Uber lays off 3,700 as coronavirus upends sharing economy
NEW YORK — In a world where the coronavirus pandemic has turned social distancing into a new way of life, companies whose business models bank on people’s willingness to share their personal space are now struggling. Uber said Wednesday it’s cutting 3,700 full-time workers, or about 14% of its workforce,...
DC appeals court nominee sails through confirmation hearing amid pandemic rancor
WASHINGTON — Judge Justin Walker, as expected, breezed through his confirmation hearing Wednesday for a spot on an influential appeals court in Washington, even as Democrats pressed him on previous comments about his judicial approach and his criticism of rulings that upheld the 2010 health care law. The hearing turned...
Ruth Bader Ginsburg weighs in on Trump v. Pennsylvania birth control case from hospital bedVideo
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made history as a lawyer, scoring courtroom victories for clients in sexual discrimination cases. On Wednesday, the 87-year-old justice made history again — this time by participating in oral arguments in a pivotal hearing on insurance coverage for birth control from her room at...
Birth control war returns to a divided Supreme Court
For the third time in six years, a divided Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday over whether employers with religious or moral objections to contraception can be compelled under the 2010 Affordable Care Act to provide no-cost access to birth control to their workers. And also for the third time, the...
Students accused of sexual misconduct get stronger protections under new federal rules
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued broad changes Wednesday to campus sexual misconduct rules that would bolster the rights of the accused and give colleges more flexibility in how they handle Title IX cases. The long-awaited rules make key changes to former guidelines from the Obama administration, including a tighter definition...
Britain to ease some covid-19 lockdown measures next week
LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday said he plans to ease some covid-19 lockdown rules next week but warned that lifting measures too early could deepen Britain’s economic crisis. “We want, if we possibly can, to get going with (lifting) some of these measures on Monday,” Johnson told...
Pennsylvania to hire civilians to ramp up coronavirus contact tracing
Pennsylvania will hire civilians to bolster contact tracing across the state in an effort to better contain and mitigate the coronavirus, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday. The group, called the Commonwealth Civilian Coronavirus Corps, “will reduce our unemployment rate while making a lasting health and economic contribution to our Commonwealth,”...
Dallas salon owner jailed for defying coronavirus shutdown orderVideo
DALLAS — A Texas’ judge’s decision to jail a hair salon owner for defying restrictions meant to limit the spread of the coronavirus has drawn criticism from the governor and state attorney general. Shelley Luther was booked in the Dallas County jail on Tuesday afternoon following a video hearing during...
Ex-California lawmaker seeks prison term delay due to coronavirus
SAN DIEGO — Former California Rep. Duncan Hunter wants to push back the start of his prison term for stealing campaign funds until next year because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. Hunter’s lawyers and prosecutors filed a joint motion in federal court on Tuesday and were awaiting a ruling...
3 Russian doctors fall from hospital windows during pandemicVideo
MOSCOW — Two Russian doctors have died and another was seriously injured in falls from hospital windows after they reportedly came under pressure over working conditions in the coronavirus pandemic. The exact circumstances of the separate incidents in the last two weeks remain unclear and they are being investigated by...
Trump: Coronavirus task force not dismantling, just refocusing
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday reversed course on plans to wind down his covid-19 task force, attempting to balance his enthusiasm for “reopening” the country with rising infection rates in parts of the nation. The task force controversy was emblematic of an administration — and a country —...
Most new covid-19 patients in N.Y. not working, older: surveyVideo
NEW YORK — The great majority of people being newly hospitalized with the coronavirus in New York are either retired or unemployed and were avoiding public transit, according to a new state survey, the first such look at people still getting seriously ill despite six weeks of severe social distancing....
Trump: Covid-19 task force not dismantling, just refocusingVideo
PHOENIX — One day after saying that the covid-19 task force would be winding down, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that it would continue indefinitely, but focus more on rebooting the economy. Trump tweeted that the panel’s focus would be on “SAFETY & OPENING UP OUR COUNTRY AGAIN.” Trump’s reversal...
The second virus wave: How bad will it be as lockdowns ease?Video
ROME — From the marbled halls of Italy to the wheat fields of Kansas, health authorities are increasingly warning that the question isn’t whether a second wave of coronavirus infections and deaths will hit, but when — and how badly. In India, which partly relaxed its lockdown this week, health...
Harry and Meghan mark son’s 1st birthday with charity videoVideo
LONDON — The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have released a video of Meghan reading to their son as they mark Archie’s 1st birthday and promote a campaign to help children during the coronavirus pandemic. The video shows Meghan sitting with Archie on her lap and reading one of his...
NYC mayor: Other states may be reopening too quicklyVideo
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that rising coronavirus infection rates outside of the New York metropolitan area should serve as a warning to other states not to reopen their economies too quickly. De Blasio said on CNN’s “New Day” that new data showing...
Spain to avert political crisis, extend virus lockdownVideo
MADRID — Spain’s left-wing coalition government appears to have averted throwing the country into a political crisis on top of the enormous challenge it already faces from a devastating coronavirus outbreak that has claimed more than 25,000 lives and severely damaged its economy. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is appearing before...
Hunting-related shooting fatalities increase in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — The number of hunting-related shooting fatalities in Pennsylvania went up in the past year, according to the state game commission. There were 26 hunting-related shooting injuries in Pennsylvania in 2019, four of which were fatal. The number of fatalities is up from the previous year when only one...
White House may dissolve its coronavirus task force this monthVideo
WASHINGTON — Although the coronavirus pandemic is far from over, the White House plans to wind down the task force that is guiding the federal government’s response and hand off responsibility to individual agencies, a move aimed at distancing President Donald Trump from potentially unpopular public health decisions as he...
Woman killed by alligator in South Carolina was doing homeowner’s nails
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The woman attacked and killed by an alligator in a gated community along the South Carolina coast was visiting the homeowner to do her nails and was trying to touch the animal when it grabbed her, authorities said. After briefly getting away from the alligator Friday, the...
Fauci: Evidence shows virus originated in nature, not in Chinese lab
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told National Geographic it’s unlikely the coronavirus pandemic somehow started in a Chinese lab, despite suggestions to the contrary by President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “If you look at the evolution of the virus...
Justice Ginsburg in hospital with infection, court says
WASHINGTON — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized Tuesday with an infection caused by a gallstone, the Supreme Court said. The 87-year-old justice underwent non-surgical treatment for what the court described as acute cholecystitis, a benign gall bladder condition, at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. New from SCOTUS: Justice...
Trump says U.S. must reopen even if more get sick, die
President Trump declared Tuesday the U.S. must begin to reopen its economy immediately, even if it leads to more Americans falling sick and dying from the coronavirus. “Will some people be affected? Yes. Will some people be affected badly? Yes. But we have to get our country open, and we...
Judge restores N.Y. Democratic presidential primary
NEW YORK — The New York Democratic presidential primary must take place June 23 because canceling it would be unconstitutional, a judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan ruled after hearing arguments a day earlier as lawyers for withdrawn presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang argued...
Counties in Pittsburgh region plead with Gov. Wolf to reopen — soon
County leaders across Southwestern Pennsylvania are trying to convince Gov. Tom Wolf to allow them to begin reopening as soon as possible — regardless of what is going on in Allegheny, the most populated area of the region, which also has its highest number of coronavirus cases. On Monday, 37...
