North America

17 March 2020; AFP: A spat between the US and China over the novel coronavirus escalated on Tuesday as President Donald Trump angered Beijing by referring to the pathogen as the "Chinese Virus."

The two countries have sparred over the origin of the virus for days, with a Chinese official promoting conspiracy theories claiming it was brought to China by the US army and American officials using terms seen as stigmatising a nation.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s administration and leading Republicans urged the Senate on Monday to swiftly back a House-passed coronavirus aid plan and seriously consider massive new economic stimulus legislation that was still under development.

As he left meetings with Senate leadership, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he was seeking a “big number” for additional economic stimulus legislation to counter the virus’ impact.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rates to store oil at one of the world’s biggest trading hubs are surging, as traders globally scramble to secure space in tanks to cope with slumping demand from the coronavirus outbreak and a flood of supply from the Saudi-Russia price war.

The need for a place to park all that surplus crude is breathing new life into the market at Cushing, Oklahoma, the nation’s hub for trading of billions of dollars of crude a day and the town that bills itself “the pipeline crossroads of the world.”

NEW YORK, March 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US airports have been thrown into chaos as new coronavirus health screening measures for people returning from Europe come into force.

Long queues formed as travellers waited for hours for the screenings before passing through customs.

The US is banning the entry of people travelling from the UK and Ireland from midnight on Monday (04:00 GMT Tuesday).

As a result, the UK Foreign Office is now advising against all but essential travel to the whole of the US.

WASHINGTON/BEIJING, March 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States and China on each demanded that the other stop smearing its reputation over the novel coronavirus as Pres Donald Trump referred to the pathogen as the “Chinese Virus.”

“The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus,” the US president tweeted Monday night.

UNITED NATIONS, March 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN Security Council called off its two remaining meetings for the week due to the coronavirus crisis.

After the earlier cancellation of the meeting planned for Tuesday, the Security Council was planning to discuss the situation in Sudan’s Darfur region and hold a multilateralism meeting on Thursday.

The council was “still functioning” despite abandoning its remaining sessions for the week, said the Chinese mission, which holds this month’s rotating presidency of the body.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A man fired randomly from his vehicle several times while driving through a southwest Missouri city before eventually crashing into a convenience store, where he walked inside, opened fire and left five people dead, including a police officer and himself, police said Monday.

The dead from Sunday night’s shooting include a store employee and two men who were in the store, police said. A second officer was injured, along with another person.

PITTSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A 66-year-old man fatally shot six relatives in a small North Carolina community over the weekend, then killed himself, authorities said Monday.

The shooting happened late Sunday afternoon in the Moncure area of Chatham County, the county sheriff’s office said in a statement. Evidence indicates that Larry Don Ray shot and killed the six others before turning the gun on himself, Lt. Sara Pack, an agency spokeswoman, said in a statement. Ray was found among the dead. Authorities said they’re still investigating a possible motive.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With an urgency unseen since the Great Recession, Congress is rushing to develop a sweeping economic lifeline for American households and businesses suddenly capsized by the coronavirus outbreak.

Democrats said at least $750 billion would be needed. And top White House officials briefing Senate Republicans at the Capitol said a similar-sized package needs to pass, some suggesting in a matter of days.

“ASAP,” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said late Monday. “There’s an urgency.”

SEATTLE (AP) — U.S. researchers gave the first shots in a first test of an experimental coronavirus vaccine Monday, leading off a worldwide hunt for protection even as the pandemic surges.

With careful jabs in the arms of four healthy volunteers, scientists at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute in Seattle began an anxiously awaited first-stage study of a potential COVID-19 vaccine developed in record time after the new virus exploded out of China and fanned out across the globe.