U.S./World category, Page 1038
Trump administration: $1.3M for fast coronavirus test development
President Donald Trump’s administration announced Friday it is awarding $1.3 million to two companies trying to develop rapid covid-19 tests that could detect whether a person is positive for the new coronavirus within an hour. The Department of Health and Human Services said it is awarding $679,000 to DiaSorin Molecular,...
Big city, big worry: New Yorkers fret as bustling city slows as coronavirus spreads
NEW YORK — New Yorkers will awake Friday to find the coronavirus has left their famously bustling city with no Broadway, no basketball games, no big gatherings, and a populace unnerved by an ever-worsening crisis. A dizzying series of temporary coronavirus-related closures announced Thursday included some of the city’s cultural...
Trudeau’s wife tests positive for new coronavirus
TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife has tested positive for the new coronavirus, his office announced Thursday night. It said Sophie Grégoire Trudeau was felling well and would remain in isolation. “The Prime Minister is in good health with no symptoms. As a precautionary measure and following the...
Coronavirus brings entertainment world to a standstill
NEW YORK — The entertainment industry prepared Thursday for an unprecedented shutdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, canceling upcoming movies, suspending all Broadway performances and scuttling concert tours until it’s safe to welcome crowds back. To accommodate calls for social distancing, Hollywood moved to pause the normal hum...
Boris Yaro, LA Times photographer who took iconic image of mortally wounded RFK, dies
LOS ANGELES — As Robert F. Kennedy was leaving the Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968, following his victory in that year’s California Democratic presidential primary, a part-time Los Angeles Times photographer, working on his own time in hopes of catching a shot for his wall, followed. “The idea went...
Horse-drawn carriages might be a thing of the past in Chicago as City Council considers measure to ban them
CHICAGO — Horse-drawn carriages could be pulled from the streets of Chicago if City Council passes an ordinance next week. The city’s Committee on License and Consumer Protection on Wednesday unanimously approved the ordinance, which would effectively take carriages off the streets by Jan. 1, 2021. The measure halts the...
Officials: U.S. strikes Iran-backed group that hit Iraq base
WASHINGTON — The U.S. launched airstrikes Thursday in Iraq, American officials said, targeting the Iranian-backed Shia militia members believed responsible for the rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at a base north of Baghdad. One U.S. official said multiple strikes targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside...
Supercomputer helps in tracking East Africa locust outbreak
KAMPALA, Uganda — A supercomputer is boosting efforts in East Africa to control a locust outbreak that raises what the U.N. food agency calls “an unprecedented threat” to the region’s food security. The computer, a donation from Britain, uses satellite data to track locust swarms and predict their next destination....
Awkward moment: Trump and Irish PM skip the handshake
WASHINGTON — President Trump and Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar found themselves in an awkward moment: How do you a greet a fellow world leader in the midst of a global viral pandemic? The two made the mutual decision upon Varadkar’s arrival Thursday for the Irish leader’s annual visit to...
Disneyland closing for rest of month amid coronavirus fears
Disneyland has announced that it’s shutting down its California theme parks Saturday over concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. The company said in a statement Thursday that Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park will be closed through the end of the month though there have been no reported cases of...
Pentagon threatening retaliatory strike after attack in Iraq
WASHINGTON — U.S. military leaders Thursday threatened a retaliatory strike against Iranian-backed Shia militia in Iraq, saying they know who launched the rockets in Iraq that killed and wounded U.S. and coalition troops and the attackers will be held accountable. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters at the Pentagon that...
Broadway shuts its doors over ongoing coronavirus concerns
NEW YORK — New York’s governor ordered all Broadway theaters to shut their doors in the face of ongoing coronavirus concerns, plunging into darkness one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions and causing turmoil in the run-up to the Tony Awards. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday banned gatherings of...
Travel bans, market chaos: Dizzying reaction to coronavirus spread around the world
ROME — Sweeping travel bans cascaded around the globe Thursday, walling off countries and even entire continents, keeping people inside their homes, and slowing the engines of commerce to stem the coronavirus pandemic. Markets collapsed with the growing realization that there would be no fast end to the uncertainty. After...
Amid coronavirus precautions, Tokyo Olympic flame is lit in Greece
ATHENS, Greece — The flame for the Tokyo Olympics was lit Thursday at the birthplace of the ancient games in a pared-down ceremony because of the coronavirus. Standing in front of the ruined Temple of Hera in Ancient Olympia, a Greek actress playing the part of a pagan priestess used...
Trump’s ban on travel from Europe escalates pain for airlines
President Donald Trump’s decision Wednesday to impose a 30-day ban on most Europeans entering the United States is the latest calamity for airlines already reeling from falling bookings and cancelled reservations as people try to avoid contracting the coronavirus. The ban, to begin at midnight Friday, won’t apply to Americans...
NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade postponed due to coronavirus
NEW YORK — The New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been postponed for the first time in its 258-year history because of coronavirus concerns, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday. The postponement of the parade on March 17 adds to the roster of events and holidays upended around...
Tom Hanks says he and his wife have coronavirus
Tom Hanks says he and his wife, Rita Wilson, have contracted the coronavirus. In a Wednesday night tweet, Hanks, 63, explained that while in Australia, the couple experienced symptoms of the epidemic. “We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that...
O.J. Simpson tweets video showing how he’s combating the coronavirusVideo
O.J. Simpson says he is prepared to tackle the coronavirus. The Hall of Fame running back, a convicted robber who spent a decade in jail and was acquitted of killing his wife and her friend, posted a 31-second video titled “Never Too Careful” to Twitter on Tuesday that showed him...
Lawyer: Chelsea Manning attempts suicide in Virginia jail
WASHINGTON — A lawyer for Chelsea Manning said Wednesday that the former intelligence analyst tried to take her own life Wednesday, but was transported to a hospital where she is recovering. Manning has been in jail since May 2019 for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. She...
It’s cloudy with a chance of iron rain at hot, faraway planet
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — At one hot, faraway world, it’s always cloudy with a chance of iron rain. That’s the otherworldly forecast from Swiss and other European astronomers who have detected clouds full of iron droplets at a hot Jupiterlike planet 390 light-years away. This mega planet is so hot...
AP sources: Feds wiretap former DEA supervisor in leak probe
MIAMI — Federal investigators took the unusual step of wiretapping a retired supervisor in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Miami office as part of an inquiry into whether sensitive case information was leaked to attorneys for suspected drug traffickers in Colombia, current and former law enforcement officials told The Associated...
Inside a massive DEA raid targeting a drug cartel
CHANTILLY, Va. — In the darkness, team members suit up quietly, putting on their helmets and tactical gear. Federal agents lug battering rams, bolt cutters and heavy weaponry by foot up a hill on a residential California street that’s softly aglow from street lamps. Then the agents turn onto the...
Afghans set to release 1,500 Taliban; U.S. wants less violenceVideo
KABUL, Afghanistan — After a series of delays, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a decree early Wednesday promising to release 1,500 Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture to get intra-Afghan negotiations started. A recent peace deal signed between the United States and the Taliban called for the release of up...
France, Spain honor hundreds of terrorism victims, vow unity
PARIS — The president of France and the king of Spain paid homage Wednesday to victims of terrorism in a special ceremony prompted by attacks that hit both their countries and changed Europe’s security posture. France’s Emmanuel Macron and Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia led a ceremony on Trocadero...
Down syndrome abortion ban is going before a federal court
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal court in Cincinnati will hear complex legal arguments Wednesday for and against Ohio’s Down syndrome abortion ban in a case viewed as pivotal in the national debate over the procedure. Attorneys for the government contend in legal filings that the sidelined 2017 law does not...
