U.S./World category, Page 1010
White House adviser: Crowding by shutdown protesters ‘devastatingly worrisome’
WASHINGTON — The sight of anti-shutdown protesters crowded together in public, often unmasked, is “devastatingly worrisome,” the White House coronavirus task coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, said Sunday. But Birx, whose boss, President Trump, has called the protesters “very good people,” did not take issue with the demonstrators’ message that states...
Report: Pandemic being used to curb press freedom
BERLIN — An international media rights group said Sunday the coronavirus pandemic is being used by governments around the world to increase restrictions on press freedoms. In a report issued to coincide with World Press Freedom Day 2020, the International Press Institute concluded that in both democratic and autocratic states,...
In a time of covid-19, ‘Obamacare’ still part of the action
WASHINGTON — Covid-19 could have stamped a person “uninsurable” if not for the Affordable Care Act. The ban on insurers using preexisting conditions to deny coverage is a key part of the Obama-era law that the Trump administration still seeks to overturn. Without the law, people who recovered from covid-19...
S. Korea says troops exchange fire along N. Korean border
SEOUL, South Korea — North and South Korean troops exchanged fire along their tense border on Sunday, the South’s military said, the first such incident since the rivals took unprecedented steps to lower frontline animosities in late 2018. Violent confrontations have occasionally occurred along the border, the world’s most heavily...
Man arrested trying to quarantine on private Disney island
ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida deputies arrested a man who had been living out his quarantine on a shuttered Disney World island, telling authorities it felt like a “tropical paradise.” Orange County Sheriff’s deputies found Richard McGuire on Disney’s Discovery Island on Thursday. He said he’d been there since Monday or...
Tara Reade: ‘I didn’t use sexual harassment’ in Biden complaint
WASHINGTON — Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who alleges Joe Biden sexually assaulted her 27 years ago, says she filed a limited report with a congressional personnel office that did not explicitly accuse him of sexual assault or harassment. “I remember talking about him wanting me to serve drinks...
Gov. Andrew Cuomo lashes out at protests as New York sees 299 more deaths
NEW YORK — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo insisted Saturday that he won’t tolerate rallies that put public health at risk as the coronavirus crisis claimed another 299 people overnight. Asked about a Long Island rally that attracted scores of protesters, Cuomo said everyone has the right to express their...
Stars deliver inspirational messages in Call to Unite event
LOS ANGELES — Director Lee Daniels talked about past drug use and urged people not to give into the temptation to abuse drugs during the coronavirus pandemic, saying “You are not alone.” Actress Eva Longoria said the pandemic is giving the world a chance to reset itself, and praised health...
Woman killed in alligator attack at South Carolina pond
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Deputies in South Carolina shot and killed an alligator that fatally attacked a woman on Friday, authorities said. The officers were called to a pond on Kiawah Island around 5 p.m. and saw the animal attack, the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office said. The woman was dead....
UK coronavirus death total surpasses 28,000
LONDON — Britain’s Department of Health says a total of 28,131 people have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for the new coronavirus in the United Kingdom, an increase of 621 from the previous tally. The figures include deaths as of 5 p.m. on...
Serb leader praises Russian arms 21 years after NATO bombing
BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia’s president thanked Russia on Saturday for making the country’s military “10 times” stronger than when it was bombed by NATO in 1999. Aleksandar Vucic spoke Saturday while visiting an air defense unit near Belgrade that has recently been equipped with the Russian Pantsir-S1 system, which is...
As warmer weather beckons, NYPD to enforce social distancing
NEW YORK — As warmer weather tempted New Yorkers to come out of quarantine, police dispatched 1,000 officers this weekend to enforce social distancing and a ban on congregating in public spaces. Officers set out on foot, bicycles and cars to break up crowds and remind those enjoying the weather...
In US, a virus-era Ramadan presents obstacles, opportunities
For Jamilah Shakir, the first week of Ramadan has been an adjustment. She typically spends every night of the month at the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam or another mosque nearby. Now Ramadan has come, and mosques are closed to worshippers to prevent spread of the coronavirus. So Shakir and her...
