WASHINGTON: Three aides working for US President , vice-president , and first daughter have tested positive for the novel this week. This has brought the pandemic to within a degree of the center of power in the US and made the White House an unexpected emerging hotspot even as large parts of America is now re-opening for business to very light footfall. All three principals and their spouses are reported to have tested negative for the virus. The White House has now updated its protocol to include daily tests for everyone entering the complex, though Trump himself is skeptical of the process and has disdained masking and social distancing guidelines outlined by his own administration. The...

The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. ......

MADISON, Wis. (AP) " Republican-controlled legislatures are increasingly...

Hundreds of paramilitaries kept people off the streets and virtually all stores have been closed for at least a week. On Friday night, security forces fired tear gas at stone-throwing residents who ventured...

PICURIS PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) — On a dusty plaza in a Native American village that dates back nearly a millennium, a steady trickle of vehicles inched through a pop-up coronavirus testing site. From the bed of a pickup truck...

In an age of trolls, economic insecurity and social isolation, mixed martial arts gives fans a rush of harsh reality. ......

His New York City hospital has been all pandemic, all the time. ......

The Mideast’s wealthiest countries depend on foreigners to do jobs their citizens won’t. But the virus has hobbled the arrangement and drawn attention to its inequities. ......

Chance rules. Leaders lie. Deaths become statistics. The parallels between the disease and the war are everywhere. ......

LONDON (AP) — From resounding applause to ostracization and isolation. That's essentially the journey Lt. Cmdr. Robert Embleton, who served 34 years in Britain's Royal Navy, took by ambulance when discharged from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, southwestern England, on April 8 following his near-month sickness with COVID-19. Arriving at his retirement home, he immediately went into self-isolation with his wife of 55 years, Jean, who has shown no symptoms of the virus. Soon after, Embleton realized he was carrying some new baggage — the stigma of the virus. He even considered buying a bell to warn of his presence. “I was regarded as a sort of leper, a plague carrier. Some people when they...

NEW YORK (AP) " Love in the age of coronavirus sometimes requires a...

More than 2,100 nightclubs, hostess bars and discos in South Korea's capital have been shut after 18 new coronavirus cases - with all but one linked to a 29-year-old man. ......

Gerald Seib: “Michigan has nearly every ingredient going into the 2020 stew. It is a classic swing state that had been reliably Democratic blue in presidential politics until President Trump...

White House employees, and reporters, watch President Donald Trump, aboard Marine One, depart the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 5, 2020. (Al Drago/The New York Times) WASHINGTON — In his eagerness to reopen the country, President Donald Trump faces the challenge of convincing Americans that it would be safe to go back to the workplace. But the past few days have demonstrated that even his own workplace may not be safe from the coronavirus. Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary tested positive for the virus Friday, forcing a delay in the departure of Air Force Two while a half-dozen other members of his staff were taken off the plane for further testing. That came only a day...

Here is how staff and residents of group homes for people with disabilities are coping during COVID-19 in the Southern Tier of New York. ......

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — The eastern European nation of Belarus held a full-fledged military parade Saturday to mark Victory Day, shrugging off safety concerns during the coronavirus pandemic that led Russia to curtail its own long-planned 75th anniversary observances. Tens of thousands of spectators lined the parade route as some 3,000 soldiers and 185 military vehicles passed by in the capital, Minsk. Some elderly veterans...

The coronavirus is surfacing deep inside the White House ......

Reopening Virginia Phase 1: Haircuts? Yes. Dining inside? No. North Carolina says Outer Banks renters are due refunds. Many find red tape instead. Norfolk students won’t be graded for work done from home during pandemic Virginia beaches could...

Reopening Virginia Phase 1: Haircuts? Yes. Dining inside? No. North Carolina says Outer Banks renters are due refunds. Many find red tape instead. Norfolk students won’t be graded for work done from home during pandemic Virginia...

Imagine you’re dreaming, and it’s a really, really bad dream. It’s night, and something is chasing you down a dark street. You’re running and running and running, trying to get away. All the windows are dark. No lights are on in any of the houses and apartments along the street. You bang on doors, but no one answers. You try the door handles, but the doors are all locked. When you cry out for help, no words come out of your mouth. No one can hear you. You keep running and running and running… This article first appeared in Salon. This is why Donald Trump is awake at 2:30 a.m., rage-tweeting. When he sleeps, he dreams, and his dreams are nightmares. He’s a...

