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President Donald Trump has taken a coronavirus test but said on Saturday that his temperature was “totally normal,” and his administration extended a travel ban to Britain and Ireland to try to contain a pandemic that has shut down much of the daily routine of American life.After White House officials took the unprecedented step of checking the temperatures of journalists entering the briefing room, Trump told reporters he took a test for the virus on Friday night and that he expects the results in “a day or two days.” He met with a Brazilian delegation last week, at least one member of which has since tested positive.The top U.S. infectious diseases expert, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, said the country has recorded 20,226 case of the new coronavirus, but has not yet reached the peak of the outbreak.”This will get worse before it gets better,” Surgeon General Jerome Adams said at the briefing.Vice President Mike Pence, who is running the administration’s response to the outbreak, told reporters that visits to nursing homes were being suspended to protect the most vulnerable.Earlier on Saturday, officials in New York said an 82-year-old woman became the state’s first coronavirus fatality.New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the woman, who had previously suffered from emphysema, was hospitalized in Manhattan on March 3. He told reporters that the state’s tally of cases had risen to 524. Nationwide, more than 2,000 people have been infected and 50 have died.On Friday, Trump declared a national emergency in a move that he said would bring “the full power of the federal government” to bear on the escalating health crisis by freeing up some $50 billion in aid. He also urged every state to set up emergency centers to help fight the virus.On Saturday, his administration was expected to extend to Britain and Ireland a ban on travel from Europe that would go into effect on Monday night, U.S. and airlines and officials said.Signaling a new stage in prevention measures to protect U.S.leaders from the coronavirus, the White House on Saturday instituted a policy of checking the temperatures of journalists in the White House briefing room.The pandemic has forced public schools, sports events and cultural and entertainment venues to close across the United States.On Friday, American shoppers picked grocery store shelves clean of products ranging from disinfectants to rice, causing retailers to race to restock their stores. In response to the run on certain items, major retailers have imposed some purchase limits.Coronavirus took its biggest toll yet on this year’s U.S.presidential election when Louisiana announced on Friday it had postponed its Democratic and Republican presidential primaries.Early on Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a coronavirus aid package that would provide free testing and paid sick leave, in a bid to limit the economic damage from the outbreak.By a bipartisan vote of 363 to 40, the Democratic-controlled House passed a multi-billion dollar effort that would expand safety-net programs to help those who could be thrown out of work in the weeks to come. Trump said he supported the package, raising the likelihood that it will pass the Republican-controlled Senate next week.Economists say the impact of the outbreak on businesses could tip the U.S. economy into recession. 
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The Afghan government Saturday postponed the release of 1,500 Taliban prisoners, an Afghan official said, a decision that could sabotage a peace deal signed last month between the Taliban and the United States.Jawed Faisal, spokesman for the Afghan National Security Adviser’s office, said the releases were being delayed because more time was needed to review the list of prisoners. The move came despite President Ashraf Ghani’s decree earlier this week promising the start of the releases Saturday as a goodwill gesture to get intra-Afghan negotiations started.The U.S.-Taliban deal was touted at the time as the best chance at ending Afghanistan’s wars and bringing U.S. troops home after nearly 19 years.There was no immediate response from the Taliban to the delayed prisoner release.Faisal said Ghani’s government wanted more time to review the list of prisoners. The U.S.-Taliban deal called for the release of up to 5,000 Taliban as well as 1,000 Afghan government captives ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations, considered a critical next step to reaching a lasting peace in Afghanistan.Ghani’s decree promised the release of 100 prisoners a day beginning Saturday until 1,500 prisoners were released. He would then release the remaining 3,500 after intra-Afghan talks began and those releases would be staggered and would go ahead only if talks progressed and Taliban reduced violence.Although Ghani’s decree differs from the U.S.-Taliban deal, Faisal insisted Ghani was committed to releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners.FILE – Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani, left, and Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah attend a NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland, July 8, 2016.Political turmoilHowever, Ghani is embroiled in political turmoil in Kabul, where he is battling his leading political rival, Abdullah Abdullah, who has also declared himself president. Abdullah has so far refused to accept the results of last year’s presidential results charging widespread irregularities and abuse of power by Ghani. Still, the national election commission last month declared Ghani the winner despite allegations lodged also by the elections complaints commission.Meanwhile, the decree Ghani announced Wednesday said the first round of 1,500 prisoners to be freed would be selected based on age, health and the length of their sentences already served. The released prisoners, who would be biometrically identified, would also have to give a written guarantee that they would not return to the battlefield.The Taliban handed off their list of 5,000 to an American negotiator, who delivered it to the Afghan government administration. The Taliban’s spokesman in Qatar, where the insurgent group maintains a political office, said the Taliban would accept only those on the pre-approved list and warned Kabul against offering substitutes.The Taliban said they were committed to the deal they made with the United States but would not start negotiations with the Kabul government or other political leaders until the prisoners were freed.Even if the Taliban were ready to talk, it’s not clear when Kabul would be ready to field a negotiating team, as the feud between opposing politicians has yet to be resolved.U.S. exit not tied talksThe United States has said its withdrawal of troops — which has already begun — was not dependent on successful negotiations between Afghans on both sides of the conflict.However, the U.S. State Department has issued statements urging Kabul’s feuding politicians to find a compromise. It has also urged an end to “posturing” and has said many of the Taliban prisoners on the list have already served their sentence and that the names were decided upon after lengthy negotiations.Washington also chastised the Taliban for resuming attacks on Afghanistan’s security forces, even though they promised not to attack U.S. and NATO troops. Washington said that the level of Taliban violence was too high and that it  wanted to see a reduction.Despite the political chaos in Kabul and increased violence on the battlefield, the United States has started withdrawing its troops in keeping with the deal it signed February 29 with the Taliban. In the first phase, Washington will reduce its troop contingent to 8,600, down from the current 13,000.If the Taliban adhere to their commitments to deny terrorists safe havens in Afghanistan, Washington will withdraw the remainder of its troops over 14 months, according to the agreement.
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The U.S. travel ban on most flights from Europe, a part of the U.S. strategy in preventing the spread of the deadly coronavirus, has gone into effect. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the ban Wednesday night in an address from the Oval Office.  The 30-day ban blocks most foreign visitors from 26 countries in Europe, while accepting those from Britain and Ireland. Americans and American permanent residents who were abroad at the time of Trump’s announcement were initially not sure if they would be allowed back into the country after Friday. They are exempt from the ban, but that was not immediately clear in the president’s address.   Many of them scrambled to book flights back home before the ban went into effect. Mark, a U.S. resident who was in Spain at the time of Trump’s announcement, told Reuters that he came back “a little bit earlier” than planned.”  Trump made the decision about the ban without consulting any European officials. “The European Union disapproves of the fact that the U.S. decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said in a joint statement.”The coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent, and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action,” von der Leyen and Michel said. “The European Union is taking strong action to limit the spread of the virus.”All Americans returning from Europe will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival back in the U.S. to try to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
 
