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BEIJING (AP) — Factories in China that make the world's smartphones, toys and other consumer goods are trying to protect their employees from a virus outbreak as they resume production. Manufacturers are buying masks by the thousands and jugs of disinfectant. The ruling Communist Party has told local officials to help reopen factories that were idled by the most intensive anti-disease controls ever imposed. They have orders to prevent a new spike in infections as millions of workers flow back to China's southeastern factory belt and big eastern cities. The government has told anyone who can work from home to stay there, but factories need employees on their assembly lines.
UNDATED (AP) — The new coronavirus is prompting authorities in Italy to close schools nationwide until March 15. Saudi Arabia is banning pilgrimages to Mecca and Iran is canceling Friday prayers. South Korea is struggling to provide hospital beds for all people infected with the virus as experts say rival North Korea may be hiding cases. Companies are cutting back on business tips, further hurting air travel. A cruise ship is being recalled after a former passenger with the virus died. And the world-famous Louvre in Paris has reopened after management responded to staff concerns about catching COVID-19 and instituted new prevention measures.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A fundraiser for Joe Biden at the Los Angeles home of former Paramount Pictures executive Sherry Lansing mushroomed from 80 to 350 attendees in the days after the South Carolina primary. Biden addressed the crowd Wednesday in Lansing’s backyard outside her mansion in Bel Air. Lansing said she had to turn interested donors away after Biden’s strong showing in Tuesday night’s primary. “It was a deluge,” she said. Attendees at the fundraiser included former California Gov. Gray Davis and actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Keegan-Michael Key. Biden called the increased voter turnout in South Carolina and other states “really satisfying.”
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal appeals court says it will halt a policy to make asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for U.S. court hearings next week unless the U.S. Supreme Court steps in sooner. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says its order issued Wednesday would take effect only along the border with Arizona and California. It declined to block the “Remain in Mexico” policy in New Mexico and Texas. The Trump administration says it's asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. The high court has consistently ruled in the administration's favor on immigration and border enforcement.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A New York sports gambler is facing federal charges in Florida related to threatening social media messages sent to players with the Tampa Bay Rays and other teams. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa announced a charge Wednesday of transmitting threats in interstate or foreign commerce against 23-year-old Benjamin Tucker Patz. A criminal complaint says Patz made numerous violent threats last year against athletes and their family members through anonymous Instagram accounts. The Tampa Bay Rays lost a home baseball game last July to the Chicago White Sox. Investigators say Patz later sent threatening Instagram messages to four players for the Rays and one player for the White Sox.
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