Nearly 1.9 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week
From CNN’s Anneken Tappe
Nearly 1.9 million Americans filed initial jobless claims last week, bringing the total claims to 42.6 million since the coronavirus pandemic forced the US economy to shut down in March.
Continued jobless claims, which count workers who filed for benefits for at least two weeks a row, unexpectedly rose from the prior week. They stood at 21.5 million, versus 20.1 million expected
For 11 weeks in a row, jobless claims have been in the millions. Before the pandemic, the labor department had never recorded a single week of jobless claims over a million.
8:54 a.m. ET, June 4, 2020
It's 1:30 p.m. in Edinburgh and 9:30 p.m in Seoul. Catch up on the most recent headlines
A medical worker checks the temperature of a man at a temporary coronavirus testing station in Seoul, South Korea, on May 29. SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg/Getty Images
If you're just joining us, here's the latest on the coronavirus pandemic:
Prince Charles "lucky": Britain's heir to the throne has spoken about contracting the coronavirus in March, saying he was "lucky" and had "got away with it quite lightly." He also urged efforts to safeguard biodiversity.
Postponed Olympics: Japan could “simplify” the Olympics and Paralympics Games, which were pushed back to 2021, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said. She did not give details of what that might mean.
Seoul clusters: South Korea identified 39 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, most of them locally transmitted. The new local cases are tied to several clusters in the capital, Seoul, and other surrounding areas.
Airline restarts, cancels flights: Just weeks after resuming domestic flights, Indonesian carrier Lion Air has canceled them again, citing issues with passengers failing to follow Covid-19 regulations.
Pakistan cases on the rise: Pakistan now has 85,264 confirmed cases of Covid-19, authorities said, making it the latest country to overtake the total in China, where the pandemic began.
More US cases: Almost 20,000 new Covid-19 cases were identified in the US on Wednesday.
Deaths continue to rise in Latin America: Two of the region's hardest-hit countries, Brazil and Mexico, announced record numbers of daily virus-related deaths on Wednesday. Mexico also became the 14th country to surpass 100,000 confirmed infections.
George Floyd tests positive: Floyd, the African-American man whose death at the hands of police sparked nationwide protests in the United States, tested positive for the coronavirus, according to an autopsy. However, the virus played no known role in Floyd’s death and he was unlikely to have been contagious.
11:15 a.m. ET, June 4, 2020
Spain is studying the possibility of reopening its land borders
From CNN's Max Ramsay in London and Laura Perez-Maestro in Madrid
The Spanish Ministry of Tourism said that starting on June 22, "we will recover mobility within the national territory."
A spokeswoman for the Spanish government said the reopening of the country's land borders is "under study."
Earlier, Spanish Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto announced that Spain’s land borders with Portugal and France will reopen on June 22, but the Ministry of Tourism later issued a statement Thursday "clarifying" this reopening is "under study."
CLARIFICATION: This post has been updated to reflect the Spanish government’s amended statement on its land borders. It is studying their reopening.
8:29 a.m. ET, June 4, 2020
Hong Kong residents defy ban to attend vigil for the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre
From CNN's Eric Cheung in Hong Kong
People gather on June 4 at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, for a vigil to remember the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Vincent Yu/AP
Thousands of Hong Kong protesters joined a rally remembering the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, despite the government outlawing the event for the first time in three decades in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Protesters entered the football pitches in Victoria Park, which had earlier been cordoned off by authorities while chanting slogans calling for greater democracy in Hong Kong and an end to one-party dictatorship.
Albert Ho, a former pro-democracy lawmaker and one of the main organizers of the candlelight vigil, criticized the government for using coronavirus as an excuse to ban the gathering.
“Hong Kong people are determined and courageous enough to uphold the truth about the June 4 massacre, we won’t allow ourselves to forget this painful part of this historical memory,” he told CNN.
Some background: Public-gathering curb limiting groups to eight remain in force in Hong Kong to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
For three decades, Hong Kong has been one of the few places on Chinese soil where commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown has been allowed. In mainland China, discussions about the crackdown remain tightly censored.
Dozens of police officers can be seen patrolling in the vicinity of the park, broadcasting messages that anyone who attends the rally could be in violation of the law.
People hold candles during a vigil to remember the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, at Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4. Paul Yeung/Bloomberg/Getty Images
8:22 a.m. ET, June 4, 2020
Shipment of ventilators arrives in Russia, US Embassy says
From CNN's Nathan Hodge
Rebecca Ross, spokesperson at the US Embassy in Moscow, posted this image on Twitter on June 4. It shows a shipment of US-made ventilators arriving in Russia, according to Ross. From Rebecca Ross/Twitter
A shipment of US-made ventilators arrived Thursday in Russia, the US Embassy in Moscow said.
"Arriving now in Moscow: Humanitarian aid delivery from the American people to the people of Russia," embassy spokesperson Rebecca Ross said on Twitter. "This represents a $5.6 million donation which includes 200 much needed U.S.-manufactured ventilators to help Russia deal with the Covid-19 crisis."
An earlier shipment of 50 US-made ventilators arrived in Moscow on May 21.
Russia is currently the third hardest-hit country worldwide by the virus following the US and Brazil. While the country's official death toll is relatively low, with more than 5,000 deaths, some critics and experts say the figure is almost certainly underestimated.