WASHINGTON — Truth can be a casualty when President Donald Trump talks about deaths from the coronavirus in the United States. He’s claimed that the United States is on par with Germany in keeping down COVID-19 deaths, which is not the case in mortality reports. He’s brushed off projections that deaths in his country will double from earlier forecasts, misrepresenting how the numbers were calculated. These distortions emerged over the past week alongside his relentless bragging about the U.S. testing system, which failed in the crucial early weeks and remains globally subpar. Pushing to get the country back to normal, Trump also suggested that children are safe from the coronavirus. ignoring...

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Watch Contra Costa Health Services May 7 press conference online. The video will be available on Contra Costa Television channels Comcast Cable 27, ATT/U-verse Channel 99, and WAVE Channel 32, daily at 8 am, 2 pm, and 8 pm. See Press Release: Contra Costa Offers Testing for All County Residents. Watch our County Health Officer, Dr. Chris Farnitano, talk about the new Health Order(PDF). See also videos related to topics, including indicators for progress, at Video Channel. May 7, 2020 - See : Bay Area Health Orders Remain in Effect. May 7, 2020 - See Health Services Press Release: Contra Costa Offers Testing for All County Residents. May 6, 2020 - See Health Services Press Release: Statement...

New rules, no problem. At least, that’s the case for a Henderson cafe preparing to host customers for the first time in nearly two months. Magnolia Magat already was set on implementing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-driven changes to her Truffles N’ Bacon Cafe, 8872 S. Eastern Ave., before the governor told her what she must to do open her business on Saturday. If she doesn’t comply with mandated social distancing, face coverings for her employees and limiting occupancy, she is at risk of a verbal warning, citation and business license suspension. But that likely won’t concern Magat, whose measures for her own cafe will be more stringent than those...

In the time of the coronavirus, churches across Hartford are learning to hold their congregations close over livestreams and ease growing levels of hunger, isolation and homelessness in their communities — and they’re doing it without the help of full collection plates on Sundays. Sixty-five percent of U.S. churches report giving is down since the pandemic began, according to an April survey from the National Association of Evangelicals, called the State of the Plate. About 1 in 10 respondents said giving was down at least 75%. Advertisement In Hartford, a number of congregations shared how they’re weathering loss of revenue even as need has increased dramatically due to the pandemic. As...

1 of 8 FILE - In this Sunday, May 3, 2020, file photo, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks during a news conference at the state's Emergency Operations Center at the Boone National Guard Center in Frankfort, Ky., about the coronavirus pandemic. On Friday, May 8, 2020, a federal court halted Beshear's temporary ban on mass gatherings from applying to in-person religious services, clearing the way for Sunday church services. Ryan C. Hermens Cemetery workers wearing hazmat suits bury the coffin containing the remains of 71-year-old Neide Rodrigues Rosa, who died from the new coronavirus according to her son Sergio Rodrigues, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, May 8, 2020. Leo Correa A dog walker...

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) “has given an ultimatum to...

Boris Johnson will seek to persuade Britain's top bosses on Sunday that his strategy for easing the coronavirus lockdown will pave the way for a swift economic fightback. ......

Former President Obama during a private call on Friday night with his former aides tore into the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus crisis, calling it an “absolute chaotic disaster.” The blistering assessment, confirmed to CNN by three former Obama administration officials, came on a call intended to encourage members of the Obama Alumni Association to engage with former Vice President Joe BidenJoe...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican-controlled...

The novel coronavirus has destroyed lives and livelihoods in both the United States and China. But instead of bonding the two nations together to fight the pandemic, it has sent their already strained relations on a rapid downward spiral — and fanned the flames of a potentially dangerous strain of nationalism. China has been criticized at home and abroad over its handling of the virus, especially during the initial outbreak. Pushing back such criticism with increasingly fierce rhetoric, Beijing says it is merely “responding” to false accusations, particularly from the US. In March, as the pandemic raged across the globe, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian...

Dubai: A 47-year-old pharmacist in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, died on Thursday after consuming a “new cure” he had made for COVID-19. Indian tweeps shared reports of how the man, K. Sivanesan, made and drank the chemical concoction along with the owner of a popular Chennai-based herbal pharmaceutical company where he worked. According to a report by Indian newspaper, The Indian Express, the owner of Sujatha Bio Tech, along with his employee, tried to create a coronavirus cure, but consumed a...

Download logo On 8 May 1980, the 33rd World Health Assembly officially declared: ‘The world and all its peoples have won freedom from smallpox.’ The declaration marked the end of a disease that had plagued humanity for at least 3 000 years, killing 300 million people in the 20th century alone. It was ended, thanks to a 10-year global effort, spearheaded by the World Health Organization, that involved thousands of health workers around the world to administer half a billion vaccinations to stamp out smallpox. The US$ 300m price-tag to eradicate smallpox saves the world well over US$ 1 billion every year since 1980. Speaking at a virtual event hosted at WHO-HQ, involving key...

