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India reported more than 23,000 new coronavirus cases Monday, pushing its total during the pandemic past Russia for third most in the world. India now trails only the United States and Brazil in terms of overall confirmed cases. The country is closed to international travel, but the government has been gradually lifting restrictions on local tourism to try to boost the economy. But in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, officials have extended lockdowns on businesses, monuments and other attractions in the city of Agra, including at the Taj Mahal, amid the continued spread of COVID-19. “In the interest of the public, it has been decided that opening monuments in Agra will not be advisable as of now,” the district authorities said in a notice published in Hindi.  The Taj Mahal and other tourist sites in Agra have been closed since March.   While governments in many countries grapple with how to respond to the coronavirus, a group of 239 scientists from 32 countries are calling on the World Health Organization to update guidance concerning the prospect airborne spread of the virus.A sign advising social distance is posted at a closed parking lot to Ocean Beach during the coronavirus outbreak, in San Francisco, Sunday, July 5, 2020.The scientists say there is evidence the virus can linger in the air and that smaller particles can infect people.   In Australia, officials announced Monday the closure of the border between Victoria and New South Wales, the country’s two most populous states, after a spike in new infections.  The closure is indefinite and marks the first such move in Australia since a flu pandemic 100 years ago. Greece said Monday it is banning travelers from Serbia until July 15 after the number of cases there rose. In Spain, a county in the northwestern part of the country is on lockdown all week because authorities fear a new COVID-19 outbreak.    Officials in La Marina in the Galicia region placed all 70,000 residents in a countywide quarantine after several bars in the area reported new cases.   Only essential travel in and out of the county is allowed and gatherings of more than 10 people are forbidden.   Spain has been one of Europe’s COVID-19 hotspots with more than 250,000 cases and 28,000 deaths. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has put the next phase of his country’s reopening on hold for two weeks because of a 50% jump in the number of coronavirus cases in the last several days. Buses were to have started running and some businesses and factories were to have started to reopen Tuesday.  Ahead of the start of the hajj pilgrimage that typically draws 2.5 million Muslims in Saudi Arabia, the government said it will limit the number of pilgrims to 1,000. Muslims from outside Saudi Arabia are not allowed this year, and according to new rules announced Monday, pilgrims will not be allowed to touch the Kaaba, and will have to maintain social distancing of at least 1.5 meters while performing rituals and prayers. 
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The top American diplomat in Hong Kong said Monday that it is a “tragedy” to use the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s new national security law to chip away at “fundamental freedoms” in the Asian financial hub and create an “atmosphere of coercion and self-censorship.” “Using the national security law to erode fundamental freedoms and to create an atmosphere of coercion and self-censorship is a tragedy for Hong Kong,” Hanscom Smith, U.S. consul general to Hong Kong and Macau, told reporters. “Hong Kong has been successful precisely because of its openness and we’ll do everything we can to maintain that.”         The law, imposed last week following anti-government protests in Hong Kong last year, makes secessionist, subversive, or terrorist activities illegal, as well as foreign intervention in the city’s internal affairs. Any person taking part in activities such as shouting slogans or holding up banners and flags calling for the city’s independence is violating the law regardless of whether violence is used.         Critics see it as Beijing’s boldest step yet to erase the legal firewall between the former British colony and the mainland’s authoritarian Communist Party system.         Since the law went into effect, the government has also specified that popular protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time” has separatist connotations and is thus criminalized.         In Hong Kong’s public libraries, books by pro-democracy figures have been pulled from the shelves, including those authored by prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong and politician Tanya Chan. The authority that runs the libraries said it was reviewing the books in light of the new legislation. Many pro-democracy shops that publicly stood in solidarity with protesters have moved to remove pro-democracy sticky notes and artwork that adorned the walls of their stores, fearful that the content might violate the new law.         A 23-year-old man, Tong Ying-kit, has become the first person in Hong Kong to be charged under the new law, for allegedly driving into a group of policemen while bearing a flag with the “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time” slogan. 
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Britain will invest nearly $2 billion in cultural institutions and the arts to help a sector that has been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday.
 
Theaters, opera houses and ballet companies have been left without a live audience for months.
 
