Congress passes expanded small-business loan funding to address coronavirus shutdowns
WASHINGTON — With unemployment claims topping 26 million in the last five weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic, the House voted Thursday to approve another half-trillion dollars in federal relief to replenish a depleted small-business loan program and provide money for hospitals and testing. The bill includes $310 billion for...
Restaurant’s pandemic debut clogs traffic in West Virginia
CROSS LANES, W.Va. — The cars snaked out of the parking lot, up the road and onto the interstate. A newly opened restaurant during the coronavirus pandemic caused quite a stir among cooped-up residents in a small town in West Virginia. Cook Out’s soft opening on Wednesday was a smashing...
At least 7 dead as storms hit Oklahoma, Texas and LouisianaVideo
MADILL, Okla. — Severe weather blew through the South on Thursday after killing at least seven people in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana, including a worker at a factory hit by an apparent tornado, a man whose car was blown off the road and a man who went outside to grab...
Feds confiscate protective masks meant for Miami-Dade firefighters
MIAMI — A shipment of 1 million face masks en route to South Florida for firefighters was confiscated last week by the federal government, Miami-Dade’s top emergency management official said. Frank Rollason, the director of emergency management for Miami-Dade County, told WLRN on Wednesday that the masks were for firefighters...
Police: Georgia stepfather fatally shot teen during quarantine fight
ATLANTA — A teenager was fatally shot by his stepfather during a fight that may have been related to the coronavirus pandemic, Atlanta police said. Bernie Hargrove, 42, was charged Thursday morning with felony murder in the death of De’onte Roberts, 16, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Roberts’ mother told police...
Court declines to unseal video in shooting of Indiana judges
INDIANAPOLIS — A man charged with shooting and wounding two judges during a fight outside an Indianapolis fast food restaurant lost a bid to have surveillance video and other evidence unsealed. Marion Superior Criminal Court Judge Shatrese Flowers on Wednesday denied Brandon Kaiser’s motion to dismiss a protective order that...
Bugged: Earth’s insect population shrinks 27% in 30 years
KENSINGTON, Maryland — The world has lost more than one quarter of its land-dwelling insects in the past 30 years, according to researchers whose big picture study of global bug decline paints a disturbing but more nuanced problem than earlier research. From bees and other pollinators crucial to the world’s...
Despite risks, auto workers step up to make medical gear
DETROIT — Cindy Parkhurst could have stayed home collecting most of her pay while the Ford plant where she normally works remains closed due to coronavirus fears. Instead, she along with hundreds of workers at Ford, General Motors, Toyota and other companies has gone back to work to make face...
Gov. Cuomo says antibody survey shows wide exposure to coronavirus in N.Y.Video
NEW YORK — More evidence is emerging that far more New Yorkers have had the coronavirus than the number confirmed by lab tests, officials said Thursday, offering insight that could help authorities decide how and how quickly to let people stop isolating from friends and return to work. Blood samples...
Social media games can open the door to cyber crime
A lot of people are relying on social media to stay connected while ordered to stay at home, but the FBI warns that those games you’re playing online could benefit identity thieves. “This is a hard time for everyone and we know social media has been a boon to help...
Elizabeth Warren’s oldest brother dies of coronavirus
BOSTON — The oldest brother of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Donald Reed Herring, has died from the coronavirus, the Massachusetts senator said Thursday. The former Democratic presidential candidate said her brother died Tuesday evening. He spent his career in the military after joining the U.S. Air Force at the age of...
Health official: 1 million in New York City possibly exposed to coronavirus
NEW YORK — As many as 1 million people in New York City may have been exposed to the coronavirus, the city’s health commissioner said Thursday. More than 142,000 people in the city have tested positive for the virus, “but that really is, I think, the tip of the iceberg,”...
‘We’ve been ignored’: Nursing homes plead for more coronavirus testing
NEW YORK — After two months and more than 10,000 deaths that have made the nation’s nursing homes some of the most terrifying places to be during the coronavirus crisis, most of them still don’t have access to enough tests to help control outbreaks among their frail, elderly residents. Neither...
8 big cats at Bronx Zoo test positive for coronavirus
NEW YORK — Another seven big cats at the Bronx Zoo have tested positive for coronavirus, just weeks after a Malayan tiger named Nadia was found to have the disease that is ravaging New York. Zoo officials announced the test results Wednesday, saying five tigers and three lions have coronavirus....
Virus warnings back safety over tradition during RamadanVideo
ISLAMABAD — The coronavirus pandemic is cutting off the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims from their cherished Ramadan traditions as health officials battle to ward off new infections during Islam’s holiest month, haunted by multiple outbreaks traced to religious gatherings around the world. Ramadan, a month of daytime fasting, overnight festivity...
Coronavirus pushes U.S. unemployment toward highest since DepressionVideo
WASHINGTON — Unemployment in the U.S. is swelling to levels last seen during the Great Depression of the 1930s, with 1 in 6 American workers thrown out of a job by the coronavirus. More than 4.4 million laid-off Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, the government said Thursday. In...
Iran Guard commander threatens U.S. Navy after Trump tweetVideo
TEHRAN, Iran — The leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned Thursday he ordered his forces to potentially target the U.S. Navy after President Donald Trump’s tweet a day earlier threatening to sink Iranian vessels. Iran separately summoned the Swiss ambassador, who looks out for America’s interests in the country, to...
Greenland ready to take U.S. aid but won’t accept conditions
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Greenlanders said Thursday they welcome reports that the United States wants to invest in their island, but the money has to come without conditions. The U.S administration is expected to announce the opening of a U.S. Agency for International Development office at the new American consulate in...
At least 7 dead as storms hit Oklahoma, Texas and LouisianaVideo
MADILL, Okla. — Severe weather blew through the South on Thursday after killing at least seven people in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana, including a worker at a factory hit by an apparent tornado, a man whose car was blown off the road and a man who went outside to grab...
China buys crude oil as prices collapse, adding to stockpiles
BEIJING — China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, is building up stockpiles of crude oil as global prices plunge because of the coronavirus outbreak. Imports rose 4.5% in March over a year earlier even as the world’s second-largest economy shut down to fight the virus and demand collapsed. For the...
Under pressure, Harvard says it will reject U.S. relief aid
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard University announced Wednesday it will turn down $8.7 million in federal coronavirus relief, a day after President Donald Trump excoriated the wealthy Ivy League school over taxpayer money it stood to receive. It followed similar actions at Stanford and Princeton universities, which said they will too...
Bloomberg to fund $10M coronavirus tracking program for New York
NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that Michael Bloomberg will fund a pilot program to test and trace coronavirus infection rates as the state’s daily death rate dipped slightly to 474. The former New York City mayor will fund a $10 million initial plan to trace people who...
Trump signs immigration order as part of pandemic crackdown
WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that will temporarily halt the issuance of certain green cards as he uses the coronavirus pandemic to push long-stalled immigration measures during an election year. While Trump says the move is designed to preserve jobs for American workers in an economy...
Poll: Few Americans support easing coronavirus protectionsVideo
WASHINGTON — Americans remain overwhelmingly in favor of stay-at-home orders and other efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, a new survey finds, even as small pockets of attention-grabbing protests demanding the lifting of such restrictions emerge nationwide. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research...
Trump campaign tests lines of attack against Biden
NEW YORK — Air Force One is mostly grounded. Fundraisers are canceled. And the closest thing to a campaign rally is President Trump’s nightly coronavirus briefing. The president’s reelection campaign has been thoroughly upended by the coronavirus. But Trump’s team has revived a plan to quickly define Joe Biden, painting...
