ap-breaking
Trump s DOJ seized data from House Democrats in leaks probe
WASHINGTON (AP) The Justice Department under former President Donald Trump secretly seized data from the accounts of at least two Democratic lawmakers in 2018 as part of an aggressive crackdown on leaks related to the Russia investigation and other national security matters, according to three people familiar with the seizures.Prosecutors from Trump s Justice Department subpoenaed Apple for the data from at least two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, said a committee official and two other people with inside knowledge. The records of at least 12 people connected to the intelligence panel were eventually shared by the company. Among them: Rep. Adam Schiff, then the top Democrat on the committee and now its chairman, and Rep. Eric Swalwell.The committee official and the two others with knowledge of the data seizures were granted anonymity to discuss them.While the Justice Department routinely conducts investigations of leaked information, including classified intelligence, opening such an investigation into members of Congress is extraordinarily rare. The disclosures reveal one branch of the government using its powers of investigation and prosecution to spy on another.Schiff said the seizures suggest the weaponization of law enforcement by a corrupt president.Apple informed the committee last month that the records had been shared and that the investigation had been closed, but did not give extensive detail. Also seized were the records of aides, former aides and family members, one of them a minor, according to the committee official.The Justice Department obtained metadata probably records of calls, texts and locations but not other content from the devices, like photos, messages or emails, according to one of the people. Another said that Apple complied with the subpoena, providing the information to the Justice Department, and did not immediately notify the members of Congress or the committee about the disclosure.The secret seizures were first reported by The New York Times.The Trump administration s attempt to secretly gain access to the data came as the president was fuming publicly and privately over investigations in Congress and by then-special counsel Robert Mueller into his campaign s ties to Russia.Trump called the probes a witch hunt, regularly criticized Democrats and Mueller on Twitter and repeatedly dismissed as fake news leaks he found harmful to his agenda. As the investigations swirled around him, he demanded loyalty from a Justice Department he often regarded as his personal law firm.Schiff and Swalwell were two of the most visible Democrats on the committee, then led by Republicans, during the Russia probe. Both California lawmakers made frequent appearances on cable news. Trump watched those channels closely, if not obsessively, and seethed over the coverage.Schiff, in a statement late Thursday, called for an investigation by the Justice Department s inspector general on the seizures.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement that the data seizures appear to be yet another egregious assault on our democracy waged by the former president.The news about the politicization of the Trump Administration Justice Department is harrowing, she said.The committee official said the panel has continued to seek additional information, but the Justice Department has not been forthcoming on questions such as whether the investigation was properly predicated and whether it only focused on Democrats.It is unclear why Trump s Justice Department would have targeted a minor as part of the probe. Swalwell, confirming that he was told his records were seized, told CNN on Thursday night that he was aware a minor was involved and believed that person was targeted punitively and not for any reason in law.On CNN Friday, Swalwell said he would not be surprised if the department had gone after other members as well. He said an internal Justice Department investigation could find that out. The Senate Intelligence Committee was not similarly targeted, according to a fourth person who was aware of the probe and granted anonymity to discuss it.There s no indication that the Justice Department used the records to prosecute anyone. After some of the information was declassified and made public during the later years of the Trump administration, some of the prosecutors were concerned that even if they could bring a leak case, trying it would be difficult and a conviction would be unlikely, one of the people said.Federal agents questioned at least one former committee staff member in 2020, the person said, and ultimately, prosecutors weren t able to substantiate a case.The news follows revelations that the Justice Department had secretly seized phone records belonging to reporters at The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN as part of criminal leak investigations. Following an outcry from press freedom organizations, the Justice Department announced last week that it would cease the practice of going after journalists sourcing information.___Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
Lisbon mayor criticized for sharing Russian dissidents data