Though English museums and cinemas can reopen with strict social distancing in the latest easing of the lockdown that began Saturday, guidelines still dictate no live performances at theaters or concert halls.
 
That has created an existential crisis for much of the sector, which has been vocal in calling on the government for support.
 
“This money will help safeguard the sector for future generations, ensuring arts groups and venues across the UK can stay afloat and support their staff whilst their doors remain closed and curtains remain down,” Johnson said in a statement.
 
The government said the 1.57 billion pound ($1.96 billion) investment was the biggest ever in Britain’s culture sector.
 
It said that Britain’s museums, art galleries, theaters, independent cinemas, heritage sites and music venues would be protected through emergency grants and loans.
 
The government will consult with figures from Arts Council England, the British Film Institute and other specialist bodies on awarding grants, while it said repayable finance would be issued on affordable terms.
 
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An entire county in northwestern Spain is on lockdown all week because authorities fear a new COVID-19 outbreak even after the federal government ended a nationwide lockdown.
 
Officials in La Marina in the Galicia region placed all 70,000 residents in a countywide quarantine after several bars in the area reported new cases.  
 
Only essential travel in and out of the county is allowed and gatherings of more than 10 people are forbidden. The lockdown will be in place through Friday.  
 
The La Marina lockdown comes a day after authorities in Lleida in Catalonia reimposed a lockdown, affecting more than 200,000 people. Jesus Vazquez Almuina, Catalonia’s health minister, said he wants to avoid what he calls “an exponential growth” of COVID-19 in the popular tourist destination since more than 100 cases have been confirmed in the last two weeks.
 
Spain has been one of Europe’s COVID-19 hotspots with more than 250,000 cases and 28,000 deaths. But the central government has begun easing travel restrictions and other measures.
 
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has put the next phase of his country’s reopening on hold for two weeks because of a 50% jump in the number of coronavirus cases in the last several days. Buses were to have started running and some businesses and factories were to have started to reopen Tuesday.
 
Indian authorities have extended their lockdown on businesses, monuments and other attractions in Agra, including the Taj Mahal, as the number of coronavirus cases in that country continues to jump.
 
“In the interest of the public, it has been decided that opening monuments in Agra will not be advisable as of now,” the district authorities said in a notice published in Hindi.
The Taj Mahal and other tourist sites in Agra have been closed since March. Agra is most affected city in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.FILE – A security officer stands guard on the empty grounds of the historic Taj Mahal during a coronavirus lockdown, in Agra, India, April 2, 2020.Nearly 25,000 new cases and more than 600 deaths were reported in India Sunday.  
 
India is still closed to international travel, but New Delhi has gradually been lifting restrictions on local tourism to try to boost India’s COVID-devastated economy.
 
An easing of coronavirus restrictions appears to be a success in England after trademark British pubs reopened for the first time in almost four months Saturday.
 
“Overall, I’m pleased with what happened yesterday. It was really good to see people out and about, and largely socially distancing,” British Health Minister Matt Hancock told Sky News Sunday. “From what I’ve seen, although there’s some pictures to the contrary, very, very largely people have acted responsibly.”
 
Drinkers and diners are told to practice social distancing with Prime Minister Boris Johnson telling Britons to “enjoy summer safely.”
 
But police say some pub goers who celebrated a bit too much had troubled keeping two meters apart from one another.
 
“The foolish few, but the sensible majority, I think is the story across the country, and long may that continue,” the head of Britain’s National Health Service, Simon Stevens, told the BBC.  
 
In Tokyo, exit polls show voters Sunday reelected Yuriko Koike governor because of what observers say was her straightforward handling of the coronavirus outbreak.  
 
But Koike predicted a second wave of COVID-19 and said this is a critical time to prepare. The number of new cases in Tokyo exceeded 100 for the fourth day in a row Sunday.A woman walks past a banner for the gubernatorial election, displayed on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, in Tokyo, Japan, July 5, 2020.Japan was to have been hosting the Summer Olympics this month, but the coronavirus pandemic has forced a one-year postponement.  
 
“The event represents a big hope for athletes as well as children. Municipalities are waiting in earnest for torch relays,” Koike told reporters even if a recent Japanese newspaper poll shows more than half in Japan want the games to be postponed further or canceled outright.
 
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has announced some harsh measures against individuals and businesses who he says aren’t doing their part to fight COVID-19.  
State services will be cut off to people who won’t wear a mask, and businesses and offices that do not comply with social distancing and other measures will be shut for a week.  
 
Iranian authorities reported a new record number of deaths Sunday, 163, bringing the total number of reported coronavirus deaths in the Islamic Republic to more than 11,000.  
 
More than 1,000 people held a mass prayer Sunday on the Indonesian island of Bali, where the resort haven gets ready to welcome domestic tourists again.  
 
Prayer leaders sought blessings for what they say is the “new normal” in a world hammered by a pandemic.
 
Bali’s economy has been in shambles since the outbreak. Officials on the island say they hope to be able to welcome foreign visitors again starting in September.   
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A fire that broke out at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility Thursday has caused significant damage that could slow the development of advanced centrifuges, an Iranian nuclear official said Sunday.Iran’s top security body said on Friday that the cause of an incident and fire at Natanz had been determined and would be announced later. Some Iranian officials have said it may have been caused by cyber sabotage and one warned that Tehran would retaliate against any country carrying out such attacks.FILE – Atomic Energy Organization of Iran spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi speaks during a news briefing with advanced centrifuges displayed in front of him, in Tehran, Sept. 7, 2019.”The incident could slow down the development and production of advanced centrifuges in the medium term … Iran will replace the damaged building with a bigger one that has more advanced equipment,” state news agency IRNA quoted the spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Behrouz Kamalvandi, as saying.”The incident has caused significant damage but there were no casualties.”Three Iranian officials who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity Friday said they believed the fire was the result of a cyberattack but did not cite any evidence.On Thursday, an article by Iran’s state news agency IRNA addressed what it called the possibility of sabotage by enemies such as Israel and the United States, although it stopped short of accusing either directly.Israel’s defense minister said on Sunday it was not necessarily behind every mysterious incident in Iran.In 2010, the Stuxnet computer virus, widely believed to have been developed by the United States and Israel, was discovered after it was used to attack Natanz.The Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP), Iran’s main uranium enrichment site, is mostly underground and one of several Iranian facilities monitored by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog.The IAEA said Friday the location of the fire did not contain nuclear materials and that none of its inspectors was present at the time.Natanz is the centerpiece of Iran’s enrichment program, which Tehran says is only for peaceful purposes. Western intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe it had a coordinated, clandestine nuclear arms program that it halted in 2003.Tehran denies ever seeking nuclear weapons.Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of most international sanctions in a deal reached between Tehran and six world powers in 2015.But Iran has gradually reduced its commitments to the accord since U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed and intensified sanctions that have battered Iran’s economy.The deal only allows Iran to enrich uranium at its Natanz facility with just over 5,000 first-generation IR-1 centrifuges, but Iran has installed new cascades of advanced centrifuges.Israel has backed Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy on Tehran aimed at forcing it to agree a new deal that puts stricter limits on its nuclear work, curbs its ballistic missile program and ends its regional proxy wars.Iran says it will not negotiate as long as sanctions remain in place. 
 
