in some places. A woman was found dead after being swept away by the floodwaters, the storm's third confirmed victim.

To the east, Dennis' gale-force winds also left nine people injured in Germany as their vehicles crashed into broken trees littering roads and train tracks. Flooding and power outages were reported elsewhere in northern Europe.

By Monday evening, Britain's Environment Agency issued seven severe flood warnings in the central English counties of Herefordshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire . Another 200 lower-level flood warnings were also in place, meaning that flooding was expected.

Some 480 flood warnings and alerts were issued across England on Monday, the highest number on record, the agency said. The storm's confirmed death toll rose to three as West Mercia Police said a body had been found in the search for a 55-year-old woman who had been missing near Tenbury in Worcestershire since Sunday.

A man pulled from the water in the same incident was airlifted to a hospital, where he remains in stable condition, police said. The weather system brought winds of more than 145 kph (90 mph) and up to 150 millimeters (6 inches) of rain to Britain over the weekend. And the tumult is not over.

“We expect disruptive weather into the middle of this week bringing a significant flood risk for the West Midlands, and there are flood warnings in place across much of England,'' said Toby Willison, Executive Director of Operations at Britain's Environment Agency.

Forecasters said river levels in parts of northern England had yet to reach their peak. In the northern England city of York, authorities were piling up more than 4,000 sandbags as the Rover Ouse continued to rise. It’s expected to peak on Tuesday.

Other residents in Wales and western England were cleaning up Monday after the storm flooded roads, railways, homes and businesses and disrupted travel across Britain. Some told stories of fleeing for their lives.

Jeanette Cox, 68 and her daughter Rachel woke up to the sound of water in their home in the Welsh village of Nantgarw, near Cardiff, about at 4 am. Sunday. Cox said the only object that survived downstairs was her wedding day photograph that she had kept on a windowsill. Her husband Bill died from cancer in 2009.

"It was pitch black,'' she said. “All you could hear was the water running. I've never seen anything like it. I was very frightened." Britain's environment secretary said climate change was making extreme weather events more common. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative government denied it was unprepared for such storms.

"We'll never be able to protect every single household, just because of the nature of climate change and the fact that these weather events are becoming more extreme, but we've done everything that we can do with a significant sum of money," Environment Secretary George Eustice said.

In Germany, at least nine people were injured in weather-related car accidents as high winds brought trees down onto roads and train tracks. A commuter train with 67 passengers also crashed into a fallen tree in the western German city of Dortmund, but nobody was injured. And in the German city of Hamburg, the city’s famous fish market was flooded for the second time this month.

Further north, strong winds and heavy rains caused flooding, road closures and electricity outages across the Nordic and Baltic regions and forced the cancellation of several ferries between Denmark and Norway.

In Denmark, the southwestern city of Kolding was flooded as gale force winds and heavy rains battered the area. In nearby Horsens, police protectively evacuated residents near Bygholm Lake out of fear that a levee would collapse.

In southwestern Norway, more than half a dozen roads and several mountain passes were closed amid heavy snow and high winds.

Olsen reported from Copenhagen. Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

Portland police declare unlawful assembly during protest

August 02, 2020

(AP) The Portland Police Bureau declared an unlawful assembly Saturday night when people gathered outside a police precinct in Oregon's largest city and threw bottles towards officers, police said. Until that point, federal, state and local law enforcement had been seemingly absent from the protests Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The demonstrations — that for weeks ended with tear gas, fireworks shot towards buildings, federal agents on the street and injuries to protesters and officers — have recently ended with chanting and conversations.

Activists and Oregon officials urged people at Saturday night’s protest in Portland to re-center the focus on Black Lives Matter, three days after the Trump administration agreed to reduce the presence of federal agents.

Groups gathered Saturday evening in various areas around downtown Portland to listen to speakers and prepare to march to the Justice Center and Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse. One of the more popular events, “Re-centering why we are here - BLM,” was hosted by the NAACP. Speakers included activists as well as Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty.

Merkley and Hardesty spoke about policies they are putting forward, including to cut police funding and restrict chokeholds. “The next thing we need you to do is vote like your life depends on it, because guess what, it does,” Hardesty said.

For the first time since the presence of federal agents in Portland diminished law enforcement and protesters noticeably clashed Saturday night. As one group of protesters gathered outside the courthouse another marched to a precinct for the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and Portland Police Bureau.

Police stated that protesters threw glass bottles and directed lasers at officers. Just before 10 p.m., Portland police declared an unlawful assembly and told people to disperse or they may be subject to use of force or be arrested. Police could be seen charging, multiple times, at protesters in the area.

At the courthouse, the scene was different. Around 11:30 p.m. hundreds of people remained, standing and listening to speakers. By midnight, protesters again began to march through the streets downtown.

Thursday and Friday's protests also attracted more than 1,000 people — both nights were relatively peaceful. In a news release early Saturday, the Portland Police Bureau described Friday's crowd as subdued and said there was no police interaction with protesters.

At one point during Friday's protest, a lone firework was shot at the courthouse. In the weeks past the action would be met with more fireworks or teargas canisters being dropped over the fence into the crowd. This time, protesters chastised the person who shot the firework, pleading to keep the demonstration peaceful.

The relative calm outside a federal courthouse that’s become ground zero in clashes between demonstrators and federal agents had come after the U.S. government began drawing down its forces under a deal between Democratic Gov. Kate Brown and the Trump administration.

Portland had seen more than two months of often violent demonstrations following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In early July, President Donald Trump sent more federal agents to the city to protect the federal courthouse, but local officials said their presence made things worse.

Sara Cline is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

Change laws that shield police, Missouri prosecutor says

August 01, 2020

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — After a third review failed to uncover enough evidence to charge the officer who fatally shot Black 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, some prosecutors and civil rights leaders agree it’s time to focus on changing the laws that shield police.

In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said legislators need to take a hard look at laws that offer protection against prosecution for police officers that regular citizens aren’t afforded, pushing a message that has gained strong momentum in the two months since George Floyd's death by Minneapolis police launched a national reckoning over racial injustice and police brutality.

“We see those types of laws throughout the country, and it is something that handcuffs prosecutors in numerous ways when you are going about prosecuting officers who have committed unlawful use of force or police shootings,” Bell said.

Bell, St. Louis County’s first Black prosecuting attorney, was elected in 2018 as a reformist, and he has implemented sweeping changes that have reduced the jail population, ended prosecution of low-level marijuana crimes and sought to help offenders rehabilitate themselves.

He also established an independent unit to investigate officer-involved shootings, a division that spent five months looking at the 2014 death of Brown, who was shot by white Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson. The shooting spurred months of unrest and helped solidify the burgeoning Black Lives Matter movement.

In the end, the progressive prosecutor came to the same result as his old-school, tough-on-crime predecessor, Bob McCulloch, as well as the U.S. Justice Department: Wilson didn’t commit murder or manslaughter “beyond a reasonable doubt” under Missouri law.

Bell stressed that the investigation didn't exonerate Wilson, who who resigned in November 2014. Wilson and Brown became involved in a heated confrontation on Aug. 9, 2014. Wilson said that Brown came at him menacingly and that he killed him in self-defense.

“The question of whether we can prove a case at trial is different than clearing him of any and all wrongdoing,” Bell said. “There are so many points at which Darren Wilson could have handled the situation differently, and if he had, Michael Brown might still be alive.”

Civil rights leaders said the case shows that state laws need to be changed. “I can’t be disappointed any longer in a system that has always performed with callousness against Black people and Black bodies, no matter who’s in charge,” said Brittany Packnett Cunningham, a Ferguson protester and educator who is now a national voice in the Black Lives Matter movement.

Scott Roberts, senior director of Criminal Justice Campaigns at Color of Change, said Bell’s decision not to charge Wilson “reinforces the importance of making the systemic changes necessary to end overpolicing and the structural racism built to protect police officers from accountability.”