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U.S. President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency, clearing the way for more federal aid to stream to states and cities to combat the coronavirus pandemic.”We will defeat this threat,” Trump said Friday afternoon during a nationally televised news conference from the White House Rose Garden.Trump, who has declared five previous national emergencies, had come under increasing pressure, especially from opposition Democrats, in recent days to take such action as governors and mayors across the United States declared states of emergency, ordering the cancellation of public gatherings and closures of schools. The action by the president will free up tens of billions of dollars in funding in the Disaster Relief Fund. It allows a state to request the federal government pay for 75% of costs for such expenses as emergency workers, medical supplies, and tests and vaccinations to respond to the virus, which some epidemiologists warn could soon overwhelm the country’s health care system.President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference on the coronavirus, in the Rose Garden at the White House, March 13, 2020, in Washington.”States are to set up emergency operation centers immediately, and all hospitals are to activate their emergency operation plans,” Trump said.He also announced purchasing large quantities of oil for the national strategic petroleum reserve.”We’re going to fill it right up to the top,” he said. Trump also said he is ordering that interest payments on federal student loans be waived until further notice. Early Saturday, the House passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act with a vote of 363 – 40.The bill includes two weeks of paid sick leave for those affected, improved unemployment insurance and a bolstered lunch program for schoolchildren, among other elements intended to lessen the economic impact of COVID-19 on American families.President Trump said in a post on Twitter that he supports the bill. The Republican controlled Senate will take up the bill next week, and Trump’s support means the measure is likely to be approved. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement early Saturday the American people “deserve swift assistance with the economic fallout from the virus.”  McConnell added that he had canceled the Senate’s state work period next week, allowing the lawmakers to work on the legislation, and that he believed “the vast majority of Senators in both parties will agree” that swift action is needed to “secure relief for American workers, families, and small businesses.”Cases of the coronavirus have now been reported in 49 of the 50 U.S. states. Only West Virginia has not reported any cases. Two sisters talk on a phone as they visit through a window with their 76-year-old mother, who has tested positive for the new coronavirus, March 12, 2020, in Kirkland, Wash.Only about 1% of the more than 145,000 cases of the COVID-19 disease are in the United States, but public health officials are bracing for a much larger number of patients. Some officials say the number may actually be much larger because of limited testing conducted, so far, for the coronavirus infection.The largest U.S. cluster of deaths from the coronavirus is in the state of Washington, where 37 deaths have been reported so far.In a nationally televised addressed Wednesday night, Trump restricted travel for 30 days, effective Friday at midnight, from most European countries with the notable exception of Britain. He confirmed that the federal government is partnering with the private sector to set up drive-through testing sites for the coronavirus amid frustration expressed by people who suspect they may be infected but cannot get tested.The plan was discussed Friday during a meeting between White House officials and executives of the retail, pharmaceutical and technology sectors. The spread of the virus has unsettled global markets, with U.S. prices for securities dropping more than 20% on average from recent highs amid negative investor sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged late Friday, finishing with a gain of nearly 2,000 points or 9.4% to end the week, recovering most of Thursday’s losses.”These short-term sacrifices will produce long-term gains,” Trump said Friday, acknowledging the spread of the coronavirus “could get worse. The next eight weeks are critical.”  During the Rose Garden news conference, with Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House’s coronavirus task force at the podium, Trump was asked repeatedly about him coming in close contact at his resort at Mar-a-Lago last weekend with a Brazilian official now known to have COVID-19.The president initially responded, “I don’t have any of the symptoms” and thus there is no need for him to be tested.Later, when asked again about the encounter, Trump stated: “I didn’t say I wasn’t going to be tested” and that he “most likely” would have the nasal swab done “fairly soon.” On Monday, the leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrialized countries are to hold a video conference to discuss the pandemic.”We will coordinate research efforts on a vaccine and treatments, and work on an economic and financial response,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced via Twitter.The epicenter of the pandemic, which originated in China, is now Europe, World Health Organization Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
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As new coronavirus cases continue to rise, efforts are underway to provide a safety net for the most vulnerable people in and around Washington D.C. Free clinics and homeless shelters are working with health officials to draw up contingency plans. VOA’s Eunjung Cho looks at how the uninsured population are bracing for the outbreak.
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Concerns are mounting that the coronavirus pandemic could disenfranchise large numbers of American voters in the U.S. presidential election. “This is a moment we have never experienced before with regards to elections in modern times,” said David Daley, a senior fellow with the FairVote advocacy group. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the United States have prompted government-mandated quarantines, and widespread advisories against public gathering have resulted in school closures and cancellation of performances, conferences, and sporting events across the country.Upcoming primariesThe U.S. state of Louisiana on Friday postponed its primary election contest to select the Democratic and Republican Party nominees to run in the November presidential election. Citing the public health threat posed by the coronavirus, Louisiana pushed back its primary from April 4 to June 20. The next state primaries are scheduled to be held on Tuesday in Ohio, Florida, Illinois and Arizona, and officials say they are taking precautions to protect public health.  On Thursday, Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois encouraged local authorities to expand the hours for early voting prior to election day. “Voting early usually means avoiding any crowds,” Pritzker said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends increasing drive-up voting, arriving at polling stations at nonpeak hours and maintaining social distancing space while waiting in line to minimize direct contact with people who may have been exposed to the virus.  FILE – A voter casts a ballot from an auto in a special election on June 6, 2006 in Williston, Vt.Bipartisan threatConcern about how fear of the coronavirus could depress voter turnout, especially among high-risk groups such as older Americans, has prompted calls for expanded mail-in voting so people can avoid large groups on Election Day.In Congress, Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from the state of Oregon, introduced a bill to expand early mail-in ballot options for voters in all 50 states. The bill also would provide $500 million to fund this effort.”This a nonpartisan, commonsense solution to the very real threat looming this November,” Wyden said in a statement Tuesday.The two major political parties have been at odds over past proposals to expand voting, with Republicans citing concerns over possible voter fraud, and Democrats criticizing opposition as a means to suppress the vote in Democratic-majority communities.The coronavirus threat to Republican and Democratic voters alike, advocates say, could unite both sides to support needed election reform.Colossal challengeThirty-four states and the District of Columbia now offer “no excuse” absentee voting by mail. Other states require voters to document their reasons for requesting an early ballot, such as conflicting travel or work schedules.Gearing up a mail-in voting system in all 50 states in time for the presidential election in November would be a colossal challenge but surmountable, advocates say.”We know how to do vote by mail and we know how to do it in a safe and secure way,” said Daley of FairVote, but it is essential that “everybody has equal access to voting by mail,” he added.To handle an increased number of mail-in ballots, states would need to acquire more optical scanners and develop procedures to quickly verify and count the ballots.Because mail-in ballots are time-consuming to count compared with voting machines that automatically tally results, mail-in ballots are often considered only in very close elections. 
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A 93-year-old Native Hawaiian heiress needs someone to handle her estate despite taking testimony from the so-called princess on Monday that she didn’t need a conservator because she’s still alive, a judge ruled Friday.“Ms. Kawananakoa is a charming and gracious lady, in the best sense of the word. She has a great sense of humor and is tremendously endearing,” said state Judge James Ashford. “Nevertheless, the Court finds … that for reasons other than age Ms. Kawananakoa is unable to manage her property and business affairs effectively because of an impairment.”Abigail Kawananakoa’s $215 million trust has been tied up in a court case since she had a stroke in 2017.Kawananakoa says she’s fine. After the stroke, she married her partner of 20 years, Veronica Gail Worth, who later took the heiress’ last name. Board members of her foundation and ex-employees say the wife is manipulating Kawananakoa. Lawyers for the couple dispute that.Kawananakoa inherited her wealth as the great-granddaughter of James Campbell, an Irish businessman who made his fortune as a sugar plantation owner and one of Hawaii’s largest landowners.Native Hawaiians consider her a princess because she’s a descendant of the family that ruled the islands before the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893. They have been closely watching the case because they are concerned about the fate of a foundation she set up to benefit Hawaiian causes.When Megan Kau, an attorney representing Kawananakoa’s former housekeeper, asked if Kawananakoa understood who her trustee is, she said, “Well, I’m not dead yet, so what do you mean trustee? Who needs to handle my estate if I’m still alive?”On the witness stand, Kawananakoa said she disputed that she suffered a stroke.    
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The Pentagon is reconsidering its awarding of a major cloud computing contract to Microsoft after rival tech giant Amazon protested what it called a flawed bidding process.U.S. government lawyers said in a court filing this week that the Defense Department “wishes to reconsider its award decision” and take another look at how it evaluated technical aspects of the companies’ proposals to run the $10 billion computing project.The filing doesn’t address Amazon’s broader argument that the bidding was improperly influenced by President Donald Trump’s dislike of Amazon and its CEO, Jeff Bezos. Bezos owns The Washington Post, a news outlet with which Trump has often clashed.Amazon Web Services is a market leader in providing cloud computing services and had long been considered a leading candidate to run the Pentagon’s Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure project, known as JEDI. The project will store and process vast amounts of classified data, allowing the U.S. military to improve communications with soldiers on the battlefield and use artificial intelligence to speed up its war planning and fighting capabilities.Amazon sued the Pentagon after Microsoft won the contract in October. Work on the project has been halted as the lawsuit proceeds.The judge who is presiding over the bid protest in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims said earlier this month that Amazon’s challenge likely had merit on some technical grounds involving pricing.The Pentagon is asking her for 120 days to reconsider “certain aspects” of its decision. Amazon said in a statement it is pleased the government is taking correction action if it “fully insulates the re-evaluation from political influence and corrects the many issues affecting the initial flawed award.”Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said one possible outcome is that the Pentagon could end up splitting the award between Microsoft and Amazon, or with other vendors. That would move the project forward and get it out of the courts, he said.
 
