World Briefs

NORTH KOREA President Donald Trump sent a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seeking to maintain good relations and offering cooperation in fighting the viral pandemic, Kim’s sister said yesterday. The latest correspondence came as Kim observed the firing of tactical guided weapons over the weekend

IRAN’s supreme leader refused U.S. assistance yesterday to fight the new coronavirus, citing an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus could be man-made by America. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments come as Iran faces crushing U.S. sanctions blocking the country from selling its crude oil and accessing international financial markets.

INDIAN migrant workers attempting to reach their home villages crowded a railway station in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh yesterday, defying a 14-hour “people’s curfew” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi called to stem a surge in coronavirus cases in the world’s second-most populous country.

EGYPT Authorities released a prominent political activist Friday amid calls for Egypt to let thousands of others go free to prevent the new coronavirus from spreading among the prison population. According to human rights groups, there are tens of thousands jailed in Egypt for their political views.

GAZA Authorities in the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007, confirmed its first two cases overnight in returnees who had come from Pakistan.

CZECH REPUBLIC The Czech government is sending to Italy about 100,000 face masks and respirators that were among hundreds of thousands seized in the country earlier this week. Czech authorities used emergency powers to raid a warehouse and seize 680,000 masks and 28,000 respirators last week.

CROATIA A strong earthquake shook Croatia and its capital yesterday, causing panic, the evacuation of hospitals and widespread damage — including to the city’s iconic cathedral — all amid a partial coronavirus lockdown. A 15-year-old was reported in critical condition and several others were injured, news outlets reported.

COVID-19 From France to Florida to Australia, kitesurfers, college students and others crowd the beaches, holding ‘Corona parties’. Their defiance of lockdown mandates and scientific advice to fight the coronavirus pandemic has prompted crackdowns by authorities on people trying to escape cabin fever brought on by virus restrictions. In some cases, these ‘virus rebels’ resist, threatening police as officials express outrage over public gatherings that could spread the virus.