USA

WASHINGTON, March 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump said he did not see “any reason” to be tested for coronavirus as global concerns grow about an outbreak.

“I don’t think it is a big deal. I would do it. I don’t feel any reason. I feel extremely good. I feel very good, but I guess it’s not a big deal to get tested,” Trump said after meeting Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill.

The president said he spoke to the White House physician and the doctor “sees no reason to do it. There’s no symptoms, no anything.”

UNITED NATIONS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution to welcome the recent progress in the peace process in Afghanistan.

Resolution 2513, which won the unanimous support of the 15-member council, welcomes the significant steps toward ending the war and opening the door to intra-Afghan negotiations enabled by two accords signed between the United States and the Taliban and between the United States and the Afghan government.

NEW YORK (AP) — The final act of Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial in New York begins Wednesday, when the once-powerful film producer will be sentenced following his landmark #MeToo conviction.

Weinstein is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in New York City. He faces up to 29 years behind bars for raping an aspiring actress in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006. A second criminal case is pending in California.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Last year was the second warmest on record, the past decade was the hottest in human history and January was the warmest January since 1850, the head of the U.N. weather agency said Tuesday.

Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization also said Europe had a record-warm winter, and “we have also broken records in (emitting) carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide,” three greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department must give Congress secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, giving the House a significant win in a separation-of-powers clash with the Trump administration.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was arrested in Texas on a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated after his wife called police to their house over an argument, according to court records released Tuesday.

The Infowars founder was booked into an Austin jail shortly after midnight and released on bond a few hours later, Travis County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kristen Dark said. Jones, 46, had a “strong odor of alcohol” coming from him and his blood-alcohol level was recorded at .076 and .079, according to court records.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Durst’s defense lawyer said Tuesday that the multimillionaire real estate heir found the body of the friend he is charged with killing, and told jurors that Durst will testify at his trial.

It was the first time defense attorneys have publicly said Durst discovered the body of Susan Berman, his best friend who was fatally shot in her home is 2000, and the first time they have even conceded that he was in the Los Angeles area at the time.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks on Tuesday recouped most of their historic losses from the prior day as hopes rose, faded and then bloomed again on Wall Street that the U.S. government will try to cushion the economic pain from the coronavirus.

The day’s moves were a microcosm of the severe swings that have dominated recent weeks, and market watchers say they are likely to continue until the number of infections stops accelerating. In the meantime, investors want to see a big, coordinated response from governments and central banks to shore up the virus-weakened economy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden decisively won Michigan’s Democratic primary on Tuesday, seizing a key battleground state that helped propel Bernie Sanders’ insurgent candidacy four years ago. The former vice president’s victory there, as well as in Missouri and Mississippi, dealt a serious blow to Sanders and substantially widened Biden’s path to the nomination.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 10 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s commitment to form an “inclusive government acceptable to all”, after dueling presidential swearing-in ceremonies took place in Kabul on Monday.

Incumbent President Ghani took the oath of office for a second term while Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, citing fraud in the 2019 election, proclaimed himself Afghanistan’s president at a rival inauguration event.