MADRID (AP) Lisbon s mayor has come under fire after admitting that municipal employees shared with Russian officials personal details of at least three Lisbon-based dissidents who organized protests in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.The municipal government obtained the personal data when the Russian activists applied to hold a rally in the Portuguese capital against Navalny s arrest in January, one of the three, Ksenia Ashrafullina, told The Associated Press Friday.City ordinances require organizers to inform authorities about upcoming protests.Ashrafullina, who also holds Portuguese nationality, said that names, ID numbers, home addresses and telephone numbers were submitted so that police could contact them if anything went wrong during the event.But the 36-year-old said that email exchanges in the run-up to the protest that she was shown revealed that municipal employees had forwarded the data to Russian diplomats in Lisbon and Russia s Foreign Ministry in Moscow.Lisbon Mayor Fernando Medina on Thursday apologized for what he said was an unfortunate mistake that he blamed on the municipal chamber s workers.The mistake was due to the bureaucracy of the services that applied to this protest the same protocols as for scores of other protests that take place in the municipality, Medina said, according to comments carried by Portugal s Diario de Noticias.Medina s political opposition has called for the mayor to resign.In a statement, his office acknowledged the breach of data protection rules but said that it vehemently rejects any accusations and insinuations of complicity with the Russian regime.It also added that the Lisbon City Hall had asked the Russian government to delete the data.Other campaigning groups, including an association supporting Palestinians, had criticized the Lisbon municipal chamber in the past for also sharing potentially sensitive data ahead of previous protests, Portuguese media outlets Expresso and Observador reported on Friday.But the latest development comes at a sensitive time for the opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin.Navalny, Putin s most ardent political foe, was arrested in January and given a 2 1 2-year prison term for violating the terms of a past sentence for embezzlement which he dismissed as politically motivated.All organizations founded by Navalny were outlawed this week by a Moscow court that labeled them extremist, effectively crushing the hopes of many of Navalny s allies to run for parliamentary seats later this year.According to Diario de Noticias, Portuguese authorities were assessing Friday whether the data handover was endangering the activists and whether police protection should be granted to them.The press office of Portugal s Public Security Police didn t respond to an AP request for comment.In response to a request for comment, the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed to a statement by the Russian embassy in Portugal, which blamed the controversy on attention-seeking activists.Neither the embassy in Lisbon nor Moscow has any interest in such individuals with unhealthy imagination, the Facebook statement said. It added: The female activist can come home with peace of mind.Ashrafullina said that she wanted to believe that the protest organizers had been victims of evil by incompetence by a bureaucrat rather than meaning to put them in danger, but that the consequences for Russian dissidents are always present.I am just a regular citizen who is trying to influence other people around me by saying, well, we shouldn t tolerate injustice and we should protest in order to have a better, a more fair Russia, said Ashrafullina, who has been living in Lisbon for the past eight years.There are millions of people like myself, but there is petty vengeance, she added. Anything can happen or nothing can happen, it s completely random.__AP journalists Helena Alves in London, Harriet Morris and Daria Litvinova in Moscow contributed to this report.
Ex-Missouri detective found guilty in excessive force case
ST. LOUIS (AP) A federal jury has found a former suburban St. Louis police detective with a string of past misconduct allegations guilty in an excessive force case for kicking a defenseless person during a 2019 arrest.Ellis Brown III was convicted Thursday of felony deprivation of rights under color of law for repeatedly kicking a man who was face-down and restrained, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.Steven Kolb had led St. Ann police officers on a chase in April 2019 through north St. Louis before his car and several police cars crashed, prosecutors said. Kolb then got out of his car and initially tried to flee before lying on his stomach in a bank parking lot with his hands outstretched.The incident was captured on bank surveillance video, and prosecutors said it showed Kolb had surrendered as was not a threat.Ellis Brown was interested in one thing and one thing only: retribution, U.S. Attorney Sirena Wissler said in her closing argument.Prosecutors said the beating required Kolb to be flown by medical helicopter to hospital for treatment of broken ribs and broken bones in his face.Defense attorney James Towey said in his closing argument that Brown could have believed Kolb had a weapon, though no weapon was found.Police work is a very dangerous job, Towey told the jury. They make split-second decisions.Brown faces up to 10 years in prison when he s sentenced in September.Brown was the former head of the St. Ann police detective bureau at the time of the 2019 arrest and carried a string of misconduct complaints on his record when he joined the department in 2017.He had come to the St. Ann department which has hired several officers accused of misconduct at other departments after leaving the St. Louis Police Department during a state of Missouri disciplinary investigation in which he and his partner were accused of following a vehicle that crashed, then not reporting the crash or helping the driver. Investigators say Brown also lied about how he spend his time that night.Brown denied the misconduct, but state officials placed his police license on probation.Brown also was one of two officers who shot and killed 25-year-old Kajieme Powell in St. Louis in 2014 while investigating reports that Powell stole an energy drink and snacks from a market. Local prosecutors later declined to charge the officers, who said Powell approached them with a knife.Several criminal cases involving Brown in St. Louis were later thrown out when lawyers found he submitted nearly identical language in 19 search warrant applications.