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On an average day, President Donald Trump sends about 14 posts to the 28 million Facebook followers of his campaign account. His Democratic rival, Joe Biden, delivers about half that many posts to an audience of just 2 million.The numbers are similarly skewed in other spheres of the social media landscape.On Twitter, Trump’s 82.4 million followers dwarf Biden’s 6.4 million. The president has spent years cultivating a ragtag digital “army” of meme makers and political influencers who retweet campaign messages hundreds of times daily. Trump is outspending Biden on Google and YouTube advertising by nearly 3 to 1.  As his reelection bid faces growing obstacles, his primacy in the dizzying digital world is one of his top advantages, giving him a massive platform to connect with supporters and push a message that ignores his vulnerabilities related to the pandemic, unemployment and race relations. Biden and his allies are now working feverishly to establish a social media force of their own.  For the first time, Biden outspent Trump on Facebook advertising in June, pouring twice as much money into the platform as the president. His campaign is recruiting Instagram supporters to hold virtual fundraisers. And it’s plotting ways to mobilize the power of hundreds of teens on TikTok who reserved tickets for Trump’s recent Oklahoma campaign rally and took credit for sinking the event by artificially inflating the crowd count before it began.  But Trump’s head start may be tough to overcome.”Vice President Biden and Trump have very different challenges right now,” said Tara McGowan, the founder of liberal digital firm Acronym and former digital director for the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA during the 2016 campaign. “Trump needs to hold his base … and Vice President Biden needs to define and in a lot of ways introduce himself to you new voters, and potential supporters.”But Trump’s unimpeded access to the digital microphone is facing its limits.Twitter is beginning to fact check Trump’s posts, including one that made unfounded claims that mail-in voting would lead to fraud. The company also alerted users when the president posted a manipulated video, and it hid his Twitter threat about shooting looters in Minneapolis.Under pressure in June as major companies yanked advertising from its site, Facebook promised it would label Trump posts when they break rules around voting or hate speech. Video messaging platform Snapchat last month also said it would keep the president’s account active and searchable but would stop showcasing his profile on the platform. And in a move to clamp down on hate and violent speech, the online comment forum Reddit decided to ban one of the president’s most prolific fan forums, The_Donald.FILE – Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally at Renaissance High School in Detroit, Michigan, March 9, 2020.Trump and Biden have strikingly divergent tactics on social media.A centerpiece of Trump’s digital efforts is the Team Trump Online! nightly live broadcasts streamed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Twitch, an online streaming platform. The broadcasts feature top Trump surrogates including daughter-in-law Lara Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.Trump also tweets with far greater velocity, sending more than 160 Twitter messages during a seven-day period starting June 14, an Associated Press analysis of Trump and Biden’s accounts reveals. More than 50 of Trump’s posts were retweets from an assortment of users that included the U.S. Army, far-right meme makers, conservative news outlets, little-known congressional candidates and anonymous accounts that in some cases promoted conspiracy theories.  The president’s steady retweets of everyday users helps fans feel connected to him, said Logan Cook, a Kansas internet meme maker whose work Trump has regularly promoted on his social media accounts.  “President Trump’s team, they’re blending in with social media culture, which is also why they’re getting into so much trouble,” said Cook, whose Twitter account @CarpeDonktum was permanently suspended last week for copyright violations. His memes are controversial because he alters videos to mock Trump’s political rivals, including Biden.  Twitter users celebrate being retweeted by the president, or his inner circle, like the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., who has more than 5 million followers.  Trump’s followers see producing sardonic memes or videos as a game where the ultimate prize is a retweet from the president, said Misha Leybovich, a tech entrepreneur who produces social media engagement products that support Democratic candidates and causes.  “The fan base is having a blast,” Leybovich said. “If they never gave the fans the ability to be amplified by the president, the stakes would be lower.”Biden has stuck to a more conventional approach, tweeting nearly 60 messages during that same time, only a handful of which were retweets from verified accounts, like former President Barack Obama, or established news outlets. Every video Biden tweeted out over that week in June was produced by his own campaign.But the effectiveness of campaign messaging isn’t just about numbers, said Jennifer Mercieca, a political rhetoric professor at Texas A&M University.  “If you want to compare the attention and engagement metrics, it might look like Trump is way ahead, but that attention and outrage isn’t always good,” Mercieca said. “When a child is throwing a tantrum, you’re giving them attention, but it’s not because you approve of their behavior.”Indeed, the Biden campaign argues that despite being outmatched on social media, their engagement is strong.”The way that they treat their supporters, it’s about distraction. It’s about keeping them angry,” said Rob Friedlander, Biden campaign digital director. “For us it’s about, how do we make you feel like you’re brought into the campaign.”The campaign is creating Facebook groups, holding virtual events on Instagram and partnering with social media influencers who create posts in support of the campaign.  One such group is an Instagram account called Bake for Biden, which bakes bread and ships sourdough starters across the country in exchange for donations to Biden. The group was born out of what Brooklyn marketing executive Domenic Venuto first saw as an inadequate response from Biden’s campaign to Trump’s taunts and conspiracy theories.  Venuto said he’s come to understand the campaign’s digital strategy of ignoring Trump’s attacks.  “They’ve been very good at promoting values and shying away from being baited into the same tactics (as the Trump campaign),” Venuto said. 
 