Brown was among several young Black men whose deaths at the hands of police in 2014 spurred 24 states to pass law enforcement reform. An Associated Press analysis in June found that only about one-third of those states addressed use of force.

But many states and dozens of cities and counties are taking a closer look at use-of-force laws since Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes as he pleaded for air.

In Missouri, no new laws are on the horizon. Republican Gov. Mike Parson convened a special session this week to address violent crime — both St. Louis and Kansas City are seeing surges in killings and gun violence — but he rejected calls to include police reform measures.

Bell knows that many people were disappointed that he didn’t bring charges in Brown's death but says prosecuting police shouldn’t be the “litmus test” for progress. He noted that reforms he's implemented mean families of those involved in police violence are now getting support. Also, the county’s jail population has fallen by 30%, with thousands of people instead directed to programs such as drug or alcohol treatment.

“That’s a win,” Bell said. “Those are individuals who instead of being locked up for low-level, nonviolent crimes are able to stay at home with their families, keep their jobs. Single parents are able to keep their children.”

He plans additional reforms, including a policy of recording all grand jury sessions in homicide cases. His predecessor typically didn't record those sessions but made an exception in the investigation of Brown's death, Bell said.

“There are some protections that Darren Wilson received that no other defendant received, and the grand jury process would be an example of that," Bell said. “He was invited to come into the grand jury, there was no vigorous cross-examination, he was able to tell his story without that hard questioning that we would expect from a prosecutor in any case like this, and that’s what the grand jury was able to see.”

Bell's decision angered some. Not prosecuting Wilson was “like a stab in the back” to those who supported his candidacy, said Tiffany Cabán, a national political organizer for the Working Families Party, who joined the political party last November to help recruit and elect progressive-minded prosecutors and sheriffs nationwide.

“We aren’t electing heroes or saviors. We work to elect candidates that run on solid platforms, do the least amount of harm and are willing to be held accountable when they fall short,” said Cabán, who ran for district attorney in last year's Democratic primary in Queens County, New York. She narrowly lost to Queens Borough President Melinda Katz.

Cabán also noted that in the years since prosecutor candidates began running and winning elections on promises to hold police officers accountable for misconduct and excessive force, criminal justice systems have noticeably shifted toward diversion programs rather than jail for nonviolent offenders.

However, she said, “those who rightfully remain deeply distrustful of a system that rarely has their interests at heart have another example to point to in Wesley Bell.” In November, voters in at least two dozen states will decide local prosecutors and sheriff races. Bell said voters should consider candidates who have proposed reforms that will have the largest effect on people of color and those who have been systemically disenfranchised.

“I think we have to redefine what winning looks like," Bell said. “The litmus test can’t be one or two individual cases. It has to be a big picture.”

Morrison reported from New York City.

Isaias strengthens slightly as it crawls up Florida coast

August 03, 2020

VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Bands of heavy rain from Isaias lashed Florida's east coast Sunday, with the tropical storm strengthening slightly and forecast to be near hurricane strength by the time it reaches the Carolinas.

Officials dealing with surging cases of the coronavirus in Florida kept a close watch on the storm that was weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm Saturday afternoon, but still brought heavy rain and flooding to Florida's Atlantic coast.

The National Hurricane Center advised at 11 p.m. EDT Sunday that the storm was centered about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Cape Canaveral, Florida, and about 365 miles (585 kilometers) south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

It strengthened slightly earlier in the evening with maximum sustained winds just under a Category 1 hurricane, taking a north-northwest path, according to the center. “Don't be fooled by the downgrade,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned at a news conference after the storm — pronounced ees-ah-EE-ahs — spent hours roughing up the Bahamas.

Upper-level winds took much of the strength out of Isaias, said Stacy Stewart, senior hurricane specialist at the hurricane center in Miami. “We were expecting a hurricane to develop and it didn't,” Stewart said Sunday. “It's a tale of two storms. If you live on the west side of the storm, you didn't get much. If you live east of the storm, there's a lot of nasty weather there.”