The Latest: Mattek-Sands, Swiatek reach FO doubles final
PARIS (AP) The Latest on the French Open (all times local):5:10 p.m.Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States and Iga Swiatek of Poland are into the doubles final at Roland Garros.They defeated Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania and Nadia Podoroska of Argentina 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals.They will face Czech pair Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the final.Swiatek was the defending singles champion in Paris but lost in the quarterfinals.Krejcikova will try this weekend to become the first woman to sweep the Roland Garros titles since Mary Pierce in 2000. Krejcikova also made it to the singles final on Thursday by beating Maria Sakkari 7-5, 4-6, 9-7 after saving a match point.___2:40 p.m.Barbora Krejcikova will try this weekend to become the first woman to sweep Roland Garros titles since Mary Pierce in 2000.Krejcikova and fellow Czech Katerina Siniakova advanced to the doubles final with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Magda Linette of Poland and Bernarda Pera of the United States.Krejcikova also made it to the singles final by beating Maria Sakkari 7-5, 4-6, 9-7 after saving a match point on Thursday. She will be up against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Saturday s title match.The second doubles semifinal is pitting Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States and Iga Swiatek of Poland against Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu and Nadia Podoroska of Argentina.___2:25 p.m.The first men s semifinal at Roland Garros pits fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas against No. 6 Alexander Zverev.Tsitsipas, a 22-year-old from Greece, is bidding to reach his first Grand Slam final. It s his third major semifinal in a row and fourth overall. Tsitsipas is 0-3 so far.The 24-year-old Zverev has won one of the two major semifinals he has played, making it to the US Open final last year. The German is looking to produce a first victory against a Top 10 rival at a Grand Slam.Tsitsipas leads Zverev 5-2.___1:30 p.m.A day after the marathon win that booked her a spot in the French Open final, Barbora Krejcikova is back on court at Roland Garros -- in doubles this time.Krejcikova and her fellow Czech teammate Katerina Siniakova are up against Magda Linette of Poland and Bernarda Pera of the United States in the doubles semifinals.Krejcikova is bidding to become the first woman to sweep Roland Garros titles since Mary Pierce in 2000. The last woman to make the final of both events in Paris was another Czech, Lucie Safarova. She did it in 2015 and won the doubles title.In just her fifth appearance in a Grand Slam singles main draw, Krejcikova made it to the final by beating Maria Sakkari 7-5, 4-6, 9-7 after saving a match point.She s been ranked No. 1 and won a pair of major championships in doubles.___More AP Tennis: https: apnews.com hub tennis and https: twitter.com AP_Sports
Cambodia limits US diplomat s scrutiny of controversial base
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) Efforts by Cambodia to assuage U.S. concerns about China s right to use a naval base on the Gulf of Thailand suffered a setback Friday when an American diplomat invited to inspect it was allowed only limited access, according to the U.S. Embassy.The embassy said Defense Attach Col. Marcus M. Ferrara traveled to the Ream Naval Base in coordination with Cambodian authorities, but was denied full access to the facility, leading him to cut short his visit and ask for it to be rescheduled without any limits to what he could see.Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said Cambodia fulfilled its commitment to allow a visit as requested, and if U.S. officials were not satisfied, they could request another visit as long as it did not involve spying or violating Cambodian sovereignty.Officials of Cambodia s Defense Ministry hit back at the embassy s statement.They are pretending. They should know that the kingdom has sovereignty and laws, but they have their hidden agendas for geopolitical gains, Gen. Nem Sowath, special adviser to Defense Minister Tea Banh, was quoted as saying by Fresh News, a website close to the government. What the embassy wrote has violated the truth.Fresh News quoted Lt. Gen. Suon Samnang, the deputy director of the Defense Ministry s foreign affairs department who accompanied Ferrara, as saying that after he was taken to several sites, He tried to search for other places that were not necessary and not in their requests.Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen agreed in a June 1 meeting with visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman to allow the embassy s defense attach to make regular visits to the base, the embassy said in a statement.An earlier State Department statement about Sherman s visit said she expressed serious concerns about China s military presence and construction of facilities at the base and sought clarification of why two U.S.-funded buildings there had been demolished without notification or explanation.Sherman said a Chinese military base in Cambodia would undermine its sovereignty, threaten regional security, and negatively impact U.S.-Cambodia relations, the statement said.Hun Sen and other Cambodian officials have consistently maintained that China has been given no special privileges at the base.Sherman later told journalists she had candid conversations with Hun Sen about the direction the country is headed, including China s presence at Ream and Cambodia s human rights and anti-democratic record. Hun Sen has been in power since 1985 and has a history of repression that in the past few years has focused on intimidation through the legal system of his critics and political opponents.Controversy over the Ream Naval Base sprang up two years ago when The Wall Street Journal reported that an early draft of a reputed agreement seen by U.S. officials would allow China 30-year use of the base, where it would be able to post military personnel, store weapons and berth warships.China is Cambodia s biggest investor and closest political partner. Beijing s support allows Cambodia to disregard Western concerns about its poor record in human and political rights, and in turn Cambodia generally supports Beijing s geopolitical positions on issues such as its territorial claims in the South China Sea.Basing rights in Cambodia would extend Beijing s strategic military profile considerably and tilt the regional balance of power, putting pressure on countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations whose security concerns historically been aligned more closely with the United States.Routine and frequent visits by U.S. and other foreign military attach s to Ream Naval Base can be an important step towards greater transparency and mutual trust, the U.S. Embassy statement said.Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said his country has shown transparency and accountability by responding to the U.S. request for a visit.
Opposition accuses German govt of impeding 2016 attack probe
BERLIN (AP) Opposition parties accused the German government Friday of hampering the work of a parliamentary investigation into a 2016 truck attack in which an Islamist extremist killed 12 people and injured dozens more at Christmas market in Berlin.A cross-party panel is due to deliver its final report on the attack soon. But lawmakers from the Greens, the Free Democrats and the Left party alleged that witnesses dodged questions on what intelligence agencies knew about the attacker, Anis Amri. Security officials portrayed him as a lone culprit although the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.Benjamin Strasser, a lawmaker for the centrist Free Democrats, accused Germany s governing parties of trying to put a lid on this case and asserted that the government had repeatedly withheld important files from parliament.The opposition lawmakers said evidence showed that Amri, a failed asylum-seeker, had been part of a network of extremists in Germany and abroad who provided training, logistical and financial support.Irene Mihalic, a Green party representative on the investigative panel, said lawmakers were unable during three years of hearings to get answers about Amri s meeting shortly before the attack with two other known Islamists, one of whom was later spotted at the scene.DNA found in the driver s cabin of the hijacked truck used in the attack so far hasn t been linked to anyone, while the source of a gun Amri used to kill the truck s driver remains unclear, Mihalic said.Amri managed to flee Germany but was killed in a shootout with Italian police days after the attack. Mihalic noted that Amri had a large sum of cash on him when he died, the source of which also hasn t been determined.Martina Renner of the Left party said the case showed that important information wasn t shared between various state and federal security agencies, while key decisions by police and intelligence officials weren t documented.A separate inquiry in 2017 concluded that security agencies may have missed an opportunity to arrest Amri months before the attack.The three opposition parties called for Germany to recognize March 11 as the official day of remembrance for victims of terrorism. The European Union adopted such an observance day on the anniversary of the 2004 bombings by Islamic extremists in Madrid that killed 191 people.