New Mexico takes more drastic measures against virus hotspot
SANTA FE, N.M. — A modern-day trading post on the southern outskirts of the Navajo Nation was on lockdown over the weekend under the watch of National Guard troops and state police to discourage nonessential travel and commerce as local coronavirus infections soar. Invoking provisions of the state Riot Control...
Farmers markets scaling down with eye on safety due to virus
DETROIT — For a dozen years, Johnny Gyergyou has sold meat, poultry and eggs from his Berlin Township livestock farm at Eastern Market in Detroit. Lately, he’s been staying home as fear of the COVID-19 virus has kept thousands of shoppers away from the popular venue northeast of downtown. “The...
‘I died and came back’: 12-year-old recovers from virus
COVINGTON, La. — As her desperately sick daughter was being airlifted to a hospital, Jennifer Daly was thinking about all the parts of life that still lay ahead for her 12-year-old and whether she’d ever experience them: Would she get to fall in love? Would she get the chance to...
1 Houston police officer killed, 1 injured in copter crash
HOUSTON — A Houston police helicopter crashed early Saturday, killing one of the two officers on board and critically injuring the other, officials said. A pilot and tactical flight officer were aboard a police helicopter when it crashed at an apartment complex around 2 a.m. They were flown to a...
Virgin Galactic completes first glide flight in New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Virgin Galactic’s spaceship VSS Unity landed in the New Mexico desert on Friday, marking its first glide flight from Spaceport America as the company moves toward commercial operations. The company announced the flight on social media and shared photos of the craft on the runway and members...
‘Freedom’ protest against coronavirus orders leads to arrests at California Capitol
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — They came with babies strapped to their chests, flags waving and even a speedboat parked at the curb to symbolize California’s closed beaches. Hundreds of people — likely more than 1,000 — crowded around the California State Capitol on Friday to protest Gov. Gavin Newsom’s social distancing...
Anheuser-Busch wins latest round of beer wars against Molson
MADISON, Wis. — A federal appeals court on Friday struck down a lower court’s ruling in favor of brewing giant Molson Coors, determining that Anheuser-Busch can advertise and use packaging implying that its rival beers contain corn syrup. The order from a three-judge panel on the 7th U.S. Court of...
Middle finger didn’t warrant traffic stop, says North Carolina court
RALEIGH, N.C. — A state trooper’s decision to stop a driver who flashed an obscene hand gesture wasn’t justified, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Friday, overturning lower court decisions. The justices ruled unanimously that the evidence showed Trooper Paul Stevens lacked reasonable suspicion to pull over Shawn Patrick Ellis...
Remdesivir given go-ahead by FDA for emergency use against coronavirus
WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators on Friday allowed emergency use of an experimental drug that appears to help some coronavirus patients recover faster. It is the first drug shown to help fight COVID-19, which has killed more than 230,000 people worldwide. The FDA said in a statement that Gilead Science’s intravenous...
Stocks slide as Amazon, other companies detail coronavirus fallout
Stocks closed broadly lower on Wall Street on Friday after Amazon and other big companies reported disappointing results, the latest evidence of how the coronavirus pandemic is hobbling the economy and hurting corporate earnings. A day after closing out its best month since 1987, the S&P 500 fell 2.8%. The...
Trump says Michigan governor should ‘give a little’ to restart economy
LANSING, Mich. — President Donald Trump tweeted Friday that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer should “give a little” and “put out the fire” a day after hundreds of conservative demonstrators, some with assault weapons, protested at the state Capitol against stay-at-home restrictions she imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The Governor...
Man goes to clear out dead mom’s New York home, finds body in freezer
NEW YORK — A man found a decomposed body in his dead mother’s freezer as he was clearing out her Manhattan apartment, police said. He found the body this week in a chest freezer that had been sealed with duct tape, the Daily News reported. Investigators said the body appeared...
