Top General News
Trump end run around Congress raises questions on his claims
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s end run around Congress on coronavirus relief is raising questions about whether it would give Americans the economic lifeline he claims and appears certain to face legal challenges. Democrats called it a pre-election ploy that would burden...
US tops 5 million confirmed virus cases, to Europe's alarm
ROME (AP) — With confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. hitting 5 million Sunday, by far the highest of any country, the failure of the most powerful nation in the world to contain the scourge has been met with astonishment and alarm in Europe. Perhaps nowhere outside the U.S. is America’s bungled...
World donors demand change before money to rebuild Beirut
BEIRUT (AP) — World leaders and international organizations pledged nearly $300 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Beirut in the wake of the devastating explosion, but warned on Sunday that no money for rebuilding the capital will be made available until Lebanese authorities commit themselves to the...
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under security law
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police arrested media tycoon Jimmy Lai and raided the publisher's headquarters Monday in the highest-profile use yet of the new national security law Beijing imposed on the city after protests last year. “Jimmy Lai is being arrested for collusion with foreign powers at...
States on hook for billions under Trump's unemployment plan
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Whether President Donald Trump has the constitutional authority to extend federal unemployment benefits by executive order remains unclear. Equally up in the air is whether states, which are necessary partners in Trump's plan to bypass Congress, will sign on. Trump announced an...
Azar meets with Taiwan President Tsai on breakthrough visit
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday during the highest-level visit by an American Cabinet official since the break in formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei in 1979. Tsai said to reporters at the...
Trump's pandemic relief orders are limited in scope
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump's new executive orders to help Americans struggling under the economic recession are far less sweeping than any pandemic relief bill Congress would pass. Trump acted Saturday after negotiations for a second pandemic relief bill reached an impasse. Democrats...
Puerto Rico halts primary voting in centers lacking ballots
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico on Sunday was forced to partially suspend voting for primaries marred by a lack of ballots as officials called on the president of the U.S. territory’s elections commission to resign. The primaries for voting centers that had not received ballots by early...
Israeli jeweler makes $1.5m gold coronavirus mask
MOTZA, Israel (AP) — An Israeli jewelry company is working on what it says will be the world's most expensive coronavirus mask, a gold, diamond-encrusted face covering with a price tag of $1.5 million. The 18-karat white gold mask will be decorated with 3,600 white and black diamonds and fitted with...
Morikawa delivers great shot in quiet moment to win PGA
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The best shot of his life, the shot that made Collin Morikawa a major champion, was never supposed to happen. He knew the tee on the 16th at Harding Park would be moved forward at the PGA Championship. He said during practice rounds that wouldn't tempt him to go for the green. But this...
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Malaysia's ex-finance minister charged again in graft case
PENANG, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's former finance minister pleaded not guilty Monday to a second corruption charge related to a $1.5 billion undersea tunnel project and slammed the case as a trumped-up charge by the new government. Lim Guan Eng, 59, was first charged Friday with soliciting 10% of potential...
Asian shares mostly higher on stimulus moves, jobs data
Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Monday after President Donald Trump issued executive orders to provide tax relief and stopgap unemployment benefits for Americans hit by the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Shares rose Monday in Sydney, Shanghai and Seoul, while markets were closed in Tokyo for a...
6 Gulf Arab countries back extending UN arms embargo on Iran
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A six-nation bloc of Gulf Arab nations torn apart by internal strife endorsed an extension of a United Nations arms embargo on Iran, just two months before it is set to expire. The Gulf Cooperation Council on Sunday sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council backing an...
Simon Cowell has surgery for broken back after bike accident
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Simon Cowell underwent surgery to repair a broken back, the result of an electric bicycle accident, and was recovering at a hospital, a spokesperson said Sunday. “Simon has broken his back in a number of places" after falling from the new bike he'd been testing in the courtyard of...
Azar meets with Taiwan President Tsai on breakthrough visit
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday during the highest-level visit by an American Cabinet official since the break in formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei in 1979. Tsai said to reporters at the...
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under security law
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police arrested media tycoon Jimmy Lai and raided the publisher's headquarters Monday in the highest-profile use yet of the new national security law Beijing imposed on the city after protests last year. “Jimmy Lai is being arrested for collusion with foreign powers at...
Morikawa delivers great shot in quiet moment to win PGA
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The best shot of his life, the shot that made Collin Morikawa a major champion, was never supposed to happen. He knew the tee on the 16th at Harding Park would be moved forward at the PGA Championship. He said during practice rounds that wouldn't tempt him to go for the green. But this...
The Latest: China sees drop in new locally transmitted cases
BEIJING — New locally transmitted cases of coronavirus in China fell to just 14 over the past 24 hours, the National Health Commission reported Monday. The low figure was offset, however, by 35 cases brought into the country by Chinese travelers from overseas arriving in seven different cities and...
Japan's legacy of forced labor haunts ties with neighbors
TOKYO (AP) — For years, Yeom Chan-soon was haunted by the cracking sound of a leather belt eating into the flesh of a fellow Korean mine worker being punished for trying to escape from forced labor in Japan. That dark chapter in Japan’s history, when hundreds of thousands of people were brought...
Asia Today: Melbourne deaths rise at aged-care facilities
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia has reported fewer new daily cases from its virus hotspot in the city of Melbourne than on any single day since last month. But it has also reported the nation’s highest daily death total since the virus outbreak began. The state of Victoria reported 322 new infections and...
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