Israeli fire kills Palestinian teen in West Bank protest
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) A Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli fire on Friday during clashes between protesters and Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian authorities said.The Health Ministry identified the slain youth as Mohammed Hamayel, 15, adding that six protesters were wounded during the violence in the village of Beita near the city of Nablus where dozens of Palestinians demonstrated against the expansion of a nearby Jewish settlement at the expense of their land.The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, reported that Israeli troops fired live rounds, tear gas and rubber-coated steel pellets at the demonstrators. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.Israel captured in the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories that Palestinians want for their future state.On Thursday, Israeli troops shot and killed three Palestinians, including two security officers, in a shootout that erupted in the town of Jenin during what appeared to be an Israeli arrest raid overnight.Under interim peace agreements signed in the 1990s, the Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in scattered enclaves that together make up around 40% of the occupied West Bank.
The Latest: Pakistan to spend $1.1B on shots for adults
ISLAMABAD Pakistan will spend $1.1 billion in the next fiscal year to import COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate most of the 100 million adult population.This announcement was made by finance minister Shaukat Tareen on Friday while presenting the annual budget for fiscal 2021-22 in the parliament. Pakistan s fiscal year begins on July 1.Pakistan, a nation of 220 million, has so far mainly relied on vaccines import from neighboring China. The latest development comes two days after Pakistan said it has administered 10 million vaccine doses amid a decline in COVID-19 cases and deaths from coronavirus.Tareen also set a target of achieving 4.8 percent GDP growth in the next fiscal year. Pakistan s economy has been under pressure since last year when it imposed weeks-long nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus.Pakistan has registered a total of 938,737 confirmed cases and 21,576 confirmed deaths.___MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:China s children may be next in line for COVID-19 vaccinesLeaders of G-7 nations gather to pledge 1B vaccine doses for worldNew federal COVID-19 safety rules exempt most U.S. employersEU agency approves Moderna vaccine site in FranceReports of rising coronavirus cases in Russia___Follow more of AP s pandemic coverage at https: apnews.com hub coronavirus-pandemic and https: apnews.com hub coronavirus-vaccine___HERE S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:TAIPEI, Taiwan If China is to meet its tentative goal of vaccinating 80% of its population against the coronavirus by the end of the year, tens of millions of children are going to have to start rolling up their sleeves.Regulators have taken the first steps by approving two domestically produced vaccines for use in children aged 3 to 17, though no date has been set for the shots to start.Children have been largely spared the worst of the pandemic, becoming infected less easily than adults and generally showing less severe symptoms when they do contract the virus. But some experts say if countries are going to achieve herd immunity, inoculating children should be part of the plan.Few regulators around the world have evaluated the safety of COVID-19 shots in kids. The United States, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong are allowing the use of the Pfizer vaccine in children as young as 12.China has a population of 1.4 billion, meaning it needs to inoculate 560 million people to reach its goal of 40% vaccination by June and 1.12 billion people to get to the 80% goal. It will be hard to do the latter without vaccinating many of its 254 million children who are younger than 14.___LONDON The European Medicines Agency has approved a new manufacturing site for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, in a move that could substantially boost production for the European Union.In a statement on Friday, the EU drug regulator says it had approved a site in Monts, France, operated by Recipharm. In addition to the new site approval, the EMA authorized several other sites to conduct batch control and testing.This month, two locations in the U.S. were approved for production of vaccines destined for the 27-nation EU bloc. Any medicines or vaccines authorized for the EU market must first have their production facilities approved by the EMA.The EMA says these new approved sites are expected to result in an additional 1 to 2 million vials of Moderna s coronavirus vaccine every month.___KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia Malaysia s government says a two-week nationwide lockdown due to end Monday will be extended for another two weeks as new daily infections remain high at more than 6,000.Senior Minister Ismail Sabri said the National Security Council made the decision at its meeting Friday. Although daily cases have dropped from its peak of above 9,000 just before the lockdown, he said average daily cases since the lockdown was still high.The health ministry on Friday reported 6,849 new infections, bringing the country s confirmed total tally to 646,411. Another 84 deaths raised the confirmed death toll to 3,768.___BERLIN Germany is lifting a blanket travel warning for countries with high coronavirus infection rates starting July 1.Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says after many months of lockdown, we can look forward to greater normalcy, that includes travel.The general travel warning will be lifted next month for all countries that have fewer than 200 newly confirmed coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants in a week.But Maas cautioned that the pandemic isn t over yet and the rise of new variants means risks remain.Countries with infection rates above 200 or a large share of concerning variants among new cases, like Britain, will remain on the government s list of risk areas. Germans are discouraged from traveling to such countries and people arriving in Germany from there will need to go into quarantine.___LONDON The European Medicines Agency says it s recommending that people who have had a rare blood vessel syndrome not be immunized with AstraZeneca s COVID-19 vaccine.In a statement on Friday, the EU drug regulator said it reviewed cases of six people who had capillary leak syndrome after they had received a shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The vaccine has previously been linked to rare blood clots, but health officials say its benefits still outweigh the small risks.EMA experts also concluded that the capillary leak condition should be added to the product information as a new side effect of the vaccine.The agency said it is continuing its review of heart inflammation in a small number of people who developed conditions after getting immunized with the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna Inc.The EMA said it is studying cases of myocarditis, inflammation of the heart, and pericarditis, inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart. Symptoms include shortness of breath and chest pain; the problems are usually temporary.Further analysis is needed to determine whether there is a causal link with the vaccines, the EU agency said.The EMA said it expects to finalize its review of such cases next month.___MOSCOW -- Confirmed coronavirus cases are continuing to rise in Russia, where authorities on Friday reported 12,505 new infections -- a 25% increase from the number registered on Monday.Moscow accounted for nearly half of the newly confirmed cases with 5,853, almost twice the number reported in Russia s capital at the beginning of the week Despite the surge of infections, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin vowed earlier this week not to impose a lockdown.In St. Petersburg, Russia s second-largest city, hours-long lines of ambulances have been spotted this week near hospitals treating COVID-19 patients. The city hosted a massive economic forum last week and is scheduled to host several matches of soccer s European Championship next week.The Russian state coronavirus task force has reported a total of nearly 5.2 million virus cases and over 125,000 deaths in the pandemic. Most virus-related restrictions in Russia were lifted last summer, and authorities have shunned tough measures ever since.___CARBIS BAY, England Leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized nations are set to commit at their summit to sharing at least 1 billion coronavirus shots with struggling countries around the world half the doses coming from the U.S. and 100 million from the U.K.Vaccine sharing commitments from U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson set the stage for the G-7 meeting in southwest England, where leaders will pivot Friday from opening greetings and a family photo directly into a session on Building Back Better From COVID-19.We re going to help lead the world out of this pandemic working alongside our global partners, Biden said. The G-7 also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.The leaders hope the meeting in the resort of Carbis Bay will also energize the global economy. On Friday, they are set to formally embrace a global minimum tax of at least 15% on corporations, following an agreement reached a week ago by their finance ministers. The minimum is meant to stop companies from using tax havens and other tools to avoid taxes.It represents a potential win for the Biden administration, which has proposed a global minimum tax as a way to pay for infrastructure projects, in addition to creating an alternative that could remove some European countries digital services taxes that largely hit U.S. tech firms.