Associated Press stories, Page 2119

NEW YORK — New York City will close the nation’s largest public school system on Monday, sending over 1.1 million children home in hopes of curbing the spread of coronavirus, the city’s mayor announced Sunday, calling it a “very troubling moment” as he suggested ominously that more restrictions were inevitable....

NEW YORK — U.S. stock futures fell sharply after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates and more companies and governments took action over the weekend to shut down European and American society in the face of the growing virus outbreak. Futures for the S&P 500 fell 5% Sunday night and...

CHICAGO — Officials across the country curtailed elements of American life to fight the coronavirus outbreak on Sunday, with governors closing restaurants, bars, and schools and a government expert saying a 14-day national shutdown may be needed. At the same time, long airport lines for virus screenings raised doubts that...

WASHINGTON — A clinical trial evaluating a vaccine designed to protect against the new coronavirus will begin Monday, according to a government official. The first participant in the trial will receive the experimental vaccine on Monday, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the trial has not...

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve took emergency action Sunday and slashed its benchmark interest rate by a full percentage point to nearly zero and announced it would purchase more Treasury securities to encourage lending to try to offset the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. The central bank said the effects...

JERUSALEM — Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz will be given the first opportunity to form a new government after an inconclusive national election this month, the country’s president said Sunday, raising questions about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political future. The decision by President Reuven Rivlin was announced by his office...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — When a Republican running for Congress in the Chicago suburbs tweeted that her Democratic opponent’s town hall events were invite-only, they debunked it. When Illinois’ Democratic governor said a pension change would save the state as much as $25 billion, they rated that mostly false, too. The...

CHICAGO — Harsh criticism rained on the Trump administration Sunday from state and local officials over long lines of returning international passengers at some U.S. airports that could have turned them into coronavirus carriers as they tried to get home. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, both...

WASHINGTON — The governors of Illinois and Ohio on Sunday confirmed their states’ presidential primaries will continue as scheduled on Tuesday, even amidst the coronavirus outbreak. “We’re going to go ahead,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who has moved aggressively to close schools and other institutions to limit spread...

NEW YORK — The show won’t go on for the Academy of Country Music, after all. The academy said Sunday that it was postponing its annual awards show, which was to be held April 5 at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas and televised on CBS, because of the...

NEW YORK — Ticket sales plunged to their lowest levels in at least 20 years at North American movie theaters as the coronavirus pandemic led to one of Hollywood’s worst weekends at the box office. Receipts totaled about $56 million in U.S. and Canada theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday....

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Baltimore Ravens are essentially getting a five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman for a backup kicker who has spent time on five NFL rosters over the last eight months. The Ravens agreed to trade a fifth-round draft pick in the upcoming draft to the Jacksonville Jaguars for...

TOLEDO, Ohio — Curt La Haise has put up with plenty of razzing from friends over the years who have called him paranoid for stockpiling an eight-month supply of food in his basement and having enough fuel to power his generator for almost an entire winter. They’re not laughing anymore...

WASHINGTON — When the two remaining Democratic presidential candidates return to the debate stage Sunday night, they will find that their party, the political stakes and the world look much different from when they last met less than three weeks ago. The fast-moving coronavirus was something of an afterthought in...

For all those who dreamed the impossible — making it a whole month without getting a single game wrong in the bracket — this is your year. Everything else about the NCAA Tournament that won’t happen this season — from Selection Sunday, to the jaw-dropping bracket busters and buzzer beaters,...

COLUMBUS, Ohio — All bars and restaurants in Ohio will be closed as of 9 p.m. Sunday until further notice, said Gov. Mike DeWine, who is taking a tough stance on trying to stem the coronavirus saying “if we don’t take these actions now, it’ll be too late.” DeWine said...

One of the nation’s largest malls, in suburban Philadelphia, has closed amid a call from Pennsylvania’s governor for nonessential businesses to close to help stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic as the number of cases in the commonwealth increased to at least 66. The security office of the King...

Pentagon officials have laid out new restrictions for access to the building, saying people who have been overseas should stay away for two weeks and others should expect more screening questions from officers posted at the entrances. Senior defense officials said in a conference call with reporters that personnel who...

The medical impact of the new coronavirus is coming into sharper focus as it continues its spread in what is now officially recognized as a pandemic. Its true fatality rate isn’t yet known, but it seems 10 times higher than the flu, which kills hundreds of thousands around the world...

MANILA, Philippines — Thousands of police officers and army troops started sealing the Philippines’ densely populated capital on Sunday at the start of one of Southeast Asia’s most drastic containment moves against the new coronavirus. Under monthlong restrictions imposed in the entire Manila metropolis — home to more than 12...

Weary travelers returning to the U.S. amid coronavirus-related travel restrictions were greeted by long lines and hourslong waits for required medical screenings at airports. Posts on social media indicated passengers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport waited upward of four hours in winding lines, eliciting criticism from elected Illinois officials. Gov....