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There’s a millennial divide in the generation of young people that is often stereotyped as entitled, unemployed and more likely to still be living with their parents.  The Great Recession and student loan debt created strong challenges for the generation of young people who today are roughly in their mid-20s to late 30s. Many had a hard time finding jobs in their field. Some accepted lower-paying jobs than they were qualified for. Today, those early setbacks continue to impact millions of millennials.However, while many in the generation stagnated professionally, the so-called “mega-llennials” managed to flourish and succeed.“That’s the portion of the generation that kept working and creating traction and pulling themselves forward in spite of these really crummy economic times,” says says Jason Dorsey, president and lead millennial researcher at the Thirty-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 35, are among the millennial generation’s high-achieving “mega”-llennials.There’s a sharp contrast between the mega-llennials and the so-called “me-llennials,” the part of the generation that has struggled to find professional traction and is still working on finding their place in life.“What we think is fascinating is that the group of people that are most offended at work by millennials acting entitled are actually other millennials who do not feel entitled,” Dorsey says. “They think the rest of the generation is giving them a bad reputation.”So why did mega-llennials flourish while other people in their age group floundered?“What we found is they were more resilient oftentimes in their career. That could have been by luck or by intention,” Dorsey says. “They also managed to keep working and building their networks and did whatever they could to keep pushing themselves forward.”While there’s no clear definition in terms of one group versus the other, Dorsey says  millennials tend to sort themselves into one group or the other. And although they are of the same generation and share many experiences, mega-llennials and me-llennials don’t tend to see themselves in each other.
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The coronavirus outbreak has increased preventive measures in airports around the United States. Everyone from travelers, TSA agents and staff members are using all kinds of methods to keep themselves germ-free. VOA’s Celia Mendoza asked passengers about their main concerns while flying.   
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Tom Hanks said he and wife Rita Wilson were taking their new coronavirus infection “one day at a time” while Australian television hosts who had interviewed Wilson were awaiting test results Friday.
    
Australia has stepped up its response to COVID-19 by recommending people avoid organized, nonessential gatherings of 500 or more from Monday and to reconsider all international travel.
    
Hanks and Wilson have been isolated in stable conditions in a Gold Coast hospital following their diagnosis.
    
The couple used a social media post to thank “everyone here Down Under who are taking such good care of us.”
    
“We have Covid-19 and are in isolation so we do not spread it to anyone else,” Hanks said in a post.
    
“There are those for whom it could lead to a very serious illness,” he said. “We are taking it one day at a time.”
    
The virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, for most people but can be severe in some cases, especially older adults and people with existing health problems. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.
    
Two television hosts who interviewed Wilson in their Nine Network Sydney studio on Monday, David Campbell and Belinda Russell, were in isolation at home on Friday waiting on test results.
    
“Nine today has taken action in line with our crisis response plan around a visit to our studio by Ms Rita Wilson,” a Nine statement said.
    
