World Briefs

JAPAN Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a monthlong state of emergency for Tokyo and six other prefectures yesterday to ramp up defenses against the spread of the coronavirus as the number of infections surges. But the move came in the form of a stay-at-home request — not an order — and violators will not be penalized.

BELGIAN health officials want to perform more COVID-19 screening tests in the general population and at nursing homes. That comes after the number of new hospitalized patients across the country went down for a fifth consecutive day. Most tests have been done on seriously ill people. Emmanuel Andre, a scientist and spokesman at the COVID-19 crisis center, says 314 people were hospitalized on Monday in Belgium, the lowest tally since March 25.

UK A pandemic forcing everyone to stay home could be the perfect moment for online grocery services. In practice, they’ve been struggling to keep up with a surge in orders, highlighting their limited ability to respond to an unprecedented onslaught of demand. After panic buying left store shelves stripped of staples like pasta, canned goods and toilet paper, many shoppers quickly found online grocery delivery slots almost impossible to come by, too.

MIDEAST Across the Middle East and parts of South Asia, bereaved families have faced traumatic restrictions on burying their dead amid the pandemic. Religion and customs that require speedy burials in the largely Muslim region have clashed with fears of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, and government-mandated lockdowns. As the regional death toll surpasses 4,500, ancient rituals are being disrupted by the growing outbreak.

USA Civil rights icon and Georgia Rep. John Lewis (pictured) is backing Joe Biden for president, giving the prospective Democratic nominee perhaps his biggest symbolic endorsement among the many veteran black lawmakers who back his candidacy. “We need his voice,” the 80-year-old Lewis told reporters ahead of the campaign’s announcement. He described the 77-year-old Biden as “a man of courage, a man of great conscience, a man of faith.”

AUSTRALIA Cardinal George Pell welcomed Australia’s highest court clearing him of child sex crimes yesterday and said his trial had not been a referendum on the Catholic Church’s handling of the clergy abuse crisis. Pell, Pope Francis’ former finance minister, had been the most senior Catholic found guilty of sexually abusing children and spent 13 months in prison before seven High Court judges unanimously dismissed his convictions.

AUSTRALIA A shark fatally mauled a young Australian wildlife worker on the Great Barrier Reef, officials said yesterday. Queensland state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the 23-year-old victim worked for the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.