Authorities closed beaches, parks and virus testing sites, lashing signs to palm trees so they wouldn't blow away. DeSantis said the state is anticipating power outages and asked residents to have a week’s supply of water, food and medicine on hand. Officials wrestled with how to prepare shelters where people can seek refuge from the storm if necessary, while also safely social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus.

In Palm Beach County, about 150 people were in shelters, said emergency management spokeswoman Lisa De La Rionda. The county has a voluntary evacuation order for those living in mobile or manufactured homes, or those who feel their home can't withstand winds.

“We don't anticipate many more evacuations,” she said, adding that the evacuees are physically distant from each other and are wearing masks, due to the virus. In Indian River County, north of West Palm Beach, Florida, emergency shelters were clearing out Sunday after Isaias was downgraded to a tropical storm.

Officials told TCPalm newspapers that 38 people registered at three schools used as shelters. Those areas now must be cleaned to ensure no traces of the coronavirus remain as teachers and staff report Monday to prepare for the upcoming school year.

No one checked in with COVID-19 symptoms. Temperature checks were done at the door, officials said, and isolation rooms were designated in case anyone came in with symptoms. The storm's maximum sustained winds declined steadily throughout Saturday, and were at 65 mph (100 kph) at 2 p.m. ET Sunday, before crawling back up to 70 mph (110 kph) a few hours later, the hurricane center said.

“The center of Isaias will move offshore of the coast of Georgia and southern South Carolina on Monday, move inland over eastern North Carolina Monday night and move along the coast of the mid-Atlantic states on Tuesday,” according to the hurricane center.

A Tropical Storm Watch has been extended northward to Watch Hill, Rhode Island, including the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, Long Island and Long Island Sound. The storm did not affect the successful return of two astronauts aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule, which splashed down into calm waters in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola. Test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken rode the capsule back to Earth less than a day after departing the International Space Station and two months after blasting off from Florida.

Isaias already has caused destruction in the Caribbean: On Thursday, before it became a hurricane, it uprooted trees, destroyed crops and homes and caused widespread flooding and small landslides in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. One man died in the Dominican Republic. In Puerto Rico, the National Guard rescued at least 35 people from floods that swept away one woman, whose body was recovered Saturday.

Isaias snapped trees and knocked out power as it blew through the Bahamas on Saturday. With coronavirus cases surging in Florida recently, the added menace of a storm ratcheted up the anxiety. State-run virus testing sites closed in areas where the storm might hit because the sites are outdoor tents, which could topple in high winds.

Natalie Betancur, stocking up at a grocery in Palm Beach Gardens, said that the storm itself doesn't cause her a great amount of concern. “The hurricane is not that serious, but I feel that the public is really panicking because it’s a hurricane and we’re in the middle of a pandemic," she said.

Officials in the Bahamas opened shelters for people in Abaco island to help those who have been living in temporary structures since Dorian devastated the area, killing at least 70 people in September 2019.

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Cody Jackson in Palm Beach County, Florida, and Julie Walker in New York contributed.

Ethiopians celebrate progress in building dam on Nile River

August 02, 2020

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopians in the capital are celebrating progress in the construction of the country’s dam on the Nile River, which has caused regional controversy over its filling. In joyful demonstrations urged by posts on social media and apparently endorsed by the government, tens of thousands of residents flooded the streets of the capital Addis Ababa on Sunday afternoon, waving Ethiopia's flag and holding up posters. People in cars honked their horns, others whistled, played loud music, and danced in public spaces to mark the occasion. Similar events were held in other cities in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Demeke Mekonnen, called on the public to rally behind the dam and support the completion of its construction. “Today is a date in which we celebrate the beginning of the final chapter in our dam’s construction,” Demeke told scores of people who gathered at a hall in the capital. “We want the construction to complete soon and began solving our problems once and for all.”