“Our premises is currently being thoroughly cleaned in all areas she visited and we are encouraging our employees to monitor their health and practice good hygiene,” Nine added.
    
Hanks had announced their diagnoses Thursday, prompting an outpouring of get-well wishes in Australia and Hollywood.
    
Hanks had been in Queensland state shooting an untitled Elvis Presley biopic directed by Baz Luhrmann. Hanks plays Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker. The film, slated for release in October 2021, has suspended production, Warner Bros. said.
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President Donald Trump will hold a press conference to address the spiraling coronavirus pandemic as he seeks to calm a panicked nation amid mixed messages and growing criticism of his administration’s scattershot response.
“I will be having a news conference today at 3:00 P.M., The White House,” Trump tweeted. “Topic: CoronaVirus!”I will be having a news conference today at 3:00 P.M., The White House. Topic: CoronaVirus!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020The news conference comes as the virus edged ever closer to the world’s power centers, including a positive test for a Brazilian official who spent time with Trump and top administration officials last weekend and an Australian Cabinet minister who met with U.S. Attorney General William Barr, Trump’s daughter Ivanka, and other top aides.
And it comes as the world has been lurching to try to contain the virus’s spread, with millions of students staying home across three continents, large gatherings canceled and more and more bars, restaurants and offices closed.
Trump and his administration have been under intense criticism amid testing failures and following a Wednesday night address to the nation in which Trump sowed confusion as he announced that the U.S. would be dramatically limiting travel from much of Europe.
Trump, who is rare to admit a mistake, told aides within minutes of finishing the speech that he had made an error when he mistakenly said the newly announced travel ban would include cargo, which it doesn’t.
The White House would have to take the extraordinary steps of cleaning up multiple errors Trump made in what should have been a tightly-scripted speech.
And the president’s mood grew only darker Thursday – one confidant said it was “as black as it has ever been” – when his words to the nation did little to calm the public or the markets. Trump dialed around to allies while watching cable news coverage of the Wall Street plummet, furious that his efforts to bolster markets did the exact opposite, according to three White House officials and Republicans close to the White House who were not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations.
The president has obsessively asked for updates and the impact on the economy and has expressed a reluctance to use the word “bailout” or declare a national emergency for fear that either would rattle the markets further, according to the officials. That’s despite the fact that many in the White House, along with Republican allies on the Hill, have been urging him to declare one.
And he has flailed about for someone to blame, at times criticizing former President Barack Obama or turning his ire toward a familiar target, the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Trump has repeatedly told those in the White House that testing kits for the virus were on track, even though all facts – and federal health officials – have said otherwise. With the virus only expected to spread further, Trump has begun lashing out at others around him for not doing more to stem the markets’ slide, lighting into Treasury Secretary Mnuchin earlier this week and grumbling to confidants that Vice President Mike Pence has repeatedly contradicted him in briefings, the officials said.   
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Florida has never been known as a place of stability, especially in its politics.And yet stability is what has been on the minds of many Democrats in the state who say they’ll vote for former Vice President Joe Biden in Tuesday’s presidential primary election instead of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.“I like some of Sanders’ ideas, but he’s a little too extreme for me,” said Jeanne Hilburn, a 76-year-old retired teacher who lives in the suburbs of Tampa. “A lot of Democrats are like me — we want stability.”As the race for the Democratic nomination enters a penultimate phase, with Sanders’ campaign on the brink of collapse and Biden’s ascendant, attention is turning to places like Florida, which is holding its primary Tuesday along with Ohio, Illinois and Arizona. Florida has 219 delegates, the biggest prize of next week’s election.Coveted swing stateFew places hold the electoral cachet of Florida, which has been among the most coveted swing states in the last three decades, including during the contentious, chaotic recount of 2000. It is a vital state for President Donald Trump, who would have almost no path to reelection without it.Biden’s advisers are banking on a decisive Florida victory that sends a clear message that he is much better positioned to win the state and deny Trump a second term.In 2016, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton here by 1.2 percentage points.“Florida, as always, is pivotal in the outcome,” said Nikki Fried, who is the state’s agriculture commissioner and top elected Democrat and who endorsed Biden. “We are the ultimate swing state.”Sanders’ support in Florida has always been tenuous. In the 2016 primary, he lost to Clinton by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. This year, Sanders angered a potentially large voting bloc, Cuban Americans, by praising Fidel Castro for implementing a literacy program in the communist nation.Working for NovemberThat leaves many Florida Democrats looking beyond the primary to November. Several groups have banded together to register people to vote and mobilize for the general election.One of the four groups, Organizing Together 2020, is led by Fried. It will hire employees, register voters, train volunteers and then turn everything over to the party after the July convention. Another of the groups is For Our Future, a super PAC that is made up largely of Mike Bloomberg’s campaign apparatus.A strong turnout in the Florida primary could give hope to Democrats, though it would be difficult to draw any conclusions for November given the state’s high number of independents. And, to be sure, the coronavirus outbreak could keep some voters away from the polls and muffle any message from the turnout.Democrats know it will be a challenge to sway voters here. About 3.6 million of the state’s 13.6 million voters are registered independents, which means they can’t vote in Tuesday’s primary but are eligible to cast ballots in the general election.“Florida is an interesting state. Depending on where you’re at, we can be very conservative, or we can be very progressive,” said St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, a Democrat. “We also have a strong moderate and independent streak. Biden, I think he’ll do well here with Democrats and independents. And with Republicans who are looking for an alternative to President Trump.”Ashley Walker, of Organizing Together, said a priority is grassroots door-knocking in counties that were close in 2016, like Pinellas, home to St. Petersburg, which Trump won by 5,500 votes, and in Pasco, a suburban county just north of Tampa where voters moved to Republican candidates in the 2018 Senate and gubernatorial races.Walker says the aim is to siphon off votes there.“The margins matter. We’re probably not going to win Pasco County, but we’re going to need to close the margins so we lose less badly,” she said. “And in those counties that go back-and-forth between red and blue, like Pinellas, it’s especially important to get organized early. To build relationships early.”Biden ‘diaspora outreach’Similarly, Biden’s supporters have been paying visits to Spanish-language TV shows and broadening “diaspora outreach” efforts in South Florida. John Kerry, the former secretary of state and the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, spoke about Latin America policy on behalf of Biden’s campaign at a restaurant in Doral, the hub of Venezuelan exiles.“We feel good about where we are in the state, but we are not taking anything for granted,” said Carmen Torres, of Florida Hispanics for Biden.Democrats don’t have a lock on the Latino vote in Florida, particularly among the nearly 2 million residents who are originally from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, where authoritarian socialist regimes have soured many exiles toward any left-leaning politicians.A third of Cuban American midterm voters identify as Democrats, according to AP Vote Cast, a wide-ranging survey of the electorate. But the survey said a majority, 56%, of Cuban American midterm voters expressed approval of the way Trump was handling his job as president.Daisy Baez, a former Democratic state lawmaker, is leading a group called “Dominicanos con Biden” to rally her fellow Dominican Americans to support the former vice president. A similar effort to rally Venezuelans will roll out on Sunday.“We wanted to address our message to a specific community,” Baez said. “We needed to piece it down in smaller parts.”Sanders faithfulAs Sanders’ chances diminish, Biden may also need to win over his challenger’s fervent supporters if an endorsement follows. Some may not follow suit.Nick Mora, 24, a Florida International University Student, marched alongside 20 students on a recent afternoon on campus to persuade others to vote early for Sanders. “Let’s just say Joe Biden does not have the same policy proposals as Bernie,” Mora said. “I feel like the progressive movement is being pushed down, and there’s not much we can do about it if we vote for Joe Biden, so we are still trying to fight till the end.”
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 President Donald Trump said on Friday morning that coronavirus testing in the United States will soon happen on a large scale, but did not provide any details on how that would be accomplished.”The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to
go!” he wrote in a tweet.
Trump also criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the U.S. organizations leading the fight
against the deadly infection, for having a testing system that he said would “always be inadequate and slow for a large scale
pandemic.”Trump did not elaborate on why the system was inadequate, but on Thursday, the top U.S. official on infectious diseases,
Anthony Fauci, said people cannot get tests easily and the U.S. testing system “is not really geared to what we need right now.”
U.S. officials and lawmakers are struggling to get a sense of how many people in the country have contracted the virus,
which they attribute to low testing rates.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline. Embed” />Copy 
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Congressional Democrats are at odds with the Trump administration over legislation that would provide a swift response to the catastrophic public health and economic impact of the coronavirus. The battle between the White House and Capitol Hill comes as many Democrats say Trump’s Wednesday night Oval Office speech was inadequate in addressing the growing U.S. crisis. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more on this historic political battle.
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U.S. warplanes soaring through the skies of Iraq hit a series of sites belonging to an Iranian-backed militia, exacting revenge for a deadly attack on American and coalition troops just 24 hours earlier.The airstrikes late Thursday and early Friday targeted five weapon storage facilities belonging to Kataib Hezbollah, blamed for a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base north of Baghdad late Wednesday that killed two U.S. service members and a British soldier, while wounding 14 others.In a statement, the Pentagon described the strikes as “defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat,” adding that some of the weapon depots had been used to store the Katyusha rockets used in the attack on Camp Taji.The U.S. statement also said the strikes against Kataib Hezbollah were designed to “significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces.”  The Iraqi military confirmed the strikes, saying some of the targeted locations also doubled as headquarters for the militia.في تمام الساعة الواحدة والربع فجر هذا اليوم حصل اعتداء امريكي من خلال قصف جوي على مناطق (جرف النصر، المسيب، النجف، الاسكندرية) على مقرات تابعة للحشد الشعبي وأفواج الطوارئ ومغاوير الفرقة التاسعة عشر جيش.وسنوافيكم بالتفاصيل من خلال بيان يصدر من قيادة العمليات المشتركة لاحقًا.— خلية الإعلام الأمني🇮🇶 (@SecMedCell) Despite U.S. assertions that it was behind the attack on Camp Taji, Kataib Hezbollah on Thursday denied it was responsible, urging those who were to come forward.”Bless those who implemented the precision jihadi operation,” the group said, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group.”We hold their hands,” it added, saying, “now is the most appropriate time for the national and popular forces to resume their jihadi operations to drive out the wicked ones and aggressors from the land of the sanctities.”FILE – Iraqi Shi’ite Muslim men from the Iranian-backed group Kataib Hezbollah wave the party’s flags as they walk along a street in Baghdad, July 25, 2014.Militias like Kataib Hezbollah sometimes operate under the auspices of the Iraqi government, and the Pentagon said senior Iraqi officials were consulted ahead of the airstrikes.Earlier Thursday, Iraq’s presidency condemned what it called a “terrorist attack” on Camp Taji and stressed the need to find those responsible.After the last round of U.S. retaliatory strikes this past January, Iran responded by firing more than a dozen ballistic missiles at Iraq’s al-Asad air base, causing more than 100 U.S. troops to suffer from traumatic brain injuries.Testifying before U.S. lawmakers this week, McKenzie warned the threat from Tehran had not diminished.”Ample intelligence indicates the [Iranian] regime’s desire to continue malign activities,” he said. “Going forward it is CENTCOM’s objective to posture forces in the region with the operational depth to achieve a consistent state of deterrence against Iran.”McKenzie also said the U.S. was “in the process of bringing in” a missile defense system.The Pentagon has been negotiating with the Iraqi government to send in Patriot missile defense batteries since mid-January.
 
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The United States is not ready to abandon its agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan, but the general in charge of U.S. forces in the region says there are signs the deal ultimately may be doomed.U.S. Central Command’s General Kenneth McKenzie said Thursday that despite a pledge to reduce violence, the frequency of Taliban attacks across Afghanistan remained troubling.”I would not consider what the Taliban is doing as consistent with any path to going forward to come to a final end state agreement with the current government of Afghanistan,” McKenzie told U.S. lawmakers.”The attacks are largely generated against Afghanistan outposts, checkpoints and isolated combat units,” he said. “That level of attack by the Taliban is not consistent with an organization that intends to keep its word going forward.”The deal signed by the United States and the Afghan Taliban in Doha in February requires all U.S. and coalition forces to leave Afghanistan in the next 14 months.U.S. military officials said the first American forces began leaving this week, part of an effort to reduce the total number of troops in the country from about 13,000 to 8,600 in the next 135 days.FILE – Defense Secretary Mark Esper testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee about the budget, March 4, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington.’Good faith’ effortStill, U.S. military officials repeatedly have described the initial drawdown as a “good faith” attempt to keep all sides in Afghanistan on the path to peace, warning Washington is ready to change course if necessary.”We can stop that at any moment,” U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters when asked about the drawdown earlier this month. “We can pause it.”CENTCOM’s McKenzie said Thursday that the decision on whether to pause the drawdown would be a political one, though he cautioned it would be a mistake to give up on the agreement too quickly.”My advice was to proceed with it,” he told lawmakers. “The principal reason I supported it was the conditionality that’s inherent in it.”A number of U.S. lawmakers expressed reservations.“I am concerned we are not appropriately leveraging U.S. and coalition military presence to support a settlement that protects U.S. security interests,” the Senate Armed Services Committee’s ranking member, Democrat Jack Reed, told McKenzie.FILE – Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, speaks at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, April 11, 2019.Fallback plan?“Is there a Plan B if the Taliban doesn’t abide by this agreement?” asked indepedent  Senator Angus King.  “I worry that after 17, 18, 19 years we’re going to end up exactly where we were in 2001, with the Taliban in charge of the country and open season for terrorists,” King added.McKenzie said that while a “bloodless state” in Afghanistan was unlikely, the Taliban needed to exert better control over their forces and to lower the level of violence.”It’s not going to be perfect, but we need to get way below where we are now,” he said.In addition to the sustained violence, the U.S.-Taliban agreement is facing other obstacles.The Taliban on Wednesday rejected an Afghan government order that allowed for the conditional release of thousands of insurgent prisoners, calling Kabul’s move a violation of the U.S.-Taliban accord.“It is clearly stated in the text of the [U.S.-Taliban] agreement that all of our 5,000 prisoners would be freed unconditionally and before the commencement of intra-Afghan peace negotiations,” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told VOA.   But Afghan presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi argued at a news conference in Kabul the prisoner release was conditioned on a reduction in Taliban violence, the opening of intra-Afghan talks and a cease-fire.
 