Moscow's mortality rate surged by 18% in April compared to the same month last year, as well as compared to the April average for the past decade, according to data released by the city's civil register office.
The situation has led to growing anger in the country, with concerns raised about the conditions in which medical workers are forced to operate.
As of early Thursday, Russia has reported at least 440,538 cases of Covid-19 and at least 5,376 virus-related deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
7:30 a.m. ET, June 4, 2020
Prince Charles says he was "lucky" to have only mild coronavirus symptoms
Prince Charles is pictured on March 10. Tim P. Whitby/WPA Pool/Getty Images
Britain's Prince Charles has spoken publicly about contracting the coronavirus in March, saying he was "lucky" and had "got away with it quite lightly."
In an interview with UK broadcaster Sky News, the heir to the British throne indicated that his experience had if anything increased his longstanding commitment to environmental causes, particularly climate change and safeguarding biodiversity.
"It makes me even more determined to push and shove and shout and prod, if you see what I mean. Whatever I can do behind the scenes sometimes... I suppose it did partly, I mean I was lucky in my case and got away with it quite lightly," he told Sky News by video call from Scotland.
"But I've had it, and I can so understand what other people have gone through. And I feel particularly for those, for instance, who have lost their loved ones but were unable to be with them at the time. That to me is the most ghastly thing.
"But in order to prevent this happening to so many more people, this is why I'm so determined to find a way out of this."
He urged the world to listen to scientists and act to protect the environment in order to avoid more pandemics in the future.
"We should have been treating the planet as if it was a patient long ago. So no self-respecting doctor would ever have let the situation, if the planet is a patient, reach this stage before making an intervention," he said.
"The more we erode the natural world, the more we destroy what's called biodiversity --which is the immense diversity of life, plant life, tree life, everything else, marine life -- the more we expose ourselves to this kind of danger. We've had these other disasters with SARS and Ebola and goodness knows what else, all of these things are related to the loss of biodiversity."
7:17 a.m. ET, June 4, 2020
Tokyo’s Governor says rescheduled Olympics could be “simplified”
From CNN’s Yoko Wakatsuki in Tokyo
The Olympic rings, the Rainbow Bridge and the Tokyo Tower are seen at night in Tokyo on May 15. Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
Japan could “simplify” the Olympics and Paralympics Games, which were pushed back to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said Thursday.
Koike did not give details on the alterations that could be made, though local media speculated it could involve the presence of spectators.
“We need the understanding of the people of Tokyo and Japan to host the Olympic and Paralympic games. For that, we should rationalize what needs to be rationalized and simplify what needs to be simplified,” Koike told reporters.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in March, when the 2020 Games were postponed, that Japan would hold the Olympic and Paralympic Games in "complete forms."
The International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organization Committee have been discussing the exact implementation of the postponed event.
The cost of postponement is expected to be several billions of dollars, and the focal point of the discussion has been around how the cost will be paid and who will bear the financial burden.
6:58 a.m. ET, June 4, 2020
Has the UK just canceled summer by imposing a 14-day quarantine?
From CNN's Joe Minihane
Passengers wearing PPE wait at a nearly deserted check-in desk in the Manchester Airport departure hall, in northern England, on May 11. Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
Across Europe, beaches are getting ready for their first socially distanced foreign visitors, hotels are airing out rooms and restaurants are laying alfresco tables. With borders now open, the travel industry is trying to salvage as much of the peak tourist season as possible.
But for the UK, it seems, summer vacations could still be canceled.
Even as it appears to be emerging from one of the continent's worst coronavirus outbreaks, the country has decided to suddenly slam its borders shut by imposing a 14-day quarantine that critics say will torpedo the last shreds of hope for its travel industry.
Unless the rules change soon, millions of Britons who'd hoped to ease their post-lockdown blues with an escape to warmer climes will likely have to scrap their plans unless they want to endure enforced isolation on their return or risk a £1,000 fine -- about $1,250.
And for the UK's tourism industry, any prospect of soaking up some much-needed foreign tourist dollars is vanishing fast. Britain has many charms, but two weeks' incarceration inside the same room is not why people visit this sceptered isle.
If that wasn't enough to stoke frustrations, it seems that far from being stringently enforced, the new regulations will only be lightly policed after they come into effect on June 8, with spot checks that may actually miss the virus carriers they're designed to keep sequestered.
That stands in contrast to much more stringent measures in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, imposed much earlier in the pandemic.
Eager to get traveling again? Find out which top destinations are reopening to tourists
From CNN's Tamara Hardingham-Gill
People enjoy a day at Kavouri Beach in Vouliagmeni, Greece, on May 23, 2020. Byron Smith/Getty Images
Most governments are still advising against "nonessential" international travel, but a host of popular destinations are beginning to ease their Covid-19 lockdown measures and border restrictions, while moving toward welcoming tourists back.
Earlier this month, the European Union unveiled a plan to reopen its internal borders in time for summer, while countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have formed "travel bubbles," lifting restrictions for each other's citizens.
A number of Caribbean islands are preparing to open their doors to foreign visitors in June, and destinations such as Mexico and Thailand are planning to open up again, region by region, in the coming weeks.
If you're one of many travelers eagerly awaiting news on where you can travel to this year, find out more here:
