May 1, 2020 4:04 am
Comcast’s net income slid in the first three months of the year as the coronavirus pandemic forced it to shut down its theme parks and its movies were kept out of shuttered theaters. On the cable side, the biggest source of the company’s profits, Comcast lost 409,000 video customers, as cord-cutting accelerated, and added 477,000 internet customers. The virus dented profit and revenue at the NBCUniversal arm, hurting the parks and movie business, and at Sky TV, internet and broadcasting unit in Europe.
April 30, 2020 10:54 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the new coronavirus was “not man-made or genetically modified.” But they say they’re still examining whether the origins of the pandemic trace to contact with infected animals or an accident at a Chinese lab. The statement came Thursday from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the clearinghouse for the web of U.S. spy agencies. It comes as President Donald Trump and his allies have touted the as-yet-unproven theory that an infectious disease lab in Wuhan, the epicenter of the Chinese outbreak, was the source of the global pandemic that has killed more than 220,000 worldwide.
April 30, 2020 7:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – More than 3.8 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the U.S. economy slid further into a crisis that is becoming the most devastating since the 1930s. Roughly 30.3 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the six weeks since the coronavirus outbreak began forcing millions of employers to close their doors and slash their workforces. That is more people than live in the New York and Chicago metropolitan areas combined, and it’s by far the worst string of layoffs on record. It adds up to more than one in six American workers.
April 30, 2020 6:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Americans are grappling with an essential question as they try to get the information they need to stay safe during the coronavirus crisis: Whom do you trust? Sixty-eight percent of Americans say they have high trust in the information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sixty-six percent highly trust their doctor or health care provider, and 52% said the same about their state or local government. That’s according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll published last week. Just 23% of Americans say they have a great deal or quite a bit of trust in the coronavirus information provided by President Donald Trump.
April 30, 2020 4:13 am
TOKYO (AP) – As questions mount about the health of Kim Jong Un, an underlying concern looms for spies, policymakers and curious watchers alike. What do we really know about the man who leads North Korea? The answer is crucial because Kim’s intentions, and the as-yet-unknown state of his health, have played an outsized role in Northeast Asia, an uneasy collection of wary neighbors at the best of times and home to two of the three biggest economies in the world and a huge buildup of American military power. Some unsourced news reports say Kim is in fragile condition or even in a vegetative state following heart surgery. South Korea maintains that Kim still appears to be in power and nothing big has happened in North Korea.
April 30, 2020 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Hopes are beginning to arise that the U.S. economy might be poised to rebound by the second half of the year. The idea is that the economy might be able to mount a sharp comeback if more employees and consumers were to gradually return to working and spending. Yet most economists say such expectations should be kept in check. Among their concerns is that the coronavirus could flare up again after the economy is re-opened, forcing reopened businesses to shut down again. Another is that people will remain too wary of contracting the coronavirus to return to anything resembling normal economic behavior.
April 30, 2020 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The response from the federal Bureau of Prisons to the growing coronavirus crisis has raised alarm among advocates and lawmakers about whether the agency is doing enough to ensure the safety of the nearly 150,000 inmates serving time in federal facilities. And even though officials have stressed infection and death rates inside prisons are lower compared with outside, new figures provided by the Bureau of Prisons show that out of 2,700 tests systemwide, 2,000 have come back positive, strongly suggesting there are far more COVID-19 cases left uncovered.
April 30, 2020 4:05 am
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – A memo sent to California’s police chiefs says Gov. Gavin Newsom intends to close all beaches and state parks starting Friday in the wake of a weekend that saw a crush of people at open seashores. The head of the California Police Chiefs Association sent the bulletin to members on Wednesday, saying the governor plans to announce the order on Thursday. A message to the governor’s office seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned. The order comes as some communities reopen their beaches and pressure is building to cautiously begin easing stay-at-home restrictions that have throttled the state’s economy and kept millions at home.
April 30, 2020 4:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The federal government’s social distancing guidelines are soon to expire, and President Donald Trump says he’s not extending them. Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is predicting that the country will be “really rocking again” by July. Adding to their optimistic view of the coronavirus outbreak, the president is planning his first long trip in weeks with a visit next week to Arizona. Yet the number of reported coronavirus infections and the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 continue to rise. More than 60,000 deaths in the U.S. have been attributed to the coronavirus. The White House’s “30 Days to Slow the Spread” guidelines expire Thursday.
April 30, 2020 4:00 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration plans to announce Friday which parts of Pennsylvania can begin seeing a step-by-step relaxation of coronavirus-related shutdown directives. Still, Wolf and administration officials weren’t projecting Tuesday when the state will have widespread mass-testing capacity. Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said the administration will announce which regions or counties can see some relief from shutdown orders by moving from a “red” designation to a “yellow” designation. Those changes would take effect the following Friday, May 8, a previously announced date. Meanwhile, Levine says one of the state’s hardest-hit areas, southeastern Pennsylvania, appears to be past its peak.