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U.S. President Donald Trump spent the 4th of July weekend at Independence Day celebrations in South Dakota and Washington. He used both events to deliver a strong message on law and order, the platform that his campaign is focusing on ahead of the November election. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara traveled with Trump to South Dakota and brings us the story. 
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The British government is set to end the participation of Chinese telecom giant Huawei in the building of Britain’s 5G phone network — a policy about-turn that will further deteriorate London’s strained relations with Beijing, but will please Washington, according to British media reports. The major policy change follows a fresh reassessment by Britain’s National Cyber Security Center, or NCSC, on the eavesdropping risks posed by the Chinese company, according to Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper. British officials have confirmed to VOA the newspaper report is accurate. Previously the NCSC, a department within Britain’s intelligence agency GCHQ, said the security risks posed by Huawei could be safely managed and mitigated, a view not shared by U.S. intelligence agencies. But the imposition last month of new U.S. restrictions on Huawei has altered the picture, the NCSC warns. Britain’s cybersecurity chiefs now conclude the sanctions, which block Huawei from using components and semi-conductors based on any American intellectual property, will mean the telecom giant will have to use “untrusted” parts, increasing security risks. British officials are drawing up a timetable for the removal of Huawei equipment already installed in the 5G network. British telecom firms BT and Vodafone have asked the government to give them until 2030 to strip Huawei components from the existing 5G infrastructure, but officials say Downing Street wants much speedier action, even if it means slowing down the roll-out of the new network. Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, welcomed the reports, saying, “The government’s change of heart is very welcome.” The planned policy reversal comes amid a mounting diplomatic dispute between Britain and Beijing over the introduction by the Chinese government of a new draconian security law that allows Chinese security agencies to arrest pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, a former British enclave. To Beijing’s anger, Britain announced Hong Kong residents would be allowed to move to Britain. A sign reading “Boris Stop Huawei” is seen next to the M40 motorway, Tetsworth, Britain, May 1, 2020.In January, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided to allow Huawei a limited role in building the less critical parts of the country’s next-generation cellular network, dealing a blow to a U.S. campaign urging allies to boycott the telecom giant. For more than a year, the Trump administration has urged Britain and other allies to ban Huawei from participating in the development of fifth-generation wireless networks. U.S. officials say there’s a significant risk that the company, which has close ties to Chinese intelligence services, will act as a Trojan horse for Beijing’s espionage agencies, allowing them to sweep data up and gather intelligence. FILE – A pedestrian walks past a Huawei product stand at an EE telecommunications shop in central London, Britain, April 29, 2019.Ahead of Johnson’s go-ahead, U.S. officials warned London that giving Huawei the green-light could jeopardize intelligence-sharing between Britain and the United States. The British prime minister sought to mollify Washington — and critics within his own ruling Conservative party — by allowing Huawei to build only 35 percent of Britain’s 5G infrastructure and to exclude it from critical networks and from locations near nuclear plants and military bases. Pressure has been mounting on Johnson to reverse his decision from within his own party, pressure that has been fueled by the coronavirus pandemic and accusations that Beijing downplayed the danger of the novel virus. A newly-formed Conservative group in the House of Commons called the China Research Group has been urging Johnson to take a robust line with China’s communist leaders on a range of issues, from Beijing’s security crackdown in Hong Kong to Huawei. The group has attracted the support of dozens of Conservative lawmakers and around 60 had warned Johnson that they would mount a backbench rebellion, if he did not block Huawei. Johnson recently instructed officials to draft plans to limit Britain’s reliance on China for vital medical supplies and other strategic imports in light of the coronavirus crisis. Britain is strategically dependent on China for 71 critical goods categories, including pharmaceutical ingredients and consumer electronics, according to trade data analyzed by the Henry Jackson Society, a foreign policy think tank based in London. Last month, Christopher Patten, a former Conservative minister and Britain’s last Hong Kong governor, warned Johnson publicly about Huawei, saying, “If people argue we should deal with Huawei because they’re just like any other multinational company, that is for the birds: if they come under pressure from the Communist government to do things which are thought to be in Beijing’s interest they will do it.” With Britain poised to block Huawei, it would leave Canada as the only member of the so-called ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence-sharing partnership, which includes the U.S., Britain Australia and New Zealand, not yet to have excluded Huawei from involvement in 5G development. Huawei issued a statement Sunday saying it remains “open to discussions with the British government” and accused the U.S. of seeking to boost the market position of American companies. Company officials say an any decision to reverse its role in Britain’s 5G network is based is based on “mistaken assumptions.” A Huawei spokesman said: “Huawei is the most scrutinized vendor in the world and we firmly believe our unrivaled transparency in the UK means we can continue to be trusted to play a part in Britain’s gigabit upgrade. It’s important to focus on facts and not to speculate at this time.”  
