U.S./World category, Page 1033
Trump hoping to see economy reopened by Easter amid pandemic
WASHINGTON — With lives and the economy hanging in the balance, President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is hoping the United States will be reopened by Easter as he weighs how to relax nationwide social-distancing guidelines to put some workers back on the job during the coronavirus outbreak. Trump’s optimism...
Europe eyes smartphone location data to stem virus spreadVideo
Several European nations are evaluating powerful but potentially intrusive tools for fighting the coronavirus pandemic, a move that could put public health at odds with individual privacy. The tools in question are apps that would use real-time phone-location data to track the movements of virus carriers and the people they...
Too close for comfort: Belgium agrees to shut hair salonsVideo
BRUSSELS — When the Belgian government announced last week that hairdressers would still be able to operate during the coronavirus epidemics, many in the profession were dumbfounded and furious. Fearing for their health and bereft of the same financial benefits as other businesses which had been forced to close, angry...
YouTube to limit video quality around the world for a month
YouTube will reduce the quality of videos around the world starting Tuesday, an effort by the world’s most popular video site to ease internet traffic during the coronavirus outbreak. Over the coming days, viewers will at first see YouTube videos in standard definition, the company said. Users will still be...
Mark Cuban unleashes on Twitter, imploring Congress to pass stimulus bill
Pittsburgh-area native and billionaire Mark Cuban unloaded on Congress in a profanity-laced Twitter tirade Tuesday, imploring Democrats and Republicans to come together on a stimulus deal to help save the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Mt. Lebanon entrepreneur and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks unleashed after a tweet...
Texas’ lieutenant governor says U.S. should get ‘back to work’
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ lieutenant governor said Monday night that the U.S. should get back to work in the face of the global pandemic and that people over the age of 70, who the Centers for Disease Control says are at higher risk for the coronavirus, will “take care of...
Trump delays deadline for Real ID licenses because of coronavirusVideo
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With the covid-19 pandemic further stifling the efforts of states to issue Real ID licenses, President Donald Trump on Monday said he would extend the Oct. 1 deadline for people to have the identification cards to board domestic flights in the United States. Trump made the announcement...
States can bar insanity defense, Supreme Court rules
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that states can prevent criminal defendants from pleading insanity without violating their constitutional rights. The decision could prompt states across the country to toughen standards for defendants who wish to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. The justices’ 6-3 decision came in...
Man gets 25 years for trying to bomb Oklahoma bank
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma man was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison after being convicted of trying to blow up an Oklahoma City bank with a massive vehicle bomb, according to federal prosecutors. Jerry Drake Varnell, 26, of Sayre was sentenced in federal court in Oklahoma City. When...
South Africa to go into nationwide lockdown over coronavirus
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa, Africa’s most industrialized economy and a nation of 57 million people, will to go into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days starting Thursday to try to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, the president said Monday. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the measures in...
Prosecutors: Woman should owe $28M for defrauding investorsVideo
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say an Israeli woman should be ordered to pay $28 million in restitution to thousands of investors who were defrauded in a scheme she orchestrated. Lee Elbaz, 38, was sentenced in December to 22 years in prison, but U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang hasn’t...
UN chief urges immediate global cease-fire to fight covid-19Video
UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Monday for an immediate cease-fire in conflicts around the world to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. The U.N. chief said: “It is time to put armed conflict on lock-down and focus together on the true fight of our lives.” Guterres said the world...
North Carolina wins court piracy case over Blackbeard’s shipVideo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court sided unanimously Monday with North Carolina in a copyright fight with a company that has documented the salvage of the pirate Blackbeard’s ship off the state’s coast. Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court that the company’s copyright infringement lawsuit, which she called “a modern...
Supreme Court last chance for Trump to block Twitter criticsVideo
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump will have to go to the U.S. Supreme Court if he wants to block critics from his personal Twitter account. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday rejected by a 7-2 vote his lawyers’ request for all of the court’s active judges...
Attacks in Libya kill 5 despite calls for pause in fighting
At least five civilians were killed, including two members of the same family, by heavy shelling in Libya’s capital of Tripoli on Monday, officials in the U.N.-backed government said, despite increased international pressure to halt fighting over coronavirus concerns. Mortar shells launched by Libya’s eastern-based forces struck houses in Tripoli’s...
PG&E pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in wildfireVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric said Monday it will plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2018 fire in Northern California that killed 84 people and decimated three towns. The utility said in a statement it will also admit to a single count...
Tensions rise as $2 trillion virus aid stalls in Washington
WASHINGTON — Tensions flared Monday as Washington strained to respond to the worsening coronavirus outbreak, with Congress arguing over a nearly $2 trillion economic rescue package and an impatient President Donald Trump musing openly about letting the 15-day shutdown expire. As the U.S. braces for an onslaught of sick Americans,...
Toilet paper calculator: How long will your stash last?Video
Toilet paper — it’s just about the most prized commodity these days. Or is that commode-ity? Anyway, you’re likely guarding your stash of TP carefully. But how do you know if you have enough? How do you know how long your rolls will keep you in business. Well, enter howmuchtoiletpaper.com....
Fauci says he can’t stop Trump from talking at briefings
WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci says he can’t jump in front of the microphone to stop President Donald Trump from speaking at daily White House briefings on the coronavirus outbreak. The nation’s top infectious disease expert tells Science magazine in an interview that Trump listens “even though we disagree on...
Police chief: Ohio officer killed in crash during chase
SPRINGDALE, Ohio — An Ohio police officer was killed when a suspect collided with her vehicle during a chase, authorities in a Cincinnati suburb said. Kaia Grant, 33, is the first police fatality in the line of duty in the history of Springdale, Mayor Doyle Webster said at a news...
23 inmates dead after protest over virus fears in Colombia
BOGOTA, Colombia — A deadly riot broke out in a prison in Colombia’s capital, leaving 23 inmates dead, authorities said Sunday, as tensions rise over the spread of the coronavirus in one of the most vulnerable locations: crowded, poorly kept penitentiaries. Justice Minister Margarita Cabello described the events at the...
Ohio to enact stay-at-home order as coronavirus cases spread
Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration is enacting a stay-at-home order as the number of cases in the state spiked Sunday to more than 350. DeWine said the stay-at-home order will start to be enforced Tuesday by local health departments and local law enforcement. “This is a health order, it’s not a...
German Chancellor Angela Merkel in quarantine after her doctor tests positive for virusVideo
BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has gone into quarantine after being informed that a doctor who administered a vaccine to her has tested positive for the new coronavirus. Merkel, 65, was informed about the doctor’s test shortly after holding a news conference Sunday announcing new measures to curb the...
38 positive for coronavirus in New York City jails, including Rikers
New York City was hit by the nation’s largest coronavirus jail outbreak to date this week, with at least 38 people testing positive at the notorious Rikers Island complex and nearby facilities — more than half of them incarcerated men, the board that oversees the city’s jail system said Saturday....
Coronavirus at a glance: Italy has 800 new deaths; medical supplies dwindle worldwide
The virus pandemic advanced Sunday after the U.S. and Europe reported soaring new cases, prompting a scramble in some regions to set up additional hospital beds and replenish much-needed medical supplies. Italy announced its biggest day-to-day increase of infections, which rose by 6,600 with nearly 800 new fatalities from the...