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Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Thursday that “all options are on the table” to respond to the deadly rocket attack on an Iraqi base housing U.S. and coalition troops, which the United States said was carried out by Iranian-backed forces.”The U.S. will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests or our allies,” Esper told reporters at the Pentagon. “We’ve got to hold the perpetrators accountable. You don’t get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound Americans and get away with it.”Two Americans and a British service member were killed, with 14 American, British and Polish nationals wounded Wednesday when a barrage of rockets slammed into Camp Taji, a military base north of Baghdad.Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said five of the wounded had “urgent” injuries from shrapnel.About 30 rockets firedIranian-backed forces fired about 30 Katyusha rockets, with between a dozen and 18 hitting the base and causing “structural damage to facilities. It was a significant attack,” Milley said.Esper said he had spoken with President Donald Trump about Wednesday’s attack but would not elaborate on any retaliatory options presented to him.  Trump, speaking Thursday to reporters at the White House, also would not give any details about a potential U.S. response.General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, told the Senate Armed Services Committee the attack was under investigation, but he noted that Iranian-backed terror group Kataib Hezbollah was “the only group known to have previously conducted an indirect fire attack of this scale against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq.”When pressed by reporters to name the group who was responsible for the attack, Milley said, “We could, but we’re not. We know with a high degree of certainty, but we’re not going to mention that publicly right now.”Esper added that naming the group responsible was an “operational intelligence matter that we’re not going to talk about at this time.”Praise for attackIn a statement Thursday, Kataib Hezbollah praised the attack on Camp Taji but declined to claim responsibility.”Bless those who implemented the precision jihadi operation,” the group said, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group.“We hold their hands,” it added, saying “now is the most appropriate time for the national and popular forces to resume their jihadi operations to drive out the wicked ones and aggressors from the land of the sanctities.”Iraqi military officials, who were the first to share word of the rocket attack, tweeted photos of an abandoned truck that they said was found nearby.سقوط عشرة صواريخ كاتيوشا داخل معسكر التاجي بدون خسائر , تم العثور على عجلة نوع كيا بنكو تحمل منصة صواريخ فيها ثلاث صواريخ متبقية جنوب منطقة الراشدية. pic.twitter.com/onxirvQgTs— خلية الإعلام الأمني🇮🇶 (@SecMedCell) March 11, 2020Iraq’s presidency condemned the “terrorist attack” in a Thursday statement and stressed the need to find those responsible.Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have targeted U.S. and coalition forces before.In December, an attack by the Kataib Hezbollah militia killed a U.S. contractor at a base near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. The U.S. responded with a series of retaliatory strikes, culminating in January with the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the Iran Quds Force commander who oversaw the militias, in a strike in Iraq.Iran retaliated by firing more than a dozen ballistic missiles at the al-Asad airbase, which hosts U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq, causing more than 100 U.S. troops to suffer traumatic brain injuries.Since the Iranian missile attack, the Pentagon has been negotiating with the Iraqi government to send in Patriot missile defense batteries.Threat remainsAppearing before U.S. lawmakers this week, McKenzie said the U.S. was “in the process of bringing in” the missile defense systems, and he warned the threat from Tehran had not diminished.”Ample intelligence indicates the [Iranian] regime’s desire to continue malign activities,” he said. “Going forward it is CENTCOM’s objective to posture forces in the region with the operational depth to achieve a consistent state of deterrence against Iran.”British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that a British soldier had been killed in the attack and said Britain was consulting with the U.S.
“Our servicemen and women work tirelessly every day to uphold security and stability in the region — their presence makes us all safer,” Johnson said in a statement. “We will continue to liaise with our international partners to fully understand the details of this abhorrent attack.”U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added in a tweet late Wednesday:Today’s deadly attack on Iraq’s Camp Taji military base will not be tolerated. @DominicRaab and I agree – those responsible must be held accountable.— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) March 12, 2020 
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Congress is shutting the Capitol to the public until April in reaction to the spread of the coronavirus, officials announced Thursday, a rare step that underscores the growing gravity with which the government is reacting to the viral outbreak.In a statement, the House and Senate sergeants at arms said congressional office buildings and the Congressional Visitor Center, through which tourists enter the Capitol, were also being shuttered.In an email to lawmakers’ offices, the sergeants at arms said the Capitol will be closed to all tours, including special ones led by House and Senate members and their aides. No tours will be permitted in the Capitol Visitor Center, the massive three-level underground structure, which opened in 2008 and had greeted more than 21 million visitors through 2018.Lawmakers’ offices will be required to meet any official visitors at building entrances, and they were asked to escort them out after the meetings.Only lawmakers, staff, journalists and visitors with official business will be permitted to enter the buildings. The closures begin at 5 p.m. EDT Thursday, and the buildings are scheduled to reopen on April 1.The officials said they were acting on the advice of District of Columbia health officials and of Congress’ own doctors.“We are taking this temporary action out of concern for the health and safety of congressional employees as well as the public,” they wrote. “We appreciate the understanding of those with planned visits interrupted by this necessary but prudent decision.”Congress is scheduled to be on recess next week.President Donald Trump’s administration and Congress have struggled over how to react to the virus and COVID-19, the disease it can cause that in some cases can be deadly. Congressional leaders have had to balance conflicting desires of protecting lawmakers and staffs from getting sick with keeping one of the country’s most visible public buildings open. At the White House, tours have been temporarily suspended.In the fall of 1918, the Capitol was closed briefly to visitors as the Spanish flu spread around the world, killing an estimated tens of millions of people. Around 1,000 people died in the Washington, D.C., region along with at least three members of the House, according to the chamber’s historians’ office.For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 62,000 have recovered. 
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It started as a joke: Before leaving a post-practice interview session Rudy Gobert touched all the tape recorders that were placed before him on a table, devices that reporters who cover the Utah Jazz were using during an availability with him on Monday before a game with the Detroit Pistons.It isn’t so funny now.Gobert is now the NBA’s Patient Zero for coronavirus after becoming the first player in the league to test positive, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.The 7-foot-1 Frenchman is at the center of why the league has been shut down for the foreseeable future: Utah’s game against Oklahoma City Wednesday night was canceled and the Pistons are among five teams that have played the Jazz  and Gobert since the start of March, the others being Boston, Toronto, New York and Cleveland. And Washington, which played Utah in late February, said Thursday that it was having its players, coaches and basketball operations personnel self-quarantine for the next three to four days.The Wizards played at Utah on Feb. 29. Washington also played Tuesday against the New York Knicks, another recent opponent of the Jazz. The Wizards said players, coaches and basketball operations staff who have flu-like symptoms will be tested for coronavirus.The Raptors also said Thursday they are self-quarantining. “Our players, coaches and traveling staff have all been advised to into self-isolation for 14 days,” the team said, also confirming that Toronto players had been tested.Gobert shared the court with 50 opposing players in those games, plus 15 referees.One of the refs was Courtney Kirkland, who was to work th e New Orleans-Sacramento game on Wednesday that got canceled  because he had been on the court with Gobert two nights earlier, and who knows how many ballboys, stat-crew employees, security guards, attendants and others did as well.Then there’s Gobert’s own teammates and the Jazz coaches and staff. And everyone he’s been on a plane with in recent days. Or shared a hotel elevator with. Or dined with. Or shook hands with. And so on, and so on.