North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is poised to roll back ambitious Obama-era vehicle mileage standards and raise the ceiling on damaging fossil fuel emissions for years to come, gutting one of the United States’ biggest efforts against climate change.

MIAMI (AP) — As a cruise ship stranded at sea with dozens sick and four dead makes for Florida, passengers who have been confined to their rooms for more than a week are anxious for relief, hoping Gov. Ron DeSantis will change his mind and allow them to disembark despite confirmed coronavirus cases aboard.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Like forecasters tracking a megastorm, White House officials are relying on statistical models to help predict the impact of the coronavirus outbreak and try to protect as many people as possible.

The public could get its first close look at the Trump administration’s own projections Tuesday at the daily briefing.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s governor urgently appealed for medical volunteers Monday amid a “staggering” number of coronavirus deaths, as he and health officials warned that the crisis unfolding in New York City is just a preview of what other U.S. communities could soon face.

“Please come help us in New York now,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said as the state’s death toll climbed by more than 250 people in a day to a total of over 1,200, most of them in the city. He said an additional 1 million health care workers are needed to tackle the crisis.

NEW YORK, Mar 30 (APP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s lockdown of India, the world’s second-most populous country, aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus is “belated” and would leave too many poor and homeless people exposed amid increasing cases of the deadly infection, according to an article published in Foreign Policy, a respected American magazine.

Los Angeles, Mar 30 (PTI) Veteran Japanese comic Ken Shimura, who tested positive for the novel coronavirus last week, has died at the age of 70.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor was hospitalised in Tokyo on March 20 after developing a fever and being diagnosed with severe pneumonia. Shimura tested positive for COVID-19 on March 23.

Singapore, Mar 30 (AFP/PTI) Oil prices extended losses in Asian trade Monday and languished at 17-year lows, with the coronavirus crisis escalating around the world and no end in sight to a vicious price war.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 5.3 percent to trade at 20 a barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude was off 6.5 percent at 23.

UNITED NATIONS, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Monday urged the international community to help vulnerable countries to get over the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This pandemic is a health crisis, but not just a health crisis. For vast swathes of the globe, the pandemic will leave deep, deep scars," said UNDP administrator Achim Steiner.

PANAMA CITY, March 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Passengers on a virus-stricken cruise liner entered the Panama Canal in Central America Sunday after they were told the company was still searching for a port which will allow them to disembark, even as they pleaded for help.

The Panama Canal Authority said the Zaandam liner had entered the canal, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, on Sunday afternoon after transferring healthy passengers to another ship and restocking supplies.

WASHINGTON, March 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A limited emergency-use authorization for two antimalarial drugs touted as game-changers by President Donald Trump has been issued by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat coronavirus patients.

In a statement, the US Department of Health and Human Services detailed recent donations of medicine to a national stockpile — including chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, both being investigated as potential COVID-19 treatments.