Hashtags like #ItsMyDam, #EthiopiaNileRights and #GERD are also trending among Ethiopian social media users. Ethiopians around the world contributed to the festivities on social media. Sunday’s celebration, called “One voice for our dam,” came after Ethiopian officials announced on July 22 that the first stage of filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s reservoir was achieved due to heavy rains. Officials in the East African nation say they hope the $4.6 billion dam, fully financed by Ethiopia itself, will reach full power generating capacity in 2023.

With 74% of the construction completed, the dam has been contentious for years and raised tensions with neighboring countries. Ethiopia says the dam will provide electricity to millions of its nearly 110 million citizens and help them out of poverty. The dam should also make Ethiopia a major power exporter. Downstream Egypt, which depends on the Nile River to supply its farmers and booming population of 100 million with fresh water, asserts that the dam poses it an existential threat. Sudan, between the two countries, is also concerned about its access to the Nile waters.

Negotiators have said key questions remain about how much water Ethiopia will release downstream if a multi-year drought occurs and how the countries will resolve any future disputes. Negotiations to resolve the differences between the countries have broken down several times, but now appear to be making progress.

China condemns Germany's Hong Kong extradition suspension

August 01, 2020

BERLIN (AP) — China has condemned Germany's decision to suspend its extradition agreement with Hong Kong, accusing Berlin of a “serious breach of international law.” Germany's foreign minister announced the suspension Friday following the disqualification of 12 pro-democracy candidates from legislative elections and a subsequent decision to postpone the elections. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam cited a worsening coronavirus outbreak in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory in postponing the vote.

The Chinese Embassy in Berlin expressed “strong indignation and firm opposition to the wrong remarks of German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas” in a statement posted on its website and dated Friday. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States also have suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong last month after the central government in Beijing imposed a new national security law on the city. The move raised fears that Hong Kong’s freedoms and local autonomy are being taken away.

Germany's Maas described the election decisions as “a further infringement of the rights of Hong Kong’s citizens.” The Chinese Embassy said the actions were justified and consistent with the “one country, two systems” framework under which Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed over to Chinese control in 1997.

“The German side’s erroneous remarks on Hong Kong and the suspension of the extradition treaty with Hong Kong are a serious breach of international law and basic norms governing international relations and gross violation of China’s internal affairs,” the embassy statement said. “We firmly oppose them and reserve the right to react further.”

Germany currently holds the European Union’s rotating presidency.

1952 Helsinki: The Cold War comes to the Olympics

August 02, 2020

The United States and the Soviet Union formed an uneasy pact to help turn back Nazi Germany during World War II. Less than a decade later, most global events were seen as part of the Cold War between the two super powers, including the Olympics.

The Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland set a record for countries (69) and participants (nearly 5,000), numbers boosted by the USSR's first appearance in the games as a communist nation. The Soviets felt winning medals — and blocking the Americans in the process — could boost their profile on the world stage while espousing the superiority of their way of life.

In 1951, the USSR produced the equivalent of $8.2 billion in today's money on sports equipment. It was part of an effort designed to, not just close the gap on the Americans, but surpass them. They nearly did. The U.S. topped the medal table with 76 thanks to dominance in track, followed closely by the Soviets’ 71 thanks to a serious haul on the wrestling mat. The competition began an athletic tug-of-war at the world's largest sporting event that continues seven decades later. Either the Americans or the Russians have finished with the most medals at each of the last 17 Summer Olympics, the U.S. doing it nine times and their counterparts eight.

The USSR was still a mystery to much of the world in 1952. Details of the country's athletic progress were sketchy in the West. Reports of world records and eye-popping performances all came from the highly-filtered government-controlled media. The decision for all Soviet bloc nations to live in an Olympic village separate from Western nations only deepened the mystery.

Then the USSR surprisingly invited Westerners — including Americans — to enter the communist Olympic Village. The Soviets even hosted a swanky dinner for members of the U.S. Olympic delegation replete with vodka and whitefish caught in the Volga River, toasting goodwill under paintings of Joseph Stalin and the Politburo.

