A public inquiry has criticized the U_K_'s initial COVID-19 response in early 2020 as “too little, too late.”.

A former top aide to Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the British leader was dismissive of the threat posed by surging coronavirus cases last year.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to build a national flagship to travel the world’s oceans promoting British trade and investment.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s former chief aide has lashed out at the government he once served, saying people died “in horrific circumstances” during the coronavirus pandemic because of its failed response.

LONDON British police said Thursday that Prime Minister Boris Johnsons adviser Dominic Cummings likely broke the rules by traveling away from home during lockdown, but will not face further action. Cummings has acknowledged driving 250 miles (400 km) to his parents house in Durham, northeast England, during the lockdown, and later taking another drive to a scenic town 30 miles (50 kms) away. Durham Constabulary said that the second drive, to the town of Barnard Castle, might have been a minor breach of lockdown rules that would have warranted police intervention" had he been caught in the act. He says he drove to Barnard Castle to test whether his eyesight, which had been affected by illness, was good enough for the long trip back to London. Johnson has stood by his aide.

From U.S. President Donald Trump to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, global decision-makers have frequently set bad examples, whether it's refusing to wear masks or breaking confinement rules aimed at protecting their citizens from COVID-19. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said normally she would fire Clark but that the country couldnt afford massive disruption in its health sector while it was fighting the virus. He and others didnt wear masks during those meetings, and Putin also didnt cover his face for events marking Nazi Germanys defeat in World War II. The prime minister has respected all guidelines, according to a statement read by a spokesman. And as such the prime minister was with her during her last night."

Dominic Cummings, top aide to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, leaves his home in north London, Wednesday, May 27, 2020. (Kirsty O'Connor/PA via AP)LONDON Senior British lawmakers are set to question Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday amid growing pressure to fire his closest adviser for allegedly flouting COVID-19 lockdown rules. Now, I think, is the time for us all to move on,'' Housing and Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told the BBC. But Johnson appears determined to retain the aide seen as instrumental to his rise to power even if it erodes public trust in Britains response to the pandemic. One senior lawmaker on the panel, former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has already said Cummings broke the rules.

TOP OF THE HOUR: World Health Organization warns Brazil against reopening its economy before it can perform enough testing. ___RIO DE JANEIRO The World Health Organization warned Brazil on Monday against reopening its economy before it can perform enough testing to control the spread of the pandemic. Officials have deleted deaths counted twice and deceased people who were not cases confirmed by tests, for example. While children have generally not experienced severe cases of COVID-19, health officials have warned recently of the new inflammatory illness related to the virus. ___ISTANBUL Turkeys health minister announced 29 new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 4,369.

The store reopened its food hall department for customers to enter yesterday as part of a phased reopening as the British government is beginning to relax aspects of its nationwide coronavirus lockdown. Shapps said Cummings had followed lockdown rules by staying in place with his family, which is the right thing to do.This wasnt visiting a holiday home or going to visit someone," he said. Asked about the trip by reporters outside his house in London on Saturday, Cummings said I behaved reasonably and legally.Its a question of doing the right thing. He is one of a slew of senior British government figures to contract COVID-19, including the prime minister, who spent three nights in intensive care at a London hospital. In April, Catherine Calderwood resigned as Scotlands chief medical officer after twice traveling from Edinburgh to her second home.

(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. That is more than Russia, the country that has the second-highest number of cases in the world on the Johns Hopkins University tally. Tate Reeves says he is adding another week to his statewide safer at home order because of the coronavirus pandemic. Mississippi has had more than 12,600 confirmed cases of the virus and nearly 600 deaths. ___Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak