Virus toll in Iran climbs as lockdowns deepen across MideastVideo
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran reported another 129 fatalities from the new coronavirus on Monday, the largest one-day rise in deaths since it began battling the Middle East’s worst outbreak, which has claimed more than 850 lives and infected a number of senior officials in the country. Businesses in Iran’s capital...
Greece: 1 dead in refugee camp blaze
ATHENS, Greece — Authorities in Greece say a minor has died in a fire that damaged an overcrowded refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. The Fire Service said the migrant, who was not further identified, was found dead inside Moria camp after the fire broke out Monday. Moria is...
French judges order charges against 20 in 2015 Paris attacks
PARIS — French judges investigating the 2015 Islamic State attacks that left 130 people dead in Paris have ordered charges against 20 people, including a Belgian accused of masterminding the attacks who was held for years in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq before being freed and returned home. Three of...
EU leaders set for virus talks amid border measure worries
BRUSSELS — European Union leaders are set to hold Tuesday a summit via video-conference on efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus, which has now infected more than 50,000 people across Europe, and claimed more than 2,000 lives. With Italy reporting the most virus cases and deaths anywhere in the...
Cincinnati shooting leaves man dead, 2 other people wounded
CINCINNATI — A street shooting in Cincinnati has left one man dead and two other people hospitalized, authorities said. The victims were found by police responding to reports of shots fired around 4:15 p.m. Sunday in the city’s Avondale section. Delmaris White, 25, was pronounced dead at the scene, while...
5 dead, including officer and gunman, in Missouri shooting
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Five people including a police officer and a gunman have died in a shooting at a Missouri gas station after the gunman went inside and opened fire, police said Monday. The dead also include three citizens, Springfield police Chief Paul Williams announced Monday, and an officer was...
Spain becomes 4th most virus-infected nationVideo
Spain has become the fourth most virus-infected country in the world, surpassing South Korea with a sharp curve of contagion, and closing its borders is a “real possibility” being considered. The topic will be discussed by European Union members on Monday, according to the country’s interior minister. Coronavirus cases in...
Olympic flame handover ceremony in Athens to be closedVideo
ATHENS, Greece — The Olympic flame handover ceremony for the Tokyo Games will take place without spectators in an effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak, the Greek Olympic committee said Monday. The committee said the accreditation cards that had been issued for Thursday’s ceremony at the stadium in Athens where...
5-year sentence for French priest who abused boy scouts
LYON, France — A French priest who acknowledged sexually abusing at least 75 boys over decades was sentenced Monday to five years in prison, in France’s worst case of clergy abuse to reach trial. The court in Lyon issued the verdict against 74-year-old Bernard Preynat behind closed doors because of...
Coronavirus vaccine test opens as U.S. volunteer gets 1st shot
SEATTLE — U.S. researchers gave the first shot to the first person in a test of an experimental coronavirus vaccine Monday — leading off a worldwide hunt for protection even as the pandemic surges. With a careful jab in a healthy volunteer’s arm, scientists at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Research...
Latest on coronavirus: Mostly business as usual Monday in Pittsburgh
There was a lighter sort of business as usual Monday on Grant Street in Downtown Pittsburgh, the morning after county and state officials asked nonessential businesses to close their doors for two weeks. Traffic through Downtown continued to flow – but lighter. Commuters poured off the T at the Steel...
‘Bigger than any one of us’: Biden, Sanders take on pandemic
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders sought in Sunday’s Democratic debate to cast themselves as best-positioned to lead the nation through a global pandemic, with Biden pledging to deploy the military to help with recovery efforts and Sanders using the crisis to pitch his long-sought...
CDC recommends no gatherings of 50 or more for 8 weeks
WASHINGTON — In the most extreme effort yet to slow the march of coronavirus in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that events of 50 people or more not be held for about two months. For the next eight weeks, organizers should cancel or postpone...
New York City schools to close Monday to fight coronavirus
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....
PennDOT asks Homeland Security to extend Real ID deadline amid coronavirus pandemic
PennDOT is asking federal officials to extend the Oct. 1 Real ID enforcement deadline in light of the coronavirus outbreak. Acting PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to extend the Oct. 1 Real ID enforcement deadline as facilities close due to the coronavirus. To control...
U.S. moves nearer to shutdown amid coronavirus fears
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...
Government official: Coronavirus vaccine trial starts Monday
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...
Netanyahu rival Benny Gantz chosen to form new Israeli government
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...
Election-year spread of misinformation challenges local news
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...
Courts slow opening of public lands to oil, gas drilling
WASHINGTON — Soon after President Trump took office, the rush to open millions of acres of federal land to oil and gas drilling was on. Under pressure from industry, the number of acres offered for lease shot up, the time it took to process a permit application dropped and lease...
Trump calls on Americans to cease hoarding food, suppliesVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Sunday called on Americans to cease hoarding groceries and other supplies, while one of the nation’s most senior public health officials called on the nation to act with more urgency to safeguard their health as the coronavirus outbreak continued to spread across the United...
Trump considering ‘full’ pardon for ex-adviser Michael FlynnVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Sunday he is considering a full pardon for former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about dealings with Russia’s ambassador before Trump took office. Flynn attempted to withdraw the guilty plea in January, saying federal prosecutors...
Trump defends U.S. over airport crowding amid coronavirus fears
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...
Governors say Tuesday’s presidential primaries will go on
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...
Not exactly gloating, stockpiling ‘preppers’ have a moment
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...