“We can't reciprocate,” an unnamed American official told The Associated Press. “We simply don't have the money.” The Americans did hold onto their edge in the medal standings, but just barely. And over the course of two weeks in a city less than 500 miles from the Arctic Circle, the Soviets sent a very loud message that they were very much ready to challenge the U.S. for global athletic supremacy.

Of course, back in the USSR, it would have been easy to think the country had dominated every event. When three Russian women took gold, silver and bronze in the discus, it was front-page news in Moscow. The stories, by the way, carried no mention of American Walt Davis winning gold in the high jump or that U.S. runner Charlie Moore's world record in the 400-meter hurdles.

ZAPOTEK ZIPS

The breakout star of the Games wasn't an American or a Soviet. It was a 29-year-old staff captain in the Czech Republic Army who ran as if he was in deep agony and his next step would be his last.

Yet Emil Zatopek cared little about form or even proper running decorum while winning the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and the marathon, a race he'd never run before he set an Olympic and World record by covering the 26.2-mile distance in 2:23:03. Early on in the marathon Zatopek asked British runner Jim Peters if his pacing was right. When Peters told Zatopek it was, Zatopek took off and cruised to victory by more than 2 1/2 minutes.

Zatopek — whose wife Dana Zatopkova won gold in the javelin — blew off the media after the race and headed back to the Olympic village for a nap.

MAGNIFICENT MATHIAS

American Bob Mathias was just 17 when he won the decathlon at the 1948 London Olympics. He stamped himself as the world's greatest athlete at age 21 when he defended his gold medal by posting a record score of 7,887 points over two days and 10 events in Helsinki. He then promptly retired.

“This is for sure,” Mathias said. “There's nothing left.”

Maybe on the track, but not in life. Mathias went on to dabble in acting before serving four terms as a Republican Congressman representing California's 18th district, just south of the Bay Area.

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Long before hi-tech swimsuits and dolphin kicks became a thing, the pool at the 1952 Games showcased just how fast the sport was progressing.

During the modest-sized meet — there were only 11 events compared to 34 at the 2016 Summer Olympics — eight Olympic records were set. The Hungarian women dominated, winning seven out of 15 medals.

AP Corporate Archives contributed to this report

Thousands in Russia's Far East protest governor's arrest

August 01, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators rallied Saturday in the Russian Far East city of Khabarovsk to protest the arrest of their governor, keeping up a three-week wave of opposition that has challenged the Kremlin.

Smaller demonstrations took place in at least 10 other cities and 55 people were detained in those protests, according to the OVD-Info organization that monitors political arrests. No detentions were reported at the Khabarovsk rally.

Khabarovsk Krai Gov. Sergei Furgal has been in a Moscow jail since his July 9 arrest on charges of involvement in murders that occurred before his political career started. He has denied the charges. Protesters in Khabarovsk see the charges against Furgal as unsubstantiated and are demanding that his trial take place in his home city, 6,100 kilometers (3,800 miles) east of the Russian capital.

His supporters have held daily protests, with the largest turnouts on weekends. The latest demonstration attracted about 10,000 people, according to some news reports. Police claimed the crowd was about 3,500.

Unlike in Moscow, where police usually move quickly to disperse unsanctioned opposition protests, authorities haven’t interfered with the unauthorized demonstrations in Khabarovsk, apparently expecting them to fizzle out.

Authorities suspect Furgal of involvement in the slayings of several businessmen in 2004 and 2005, when he was a businessman with interests focusing on timber and metals. A lawmaker on the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party ticket, Furgal won the 2018 regional gubernatorial election even though he had refrained from campaigning and publicly supported his Kremlin-backed rival.

His victory was a humiliating setback to the main Kremlin party, United Russia, which also lost its control over the regional legislature. During his time in office, Furgal earned a reputation as a “people’s governor,” cutting his own salary, ordering the sale of an expensive yacht that the previous administration had bought and offering new benefits to residents.

Russian President Vladimir Putin named Mikhail Degtyaryov, a federal lawmaker who is also a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, to replace Furgal, a choice that was apparently intended to assuage local anger. Degtyaryov has not yet faced the protesters.

