U.S./World category, Page 1032
Trump say feds developing new guidelines for coronavirus risk
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that federal officials are developing guidelines to rate counties by risk of virus spread, as he aims to begin to ease nationwide guidelines meant to stem the coronavirus outbreak. In a letter to the nation’s governors, Trump said the new guidelines are meant...
Autism diagnosis more common in the U.S. as racial gap closesVideo
NEW YORK — Autism has grown slightly more common in the United States, but a gap in diagnosis of white and black kids has disappeared, according to a government report released Thursday. Closure of that gap — thanks to increased screening — is the main reason autism diagnoses are up...
Congress’ relief bill would vastly expand unemployment aidVideo
NEW YORK — With record-high numbers of Americans seeking unemployment benefits after losing their jobs because of the coronavirus, Congress is set to significantly enhance the program. The $2.2 trillion rescue package nearing final approval will, for four months, add $600 a week to standard unemployment benefits, which vary by...
Meghan to narrate Disney nature film in first post-royal job
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has her first post-royal job: narrating a Disney documentary about elephants. Disney announced Thursday that the duchess, who is married to Britain’s Prince Harry, is lending her voice to “Elephant,” released April 3 on the Disney+ streaming service. It’s one of a series of animal-...
Dreaming of lottery riches? Virus could cut jackpots
DES MOINES, Iowa — Hoping to escape all the coronavirus-caused economic uncertainty by winning a giant lottery jackpot? Think again. Those jackpots are going to shrink as the pandemic tamps down lottery sales. The group that oversees the Powerball game announced Wednesday night that it would cut minimum jackpots in...
U.S. indicts Venezuela’s Maduro on narcoterrorism chargesVideo
MIAMI — Nicolás Maduro effectively converted Venezuela into a criminal enterprise at the service of drug traffickers and terrorist groups as he and his allies stole billions from the South American country, the Justice Department charged in several indictments against the embattled socialist and his inner circle that were made...
U.S. unemployment claims soar to record 3.3 million as layoffs jumpVideo
WASHINGTON — Nearly 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week — more than quadruple the previous record set in 1982 — amid a widespread economic shutdown caused by the coronavirus. The surge in weekly applications was a stunning reflection of the damage the viral outbreak is doing to...
Iraqi military says 2 rockets hit Baghdad’s Green ZoneVideo
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s military on Thursday said at least two rockets hit inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraq’s government and home to the American Embassy, in the first attack following a brief lull in violence from earlier this month. Iraqi officials also said the United States...
New Zealand mosque gunman pleads guilty to murder, terrorism
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The man who committed the worst atrocity in New Zealand’s modern history when he slaughtered 51 worshippers at two Christchurch mosques unexpectedly pleaded guilty to all charges Thursday. The attacks targeting people praying at the mosques a year ago shocked the nation and prompted new laws...
G-7 foreign ministers spar over coronavirus amid pandemic
WASHINGTON — Foreign ministers from the Group of 7 leading industrialized democracies sparred Wednesday over whether to call out China as the source of the coronavirus pandemic. Meeting by video conference because of the outbreak, the ministers agreed on the need for joint efforts to halt the spread of the...
Virginia governor urges Jerry Falwell Jr. to rethink welcoming Liberty studentsVideo
RICHMOND — In light of the coronavirus pandemic, Virginia’s governor asked Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. on Wednesday to reconsider his decision to welcome students back to the Lynchburg campus this week after their spring break. Speaking at a news conference in Richmond, Gov. Ralph Northam criticized Liberty, which...
Family: U.S. believes ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson has died in Iranian custody
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government has concluded that retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished more than a decade ago, has died while in the custody of Iran, his family said Wednesday. The family said in a statement posted on Twitter that it had no information about how or when...
Feds call temporary halt to collection on defaults on federal student debt
Borrowers in default on federal student loans are getting a 60-day reprieve on collections and wage garnishments. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos on Wednesday announced that the move that will affect about 830,000 borrowers nationwide will last “at least 60 days from March 13, 2020,” as the U.S. battles...
Canada imposes mandatory self-isolation for those returning
TORONTO — Canada announced Wednesday it is imposing mandatory self-isolation for those returning to Canada under the Quarantine Act. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said it will begin at midnight Wednesday and the requirement will be for 14 days. “It will be a legal obligation for people entering Canada from...
Citing coronavirus, Putin delays vote that would extend his rule
MOSCOW — Citing the coronavirus, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday postponed a nationwide vote on proposed constitutional amendments that include a change potentially allowing him to stay in office until 2036. Putin didn’t set a new date for the plebiscite originally scheduled for April 22, saying that it would...
In pandemic, rumors of martial law fly despite reassurances
NEW YORK — Millions of Americans have been ordered to stay home. Businesses and schools are shuttered. And National Guard units have been activated in more than half the states. Yet despite what you may have read in a text message or on social media, there are currently no plans...
Of America and sacrifice: Is the country ready to step up?
WASHINGTON — For most Americans alive today, the idea of shared national sacrifice is a collective abstraction, a memory handed down from a grandparent or passed on through a book or movie. Not since World War II, when people carried ration books with stamps that allowed them to purchase meat,...
Somalia suicide bomber detonates in tea shop, killing 2
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A Somali police officer says a suicide bomber has walked into a tea shop in Somalia’s capital and detonated, killing at least two people. Capt. Mohamed Hussein says the bomber, posing as a pedestrian, entered the shop and detonated his vest among the crowd. Wednesday’s blast in...
Turkish prosecutors file indictment over Khashoggi killingVideo
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish prosecutors have formally charged two former aides of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and 18 other Saudi nationals over the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, officials said Wednesday. A statement from the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said it has completed its investigation...
Afghan officials say 25 killed in Kabul attack on Sikhs
KABUL, Afghanistan — A lone Islamic State gunman rampaged through a Sikh house of worship in the heart of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Wednesday, killing 25 worshippers and wounding eight, Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry said. The gunman held many of the worshippers hostage for several hours as Afghan special forces,...
Deal reached on historic $2 trillion virus rescue billVideo
WASHINGTON — The White House and Senate leaders of both parties announced agreement early Wednesday on an unprecedented $2 trillion emergency bill to rush sweeping aid to businesses, workers and a health care system slammed by the coronavirus pandemic. The urgently needed pandemic response measure is the largest economic rescue...
Moscow tells some victims to treat coronavirus at home
MOSCOW — Authorities in Moscow have changed course and are now saying coronavirus patients with relatively light symptoms should receive treatment at home. Previously, Russian health care officials had hospitalized all those who tested positive for the coronavirus along with those suspected of having it. Russia has reported 495 cases...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo demands help as state coronavirus cases surge above 25,000
NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo offered a grim update on the exploding coronavirus pandemic Tuesday, saying New York is in the grip of a frightening “spike” with 25,665 people now infected in the state and 210 dead. Speaking at the Javits Center in Manhattan, where the state is stockpiling...
U.N. chief urges G20 to adopt ‘wartime’ plan with trillions
UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged leaders of the world’s 20 major industrialized nations on Tuesday to adopt a “wartime” plan including a stimulus package “in the trillions of dollars” for businesses, workers and households in developing countries trying to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. He said in a...
‘A bullet train’: New York coronavirus peak may come soon, swamp hospitals
NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo sounded his most dire warning yet about the coronavirus pandemic Tuesday, saying the infection rate in New York is accelerating and the state could be as close as two weeks away from a crisis that sees 40,000 people in intensive care. Such a surge...
