North America

WASHINGTON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-China collaborative research into the COVID-19 treatments and vaccines is one of the major fronts the world's top two economies can work on together to help win the global war against the pandemic, said a health policy expert.

"I believe U.S. and China can work together on three fronts that are key to winning the global battle against coronavirus disease (COVID-19)," Dr. Xi Chen, assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health, told Xinhua via Wechat on Wednesday.

NEW YORK, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States reached 401,166 as of 12:20 local time on Wednesday (1620 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

A total of 12,936 deaths were reported in the nation, according to the CSSE.

The state of New York recorded 140,386 cases and 5,489 fatalities. In New York City alone, 76,879 cases and 4,009 deaths have been reported, the CSSE data showed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders ended his presidential bid on Wednesday, making Joe Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge President Donald Trump in a general election campaign that will be waged against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is rushing headlong into a conflict over the next coronavirus aid package as the White House wants to pump $250 billion into a small business fund but opposes Democrats’ proposal to tack on billions for protective gear, food stamps and support to state and local governments.

An attempt for a Thursday vote in the Senate will pose a first test.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a first, small step toward reopening the country, the Trump administration issued new guidelines Wednesday to make it easier for essential workers who have been exposed to COVID-19 to get back to work if they do not have symptoms of the coronavirus.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are wrestling over how best to assail President Donald Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the economy’s shutdown, even as the country lurches into an unpredictable campaign season during its most devastating crisis in decades.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Apollo 13′s astronauts never gave a thought to their mission number as they blasted off for the moon 50 years ago. Even when their oxygen tank ruptured two days later — on April 13.

Jim Lovell and Fred Haise insist they’re not superstitious. They even use 13 in their email addresses.

As mission commander Lovell sees it, he’s incredibly lucky. Not only did he survive NASA’s most harrowing moonshot, he’s around to mark its golden anniversary.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A U.S. Border Patrol agent wouldn’t let Jackeline Reyes explain why she and her 15-year-old daughter needed asylum, pointing to the coronavirus. That confrontation in Texas came just days after the Trump administration quietly shut down the nation’s asylum system for the first time in decades in the name of public health.

“The agent told us about the virus and that we couldn’t go further, but she didn’t let us speak or anything,” said Reyes, 35, who was shuttled to a crossing March 24 in Reynosa, Mexico, a violent border city.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A line begins forming as a van pulls into the parking lot of a senior living center in Southeast Washington. By the time the half-dozen masked volunteers set up the folding table and start pulling out plastic bags filled with fruits, vegetables and canned goods, about 15 people stretch down the block.

Organizer Charlie Gussom Jr. advises those waiting to maintain social distancing by standing on every other sidewalk square. And those in line quickly take up the same mantra to organize newcomers: “One square apart, everybody. One square apart!”

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — International health officials are warning that the Nicaraguan government’s perplexing weekslong refusal to take measures to control the spread of the new coronavirus is heightening the risk of an epidemic in Central America even as neighboring countries take tough action.

President Daniel Ortega’s government urged Nicaraguans to party during Carnival celebrations, and it has said they should keep attending sports events and cultural festivals, and pack the country’s beaches during Holy Week vacations this week.