“I’m sure I probably had contact with him,” Detroit’s Langston Galloway said.He added, “Staying focused on that moment of interaction with a lot of different people and knowing that at the end of the day you might have touched the ball, you might have interacted with a fan and just being (cautious) with that going forward.”The NBA shutdown could cost teams well into the hundreds of millions of dollars depending on how long the shutdown lasts. Those teams that have faced Gobert in recent days will likely face some testing. And some of those Jazz reporters said they were getting tested for COVID-19, just in case.“It’s unprecedented,” Detroit Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. “I think it’s the prudent thing to do. And what went on in Utah, I don’t know all the information but that just shows you how fragile everything is right now.”This is the reality of the coronavirus, which was labeled a pandemic by the World Health Organization on Wednesday weeks after beginning its havoc-wreaking global run that has sickened well over 100,000 and killed more than 4,000.For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the WHO, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.Charlotte coach James Borrego said these are scary times in the NBA, and no one argued.“They’re all concerned and rightfully so,” Casey said. “Everybody in our league should be concerned. I think everybody in our country right now, more than just basketball, is concerned. We all have to take care of ourselves and look out for our fellow man.”That’s what Orlando’s Evan Fournier did Wednesday night.Fournier, a French national teammate of Gobert’s, reached out to him after news of the diagnosis and leaguewide shutdown broke.“Was just on the phone with Rudy,” Fournier wrote. “He is doing good man. Lets not (panic) everyone. Love you all.” 
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The World Health Organization Wednesday declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, with 114 countries confirming cases, while the United States announced a European travel ban and the National Basketball Association said its games are on hold for now.“In the past two weeks, the number of cases of COVID-19 outside China has increased 13-fold, and the number of affected countries has tripled,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a daily press briefing on COVID-19 virus at the WHO headquarters, March 11, 2020, in Geneva.Tedros warned that the worst is yet to come with the WHO “deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction.“In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of COVID-19 cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries to climb even higher,” he said.Tedros said his organization has “rung the alarm bell loud and clear,” and that countries “can still change the course of this pandemic.”Trump announces new measures U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office Wednesday night, declaring “the virus will not have a chance against us,” and announcing a 30-day suspension of all travel from Europe to the United States, starting Friday. Travel from the United Kingdom is exempt, as are U.S. citizens, legal residents and their immediate families.Trump also announced financial relief for people and businesses affected by the virus.The U.S. State Department issued updated guidance Wednesday advising Americans to “reconsider travel abroad” because of the coronavirus outbreak.Dr. Anthony Fauci, left, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies at a House committee hearing on preparedness for and response to the coronavirus outbreak on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 11, 2020.There are more than 1,200 confirmed cases in the United States. When there were just 15 cases last month, Trump said that number would soon drop to zero. It has since spread to about 40 of the 50 U.S. states. Thirty-eight people have died.The first confirmed case in Capitol Hill offices was reported Wednesday with a staffer in Senator Maria Cantwell’s office testing positive.“Bottom line, it’s going to get worse,” the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, said Wednesday.Fauci says how much worse depends on the U.S. government’s ability to control the number of travelers coming into the U.S. and local efforts to contain the virus.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a $728 million package to fight the virus, much of which will be used to develop a vaccine.Medical staff checks a passenger in a car for the novel coronavirus at the border crossing with Italy in Vrtojba, Slovenia, March 11 , 2020.Europe takes more drastic measures
Some European nations are taking more drastic steps. Italy, Europe’s hardest-hit country, is under a nationwide lockdown.All museums and schools in Spain are closed. Denmark has also shuttered schools and Britain announced a multibillion-dollar package to boost the country’s health care system and to also help businesses taking an economic hit.Festivals and any kind of event that attracts large crowds and brings people close together have been canceled across much of Europe.Impact on sports players and events
The NBA announced late Wednesday it is suspending its season until further notice after a player for the Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus.That followed a decision earlier by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to play its popular annual “March Madness” basketball tournaments without fans.As of late Wednesday, there were more than 126,000 coronavirus cases in 114 countries and more than 4,600 deaths.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
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Governments around the world are responding to the coronavirus pandemic with more and more travel bans as they seek to prevent imported cases while also avoiding or containing the spread of cases within their borders.U.S. President Donald Trump issued a ban on foreign travelers who recently visited Europe’s Schengen Area as he gave a televised speech that also highlighted economic measures his administration is taking.He drew criticism from Democratic leaders who say not enough is being done to accelerate testing of potential cases in the United States, and they have offered legislation that includes free testing and paid leave that would encourage people to stay home from work.WATCH: White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara’s video report.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
A man and a girl on a scooter are backdropped by a Lombardy region campaign advertising reading in Italian ‘ Coronavirus let’s stop it together ‘, at the Porta Nuova business district in Milan, March 11, 2020.In addition to travel bans, governments have increasingly turned to restricting public gatherings to go along with advice from public health officials who say such social distancing, along with hand washing and staying home for those who feel sick, can help stop the virus from spreading.The U.S. state of California said late Wednesday that any gathering of more than 250 people should be canceled, and those in smaller groups should stay about two meters apart.The National Basketball Association suspended its season indefinitely after a player for the Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus. The National Basketball Association suspended its season indefinitely after a player for the Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus.  The governing body for collegiate sports in the United States said the popular men’s and women’s basketball championship tournaments would be held with only staff and family members in attendance.The world figure skating championships set to be held next week in Montreal have also been canceled.Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel after the press conference, in Melbourne, Australia, March 12, 2020.In Australia, the Formula One racing series is set to go ahead with its opening event Sunday, despite several team staff members being held in isolation while they await the results of coronavirus tests.  British driver Lewis Hamilton, who has been the top F1 driver in five of the past six seasons, said Thursday he was “very surprised” the race is still on.”It seems that the rest of the world is already reacting a little bit late, but you have seen this morning with Trump shutting down the border to Europe to the States, the NBA suspended, yet Formula One continues to go on,” Hamilton told reporters.Bahrain, host of the second race of the season, has already said it would not allow spectators.
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Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders vowed Wednesday to stay in the Democratic primary race for president despite Joe Biden’s big wins in Michigan and three other states Tuesday.  The two men will meet in another Democratic debate Sunday before competing in more primaries next Tuesday.  VOA national correspondent Jim Malone has more on the state of the Democratic race from Washington.
 
