Associated Press stories, Page 2254
Canada imposes mandatory self-isolation for those returning
TORONTO — Canada announced Wednesday it is imposing mandatory self-isolation for those returning to Canada under the Quarantine Act. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said it will begin at midnight Wednesday and the requirement will be for 14 days. “It will be a legal obligation for people entering Canada from...
Elton John to host TV, radio concert as coronavirus antidote
Elton John is hosting a “living room” concert aimed at bolstering American spirits during the coronavirus crisis and saluting those countering it, iHeartMedia and Fox said Wednesday. Alicia Keys, Billie Eilish, Mariah Carey, the Backstreet Boys, Tim McGraw and Billie Joe Armstrong are scheduled to take part in the event...
Game Zero: Spread of coronavirus linked to Champions League match
ROME — It was the biggest soccer game in Atalanta’s history and a third of Bergamo’s population made the short trip to Milan’s famed San Siro Stadium. Nearly 2,500 fans of visiting Spanish club Valencia also traveled to that Champions League match. More than a month later, experts are pointing...
Citing coronavirus, Putin delays vote that would extend his rule
MOSCOW — Citing the coronavirus, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday postponed a nationwide vote on proposed constitutional amendments that include a change potentially allowing him to stay in office until 2036. Putin didn’t set a new date for the plebiscite originally scheduled for April 22, saying that it would...
Primary purgatory with no 12th Democratic debate on horizon
ATLANTA — There is no 12th Democratic presidential debate on the horizon now that the nominating process is in a holding pattern because of the coronavirus pandemic. One of the Democratic National Committee’s lead debate organizers, Xochitl Hinojosa, said the party has not set a date or secured a television...
Aetna waives patient payments for coronavirus hospital stays
One of the nation’s biggest health insures is waiving patient payments for hospital stays tied to the coronavirus. CVS Health’s insurer Aetna said Wednesday that many of its customers will not have to make co-payments or other forms of cost sharing if they wind up admitted to a hospital in...
Rural America watches pandemic erupt in cities as fear growsVideo
DUFUR, Ore. — The social distancing rules repeated like a mantra in America’s urban centers, where the coronavirus is spreading exponentially, might seem silly in wide-open places where neighbors live far from each other and “working from home” means another day spent branding calves or driving a tractor alone through...
Ford recalls 268K cars in North America to fix door latchesVideo
DETROIT — Ford is recalling more than 268,000 cars in North America to fix doors that could open unexpectedly or may not close. The recall covers the 2014 through 2016 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ, and the 2014 and 2015 Ford Fiesta. Cars in Mexico, U.S. territories and 16 states...
Pennsylvania saw 400K jobless claims, labor leader saysVideo
HARRISBURG — More than 400,000 Pennsylvanians filed for unemployment compensation benefits last week amid a tidal wave of coronavirus-related business shutdowns, eclipsing the high-point during the recession a decade ago, the state’s top organized labor leader said Wednesday. Rick Bloomingdale, president of the Pennsylvania chapter of the AFL-CIO, said Gov....
Ohio lawmakers push address state’s response to coronavirus impactVideo
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mandatory state testing for schools would be ditched this year and the deadline for filing state income taxes would be extended until July 15 under legislation being crafted Wednesday by lawmakers to address the impact of the coronavirus. The coronavirus bill would also tackle confusion caused by...
Stocks rise on U.S. stimulus deal, rally fades before New York openVideo
NEW YORK — Stocks are limping along in tentative morning trading on Wall Street Wednesday, as a historic, worldwide rally downshifts dramatically after just a day. The S&P 500 was drifting between gains and losses in the first few minutes of trading, a day after packing a year’s worth of...
In pandemic, rumors of martial law fly despite reassurances
NEW YORK — Millions of Americans have been ordered to stay home. Businesses and schools are shuttered. And National Guard units have been activated in more than half the states. Yet despite what you may have read in a text message or on social media, there are currently no plans...
