North America

New York, Apr 3 (AP) Stocks are falling in afternoon trading Friday, putting Wall Street on track for its third losing week in the last four.

The losses came after the government said U.S. employers cut 701,000 more jobs than they added last month, the first drop in nearly a decade. Many businesses have screeched to a halt amid attempts to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, and economists say the dire data is only going to get worse.

Washington, Apr 4 (AP) President Donald Trump has fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community who handled the whistleblower complaint that triggered Trump's impeachment.

Trump informed the Senate intelligence committee Friday of his decision to fire Atkinson, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

Washington, Apr 4 (AFP/PTI) The United States recorded nearly 1,500 deaths from COVID-19 between Thursday and Friday, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, the worst 24-hour death toll globally since the pandemic began.

With 1,480 deaths counted between 8:30 pm (0030 GMT) Thursday and the same time Friday, according to the university's continuously updated figures, the total number of people who have died since the start of the pandemic in the United States is now 7,406.

Washington, Apr 4 (PTI) President Donald Trump has recommended Americans to cover their faces with scarves or homemade cloth masks while going outside to curb the spread of the coronavirus though he would not wear one himself.

Citing the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Trump urged people to wear face coverings like scarves or homemade cloth masks, and to keep medical-grade masks available for the health workers.

NEW YORK, April 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ventilators will be taken from certain New York hospitals and redistributed to the worst-hit parts of the state under an order to be signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

New York saw its highest single-day increase in deaths, up by 562 to 2,935 – nearly half of all virus-related US deaths recorded Thursday.

The White House may advise those in virus hotspots to wear face coverings in public to help stem the spread.

The US now has 245,658 Covid-19 cases.

GUATEMALA CITY, April 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thousands of people have been detained across Central America for violating rules put in place by their governments to curb the fast-spreading new coronavirus in a region that has fewer medical resources than developed countries.

Central America is home to a large, poor population with no options to work from home, take paid sick leave or observe social distancing rules because they work in the informal economy and live in crowded conditions.

WASHINGTON, April 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Attorney General William Barr declared that the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is facing emergency conditions due to the fast-spreading coronavirus, paving the way for the agency to begin releasing more inmates out of custody and into home confinement.

Barr said under his emergency order, priority for releasing vulnerable inmates into home confinement should be given first to those housed in federal prisons that have been hardest hit by COVID-19, including facilities such as Oakdale in Louisiana, Elkton in Ohio and Danbury in Connecticut.

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that the international community should focus only on the battle against its common enemy of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is sweeping the entire world and bringing tremendous socio-economic impacts.

"The global ceasefire appeal is resonating across the world," Guterres said at a virtual press briefing.

NEW YORK, April 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends that Americans wear cloth face coverings to protect against COVID-19.

"The CDC is advising the use of non-medical cloth face covering as a voluntary health measure," Trump told a White House briefing. "It is voluntary. They suggested for a period of time."

More than 277,000 COVID-19 cases were tallied in the United States, with a death toll exceeding 7,100, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr ordered the Bureau of Prisons on Friday to increase the use of home confinement and expedite the release of eligible high-risk inmates at three federal prisons where coronavirus cases have skyrocketed.