U.S./World category, Page 970
Army defends decision to have West Point graduation
WASHINGTON — The Army’s top leaders on Thursday defended their decision to bring 1,000 cadets back to the Military Academy at West Point for graduation, where President Donald Trump is slated to speak, saying that despite the coronovirus risk students would have had to return anyway to prepare for their...
Police: Shooting at Cuban Embassy is ‘suspected hate crime’
WASHINGTON — A man armed with an assault rifle was arrested after opening fire outside the Cuban Embassy in Washington early Thursday, his bullets tearing holes into the walls and pillars near the front entrance in what authorities suspect was a hate crime. The gunfire broke out around 2 a.m....
Few new restrictions as Georgia’s shelter-at-home order ends
ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will allow his statewide shelter-in-place order to expire at midnight Thursday but is extending his emergency powers to June 12 and telling the elderly and medically fragile to stay at home until then. The first-term Republican governor had already carved sizable loopholes in his...
You can skip mortgage payments for 6 months. But many fear what comes after that
In March, like millions of others, Thomas Taylor saw his income plummet. The global pandemic left the 42-year old furloughed from his two bartending jobs and staring down a $2,600 monthly mortgage payment on his condo in Laguna Niguel, Calif. Taylor reached out to his mortgage company for help but...
Russian prime minister says he tested positive for coronavirus
MOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Thursday that he has tested positive for the new coronavirus, becoming the highest-ranking Russian official known to have gotten infected. Mishustin told President Vladimir Putin during a video call that he would self-isolate but planned to stay in touch on key policy...
Pelosi: $1 trillion needed to avert state, city layoffs from coronavirus
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday up to $1 trillion is needed to shore up state and local governments for coronavirus costs, a stunning benchmark for the next aid package that’s certain to run into opposition from Senate Republicans. Pelosi said the “heroes” fund would help prevent layoffs...
Surf’s down in California: Governor set to close beachesVideo
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom will order all beaches and state parks closed starting Friday after people thronged the seashore last weekend despite his social distancing order that aims to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Eric Nuñez, president of the California Police Chiefs Association, said a...
Navy secretary orders deeper investigation on ousted carrier captain
WASHINGTON — Acting Navy Secretary James McPherson said he’s delayed a decision on whether to return the ousted captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the aircraft carrier where the coronavirus swept through the crew. Putting aside a recommendation by the Navy’s top uniformed officer to restore Capt. Brett Crozier to...
Smallest businesses get a few hours at head of relief loan line
NEW YORK — The smallest companies seeking coronavirus relief loans were moving to the head of the line Wednesday after the Small Business Administration said that for eight hours ending at midnight Eastern time it would accept loans only from small lenders. The step was being taken to ensure that...
Many field hospitals went largely unused, will be shut down
NEW YORK — Gleaming new tent hospitals sit empty on two suburban New York college campuses, never having treated a single coronavirus patient. Convention centers that were turned into temporary hospitals in other cities went mostly unused. And a Navy hospital ship that offered help in Manhattan is soon to...
Russia slams U.S. arguments for low-yield nukes
MOSCOW — The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday rejected U.S. arguments for fielding low-yield nuclear warheads, warning that an attempt to use such weapons against Russia would trigger an all-out nuclear retaliation. The U.S. State Department argued in a paper released last week that fitting the low-yield nuclear warheads to...
52 who worked or voted in Wisconsin election have covid-19
MADISON, Wis. — There are no plans to postpone or otherwise alter a special congressional election in Wisconsin that is less than two weeks away, even though more than 50 people who voted in person or worked the polls during the state’s presidential primary this month have tested positive for...
NTSB: 2018 duck boat tragedy could have been avoidedVideo
LIBERTY, Mo. — A duck boat sinking on a Missouri lake that killed 17 people two summers ago likely would not have happened if the U.S. Coast Guard had followed recommendations to improve the safety of such tourist attractions, federal safety regulators said Tuesday. The National Transportation Safety Board released...
U.K. leader Boris Johnson, fiancee announce birth of baby boyVideo
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds announced the birth of a son on Wednesday, just two days after Johnson returned to work following hospitalization for the coronavirus. Johnson’s office said Symonds gave birth to a “healthy baby boy” in a public hospital in London...
Pandemic brings fortunes to Amazon — and headaches, tooVideo
Amazon has spent years honing the business of packing, shipping and delivering millions of products to doorsteps around the world. Now it has a captive audience. With much of the globe in various stages of a lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, the world’s largest online retailer has become a...
Stocks charge higher on hopes for progress in fighting coronavirusVideo
Stocks around the world whipped higher Wednesday, riding a wave of optimism on encouraging data about a possible treatment for covid-19. The upswell of hope was so strong that investors completely sidestepped a report showing the outbreak drove the U.S. economy to its worst quarterly performance since the Great Recession....
NYC mayor takes heat after lashing out at Jewish funeralVideo
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio oversaw the dispersal of a large, tightly packed Hasidic Jewish funeral and lashed out at the mourners who had gathered in defiance of social distancing rules intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus. “My message to the Jewish community,...
South Korea construction fire kills 38
SEOUL, South Korea — At least 38 people were killed Wednesday when one of South Korea’s worst fires in years broke out at a construction site near the capital, officials said. They said the death toll could rise because more people could be trapped inside the warehouse that was under...
Israel marks its Independence Day under coronavirus lockdownVideo
JERUSALEM — Israelis celebrated their Independence Day at home Wednesday amid a nationwide lockdown aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The national holiday, which honors the creation of Israel after the end of the British Mandate in 1948, is usually a festive occasion, with people heading to...
U.S. economy shrank at 4.8% rate last quarter as virus struckVideo
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy shrank at a 4.8% annual rate last quarter as the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country and began triggering a recession that will end the longest expansion on record. The Commerce Department estimated Wednesday that the gross domestic product, the total output of...
Oklahoma, Utah face scrutiny over malaria drug purchases
OKLAHOMA CITY — Republican state leaders in Oklahoma and Utah are facing scrutiny for spending millions of dollars combined to purchase malaria drugs promoted by President Trump to treat covid-19 patients that many other states obtained free and that doctors warned shouldn’t be used without more testing. While governments in...
Ex-NAACP leader Kweisi Mfume wins Maryland seat in Congress
BALTIMORE — Democrat Kweisi Mfume won a special election Tuesday to finish the term of the late Elijah Cummings, retaking a Maryland congressional seat Mfume held for five terms before leaving to lead the NAACP. Mfume defeated Republican Kimberly Klacik in the heavily Democratic district. Maryland opened only three polling...
Teen pleads guilty to 2018 Kentucky school shooting
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A teen charged in the 2018 Kentucky school shooting that killed two students has pleaded guilty to murder. Gabriel Ross Parker was 15 when he fired a handgun into a crowd of students before classes started at Marshall County High School on Jan. 23, 2018. Parker was...
Ohio’s primary first big test of mail-in voting during coronavirus outbreak
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The first major test of an almost completely vote-by-mail election during a pandemic is unfolding Tuesday in Ohio, offering lessons to other states about how to conduct one of the most basic acts of democracy amid a health crisis. The process hasn’t been smooth as state officials...
Officials: US seeks indefinite United Nations arms embargo on Iran
UNITED NATIONS — The United States has circulated a draft U.N. resolution that would indefinitely extend a U.N. arms embargo on Iran set to expire in October, a move almost certain to spark opposition from Russia, which has made no secret of its desire to resume conventional weapons sales to...
