October 6, 2020 4:11 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has tweeted a new video, taped after he returned to the White House, in which he tells the American public not to be afraid of COVID-19, which has killed more than 200,000 people in the U.S. and more than a million worldwide. In message that is sure to infuriate medical doctors trying to keep the country safe, Trump says he has “learned so much” about the virus he contracted. And he says: “Don’t let it dominate. Don’t let it take over your lives.” He is telling his followers: “Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat it.”
October 6, 2020 4:09 am
MIAMI (AP) – As President Donald Trump recovers from the coronavirus, Joe Biden is trying to capitalize on having the campaign trail all to himself. Starting with Florida, he is stepping up travel to areas long thought to be leaning Republican as his campaign looks to expand the electoral map. The former vice president was in Miami’s conservative Little Havana on Monday and plans to visit Arizona on Thursday. And his Democratic presidential campaign is increasing advertising in the traditional red-state strongholds of Texas and Georgia. Biden has been careful not to criticize Trump, wishing him a speedy recovery, but also made clear he’s not going to stop campaigning.
October 6, 2020 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says President Donald Trump is “putting himself first at the expense of the country” by halting negotiations over a new coronavirus aid package from Congress. Pelosi said Tuesday that Trump “showed his true colors” in stopping the talks between congressional leaders and the White House that were aimed at bringing some $2 trillion in new aid to fight the coronavirus. The Democratic leader says Trump is “unwilling to crush the virus” and is abandoning the needs of children and other Americans. Trump announced the move less than 24 hours after leaving the hospital while fighting his own case of the coronavirus.
October 6, 2020 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House has blocked new Food and Drug Administration guidelines on bringing potential vaccines for COVID-19 to market that would almost certainly have prevented their approval before the Nov. 3 election. At issue was the FDA’s planned requirement that participants in mass clinical trials for vaccines be followed for two months to ensure there are no side effects and that the vaccines provide lasting protection. Despite the move by the White House, FDA officials say companies are aware of the standards and are expected to comply with them.
October 5, 2020 5:27 pm
CHICAGO (AP) – A Texas-based company is closing its remaining coal-fired power plants in Illinois. Vistra Corp., had already shuttered four Illinois coal-fired power plants in Canton, Coffeen, Havana and Hennepin and agreed to close another near Peoria as part of a legal settlement. But the company based in Irving, Texas, announced Tuesday that it plans to close its four remaining Illinois coal plants within a decade, including Baldwin Power Plant in Randolph County, as part of a plan to transition to renewable energy and to reduce the company’s carbon footprint. It’ll also close two in Ohio.
October 5, 2020 2:53 pm
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) – President Donald Trump says he will leave the military hospital and return to the White House Monday evening. Trump tweeted that he would be leaving after being treated for three days for symptoms of COVID-19 and continue his recovery at the White House. He tweeted that he felt better than he had in 20 years. The news comes as the White House is still learning of the scale of the outbreak within the complex. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tested positive for the coronavirus Monday morning.
October 5, 2020 4:24 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Authorities in Mexico say at least 6 people died and thousands were evacuated in southeastern Mexico after Tropical Storm Gamma lashed the Yucatan Peninsula’s resort-studded coast with near-hurricane force winds and drenched Tabasco and Chiapas states. Mexico’s civil defense agency said four of the deaths, including two children, were in Chiapas, where a landslide on a mountainous slope buried their home. The other deaths were in Tabasco state. Gamma, along with cold fronts, combined over the weekend to cause extreme rains in parts of the Yucatan Peninsula and Chiapas, affecting more than half a million people.
October 5, 2020 4:23 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Deadly wildfires in California have burned more than 4 million acres this year, a new record for the number of acres burned in a single year. The previous record was two years ago when wildfires destroyed 1.67 million acres. California fire officials said the state hit the fearsome milestone Sunday with about two months still left in the fire season. Lightning strikes in mid-August caused some of the most devastating blazes and most of the damage has occurred since then. The wildfires have incinerated hundreds of homes and killed 31 people.
October 5, 2020 4:23 am
NEW YORK (AP) – New York City’s mayor says he has asked the state for permission to close schools and reinstate restrictions on nonessential businesses in several neighborhoods because of a resurgence of the coronavirus. Shutdowns would happen starting Wednesday in nine zip codes in the city. Mayor Bill de Blasio says about 300 public and private schools would have to close. Indoor dining, which just resumed a few days ago, would be suspended. Gyms would also close. áDe Blasio said the city needed the state to sign off on the restrictions. Over the past two weeks, though, the number of new cases of the virus has been rising in pockets of the city.
October 5, 2020 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – With a shift to the conservatives pending, the Supreme Court is opening a new term. That strengthened majority could roll back abortion rights, expand gun rights and shrink the power of government. Eight justices are getting back to work Monday less than a month before the presidential election. After their colleague Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died last month, the Senate could confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee for Ginsburg’s seat, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, before Election Day. They’re also working in the midst of a pandemic that has forced the court to meet by telephone.
