April 24, 2022 8:09 am
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – Volunteers and workers in Shanghai have erected metal barriers in multiple districts to block off small streets and entrances to apartment complexes as China hardens its strict “zero-COVID” approach in its largest city. On social media, people posted videos of the new barriers with some expressing anger over the measures. In one video, residents broke down the mesh fence barricade. The business media Caixin reported the barriers were put up in several neighborhoods in Shanghai’s financial district. Buildings where cases have been found sealed up their main entrances, with a small opening for pandemic prevention workers to pass through. China reported 21,796 new community transmitted infections on Sunday, the vast majority being asymptomatic cases in Shanghai.
April 24, 2022 8:08 am
BERLIN (AP) – The World Health Organization says at least one death has been reported in connection with a mysterious liver disease outbreak affecting children in Europe and the United States. The U.N. health agency said late Saturday that it has so far received reports of at least 169 cases of “acute hepatitis of unknown origin” from a dozen countries. The cases were reported in children aged one month to 16 years old, and 17 of those who fell ill required liver transplants. WHO did not say in which country the death occurred. The first cases were recorded in Britain, where 114 children have been sickened. Experts say the cases may be linked to a virus commonly associated with colds but further research is ongoing.
April 24, 2022 8:06 am
UNDATED (AP) – Facing a rise in COVID-19, several U.S. universities are reinstating mask mandates, sometimes just days after dropping them. Mandates were shed widely in the wake of spring break as case numbers dropped following a winter surge fueled by the omicron variant. But several Northeast cities have seen a rise in hospitalizations in recent weeks, as the BA.2 subvariant of the omicron variant continues to rapidly spread throughout the country The clampdown means the end of the school year has been upended by the virus for three straight academic years. Soon-to-be seniors haven’t had a normal school year yet. (Photo: AP)
April 24, 2022 8:04 am
UNDATED (AP) – Many Ukrainian Americans are observing Orthodox Easter this Sunday, but they’re finding it difficult to be joyful when their ancestral homeland has been torn by the Russian invasion. The Rev. Richard Jendras of St. Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Allentown, Pennsylvania, said this should be a joyous holiday. But he noted that this year, it coincides with grim news from the war zone of death and destruction. Yet he said it’s important to affirm that “good does triumph” over evil. Eastern Orthodox often celebrate Easter later than Western churches because they use a different method to calculate its date. (Photo: ABC News)
April 24, 2022 8:03 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Gov. Jim Justice has announced that the West Virginia National Guard will send armored personnel carriers for Ukraine to use against Russian aggression. According to a news release, Justice says an “an undisclosed number” of M-113 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine following a request from the Department of Defense. The vehicles are used to move soldiers and equipment while providing protection from small arms fire. Earlier this year, Justice ordered the state to stop the purchase and sale of liquor produced in Russia. The Republican governor also asked the West Virginia Retailers Association to remove Russian liquor from their shelves.
April 24, 2022 7:00 am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Orrin G. Hatch, who became the longest-serving Republican senator in history who was a fixture in Utah politics for more than four decades, died Saturday at age 88. His death was announced in a statement from his foundation, which did not specify a cause. He launched the Hatch Foundation as he retired in 2019 and was replaced by Republican Mitt Romney. A staunch conservative on economic and social issues, he also teamed with Democrats several times during his long career on issues ranging from stem cell research to rights for people with disabilities to expanding children’s health insurance. He also championed GOP issues like abortion limits and helped shape the U.S. Supreme Court. (Photo: ABC News)
April 24, 2022 7:00 am
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AP) – An Air Force major general in Ohio has been convicted by a military judge of one of three specifications of abusive sexual contact in the first-ever military trial of an Air Force general. The charge faced by Maj. Gen. William Cooley during the weeklong court martial at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio had three specifications, one alleging a forcible kiss and two alleging forcible touching. Cooley was convicted Saturday of the forcible kissing specification but acquitted of the other two. An Air Force official said he could face as much as seven years in jail when he is sentenced Monday.
April 23, 2022 11:37 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – An advisor to Ukraine’s presidential office says Russian forces are trying to storm a steel plant that is the last defense stronghold in the strategic port city of Mariupol. The reported assault came after the Kremlin claimed its military had seized all of Mariupol except for the seaside plant. Earlier Saturday, a Ukrainian military unit released a video of women and children holed up underground there and saying they longed to see the sun. On the eve of Orthodox Easter, Russia’s military pounded other cities and towns in southern and eastern Ukraine. Officials reported that cruise missiles hit the Black Sea port city of Odesa, killing five people.
April 23, 2022 4:22 am
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Rio de Janeiro’s samba schools have begun putting on this year’s delayed Carnival parades, the first after a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19-pandemic. The schools’ colorful floats and flamboyant dancers began entering the Sambadrome grounds late Friday to parade before tens of thousands of fans on the first evening of the two-night spectacle. Rio’s Sambadrome has been home to the parade since the 1980s, and is a symbol of Brazil’s Carnival festivities. During the pandemic, it was a shelter for more than 400 homeless people and also served as a vaccination station. Sao Paulo also kicked off its Carnival parade Friday evening. Both cities put off this year’s parades for two months due to concerns about the proliferation of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. (Photo: AP)
April 23, 2022 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – At least four people were shot when a gunman unleashed a flurry of bullets in the nation’s capital Friday. The hail of gunfire led to lockdowns at several schools and left a community on edge before the suspect was found dead hours later. The suspected gunman was found dead inside an apartment at the scene after Metropolitan Police Department officers conducted door-to-door searches of buildings in the area. Police believe the man had a “sniper-type setup” with a tripod and rifle in his apartment and began firing indiscriminately at people walking below. The shooting was recorded and posted online on 4chan, an online message board. The four victims are all expected to recover.
