USA

WASHINGTON, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Thursday imposed fresh Iran-related sanctions to further pressure Tehran while the country is suffering from the COVID-19 outbreak.

The U.S. Department of Treasury designated five United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based companies that facilitate Iran's petroleum and petrochemical sales, according to a statement issued by the department.

"In 2019, these UAE-based companies collectively purchased hundreds of thousands of metric tons of petroleum products from NIOC for delivery to the UAE," the statement said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — No more rallies. No more door-knocking. And no more in-person fundraisers, raking in dollars from dozens of millionaires at once.

The coronavirus has disrupted American life, and the 2020 presidential campaign is no exception. Amid calls for social distancing to stop the pandemic’s spread, President Donald Trump and Democrats Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have had little choice but to call off large-scale public events in favor of politicking online and over the airwaves.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Thursday that it was replacing the acting chief of the National Counterterrorism Center, part of an ongoing leadership shakeup in the intelligence community.

Russell Travers took over as acting director of the NCTC last August and has spent decades in counterterrorism and national security.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement Thursday evening that Travers had been offered a different position by Acting DNI Richard Grenell but had decided to retire instead.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has upgraded its already dire warning to Americans against all international travel as the coronavirus outbreak spreads. At the same time, the State Department disclosed the first positive cornovirus test in a Washington-based employee and announced new restrictions the issuance of passports to U.S, citizens.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the three weeks since his blowout win in the South Carolina primary, Joe Biden has emerged as the Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting. But, amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, put the emphasis on waiting.

Biden holds an essentially insurmountable delegate lead over his last remaining rival, Bernie Sanders, yet the Vermont senator remains in the race. And with several states delaying their primaries to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Biden can’t reach the required majority of pledged convention delegates until May or June.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., sold as much as $1.7 million in stocks just before the market dropped in February amid fears about the coronavirus epidemic.

Senate records show that Burr and his wife sold between roughly $600,000 and $1.7 million in more than 30 separate transactions in late January and mid-February, just before the market began to fall and as government health officials began to issue stark warnings about the effects of the virus. Several of the stocks were in companies that own hotels.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s 40 million residents should stay home indefinitely and venture outside only for essential jobs, errands and some exercise, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday, warning that the coronavirus threatens to overwhelm the state’s medical system.

The move, the most sweeping by any state so far, was an exclamation point at the end of a week of increasingly aggressive moves meant to keep the virus in check by forcing people to stay away from each other as often as possible.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of President Donald Trump’s economic team convene Friday on Capitol Hill to launch negotiations with Senate Republicans and Democrats racing to draft a $1 trillion-plus economic rescue package amid the coronavirus outbreak.

It’s the biggest effort yet to shore up households and the U.S. economy as the pandemic and its nationwide shutdown hurtles the country toward a likely recession.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — In a day of dizzying developments, governors across the U.S. sounded a perilous alarm about the rapid spread of the new coronavirus and warned of dire consequences for their health care systems.

The governor of California issued a statewide stay-at-home order, Pennsylvania’s governor ordered more than 150 types of businesses to close, the governor of Texas closed schools for more than 5 million students and the Louisiana governor delivered a grim assessment of his state to President Donald Trump.

United Nations, Mar 19 (PTI) Nearly 25 million jobs could be lost worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic, but an internationally coordinated policy response can help lower the impact on global unemployment, according to a UN agency.

In its preliminary assessment report titled "COVID-19 and world of work: Impacts and responses", the International Labour Organization (ILO) calls for urgent, large-scale and coordinated measures across three pillars - protecting workers in the workplace, stimulating the economy and employment, and supporting jobs and incomes.