U.S./World category, Page 857

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in South Dakota will temporarily close for cleaning after more than 80 employees were confirmed to have the coronavirus, the company announced Thursday. Smithfield Foods plans to suspend operations in a large section of the Sioux Falls plant on Saturday,...

LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s condition has improved and he has been moved out of intensive care where he was treated for three days with COVID-19, his office said Thursday. In a statement, a spokesman at 10, Downing Street said Johnson “has been moved this evening from intensive...

TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday Canadians will need to stay at home and practice physical distancing for months as the first wave of covid-19 cases in the country won’t end until the summer and Canada won’t return to normal until there is a vaccine — which...

NEW YORK — A staggering 16.8 million Americans have been thrown onto the unemployment rolls in just three weeks, underscoring the terrifying speed with which the coronavirus outbreak has brought world economies to their knees. Meanwhile, world leaders and health officials fervently warned that the hard-won gains against the scourge...

WUHAN, China — Released from their apartments after a 2 1/2-month quarantine, residents of the city where the coronavirus pandemic began are cautiously returning to shopping and strolling in the streets. But they say they still go out little and keep their children home while waiting for schools to reopen....

NEW YORK — It looked like a white splotch on the underside of a Neanderthal stone tool. But a microscope showed it was a bunch of fibers twisted around each other. Further examination revealed it was the first direct evidence that Neanderthals could make string, and the oldest known direct...

For the past 15 years, patrons have contributed dollar bills to decorate the walls and ceiling of The Sand Bar in Tybee Island, Ga. But now, with the coronavirus pandemic having shut down the bar, owner Jennifer Knox knew there was a better use for that cash. CNN reports Knox...

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — As each day brings the United States closer to peak severe weather season, Tornado Alley residents are facing a difficult question: Is it better to take on a twister outside a community shelter or to face the possibility of contracting the new coronavirus inside one? So far,...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri man has been charged with accidentally shooting his 8-year-old child after giving a lesson on gun safety as he put a pistol away. Phillip Lumas Sr., 45, of Jefferson City was charged Tuesday with felony second-degree domestic assault and misdemeanor second-degree endangering the welfare...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Three astronauts flew to the International Space Station on Thursday, departing the virus-plagued planet with little fanfare and no family members at the launch site to bid them farewell. NASA’s Chris Cassidy and Russians Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner arrived at the orbiting lab in their...

A U.S. Border Patrol agent wouldn’t let Jackeline Reyes explain why she and her 15-year-old daughter fled Honduras and needed asylum, pointing to the coronavirus. It was just days after the Trump administration quietly empowered itself to shut down the nation’s asylum system. “The agent told us about the virus...

WASHINGTON — In a first, small step toward reopening the country, the Trump administration issued new guidelines to make it easier for essential workers who have been exposed to covid-19 to get back to work if they do not have symptoms of the coronavirus. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the...

MOSCOW — A fire in a retirement home in Moscow killed four people and injured 16 others but firefighters managed to rescue 50 people from the burning building, emergency officials said Thursday. The fire broke out Wednesday night in the basement of the building and quickly spread to the ground...

LOUISVILLE — A Kentucky doctor has been arrested, accused of choking a teenage girl while confronting a group of young people about social distancing in a video that’s gone viral. John Rademaker, a Louisville-area physician, was named as the man seen pushing three teenage girls before putting his hands around...

SALT LAKE CITY — The Trump administration plans to open 2.3 million acres of land for hunting and fishing at more than 100 national wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries under a proposal unveiled Wednesday that is aimed at giving Americans more recreational access on public lands. The plan earned applause...

WASHINGTON — Linda Tripp, whose secretly recorded conversations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky led to the 1998 impeachment of President Bill Clinton, died Wednesday at age 70. Her death was confirmed by attorney Joseph Murtha. He provided no further details. In August 1994, Tripp became a public affairs specialist...

MADISON, Wis. — The decision to forge ahead with Wisconsin’s election amid a pandemic has stirred fears about a possible spike in the state’s coronavirus cases in the face of stay-at-home orders and efforts to limit contact with others. Public health experts, elected officials, poll workers and many voters pushed...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — For just a moment, West Virginia was the only state in the country to allow betting on the presidential election. The short-lived play by bookmaker giant FanDuel, which was approved by the state lottery board, was announced and then quickly nixed Tuesday night in a bizarre sequence...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Authorities recovered the body of a grandson of former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend on Wednesday, two days after the body of the boy’s mother was found in the water after a canoeing accident. The body of 8-year-old Gideon McKean was found in roughly 25 feet...

NEW YORK — Stocks shot 3.4% higher on Wall Street on Wednesday as investors chose to focus on the optimistic side of data about the coronavirus outbreak’s trajectory. It’s the latest about-face in this brutally volatile stretch for the U.S. stock market, which has flip-flopped between gains and losses for...

NEW YORK — Even as coronavirus deaths mount across Europe and New York, the U.S. and other countries are starting to contemplate an exit strategy and thinking about a staggered and carefully calibrated easing of the restrictions designed to curb the scourge. “To end the confinement, we’re not going to...

NEW YORK — As health officials around the world push to get more ventilators to treat coronavirus patients, some doctors are moving away from using the breathing machines when they can. The reason: Some hospitals have reported unusually high death rates for coronavirus patients on ventilators, and some doctors worry...