Virus surges in India, Philippines; Australia imposes curfew

August 02, 2020

NEW DELHI (AP) — Surges of new coronavirus cases continued Sunday in India and the Philippines, which recorded another daily high to surpass 100,000 total infections, as officials across the globe considered stricter measures to stymie the spread of the pandemic.

A curfew was imposed on Australia's second-largest city, Melbourne, following a spike in infections. Countries including the United States, India and South Africa are struggling to rein in their first wave of infections while South Korea and others where the disease abated try to avert a second wave as curbs on travel and trade ease.

Governments worldwide have reported 684,075 deaths and 17.8 million cases, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University. India's 54,735 new cases were down from the previous day's record 57,118 but raised the total to 1.75 million. The month of July accounted for more than 1.1 million of those cases.

The major cities of New Delhi and Mumbai might have passed their peaks, said a government expert, Randeep Guleria. Subways, cinemas and other public facilities are closed until Aug. 31. The Philippines reported 5,032 new cases, raising its total to 103,185, with 2,059 deaths.

On Saturday, leaders of Philippine medical organizations appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to reimpose a lockdown on the capital, Manila. They said the health system was in danger as personnel fall ill or quit due to fear or fatigue.

In Japan, the government reported 1,540 new cases, close to Friday's record of 1,579. The spike in infections, most of them in their 20s and 30s, prompted warnings young people were letting their guard down. Gov. Yuriko Koike of Tokyo, which has about one-third of the new infections, says she might declare an emergency to contain the outbreak.

In Florida, authorities were trying to prepare storm shelters while enforcing social distancing as Tropical Storm Isaias churned toward the heavily populated state. It was due to be near the coast early Sunday.

Florida reported 179 deaths on Saturday, raising its total to more than 7,000. The governor warned residents to expect power outages and said they should have a week’s supply of water and food. The United States has the world’s biggest number of confirmed cases at 4.6 million, or one-quarter of the total, and 154,361 deaths. White House coronavirus task force leader Dr. Deborah Birx said Sunday that the virus had entered a “new phase” in the U.S. as it has rapidly spread in rural and urban America.

“What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread," Birx told CNN’s “State of the Union” as she urged Americans to wear face masks and observe social distancing measures.

In Australia, Premier Daniel Andrews of the southern state of Victoria announced a 8 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew on Melbourne, a city of 5 million people. Schools statewide are to return to home-based teaching and day care centers were closed.

Andrews said there were seven deaths and 671 new cases since Saturday. “If we don’t make these changes, we’re not going to get through this,” Andrews said. Also Sunday, China and South Korea reported more infections but spikes in both countries appeared to be tailing off.

China had 49 new confirmed cases, up from the previous day’s 45. Thirty were in Xinjiang in the northwest, where authorities are trying to contain an outbreak focused on the regional capital, Urumqi.

Three cases were found in students who returned from Russia to Wuhan, the southern Chinese city where the pandemic began in December. Most anti-disease controls were lifted there after the ruling Communist Party declared victory over the disease in March.

Hong Kong reported 125 new infections as authorities tried to find the source of its latest outbreak. The Chinese government said a team of seven virus testing experts was sent to the city to help. South Korea reported 30 new cases, raising its total to 14,366 with 301 deaths, but said only eight were acquired in the country.

The government warned earlier case numbers would rise as South Koreans came home from the Middle East and other places with outbreaks. Authorities say cases from abroad are less threatening because arrivals are quarantined for two weeks.

On Saturday, the leader of a secretive Korean church was arrested in an investigation into whether the group hampered the anti-virus response after thousands of worshipers were infected in February and March.

On Saturday, South Africa reported 10,107 new cases, raising its total to 503,290. That put the country fifth behind the United States, Brazil, Russia and India in total cases, though its population of 58 million is much smaller than theirs.