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The World Health Organization Wednesday declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, with 114 countries confirming cases, while the United States announced a European travel ban and the National Basketball Association said its games are on hold for now.“In the past two weeks, the number of cases of COVID-19 outside China has increased 13-fold, and the number of affected countries has tripled,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a daily press briefing on COVID-19 virus at the WHO headquarters, March 11, 2020, in Geneva.Tedros warned that the worst is yet to come with the WHO “deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction.“In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of COVID-19 cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries to climb even higher,” he said.Tedros said his organization has “rung the alarm bell loud and clear,” and that countries “can still change the course of this pandemic.”U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office Wednesday night, declaring “the virus will not have a chance against us,” and announcing a 30-day suspension of all travel from Europe to the United States, starting Friday. Travel from the United Kingdom is exempt, as are U.S. citizens, legal residents and their immediate families.Trump also announced financial relief for people and businesses affected by the virus.The U.S. State Department issued updated guidance Wednesday advising Americans to “reconsider travel abroad” because of the coronavirus outbreak.Dr. Anthony Fauci, left, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies at a House committee hearing on preparedness for and response to the coronavirus outbreak on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 11, 2020.There are more than 1,200 confirmed cases in the United States. When there were just 15 cases last month, Trump said that number would soon drop to zero. It has since spread to about 40 of the 50 U.S. states. Thirty-eight people have died.The first confirmed case in Capitol Hill offices was reported Wednesday with a staffer in Senator Maria Cantwell’s office testing positive.“Bottom line, it’s going to get worse,” the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, said Wednesday.Fauci says how much worse depends on the U.S. government’s ability to control the number of travelers coming into the U.S. and local efforts to contain the virus.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a $728 million package to fight the virus, much of which will be used to develop a vaccine.Medical staff checks a passenger in a car for the novel coronavirus at the border crossing with Italy in Vrtojba, Slovenia, March 11 , 2020.Some European nations are taking more drastic steps. Italy, Europe’s hardest-hit country, is under a nationwide lockdown.All museums and schools in Spain are closed. Denmark has also shuttered schools and Britain announced a multibillion-dollar package to boost the country’s health care system and to also help businesses taking an economic hit.Festivals and any kind of event that attracts large crowds and brings people close together have been canceled across much of Europe.The NBA announced late Wednesday it is suspending its season until further notice after a player for the Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus.That followed a decision earlier by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to play its popular annual “March Madness” basketball tournaments without fans.As of late Wednesday, there were more than 126,000 coronavirus cases in 114 countries and more than 4,600 deaths.
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U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) plans to increase U.S. military presence in the Western Hemisphere while taking on funding cuts to partner security programs that help Latin American partners counter drug cartels.In written testimony Wednesday, SOUTHCOM commander Admiral Craig Faller said the U.S. “only enabled the successful interdiction of about 9% of known drug movement” recently in Latin America and the Caribbean.Faller told the House Armed Services Committee that he’d need significant assets to drastically improve that number, including dozens of ships.“Recognizing these complex challenges in our neighborhood, we will see an increase in U.S. military presence in the hemisphere,” Faller said, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon after the briefing.Partners vitalThe increase, which is coinciding with a Pentagon review of the command, will include more ships, aircraft and forces, said Faller, who declined to discuss numbers.But the increase will not be enough to fully counter the threats, which is “why it’s so important to get partners in the game,” Faller added.Last year, half of U.S. drug interdictions in the region were enabled by local partner forces, according to SOUTHCOM.The need for more partner nation participation comes as the latest Pentagon budget slashes SOUTHCOM’s partner security program funds by about 20%.”That reduction will mean we’ll have to make some choices and have to defund some programs … that have increased our partners’ ability to do things like counternarcotics,” Faller said Wednesday.He added that the increased military presence would help the U.S. offset short-term losses to security cooperation program funding. But he acknowledged that “there might be some areas where we’ll take risks as we look in the future.”Georgian scolds administrationThe Pentagon’s failure to prioritize the geographic command responsible for counternarcotics operations south of the United States has hurt Americans, Republican Representative Austin Scott of Georgia said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on national security challenges in the Western Hemisphere.”All of the additional money we’ve given [to defense] has been transferred to other priorities and not to the priority that is resulting in more deaths than any other area,” Scott said, adding that the U.S. saw tens of thousands die last year from drug overdoses.Scott scolded administration officials for giving the command “what’s left over” in intelligence and surveillance abilities after fulfilling other regions’ needs.SOUTHCOM’s budget for this year is $1.2 billion, which is 1/14th of what was spent in Afghanistan alone.
 
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The United States is accusing China, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba of human rights violations, including forced disappearances, attacks on journalists and arbitrary detentions. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports on the State Department’s annual report on human rights around the world, issued Wednesday.
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