The 95-year-old leader of a secretive South Korean church has been arrested as authorities widened an investigation into allegations that he illegally recruited thousands of followers into the conservative People Power Party to influence elections.

___THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:U.S. coronavirus deaths hit another one-day high at more than 4,300. California has lifted some stay-at-home orders in northern counties, while many orders remain in place where coronavirus cases are surging. The 270 million doses are being secured independent of the global COVAX facility aimed at distributing vaccines to lower-income countries. The state Health Department announced Wednesday that a man in his 60s who traveled to the UK in December has the variant. Portugal has witnessed a record-breaking surge in coronavirus cases since it eased restrictions for the Christmas holiday.

Lee and his church have steadfastly denied the accusations, saying they're cooperating with health authorities. Japans capital recorded 472 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the third straight day of record numbers. Nationwide, the daily count of coronavirus cases in Japan totaled a record 1,579 on Friday. Across the country, authorities are rushing to test people who have returned home from the coastal city. Of the 40 new cases reported Saturday, 32 are from Da Nang hospitals and six are from local community transmissions in the city.

More than 5,200 of South Koreas 13,672 COVID-19 cases have been linked to the church so far. Earlier, South Korean health officials were optimistic the countrys COVID-19 outbreak is coming under control. The 60 new cases reported Friday included 39 linked to people arriving from abroad. Japan has so far avoided the massive cases of the hardest hit nations, at fewer than 24,000 confirmed cases and about 1,000 deaths. The other cases reported in mainland China were all imported.