Of America and sacrifice: Is the country ready to step up?
WASHINGTON — For most Americans alive today, the idea of shared national sacrifice is a collective abstraction, a memory handed down from a grandparent or passed on through a book or movie. Not since World War II, when people carried ration books with stamps that allowed them to purchase meat,...
Somalia suicide bomber detonates in tea shop, killing 2
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A Somali police officer says a suicide bomber has walked into a tea shop in Somalia’s capital and detonated, killing at least two people. Capt. Mohamed Hussein says the bomber, posing as a pedestrian, entered the shop and detonated his vest among the crowd. Wednesday’s blast in...
South Africa’s virus cases jump; Mali, Guinea-Bissau get 1stVideo
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s coronavirus cases jumped again to 709, the health minister said Wednesday, as the country with the most cases in Africa prepared to go into lockdown first thing Friday. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on state television pointed out “intense local spread” in Free State province among attendees...
China lifting last controls in province at outbreak’s centerVideo
BEIJING — Trains carrying factory employees back to work after two months in locked-down cities rolled out of Hubei province, the center of China’s virus outbreak, as the government on Wednesday began lifting the last of the controls that confined tens of millions of people to their homes. Roadblocks on...
Turkish prosecutors file indictment over Khashoggi killingVideo
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish prosecutors have formally charged two former aides of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and 18 other Saudi nationals over the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, officials said Wednesday. A statement from the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said it has completed its investigation...
Britain’s Prince Charles tests positive for new coronavirusVideo
LONDON — Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, his office said Wednesday. The 71-year-old is showing mild symptoms of covid-19 and is self-isolating at a royal estate in Scotland, his Clarence House office said. It says his wife Camilla, 72, has...
Afghan officials say 25 killed in Kabul attack on Sikhs
KABUL, Afghanistan — A lone Islamic State gunman rampaged through a Sikh house of worship in the heart of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Wednesday, killing 25 worshippers and wounding eight, Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry said. The gunman held many of the worshippers hostage for several hours as Afghan special forces,...
Deal reached on historic $2 trillion virus rescue billVideo
WASHINGTON — The White House and Senate leaders of both parties announced agreement early Wednesday on an unprecedented $2 trillion emergency bill to rush sweeping aid to businesses, workers and a health care system slammed by the coronavirus pandemic. The urgently needed pandemic response measure is the largest economic rescue...
Netflix’s ‘Self Made’ tells of 1st female millionaireVideo
Madam C.J. Walker may be one of America’s most successful “pull yourself up by your own bootstrap” stories, but many have never heard of her. However, that’s changing, thanks to the recent release of a Netflix limited series starring Octavia Spencer. “Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J....
Zimbabwe public doctors strike over lack of virus protectionVideo
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s public hospital doctors went on strike Wednesday over what they called a lack of adequate protective gear as the coronavirus begins to spread in a country whose health system has almost collapsed. The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association president, Tawanda Zvakada, said doctors were at “high risk”...
Michigan Gov. Whitmer: Detroit-area hospital system ‘almost at capacity’Video
LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer warned Tuesday that a Detroit-area hospital system was “almost at capacity” treating people with the coronavirus, as the state’s stay-at-home order kicked in to reduce the spread. The governor, speaking about her measure with WDET-FM, pointed to Beaumont Health, which has eight hospitals in...
2 in Pennsylvania, New Jersey accused of coughing on people, citing coronavirus
TRENTON, N.J. — Authorities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania say individuals in both states have been charged with coughing on people in stores and saying they were infected with the coronavirus. The New Jersey attorney general’s office said Tuesday that 50-year-old George Falcone of Freehold is accused of having coughed...
Tom Brady looking forward, not behind with BuccaneersVideo
TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady said one day he’ll have time to reflect on a historic 20-year stint with the New England Patriots. Right now, the six-time Super Bowl champion and newest member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is focused on his next challenge. It’s a big one. “I don’t...