In Europe, the number of new cases reported in Italy dipped below 300 for the first time. An employee in the Austrian chancellery tested positive for the virus but didn’t work directly with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian Press Agency reported.

McDonald reported from Beijing. AP journalists worldwide contributed to this report.

France starts testing travelers from 16 nations for virus

August 01, 2020

PARIS (AP) — Travelers entering France from 16 countries where the coronavirus is circulating widely now must undergo virus tests upon arrival at French airports and ports. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced last month that the tests would be required starting Aug. 1 for passengers France is allowing in from a list of approved countries unless they present proof of a negative test done within 72 hours of their departure.

Those who test positive in France as of Saturday must quarantine for 14 days. France is not permitting general travel to and from the 16 countries, which include the United States and Brazil. The testing requirement therefore only applies to people entering under limited circumstances: French citizens who live in these countries or citizens of these countries with an established residence in France.

Daniel Court was tested at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport after coming in from the French Riviera city of Nice. He acknowledged not loving the experience. “It’s very fast, but I have to say that it’s not very pleasant,'' he said. “But we have to do it.''

Another passenger who got tested after landing at Paris’ main airport, Nadia Vusik of Belarus, said she thought the new policy made sense. “It is definitely necessary, and I am happy that in France it is possible to do right here. It’s very convenient,” she said.

French health authorities say the number of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases has jumped on the French mainland in recent weeks. The government has already made mask-wearing mandatory in all indoor public spaces.

France has had over 225,000 confirmed infections and over 30,200 virus-related deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, but experts say all numbers in the pandemic are too low for various reasons, including limited testing and missed cases.

The French government has so far ruled out imposing another nationwide lockdown after the one that brought the country to a standstill for nearly two months between March and May.

Thousands protest in Berlin against coronavirus restrictions

August 01, 2020

BERLIN (AP) — Thousands protested Germany's coronavirus restrictions Saturday in a Berlin demonstration marking what organizers called “the end of the pandemic” — a declaration that comes just as authorities are voicing increasing concerns about an uptick in new infections.

With few masks in sight, a dense crowd marched through downtown Berlin from the Brandenburg Gate. Protesters who came from across the country held up homemade signs with slogans like “Corona, false alarm,” “We are being forced to wear a muzzle,” “Natural defense instead of vaccination" and “We are the second wave.”

They chanted, “We’re here and we’re loud, because we are being robbed of our freedom!” Police used bullhorns to chide participants to adhere to social distancing rules and to wear masks, apparently with little success. They tweeted that they drew up a criminal complaint against the rally's organizer for failing to enforce hygiene rules, then said shortly afterward that the organizer had ended the march.

Police estimated about 17,000 people turned out. The demonstrators were kept apart from counterprotesters, some of whom chanted “Nazis out!” Protesters continued to a subsequent rally on a boulevard running through the city's Tiergarten park, which police estimated drew 20,000 people. Police declared that event over as organizers again failed to get demonstrators to wear masks or keep their distance.

Protests against anti-virus restrictions in Germany have drawn a variety of attendees, including conspiracy theorists and right-wing populists. Unlike the U.S., Brazil and Britain, Germany’s government has been praised worldwide for its management of the pandemic. The country’s death toll — just over 9,150 people out of more than 210,670 confirmed virus cases as of Saturday — is five times less than Britain's, which has a smaller population.

The German government has been easing lockdown measures since late April but social distancing rules remain, as does a requirement to wear masks on public transit and in shops. Officials have been warning against complacency as the number of new COVID-19 cases has crept up recently. Amid concerns about residents bringing home infections from summer trips abroad, officials introduced free tests for people entering the country.

Germany's national disease control center registered 955 new cases Friday, a high figure by recent standards. “Thousands of #covidiots are celebrating themselves in Berlin as ‘the second wave,’ without distancing, without masks," tweeted Saskia Esken, a co-leader of the Social Democrats, the junior party in Germany's governing coalition.

“They are not just endangering our health, they are endangering our success against the pandemic and for the revival of the economy, education and society. Irresponsible!"