USA

26 April 2020; AFP: Nearly two decades after Manhattan's Twin Towers fell in history's deadliest attack on US soil, the coronavirus pandemic is once again testing the storied mettle of New Yorkers.

The September 11, 2001 terror attack on the World Trade Center left nearly 3,000 people dead and shocked the city with its devastation. In comparison, New Yorkers say the deadly coronavirus pandemic, which has likely killed some 16,000 in the city, is more of a "slow cancer."

26 April 2020; AFP: The Federal Reserve already cut its benchmark lending rate to zero and made unprecedented moves to bolster liquidity as the coronavirus slammed the US economy, so it is not expected to do much besides project confidence at its policy meeting this week.

Held by video conference, the gathering will lack much of the suspense of previous meetings, with analysts most interested in what the Fed and its chair Jerome Powell have to say about the future of the world's largest economy.

COLUMBUS, April 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — When the first cases of the new coronavirus surfaced in Ohio’s prisons, the director in charge felt like she was fighting a ghost.

“We weren’t always able to pinpoint where all the cases were coming from,” said Annette Chambers-Smith, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. As the virus spread, they began mass testing.

They started with the Marion Correctional Institution, which houses 2,500 prisoners in north central Ohio, many of them older with pre-existing health conditions. 

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- "Don't defend Trump, other than the China Travel Ban -- attack China," a detailed memo sent by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to GOP campaigns has advised, urging Republican candidates to address the COVID-19 pandemic by aggressively attacking China.

The 57-page strategy document, obtained by Politico on Friday, includes advice on everything from how to tie Democratic candidates to the Chinese government to how to deal with accusations of racism, according to a Politico report.

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was likely to be spreading in multiple U.S. cities "far earlier" than Americans knew, said a recent report of The New York Times, citing a new research by Northeastern University.

By the time New York City confirmed its first case of the coronavirus on March 1, "thousands of infections were already silently spreading through the city," said the report titled "Hidden Outbreaks Spread Through U.S. Cities Far Earlier Than Americans Knew, Estimates Say" posted Thursday on nytimes.com.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) — The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone connected to a fire that badly damaged an Islamic center in southeastern Missouri and that coincided with the start of a holy month for Muslims.

Richard Quinn, the special agent in charge of the St. Louis Division, announced the award Friday, hours after the fire broke out early that morning at the Islamic Center of Cape Girardeau. Twelve to 15 people were evacuated and escaped injury. Fire Chief Travis Hollis said the damage to the building was extensive.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Navy reports that the number of sailors aboard the USS Kidd confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus has nearly doubled, rising from 18 on Friday to 33.

ATLANTA (AP) — As more states push to reopen their economies, many are falling short on one of the federal government’s essential criteria for doing so — having an efficient system to track people who have been physically near a person infected with the coronavius.

WASHINGTON (AP) — They long for what’s being lost: the ability to publicly question officials at committee hearings, to chat across the aisle, to speak from the House and Senate floor for all of America, and history, to hear.

Congress wants its voice back.

With no real plan to reopen Capitol Hill any time soon, the coronavirus shutdown poses an existential crisis that’s pushing Congress ever so reluctantly toward the 21st century option of remote legislating from home.

NEW YORK, Apr 25 (APP): President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, former vice president Joe Biden, have issued Ramazan messages, wishing Muslims a blessed month as life in the United States remains paralyzed amid coronavirus pandemic.

“I wish all Muslims, both in the United States and across the world, a blessed and peaceful Ramazan,” President Trump, said in his message issued by the White House.