__COPENHAGEN, Denmark Norway s King Harald V says he believes the coronavirus pandemic is nearing its end and people should rejoice.During the pandemic, several members of the Norwegian royal family were protectively put in quarantine and either canceled official duties or performed them digitally.Harald formally heads the Council of State with the government and during its meetings he is briefed about current affairs and signs laws. In March, he took part in such a meeting by telephone.The Norwegian monarch, whose duties are largely ceremonial, said Thursday the pandemic has meant that he and his wife, Queen Sonja, are seeing far less of you than we normally do.Norway has had one of Europe s lowest infection rates throughout the pandemic, chiefly because of the Scandinavian country s low population density. The Norwegian public s overall trust in government authorities also has been credited with keeping virus cases down.___CHICAGO Illinois is lifting all capacity limits on bars, restaurants, businesses and other venues as of Friday, nearly 15 months after the state s first stay-at-home order of the coronavirus pandemic.Businesses still can have their own rules for capacity, masks and social distancing. Masks are still required on public transportation and in airports, schools and hospitals.More than 68% of Illinois residents who are 18 or older have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 51% of adults are fully vaccinated, the state health department said, citing federal data.The health department said 209 people with COVID-19 were in intensive care units statewide Thursday and 103 were on ventilators some of the lowest counts we ve seen since the pandemic began.There have been at least 23,014 deaths in Illinois from COVID-19.___MANILA, Philippines Philippine officials have allowed the reopening of gyms, skating rinks, racket courts and museums in metropolitan Manila and adjacent provinces as a coronavirus surge continues to ease.Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez says Filipinos 65 years old and above who have been restricted to home can now travel within the densely populated capital region two weeks after having been fully vaccinated.He says gyms and similar indoor businesses with safety certificates can reopen up to 30% of their capacity.Lopez has called for the further reopening of the battered economy to address unemployment and hunger. Museums and historical sites also can reopen at 20% capacity but guided tours remain prohibited.The Philippines has reported the second highest number of COVID-19 infections in Southeast Asia at nearly 1.3 million with 22,312 dead. The government reimposed a lockdown in the capital region and four nearby provinces after infections surged in March.___NEW DELHI The Indian state of Bihar has increased its COVID-19 death toll after the discovery of thousands of unreported cases, raising concerns that many more fatalities were not officially recorded.The health department in Bihar, one of the poorest states, on Thursday revised its COVID-19 fatality count to more than 9,429 from 5,424 a jump of more than 70%.Officials said the 3,951 unreported fatalities had occurred in May and reflect deaths reported at private hospitals, in transit to health facilities, under home isolation and those dying of post COVID-19 complications.Health experts say many COVID-19 fatalities remain unrecorded in India. India s federal ministers from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have dismissed reports of undercounting as exaggerated and misleading.Overall, India s cases and deaths have fallen steadily in the past weeks.The 91,702 cases added in the past 24 hours pushed India s total to more than 29.3 million on Friday, second only to the United States. The Health Ministry also reported 3,403 fatalities in the past 24 hours, raising the overall death toll to 363,079.___WASHINGTON U.S. health officials are investigating what appear to be higher than expected reports of heart inflammation in male teens and young adults after they get a second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.It s not clear if the inflammation is caused by the shots and the reports still are rare, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The CDC is urging everyone 12 and older in the United States to get vaccinated.A CDC official said Thursday that as of May 31, the agency had 275 preliminary reports of such inflammation in 16- to 24-year-olds,.That s out of more than 12 million second-dose injections of the vaccines.The official says the cases seem to occur more often in men and in younger people, and most already have fully recovered.___
The Latest: Turkish diaspora descends on Rome for Euro 2020