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It seems to have been more like a typical Saturday night than a drunken New Year’s Eve.The reopening of pubs in England does not seem to have overwhelmed emergency services as many had feared ahead of the biggest easing of Britain’s lockdown. But one senior police officer said Sunday it was “crystal clear” that drunk people struggled, or ignored, social distancing rules.For the most part, people appeared to abide by the rules and rejoiced at the chance Saturday to lift a pint in the company of their mates, but in some places large crowds raised concerns that the deadliest outbreak in Europe may find fresh legs.Chris Newell, a 33-year-old courier, traveled to trendy Shoreditch in east London to see friends.”As long as everyone’s keeping their distance, we’re going to have a few drinks and just enjoy it and try and get back to a bit of normality,” he said. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the vast majority of people did “the right thing” and abided by social distancing rules to stay at least one meter (over 3 feet) apart from members of another household and use hand sanitizers.“It was really good to see people out and about and largely, very largely social distancing,” he said on Sky News.John Apter, chair of the Police Federation, who was on patrol in the southern England city of Southampton, said it was a “busy” shift, one that saw officers having to deal with naked men, “happy” drunks as well as “angry” drunks.He said the shift “managed to cope” but it was “crystal clear” that those who have imbibed one too many cannot, or won’t, socially distance.Pubs and restaurants worked hard to get ready for the moment, spacing tables, putting some staff behind plastic counters and registering customers upon arrival. The wearing of masks is optional though, even for staff.Rafal Liszewski, a store manager in the central London district of Soho, voiced concerns about the swelling crowds on Saturday.“Quickly everything got out of control and by 8-9 p.m. it was a proper street party with people dancing and drinking,” he said. “Barely anyone was wearing masks and nobody respected social distancing …. to be honest with that many people on one street it was physically impossible.”Some fear the British government is being overly hasty, even reckless, in sanctioning the changes. The U.K.’s confirmed virus death toll of 44,198 is the third-highest in the world, behind the United States and Brazil.Critics note that the reopening of bars and restaurants in the United States and South Korea has been blamed for a spike in new infectionsThe four nations of the U.K. — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are moving at different speeds out of the coronavirus lockdown. The restrictions in England, with a population of around 56 million, or 85% or the U.K.’s, have been lifted the most, triggering concerns that Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being unduly influenced by a desire to kickstart Britain’s ailing economy.Johnson’s office at 10. Downing Street, among many other places across the U.K., was lit up blue overnight to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the formation of the country’s beloved National Health Service, which gives free health care to residents.A number of events are planned Sunday to celebrate its birthday. People are being encouraged to clap at 5 p.m. to say “Thank you” to the hundreds of thousands of NHS staff who have worked selflessly throughout the coronavirus pandemic.After coming down with coronavirus himself, Johnson credited NHS workers with saving his life. 
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A regional Somali lawmaker has been abducted and killed by al-Shabab militants near the town of Bal’ad, 30 kilometers north of Mogadishu.Mohamed Mohamud Siyad was travelling in a vehicle from Jowhar town to the capital Mogadishu when he was abducted on Sunday, a security source told VOA Somali.The vehicle Siyad was travelling in was stopped near the village of Gololey, north of Bal’ad. The militants drove the vehicle off the road.Officials say they believe the lawmaker was killed soon after he was removed from the vehicle.The militant group claimed responsibility for the abduction and killing of the lawmaker.Al-Shabab has been attacking the road between Jowhar and Mogadishu frequently over the last three years. In September last year, five regional officials including a former trade minister, a finance official and a humanitarian worker were killed in an explosion from an improvised explosive device.In June of 2018, two regional lawmakers were among 11 people killed in an al-Shabab ambush while traveling on the same road. 
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