WASHINGTON — The parent company of Lysol disinfectant warned Friday that its products should not be used internally to treat COVID-19 after President Donald Trump wondered about the prospect during a White House briefing. Trump noted Thursday that researchers were looking at the effects of disinfectants on the virus and...
Analysis: Pandemic Fallout Tracks Nation’s Political Divide
WASHINGTON — America’s entrenched political divide is now playing out over matters of life and death. Republican governors, urged on by President Donald Trump, are taking the first steps toward reopening parts of their states’ economies in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and without adhering to the president's own guidelines....
Trump Tweets He’s Ordered Navy to Destroy Iranian Gunboats
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has ordered the Navy to “shoot down and destroy” any Iranian gunboats that harass U.S. ships, a directive that comes a week after the Navy reported a group of Iranian boats made “dangerous and harassing approaches” to American vessels in the Persian Gulf....
Trump Immigration Ban Halts Green Cards, Not Temporary Visas
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced what he described as a “temporary suspension of immigration into the United States” on Tuesday. But he said the executive order he plans to sign as soon as Wednesday would apply only to those seeking permanent residency and not temporary workers. Trump said he...
More Deaths, No Benefit From Malaria Drug in VA Virus Study
A malaria drug widely touted by President Donald Trump for treating the new coronavirus showed no benefit in a large analysis of its use in U.S. veterans hospitals. There were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine versus standard care, researchers reported. The nationwide study was not a rigorous experiment. But...
Congress, Trump in Tentative Deal on $500b Virus Relief Bill
WASHINGTON — Congress reached a tentative agreement Tuesday with President Donald Trump on a nearly $500 billion coronavirus relief bill that would replenish a small business rescue program, provide hospitals with another $75 billion, and implement a nationwide virus testing program to facilitate reopening the economy. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck...
South Korea Downplays Concerns Over Kim Jong Un’s Health
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean officials reported no unusual activity in North Korea on Tuesday following unconfirmed media reports that leader Kim Jong Un was in fragile health after surgery. But the possibly of high-level instability raised troubling questions about the future of a nuclear-armed state that has been...
California Mayor Who Quit After Criticizing Trump Dies in Crash
AUBURN — The former mayor of a Northern California city who stepped down after he harshly criticized President Donald Trump and his supporters died Saturday in a plane crash, the Sacramento Bee reported. Dr. Bill Kirby, who was the mayor of Auburn, died in the crash Saturday morning near the Auburn...
‘LIBERATE!’: Trump Pushes States to Lift Virus Restrictions
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump urged supporters to “LIBERATE” three states led by Democratic governors Friday, apparently encouraging the growing protests against the stay-at-home restrictions aimed at stopping the coronavirus. A day after laying out a road map to gradually reopen the crippled economy, Trump took to Twitter with the...
Virus-Fueled Conspiracy Theories Take Aim at Hospitals
WASHINGTON — China is pushing back against President Donald Trump and some of his officials, who’ve flirted in recent days with an outlier theory that the coronavirus was set loose by a Chinese lab that let it escape. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Friday accused the U.S. administration of attempting to...