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SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Streaming television giant Netflix on Friday launched a $100 million fund to help actors and production crews endure the hit to paychecks caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The fund is meant to help offset hardship in the “creative community,” with most of the money going to financially troubled workers on Netflix productions around the world, according to Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos. “This community has supported Netflix through […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States announced Friday it has successfully tested an unarmed prototype of a hypersonic missile, a nuclear-capable weapon that could accelerate the arms race between superpowers. The Pentagon said a test glide vehicle flew at hypersonic speeds — more than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5 — to a designated impact point. The test followed the first joint US Army and Navy flight experiment in October […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A staffer in the office of US Vice President Mike Pence, the pointman for Washington’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, has tested positive for the illness, a spokeswoman said Friday. “Neither President Trump nor Vice President Pence had close contact with the individual. Further contact tracing is being conducted,” Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller said. Pence has appeared at Trump’s side at the daily White House press conferences to announce […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States has 10,755 cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus while 154 people have died from the pathogen, a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University showed Thursday. This makes the US sixth on the overall list behind China, Italy, Iran, Spain and Germany, and ahead of France and South Korea. Globally, there have been 229,390 cases confirmed and 9,325 deaths, the tracker said. US health authorities have […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday presented a $1 trillion emergency relief package to combat the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. The Republican-drafted text must now be examined by Senate Democrats before a date for a vote can be set. “This legislation takes bold action on four major priorities that are extremely urgent and very necessary,” McConnell told the Senate. “First, direct financial […]
by Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US is fast-tracking antimalarial drugs for use as a treatment against the new coronavirus, President Donald Trump said Thursday, following encouraging early results in France and China. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have not been given a formal green light in the US to fight the pandemic, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it would work with domestic makers to expand production as it studied their […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York is to get a 1,000-room hospital ship that will dock in the city’s harbor to fight coronavirus, state Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. Cuomo said US President Donald Trump would dispatch the USNS Comfort to America’s financial capital immediately. “It’s an extraordinary step. It’s literally a floating hospital, which will add capacity,” Cuomo told reporters. “It has about a 1,000 rooms on it. It has operating rooms.” […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States is suspending routine visa services in most countries because of the coronavirus pandemic, the State Department announced late Wednesday. It said embassies and consulates in “most countries worldwide… will cancel all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments as of March 18, 2020.” It did not specify which countries would be exempted from the suspension, which was in response to “worldwide challenges” related to the deadly pandemic. © […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Two US lawmakers including a Florida representative on Wednesday became the first members of Congress to announce they have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart’s office said in a statement that “just a short while ago, he was notified that he has tested positive for COVID-19.” The Republican who represents part of Miami follows that city’s Mayor Francis Suarez, who announced that he had tested positive for […]
by Michael Mathes WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a $100-billion emergency aid package that ensures sick leave to Americans workers who fall ill from the new coronavirus, with more federal assistance in the pipeline. The bipartisan House-passed measure easily cleared the Senate by a vote of 90 to eight earlier Wednesday. Hours later Trump said in a statement that he signed the legislation into law, providing a rare […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The devastating coronavirus outbreak at a nursing home near Seattle where 35 have died was likely fueled by infected staff members continuing to come to work, a report found Wednesday. The care home is responsible for over half the deaths in the northwestern state of Washington — itself the US epicenter of the deadly pandemic. After visiting homes in the region, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found “staff […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A Florida lawmaker became the first member of the US Congress to test positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday. Representative Mario Diaz-Balart’s office said in a statement that “just a short while ago, he was notified that he has tested positive for COVID-19.” The Republican, who represents part of Miami, follows Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who announced that he had tested positive for coronavirus last week. Diaz-Balart said that […]
