VIRGINIA MAYO

Armistice Day remembrances have been observed around the world after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out ceremonies last year to mark the end 1918 end of World War I.

Officials from the European Union are discussing how to help the growing number of Afghan refugees seeking refuge on the continent.

Days after the alarming warning of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that there was a “code red for humanity,” with global warming threatening to choke the planet, individuals are seeking to play their part.

The devastating floods that killed 38 people in Belgium this month have left hundreds of survivors struggling with mental trauma.

On another Anzac Day turned lonesome by the global pandemic, solitary actions show all the more how the sacrifices of Australia and New Zealand during World War I are far from forgotten.

There is no stopping flowers when they bloom, blossoms when they burst.

A man views the panels of the Ghent Altarpiece, by Flemish painter Jan Van Eyck, at Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium on Monday, March 22, 2021. The Saint Bavo Cathedral will open a new visitors center where the restored Ghent Altarpiece will be the focal point. Restorers didn't want to give the copy the same makeover as other panels that have been cleaned up so far. The extortionist even gave back a minor rear panel that had also disappeared that night, to prove his credentials. In any case, authorities now want to ensure that all the remaining panels are perfectly protected from theft and humidity.

(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)The United States on Thursday imposed what it calls its most significant sanctions to date over the military coup in Myanmar, restricting American dealings with two giant Myanmar military holding companies that dominate much of that country's economy. The new measures generally bar any American dealings with the two military holding companies, which have sweeping business involvement in trades ranging from the sale of alcohol and cigarettes to agriculture, banking and mining. The companies distribute profits to Myanmar's military and its members. The United Kingdom was taking similar action against one of the holding companies, Blinken said. AdThe Biden administration says it is targeting the military in sanctions and seeking to avoid worsening conditions for the country's civilians.

A customer, right, waits to pick up an order at Sergio Herman's Le Pristine restaurant in Antwerp, Belgium, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. If that were the case for the high-end restaurant industry, the coronavirus pandemic should have offered ample opportunities for creativity and renewal. But this pandemic so far mainly has chefs just thinking of how to get through each day. A box from Le Pristine, without drinks but with a few supplements, can easily push past 100 euros (around $115) a head. Le Pristine is his latest project.

It is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world, for any war. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)YPRES – When a dawn fog lifted over countless World War I battlefields, cemeteries and monuments in Belgium and France Wednesday, the pandemic ensured that the remembrance of the millions killed in the 1914-1918 conflict was one of the loneliest ever. Under the Menin Gate in western Belgium's Ypres, at the heart of the blood-drenched Flanders Fields, usually thousands gather to pay tribute. The nearby Flanders Field American Cemetery and the Commonwealth Tyne Cot were all closed due to pandemic precautions. Several military figures wore blue masks decorated with blue cornflowers, France’s symbol of World War I. Macron wore a cornflower pin on his lapel and a black mask.

A miniature scene is set into a boot scraper outside a front door in Antwerp, Belgium, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. Belgian artist Elke Lemmens is transforming disused boot scrapers in the port city of Antwerp into miniature scenes depicting what is important in the lives of the owners of the house. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)ANTWERP – Life can feel smaller, even tiny during the coronavirus pandemic as public health restrictions limit social contacts to a bare minimum. But Belgian artist Elke Lemmens has found a way to build connections during the ongoing crisis. “Soon, there will be a walking map so people can find these boot scraper scenes,” Lemmens said.

In times when a pandemic unleashes death and poverty, the concept of what is essential to keep society functioning in a lockdown is gripping Europe. That's why Germany is keeping car dealerships open this time, after their closure in the first, spring lockdown hurt the country's huge automobile industry. In the country that coined the term “bella figura” — the art of cutting a fine figure — hairdressers are deemed essential. “Across the border in Belgium, books were deemed essential. “So why order books at an international online giant when the corner bookstore can deliver same-day by bike?"

Now from Belgium to Russia, France to Hungary, tens of millions of kids will be unleashed upon one another in classrooms, gyms and playgrounds again. Some language teachers will even need transparent face masks so they can show pupils how to pronounce words. But I am very hopeful.One of the main worries is whether students will be able to wear masks the entire school day. The World Health Organization says students 6 to 11 should wear masks in cases where they cannot social distance, and students 12 and over should wear masks just like adults. No adults (teachers) for the moment had to wear masks for 8 hours straight.

Police patrol the beach on horseback at the Belgian seaside resort of Blankenberge, Belgium, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020. A skirmish took place on the beach on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020 which resulted in two coastal communities banning day trippers from the city. By Sunday, a "gang of outsiders was being blamed, and two coastal communities had banned day trippers from the city. We are here in a country called Belgium, where the law is the law, Lippens said. ___Mayo reported from Knokke-Heist, Belgium.

In sharp contrast to the 75th anniversary of D-Day, this year's 76th will be one of the loneliest remembrances ever, as the coronavirus pandemic is keeping nearly everyone from traveling. It poses a particular threat to the elderly like the surviving D-Day veterans who are in their late nineties or older. All across the beaches of Normandy tens of thousands came from across the globe to pay their respects to the dead and laud the surviving soldiers. The acrid smell of wartime-era jeep exhaust fumes and the rumble of old tanks filled the air as parades of vintages vehicles went from village to village. Someday the COVID-19 pandemic, too, will pass, and people will turn out to remember both events that shook the world.