North America

Another cruise ship with virus victims docks in Florida

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Another cruise ship with coronavirus victims on board, including two fatalities, docked in Florida on Saturday.

Princess Cruises spokeswoman Negin Kamali said in an email that the Coral Princess ship was docking in Miami. The ship with 1,020 passengers and 878 crew members had been in limbo for days awaiting permission to dock.

As of Thursday, Kamali said seven passengers and five crew members had tested positive for the coronavirus.

US braces for more virus deaths; Europe hopes crisis peaking

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. warned of many more coronavirus deaths in the days ahead as the global pandemic muted traditional observances from family grave-cleaning ceremonies in China to Palm Sunday for many Christians.

Italy and Spain, the two hardest-hit European nations, expressed hope that the crisis was peaking in their countries, though Italian officials said the emergency is far from over as infections have plateaued but not started to decline.

Global diplomacy under the gun in the time of coronavirus

WASHINGTON (AP) — Entire countries are on lockdown, state visits canceled, travel curtailed, key meetings postponed or moved online.

The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically altered international diplomacy. While the interruptions may seem to many like trivial inconveniences for a well-heeled jet set, they may have significant implications for matters of war and peace, arms control and human rights.

Trump, Dems clash on boosting mail-in voting during pandemic

WASHINGTON (AP) — While Wisconsin struggles to hold its primary on Tuesday, President Donald Trump and Democrats are bickering over how to provide voters with safe and secure access to a ballot as the coronavirus pandemic rages in the U.S. and threatens to extend into the fall, affecting the general election.

With another economic rescue package in the works, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she wants money to give more voters the chance to cast their ballot by mail, an option that would allow people to vote without the concern over the safety of polling places.

USA: New coronavirus limits bring new religious freedom tension

NEW YORK (AP) — Despite state and local limits on public gatherings, some faith leaders have persisted in holding in-person services -- a matter of religious freedom, they say, as the nation approached its fourth Sunday battling the coronavirus pandemic.

The most high-profile clash over in-person worship – and crowd limits designed to stop the virus’ spread -- came in Florida, where Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne was arrested Monday for violating a county order by hosting a large number of congregants at his Tampa church.

Asian Americans use social media to mobilize against attacks

(AP) --- Kyle Navarro was kneeling down to unlock his bicycle when he noticed an older white man staring at him. Navarro, who is Filipino, tried to ignore him, but that soon became impossible.

The man walked by, looked back and called Navarro a racial slur. He “spat in my direction, and kept walking,” Navarro said.

Navarro, a school nurse in San Francisco, already had anxiety about racism related to the coronavirus, which emerged in China and has Asian people facing unfounded blame and attacks as it’s spread worldwide. Now, he was outraged.

Trump calls fired watchdog in impeachment probe a ‘disgrace’

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday criticized the ousted inspector general who handled an anonymous whistleblower’s complaint that sparked his impeachment as a “disgrace” and suggested that the independent watchdog should have discussed the complaint with him.

Trump says ‘toughest’ weeks ahead as coronavirus spreads

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump warned Saturday that the country could be headed into its “toughest” weeks yet as the coronavirus death toll mounts, but at the same time he expressed growing impatience with social distancing guidelines and said he’s eager to get the country reopened and its stalled economy back on track.

“There will be a lot of death, unfortunately,” Trump said in a somber start to his daily briefing on the pandemic. “There will be death.”

New York gets Chinese ventilators; Trump wants more thanks

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York governor said Saturday the Chinese government was facilitating a shipment of 1,000 donated ventilators to his state, highlighting the extreme measures leaders are taking in what has become a cutthroat scramble to independently secure enough lifesaving devices during the coronavirus pandemic.

Over 2,000 Russian citizens who want to return home remain in US — ambassador

WASHINGTON, April 4. /TASS/: Over 2,000 Russian citizens who are currently in the United States have expressed desire to return home to the Russian Embassy in Washington, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said in his answers to reporters that were published on the official Facebook.account of the Russian Embassy.

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