U.S./World category, Page 1016
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...
U.S. to boost aid to Greenland in bid to counter Russia, China
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is poised to announce an expanded diplomatic presence in Greenland and a new assistance package for the vast island aimed at thwarting growing Chinese and Russian influence in the Arctic. The announcement, expected Thursday, will come less than a year after President Donald Trump drew...
U.S. adds cameras at Mexico border despite drop in crossings
SAN DIEGO — The Trump administration has been quietly adding military surveillance cameras at the U.S.-Mexico border in response to the coronavirus pandemic, though fewer people appear to be crossing illegally. It’s the latest move as operations at the U.S.-Mexico border have become increasingly militarized and secretive. Documents obtained by...
In Great Lakes region, EPA enforcement of clean water laws slackens
CHICAGO — Two months after President Trump took office, U.S. Steel dumped a plume of cancer-causing metal into a Lake Michigan tributary 20 miles away from a Chicago drinking water intake. The company reported another spill of hexavalent chromium six months later, around the same time public interest lawyers dug...
Trump Organization, written out of U.S. bailout, taps European aid
The Trump Organization is seeking U.K. and Irish bailout money to help cover wages for bartenders, bagpipers and other employees furloughed from its European golf properties because of the coronavirus lockdown. Overseas businesses owned by President Trump can tap government funds meant to help retain workers. In the U.S., by...
Man driving truck stolen in Pennsylvania wounded in Florida shootout, sheriff says
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — A man who was driving a stolen pickup truck was wounded Wednesday afternoon during a shootout with a deputy near a shopping center in Florida, authorities said. Deputies had been searching for a Toyota Tundra that was reported stolen in Pennsylvania this week when a...
Trump administration offers plan to cover coronavirus care for uninsured
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced a plan Wednesday to start paying hospitals and doctors who care for uninsured patients with coronavirus, but Democratic lawmakers and health industry groups are likely to press for more. Under the approach detailed by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, hospitals and doctors...
New York City’s July 4 fireworks show will go on in ‘a different way’
NEW YORK — The coronavirus has sunk major New York City events from the St. Patrick’s Day Parade to the 50th anniversary Pride march, but the famous July Fourth fireworks extravaganza will happen in some form, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday. “One way or another, the show will go...
Trump tweets he’s ordered Navy to destroy Iranian gunboats
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has ordered the Navy to “shoot down and destroy” any Iranian gunboats that harass U.S. ships, a directive that comes a week after the Navy reported a group of Iranian boats made “dangerous and harassing approaches” to American vessels in the...
Trump bars new immigration green cards, not temporary visas
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced what he described as a “temporary suspension of immigration into the United States.” But the executive order would bar only those seeking permanent residency, not temporary workers. Trump said Tuesday he would be placing a 60-day pause on the issuance of green cards in...
CDC confirms weeks-earlier California deaths from coronavirus
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Health officials say two people died with the coronavirus in California weeks before the first reported death from the disease. Santa Clara County officials said Tuesday the people died at home Feb. 6 and Feb. 17. Before this, the first U.S. death from the virus had been...
As people stay home, Earth turns wilder and cleaner
An unplanned grand experiment is changing Earth. As people across the globe stay home to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, the air has cleaned up, albeit temporarily. Smog stopped choking New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world, and India’s getting views of sights not...
Canadian police: Death toll rises to 23 victims in Nova Scotia rampage
TORONTO — Canadian police said Tuesday they believe there to be 23 victims after a gunman went on a rampage in rural communities across Nova Scotia over the weekend. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they have recovered remains from some of the locations of the fires. Earlier, authorities said...
McDonald’s to give free meals to first responders, health care workers
McDonald’s will give out free breakfasts, lunches and dinners to first responders and health care workers to thank them for their efforts during the coronavirus pandemic. The restaurant chain said it will provide the Thank You Meals from Wednesday through May 5 at participating restaurants. The meals will be served...
Defiant Louisiana pastor arrested over coronavirus protestVideo
BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana authorities arrested a pastor on an assault charge on Tuesday after he admitted that he drove his church bus toward a man who has been protesting his decision to hold mass gatherings in defiance of public health orders during the coronavirus pandemic. The police department...
Pandemic dealing European tourism ‘staggering’ blow
HALLE, Belgium — The European Union says its vaunted tourist industry is facing “staggering” figures of decline because of the coronavirus crisis, and the bloc’s internal market commissioner wants the sector to be first in line when it comes to recovery funds. Thierry Breton mentioned figures that the tourism economy...
Doctors: Execution drugs could help covid-19 patients
HOUSTON — Secrecy surrounding executions could hinder efforts by a group of medical professionals who are asking the nation’s death penalty states for medications used in lethal injections so that they can go to coronavirus patients who are on ventilators, according to a death penalty expert and a doctor who’s...
Federal officials now requiring nursing homes to report all coronavirus cases
Federal officials have ordered nursing homes to report all coronavirus cases to residents, their families and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new regulation was announced Sunday by President Donald Trump and Seema Verma, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The move comes amid growing...
World’s last Blockbuster weathering covid-19 pandemicVideo
If the streaming revolution couldn’t kill the world’s last remaining Blockbuster store, what hope does the new coronavirus have? The store, located in Bend, Ore., has made adjustments — like curbside pickup and extra cleaning measures — to deal with the covid-19 pandemic, KTVC in Oregon reports. “We’re trying to...
Trump criticism aside, governors call for more federal help
WASHINGTON — A chorus of governors from both parties pushed back hard after President Donald Trump accused Democrats of playing “a very dangerous political game” by insisting there is a shortage of tests for the coronavirus. The governors countered that the White House must do more to help states do...
April in America is an unforgiving time, and now coronavirus
For a generation, mid-April has delivered some of American life’s most cataclysmic moments — a week when young men have shot up schools, terrorists have blown up fellow humans, members of a religious sect have burned to death in their compound and environmental calamity has sullied the ocean. Now, as...
Queen Elizabeth II marks 94th birthday without fanfare
Britain is marking Queen Elizabeth II’s 94th birthday with silence Tuesday, as the nation in lockdown amid the covid-19 pandemic forgoes the usual gun salutes and ringing of bells. With thousands dead amid the outbreak, the monarch decided that the celebratory display of military firepower would not be appropriate. Nor...
Seoul says Kim Jong Un handling North Korea affairs as usualVideo
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared to be handling state affairs as usual, South Korea’s government said Tuesday after unconfirmed rumors described him as in fragile condition after surgery. The presidential Blue House said no unusual activity has been detected in North Korea and it...
Kim Jong Un surgery report fuels speculation about leader’s health
An online media report saying Kim Jong Un underwent a medical procedure is fueling new speculation about the North Korean leader’s health as a result of his unprecedented absence from events last week marking his grandfather’s birthday. The Daily NK, a Seoul-based website that gathers information from informants inside the...
