North America

Washington, Mar 27 (AFP/PTI) Forced by the coronavirus pandemic to suspend reelection rallies, President Donald Trump has converted daily White House briefings on the crisis into mini campaign speeches, dominating the airwaves while his main rival sits quarantined in his basement.

In a nation paralyzed by fear of the rampaging virus, the White House briefing room podium is the go-to place for primetime television viewers to catch their government's latest response.

At least that's the idea.

WASHINGTON, March 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Governments stepped up efforts on Thursday to help airlines hammered by a virus-induced travel slump, with the United States offering $58 billion in aid, Singapore promising to keep its carrier aloft, and Australia easing competition rules.

AirAsia, the region’s biggest budget carrier, was the latest airline to announce sweeping cuts to its schedule in response to the deepening crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak. It said some of its units would halt flights altogether for a period.

WASHINGTON/ACCRA, March 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revealed that the Ghana government, has sent a special request for money to help the country address the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NEW YORK, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The United States has overtaken China to become the country with the most COVID-19 cases worldwide by Thursday afternoon local time, according to Johns Hopkins University.

As of 11:30 p.m. (0330 GMT on Friday), a total of 85,653 cases were reported in the country, with 1,290 deaths, data from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at the university showed.

The nationwide tally has been growing by around 10,000 cases every day since last Saturday, and climbed from 70,000 to 80,000 in less than five hours on Thursday.

TORONTO (AP) — Canada said Thursday it told the Trump administration that a proposal to put troops at the U.S.-Canada border amid the coronavirus pandemic was entirely unnecessary and would damage relations between the two longtime allies.

The Wall Street Journal, citing an unidentified U.S. official, later reported that the Trump administration had dropped its consideration of the plan.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government had been in discussions with the White House seeking to persuade the U.S. not to do it.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A judge again rejected a request from a northern Virginia man who sought to overturn his life sentence for joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate then-President George W. Bush.

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was convicted in 2005. He filed a motion last year seeking a new sentence, arguing that the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi shows Saudi Arabia lies about the brutality of its security forces.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles recorded its first case of coronavirus five weeks before New York City, yet it’s New York that is now the U.S. epicenter of the disease.

Public health officials are keeping a wary eye and warning that LA could end up being as hard hit as New York in coming weeks, in part because a planned increase in testing may uncover a dramatic surge in cases. Testing in Los Angeles County is expected to increase from 500 per day to 5,000 by the end of the week.

MIAMI (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro stood defiant in the face of a $15 million bounty by the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges, calling Donald Trump a “racist cowboy” and warning that he is ready to fight by whatever means necessary should the U.S. and neighboring Colombia dare to invade.

NEW YORK (AP) — Autism has grown slightly more common in the U.S., but a gap in diagnosis of white and black kids has disappeared, according to a government report released Thursday.

Closure of that gap — thanks to increased screening — is the main reason autism diagnoses are up a little, some experts said.

About 1 in 54 U.S. children were identified as having autism in 2016, according to the new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 1 in 59 children in 2014, and from 1 in 68 in both 2010 and 2012.

MIAMI (AP) — Nicolás Maduro effectively converted Venezuela into a criminal enterprise at the service of drug traffickers and terrorist groups as he and his allies stole billions from the South American country, the Justice Department charged in several indictments made public Thursday against the embattled socialist leader and his inner circle.