AP National News

The Latest: Pope backs environment cleanups during pandemic

by Associated Press

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is encouraging grass-roots movements to protect the environment after coronavirus lockdowns have “revealed once more the beauty of so many places free from traffic and noise.”

Francis, speaking to a few hundred people gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, encouraged initiatives to care for the planet that began as a result of the pandemic, such as one on Sunday to clean up the banks of the Tiber River in Rome.

Francis has made environmental protection a hallmark of his papacy and just this past week, the Vatican released a guide on implementing his 2015

The Latest: UK expected to ditch its virus app after delays

by Associated Press

LONDON — Britain’s government is scrapping its existing coronavirus tracing smartphone app and switching to a model based on technology supplied by Apple and Google, the BBC reports.

The government’s app is being trialled on the Isle of Wight, and was expected to be rolled out in the rest of the country later. But the program, previously hailed as a fundamental pillar of the U.K. response to the pandemic, has been delayed.

On Wednesday, the official responsible for the app said it may not be ready until the winter and that it is not the “priority” at the moment.

The data gathered by the

The Latest: China says outbreak in Beijing under control

by Associated Press

BEIJING — A Chinese public health expert says an outbreak of the coronavirus in Beijing is under control and the number of new cases should drop in the coming days.

Wu Zunyou from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention told a news conference Thursday that such outbreaks are inevitable but that this one was larger than expected because it happened in a major market.

Authorities have confirmed 158 cases in Beijing in the past week. Most if not all have been linked to the city’s largest wholesale food market, where thousands of people work. Wu said workers in the seafood section

The Latest: Germany sees huge outbreak at slaughterhouse

by Associated Press

BERLIN — Authorities in the western German region of Guetersloh have ordered the closure of all schools and childcare centers after hundreds of workers at Germany’s biggest slaughterhouse tested positive for COVID-19.

Regional daily Westfalen-Blatt reported Wednesday that some 475 people tested positive for the new coronavirus, adding to 128 cases already known. A further 400 test results were still pending.

The outbreak at the Toennies slaughterhouse in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck has pushed the number of cases in the region far above the government’s threshold for emergency measures, which is set

The Latest: Study: Coronavirus lockdowns make kids irritable

by Associated Press

ROME — A national survey of the psychological impact of coronavirus lockdowns on Italian children has quantified what many parents noticed offhand during weeks cooped up at home: Their kids were more irritable, had trouble sleeping and for some of the youngest, wept inconsolably and regressed developmentally.

The survey, conducted by the Giannina Gaslini Pediatric Hospital in Genoa in conjunction with the University of Genoa, found those symptoms were more acute in families where the parents themselves were particularly stressed.

Italy’s health ministry on Tuesday released the results of the

The Latest: UK virus-related deaths rise to 52,000 by June 5

by Associated Press

LONDON — Britain’s statistics agency says the total number of coronavirus-related deaths across the U.K. has reached almost 52,000 by the week ending June 5.

The updated figure from the Office for National Statistics is around 10,000 higher than the government’s daily tally, which are based on initial cause of death assessments. Those from the statistics agency are collated from death registrations, which can take a couple of weeks to be issued.

The statistics agency also said there were around 64,500 more deaths across the U.K. than the five-year average over the period of the pandemic.

The Latest: Germany: Pets with virus must be reported

by Associated Press

BERLIN — The German government plans to introduce an obligation that any cases of coronavirus in pets be reported to authorities. It says the move is needed to assist research into the virus.

Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner said Tuesday that the plan is for the move to be considered by parliament next month.

Kloeckner said that there will be no obligation for people to test their pets, but it would make sense to do so in certain situations – for example, if a cat living in a household with human coronavirus cases itself shows symptoms. She stressed there’s no evidence so far that pets

The Latest: African nations want UN to examine racism in US

by Associated Press

TOP OF THE HOUR:

— African nations to ask UN to examine racism in U.S., elsewhere.

— Brick hurled at media car in Louisville as police shoot pepper balls

— President Trump, Senate GOP seek police changes.

— Maryland panel votes to remove Civil War plaque from Capitol.

— Man shot as protesters in New Mexico try to tear down statue.

GENEVA — African nations have prepared a draft resolution at the U.N.’s top human rights body that singles out the United States and would launch intense international scrutiny of systemic racism against people of African descent in the wake of recent

The Latest: Spain opens its borders to Europeans on June 21

by Associated Press

MADRID — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says Spain will open its borders to travelers from Europe’s Schengen travel areas except Portugal on June 21, moving up the original date by 10 days.

Spain will drop its requirement for people arriving from abroad to stay in quarantine, either at home or in a hotel, for 14 days on arrival, when it reopens on that day.

Sánchez said Sunday that Spain and Portugal will keep their border closed to non-essential crossings until July 1.

Spain’s government had already announced that on June 21 it will end the nation’s state of emergency to fight the

The Latest: Italians deface statue tied to colonial past

by Associated Press

TOP OF THE HOUR:

— Italians deface statue of journalist who had 12-year-old Eritrean bride.

— French police protest in Paris, saying accusations of racism unfair.

— UK police arrest over 100 after violent right-wing protest in London.

— Atlanta police officer fired after fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks.

— Bust of slave owner torn down, thrown in river in New Orleans.

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MILAN — Protesters have scrawled ‘’rapist’’ and ‘’racist’’ on the statue of a late Italian journalist who had acknowledged having had a 12-year-old Eritrean bride while stationed in the Italian colony in the 1930s.