London faces new restrictions as city sees higher virus risk

      No Comments on London faces new restrictions as city sees higher virus risk
OCT 15, 2020 @ 1900 GMT | Young people sit outside a pub while football is shown on TV as new measures across the region are set to come into force in Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new strategy for combating COVID-19 seemed to unravel Wednesday as regional leaders chose their own paths and the mayors of the cities facing the toughest restrictions accused Johnson of using the crisis to divide them for political advantage. (AP Photo)

LONDON (AP) — London and seven other areas will face further restrictions after the British government on Thursday raised their coronavirus risk levels in an effort to slow the exponential rise in infection rates across the country.

The government’s decision to move the communities into its second-highest coronavirus risk tier means that more than 11 million people will be barred from meeting with anyone indoors from outside their households and will be asked to minimize travel starting this weekend.

Continue reading →

Russian-US crew welcomed aboard the space station

      No Comments on Russian-US crew welcomed aboard the space station
OCT 14, 2020 @ 1700 GMT | In this image made from video footage released by Roscosmos Space Agency, the Soyuz-2.1a rocket booster with Soyuz MS-17 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS), blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. A trio of space travelers has launched successfully to the International Space Station, for the first time using a fast-track maneuver to reach the orbiting outpost in just three hours. NASA’s Kate Rubins and Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos lifted off as scheduled at 10:45 a.m. (1:45 a.m. EDT, 5:45 a.m. GMT) Wednesday from the Russia-leased Baikonur space launch facility in Kazakhstan for a six-month stint on the station. (Roscosmos Space Agency via AP)

MOSCOW (AP) — A trio of space travelers blasted off to the International Space Station on Wednesday, using for the first time a fast-track maneuver that allowed them to reach the orbiting outpost in just a little over three hours.

NASA’s Kate Rubins along with Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos lifted off as scheduled Wednesday morning from the Russia-leased Baikonur space launch facility in Kazakhstan for a six-month stint on the station.

Continue reading →

Strong gains for technology stocks send Wall Street higher

      No Comments on Strong gains for technology stocks send Wall Street higher
OCT 12, 2020 @ 1230GMT | FILE – In this Oct. 2, 2014, file photo, a statue of President George Washington on the steps of Federal Hall faces the facade of the New York Stock Exchange. Wall Street is pushing higher on Monday, Oct. 12, 2020, and tacking more gains onto last week’s rally, its best in more than three months. (AP File Photo)

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are pushing higher on Wall Street in afternoon trading Monday and tacking more gains onto last week’s market rally, its best in three months.

The S&P 500 was 1.8% higher, following up on strengthening in stock markets around the world. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 308 points, or 1.1%, at 28,895, as of 12:35 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 2.6% higher.

Continue reading →

Trump insists he’s free of virus, ready for campaign trail

      No Comments on Trump insists he’s free of virus, ready for campaign trail
OCT 11, 2020 @ 1145 GMT | WASHINGTON, United States | U.S President Donald Trump removes his face mask to speak from the Blue Room Balcony of the White House to a crowd of supporters, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S President Donald Trump on Sunday declared he was healthy enough to return to the campaign trail, a day after the White House doctor said he was no longer at risk of transmitting the coronavirus but did not say explicitly whether Trump had tested negative for it.

Trump, who was poised Monday to host his first rally after his COVID-19 diagnosis, declared he was now “immune” from the virus, a claim that was impossible to prove and comes amid a series of outstanding questions about the president’s health.

Continue reading →

AP Interview: Top Afghan negotiator lauds India’s support

      No Comments on AP Interview: Top Afghan negotiator lauds India’s support
OCT 10, 2020 @ 1800 GMT | NEW DELHI, India | Afghanistan’s chief peace envoy Abdullah Abdullah speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. Abdullah on Saturday said India’s civil and military leadership were supportive of an inclusive, peaceful settlement of the Afghan peace process and that interactions with New Delhi were expected to further deepen in the course of coming weeks and months. (AP Photo)

NEW DELHI (AP) — Afghanistan’s chief peace envoy said Saturday that India’s civil and military leadership are supportive of an inclusive, peaceful settlement of the Afghan peace process and that Kabul’s interactions with New Delhi are expected to further deepen in the coming weeks and months.

In an interview with The Associated Press in the Indian capital, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah said that while the issue of Afghanistan involves the international community at large, he hopes that India will play an important role in the peace process by “encouraging the voices of tolerance and coexistence.”

Continue reading →

Nice knowing you: London Heathrow’s farewell to BA’s jumbos

      No Comments on Nice knowing you: London Heathrow’s farewell to BA’s jumbos
OCT 8, 2020 @ 1700 GMT | LONDON, United Kingdom | Aircraft G-CIVY, one of the last two British Airways Boeing 747-400 aircraft takes off for its last flight departure from London’s Heathrow Airport, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. The retirement of the fleet was brought forward as a result of the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on the airline and the aviation sector. (AP Photo)

LONDON (AP) — British Airways’ last two Boeing 747 planes at the airline’s historic base of London’s Heathrow Airport made their final flight Thursday, the fleet’s retirement having been brought forward by the coronavirus pandemic.

To mark the occasion, the two planes with their distinctive humps at the top, took to the skies one after the other for their journeys into retirement. No passengers were onboard.

Continue reading →

South Korea has biggest case jump in a week

      No Comments on South Korea has biggest case jump in a week
OCT 7, 2020 @ 1500 GMT | SEOUL, South Korea | Women wearing face masks to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus take selfies in a field of cosmos flowers at Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. (AP Photo)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has reported 114 new cases of the coronavirus, its first daily jump of over 100 in a week.

Health officials had raised concerns that infections will rise because of increased travel during the five-day Chuseok harvest holiday that ended Sunday.

Continue reading →

The Latest: Michigan issues mask requirement, other measures

      No Comments on The Latest: Michigan issues mask requirement, other measures
OCT, 6, 2020 @ 1130 GMT | FILE – In this Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020 file photo provided by the Michigan Office of the Governor, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses the state during a speech in Lansing, Mich. Whitmer said Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, that a statewide mask requirement remains in effect despite the Michigan Supreme Court’s invalidation of a law that underpins her orders to control the coronavirus pandemic. (Michigan Office of the Governor via AP)

MICHIGAN, United States (AP) — Michigan’s health department issued a mask requirement and other coronavirus restrictions Monday, just days after the state Supreme Court invalidated a 75-year-old emergency powers law that underpinned Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s orders to control the pandemic.

The Democratic governor separately asked the court to declare its Friday ruling not binding until Oct. 30, to give her administration, the Republican-led Legislature and local health departments time to transition.

Continue reading →

Trump’s defender: Pence’s campaign role grows at key moment

      No Comments on Trump’s defender: Pence’s campaign role grows at key moment
OCT 4, 2020 @ 1700 GMT | U.S Vice President Mike Pence waves as he leaves the stage after speaking at an event hosted by The Family Leader Foundation Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence is in a familiar spot: standing by President Donald Trump.

With Trump hospitalized with a virus that he spent months downplaying, his ever-loyal No. 2 will play an increasingly prominent role in the weeks ahead.

Continue reading →

Trump says he and first lady tested positive for coronavirus

      No Comments on Trump says he and first lady tested positive for coronavirus
OCT 2, 2020 @ 1800 GMT | OHIO, United States | U.S President Donald Trump stands on stage with first lady Melania Trump after the first presidential debate with Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Biden Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio. President Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, the president tweeted early Friday. (AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S President Donald Trump said early Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, a stunning announcement that plunges the country deeper into uncertainty just a month before the presidential election.

Trump, who has spent much of the year downplaying the threat of a virus that has killed more than 205,000 Americans, said he and Mrs. Trump were quarantining. The White House physician said the president is expected to continue carrying out his duties “without disruption” while recovering.

Continue reading →