Associated Press stories, Page 2148
R. Kelly seeks release from jail, cites coronavirus risk
R&B singer R. Kelly cited the novel coronavirus in asking a federal judge Thursday to free him from a federal jail in Chicago as he awaits trial on child pornography and other charges, a court filing by his lawyers saying scant precautions to stem the spread of the virus behind...
Couples in quarantine: Stress, anxiety, fear of the unknown
The 60-something husband works in the food industry and still insists upon leaving every day for work, saying he needs to keep his business afloat. His frightened wife desperately wants him to stay home. For another couple, in the midst of a separation, the bitterly fought issue is the kids...
Mark Blum, actor in ‘Desperately Seeking Susan,’ dies from covid-19 complications
Mark Blum, the actor known for roles in “Crocodile Dundee” and “Desperately Seeking Susan,” has died from complications of covid-19. He was 69. Blum died at New York Presbyterian Hospital on Wednesday after being diagnosed last week with the coronavirus, said Janet Zarish, his wife of 15 years. The couple...
British Prime Minister Johnson tests positive for virusVideo
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the first leader of a major nation to contract covid-19, but he insisted Friday that he remains in charge of the United Kingdom’s response to the outbreak. Johnson, 55, said he was tested Thursday on the...
Italy hopes virus is easing but fears new onslaught in southVideo
ROME — Doctors and nurses in Italy’s overwhelmed northern hospitals have welcomed a slight stabilizing in the number of coronavirus infections but fear the virus is still silently spreading in the south two weeks into the West’s most extreme nationwide shutdown. As the dead in Italy keep piling up, virologists...
House passes $2.2T rescue package, rushes it to TrumpVideo
WASHINGTON — Acting with unity and resolve unseen since the 9/11 attacks, the House of Representatives gave near-unanimous approval Friday to historic legislation designed to prevent the economy from collapsing and rush resources to overburdened health care providers and struggling families during the deepening coronavirus epidemic. The unprecedented $2.2 trillion...
Tourists stranded in Asia by canceled flights, shut bordersVideo
PHUKET, Thailand — From the sun-soaked beaches of Thailand to the foothills of Mount Everest in Nepal, tourists across Asia are finding their dream vacations have turned into travel nightmares as airlines cancel flights and countries close their borders in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Thousands of tourists escaping...
Pedestrian bridge falls onto Detroit freeway; no injuries
DETROIT — A portion of a pedestrian bridge fell early Friday onto a Detroit freeway, blocking traffic, police said. No one was injured in the collapse onto westbound Interstate 94, Lt. Mike Shaw, a Michigan State Police spokesman, said in an email. State police reported on Twitter that the agency...
In Iran, false belief a poison fights virus kills hundredsVideo
TEHRAN, Iran — Standing over the still body of an intubated 5-year-old boy wearing nothing but a plastic diaper, an Iranian health care worker in a hazmat suit and mask begged the public for just one thing: Stop drinking industrial alcohol over fears about the new coronavirus. The boy, now...
Appeals grow to close U.S. national parks during pandemicVideo
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is sticking with its crowd-friendly waiver of entrance fees at national parks during the coronavirus pandemic, as managers at some parks try and fail to keep visitors a safe distance apart and communities appeal for a shutdown at other parks that are still open. While...
If you don’t laugh, you cry: Coping with virus through humor
BOSTON — Neil Diamond posts a fireside rendition of “Sweet Caroline” with its familiar lyrics tweaked to say, “Hands … washing hands.” A news anchor asks when social distancing will end because “my husband keeps trying to get into the house.” And a sign outside a neighborhood church reads: “Had...
Bill Bartholomay, who moved Braves to Atlanta, dies at 91Video
ATLANTA — Bill Bartholomay, the former baseball owner who moved the Braves from from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966 to become MLB’s first team in the South, has died. He was 91. Bartholomay died Wednesday at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, according to his daughter, Jamie. Braves Hall of Famer Hank Aaron...