Afraid of contracting the COVID-19, a family in the Indian state of Karnataka, abandoned their mentally-challenged, dead relative's body last week. This is when, three policemen took the job upon themselves to give the deceased a dignified burial. Tweeps are saluting them for their "thoughtful" gesture. The 44-year-old deceased man, was killed earlier this week when...

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: Two people who travelled home to Kerala from the Gulf have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, taking the the total number of active cases in the state to 17, Chief...

Celia Hatton, BBC Asia Pacific Regional Editor It's rare for Chinese leaders to admit wrongdoing. Li Bin said the commission would fix the problems by centralising its...

MALE, Maldives (AP) — The Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago nation with one of the world’s most congested capitals, has seen a rapid rise in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks. Health officials predict that more than 77,000 people — or a fourth of those currently living in the country — could become infected, with more than 5,000 possibly needing intensive care treatment. Official figures updated...

The Red Square...

Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See other free reports here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. LONDON — From resounding applause to ostracization and isolation. That's essentially the journey Lt. Cmdr. Robert Embleton, who served 34 years in Britain's Royal Navy, took by ambulance when discharged from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, southwestern England, on April 8 following his near-month sickness with COVID-19. Arriving at his retirement home, he immediately went into self-isolation with his wife of 55 years, Jean, who has shown no symptoms of the virus. Soon after,...

Milan's mayor has condemned "shameful" crowds heading to a popular area of the city during Italy’s relaxed lockdown. Images...

Germany and other member states...

From resounding applause to ostracisation and isolation.That is essentially...

A Chechen migrant was arrested in the commune of Montereau-Fault-Yonne after dragging a police officer 60 feet with his vehicle while trying to escape a Wuhan coronavirus lockdown checkpoint. ......

An Italian nurse working on the frontline against the Chinese coronavirus was brutally sexually assaulted by an African migrant after finishing her shift and heading to her home. ......

Moscow sent over a dozen military transport planes with equipment and specialists to Italy back in March to help the country in its efforts to stop the spread of the COVID-19 infection. ......

LONDON (AP) — From resounding applause to ostracization and isolation. That’s essentially the journey Lt. Cmdr. Robert Embleton, who served 34 years in Britain’s Royal Navy, took by ambulance when discharged from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, southwestern England, on April 8 following his near-month sickness with COVID-19. Arriving at his retirement home, he immediately went into self-isolation with his wife of 55 years, Jean, who has shown no symptoms of the virus. Soon after, Embleton realized he was carrying some new baggage — the stigma of the virus. He even considered buying a bell to warn of his presence. “I was regarded as a sort of leper, a plague carrier. Some people...

Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See other free reports here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. YAKUTSK, Russia — On the 75th anniversary of the allied victory in the World War II, The Associated Press spoke to veterans in ex-Soviet countries and discovered that lessons they learned during the war are helping them cope with a new major challenge — the coronavirus pandemic. As they recalled the horrors of the war, they also talked about how strength and tenacity were key to survival both then and now. Here is some of their testimony. 'GIVING IN TO PANIC IS LIKE...

Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See other free reports here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. MOSCOW — With Red Square and the walkways around the Kremlin walls deserted, Russian President Vladimir Putin carried a bouquet of red roses alone. He knelt to set them at the foot of the Eternal Flame war memorial, then stood with his head bowed for several seconds. An overcast and rainy morning in Moscow suited the uncharacteristically somber mood of the occasion – the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union's World War II triumph. This day is usually marked with big,...

Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See other free reports here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. After two months of ambulance sirens, mourning and isolation, this is the damage report from Italy: The novel coronavirus death toll has surpassed 30,000. The country is hurtling into its steepest recession in modern times. Tourism has gone bust. Many restaurants and shops lack the cash to ever reopen. The government's brittle finances are becoming ever more stretched. All the while, many Italians feel embittered and alienated. They are disappointed in the continent's early...

It was widely observed, following a certain event in a Connecticut elementary school on Dec. 14, 2012, that if America would tolerate the slaughter by gunfire of 20 children aged 6 and 7, it would tolerate anything. Nothing proves the truth of that observation more than our response to the coronavirus pandemic. At this moment of maximum peril, we’re tolerating the turning of workers in meatpacking plants and grocery stores, seniors in nursing homes and heedless churchgoers into sacrificial offerings to the gods of “freedom” and “choice.” Grandparents are being counseled to give up their lives “in exchange for keeping the America that all Americans love for your children and grandchildren.”...