The Latest on soccer s European Championship:___Italy doesn t allow non-essential travel from Turkey but fans from the country s diaspora in Europe have been descending on Rome for the opening match of the European Championship.Tukey will face Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Group A of Euro 2020.Metin Karagulle was cruising toward the Colosseum with a group of Turkey fans on electric scooters.He says we came all the way here together from Switzerland and we hope it is fair play that wins.Tayip Abanoz traveled to Rome from Stuttgart, Germany.Abanoz says it will be something really big for all the Turkish people who are coming here to Rome to watch the game.Fans in Turkey will be able to travel to Azerbaijan for the team s other group matches. The Turks will face Wales and Switzerland in Baku and fans with tickets will be able to attend if they have proof of a negative COVID-19 test.___Scotland s players will take a knee at the European Championship before the game against England in London but will stand ahead of matches in Glasgow against the Czech Republic and Croatia.The England team has been doing the anti-racism gesture since last year.Scotland captain Andy Roberton says we have collectively decided to again take the knee as a team for the fixture against England at Wembley Stadium.The match will be played on June 18.The gesture has been booed by a section of England fans but the team will continue to take a knee at Euro 2020. England s first game of the tournament will be on Sunday against Croatia.___Spain s squad for the European Championship has been vaccinated against the coronavirus after two players had to be isolated following positive tests for COVID-19.The national team says medics from Spain s Armed Forces administered the shots at the team s training facility near Madrid.Spain will play Sweden in Seville on Monday in its opening Euro 2020 match. Preparations for the tournament were thrown off this week after captain Sergio Busquets and defender Diego Llorente both tested positive.Llorente s subsequent tests have come back negative so his initial positive result may have been erroneous. The team says he may be able to return soon.Busquets tested positive on Sunday and is under a minimum 10-day isolation. But the team says he is feeling fine and that it hopes he will be back during the tournament.___Russia winger Andrey Mostovoy has become the first player to be cut from a team at this year s European Championship because of the coronavirus.The team says on Twitter that in connection with an unfavorable result of PCR testing for the virus Mostovoy has been replaced with defender Roman Evgeniev.The announcement comes a day before Russia plays Belgium in St. Petersburg in its opening Euro 2020 match.Mostovoy made his debut for Russia last year and played eight of the team s last 11 games. He has played mostly as a substitute. Evgeniev s only appearance for his country was in a 5-0 loss to Serbia last year.Sweden and Spain have both reported positive results from coronavirus tests but haven t yet opted to replace the affected players.___The biggest soccer tournament of the coronavirus-era is about to get started.The first match of the European Championship will kick off at 1900 GMT in Rome when Italy plays Turkey in Group A. And there will be about 16,000 fans in the stadium.Euro 2020 was supposed to start last year on June 12. The tournament was postponed for almost exactly one year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The final is now set for July 11 at Wembley Stadium in London.Much of the schedule for the postponed tournament remains the same as last year but some changes in venues have been made. The 51 matches will be played in 11 cities around the continent. Rome and London will be joined by Amsterdam, Baku, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Munich, Seville and St. Petersburg.___More AP soccer: https: apnews.com hub soccer and https: twitter.com AP_Sports
1 student fatally shot in new abduction in Nigeria s north
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) A student has been fatally shot at a school in northern Nigeria as gunmen abducted eight students and two lecturers in yet another violent attack on an educational institution in the country, authorities said Friday.Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwan said in a statement that the incident occurred late Thursday at the government-owned Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic in Zaria.The gunmen shot sporadically and, in the process, two students were hit and one of them died Friday morning, he said.Two lecturers and about eight students were abducted from the institution during the attack, Aruwan said.It is the third violent attack on a tertiary institution in Kaduna State in as many months.In March, 39 students at the Federal School of Forestry were abducted while 22 students were abducted from the Greenfield University in April.Five of those snatched from Greenfield University were killed as their abductors made demands for ransom.The latest incident also comes two weeks after gunmen abducted 147 children and three teachers from the Salihu Tanko Islamic School, Tegina, in neighboring Niger State. One person was shot dead in the attack. Eleven of the children who were too young to keep pace when the gunmen moved the children into the forest were later found abandoned.Six abductions from schools, mainly for ransom, have been recorded in northern Nigeria this year.President Muhammadu Buhari has been under pressure to address the growing insecurity in the country.