NFL keeping draft in April as scheduledVideo
NEW YORK — Commissioner Roger Goodell told NFL teams Thursday that the draft will go on as originally scheduled for next month. The draft will still take place April 23-25. It was originally scheduled for a big outdoor production in Las Vegas, but those plans were scrapped because of the...
Florida’s number of coronavirus cases jumps sharplyVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Miami-area hospitals were treating about a dozen crew members from two cruise ships and Florida’s second-largest county ordered residents to stay home as the state’s number of coronavirus cases jumped sharply on Thursday. The state health department said more than 2,350 people had tested positive for...
MLB players keep service time in new deal; draft could be trimmedVideo
NEW YORK — Players agreed to a deal with MLB that would preserve service time in the event this season is canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, a person familiar with the agreement told the Associated Press. As part of the agreement Thursday night, management was given the right to...
MLB uniform maker switches to producing medical masks, gownsVideo
PHILADELPHIA — The Bryce Harper jersey that could have been worn this baseball season by the biggest Philadelphia Phillies fan is now a protective mask in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Fanatics, the company that manufactures uniforms for MLB, has suspended production on jerseys and is instead using the...
Doubleheaders? Winter windup? Baseball’s 2020 could be creativeVideo
PHOENIX — It has been another ideal week of March weather in central Arizona, with highs in the 70s and plenty of sunshine. Perfect for an Opening Day baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Atlanta Braves that isn’t happening as planned because of the coronavirus pandemic. That reality was...
U.S. leads world in confirmed coronavirus cases
NEW YORK — The number of people around the world who have contracted the coronavirus has surged past 535,000, and the United States tops the list, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally. U.S. deaths have now topped 1,200, in another grim update for a global outbreak that has wreaked...
Tim Dahlberg: Enough greed, just shorten the baseball seasonVideo
Major league owners and players seem to be in rare agreement. They want to play as many games as possible, as soon as possible. Ordinarily that would be something to cheer for. But one look at the line of people in masks stretching outside Costco at 7 a.m. is evidence...
Signing college free agents is rare NHL business going onVideo
Colton Poolman had a good feeling about what was to come. He and his North Dakota teammates were ranked third in the country with the conference tournament coming up. They felt they had as good a chance as anyone to win the NCAA title until the season was abruptly canceled...
Brazil’s governors rise up against President Jair Bolsonaro’s coronavirus stanceVideo
SAO PAULO — Brazil’s governors are defying President Jair Bolsonaro over his call to reopen schools and businesses, dismissing his argument that the “cure” of widespread shutdowns to contain the spread of the new coronavirus is worse than the disease. Bolsonaro contends that the clampdown already ordered by many governors...
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker seeks federal disaster declaration; help for homelessVideo
BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday submitted a request to the federal government for a major disaster declaration for Massachusetts. If approved, the declaration would provide Massachusetts with additional assistance beyond what was included in an emergency declaration issued by President Donald Trump on March 13, the Republican governor...
Space Force launches its 1st mission with virus precautions
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The newly established U.S. Space Force launched its first national security satellite Thursday with a leaner staff because of the coronavirus pandemic. “Nothing stops the space launch mission!” the 45th Space Wing tweeted from Cape Canaveral. The approximately $1 billion satellite is the sixth and final...
Pandemic fallout: NCAA slashes distribution by $375 millionVideo
The NCAA will distribute $225 million to its Division I members in June, a whopping $375 million less than had been budgeted after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the big-money men’s basketball tournament. Ohio State president Michael Drake, chairman of the NCAA board of governors, said the association...
Harlem Globetrotters great Curly Neal dies at 77Video
Fred “Curly” Neal, the dribbling wizard who entertained millions with the Harlem Globetrotters for parts of three decades, died at age 77. The Globetrotters said Neal died in his home outside of Houston on Thursday morning. “We have lost one of the most genuine human beings the world has ever...
