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VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA
Asia Today: South Korea to let fans watch sports live again
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea says it will allow baseball fans to return to the stands beginning Sunday as health authorities outlined a phased process to bring back spectators in professional sports. A health ministry official also said fans will be allowed at professional soccer games starting on Aug. 1. However, professional golf tournaments will continue without galleries at least until late August. Both baseball and soccer teams will be initially allowed to sell only 10% of the seats for each game. Fans will be screened for fevers. They will be required to wear masks, banned from eating food and drinking beer, and discouraged from excessive shouting, singing and cheering. Registering with smartphone QR codes will also be required.
BC-VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST
The Latest: Troops to help Australia state in virus tracing
The premier of Australia’s COVID-19 hot spot, Victoria state, says the military will be used to bolster contact-tracing efforts. Premier Daniel Andrews said Friday that if someone who is a newly diagnosed coronavirus case does not answer after being telephoned twice, soldiers will accompany a health official to the infected person’s home for a contact-tracing interview on the doorstep. Anyone who is not at home will likely be fined for failing to home quarantine while awaiting a negative test result. Previously, failure to contact an infected person by phone was not followed up with a house call. Mask wearing became compulsory Thursday in Victoria’s capital of Melbourne, which is Australia’s second-largest city.
PROFESSOR FOUND DEAD-SOCIAL MEDIA
North Carolina professor found dead weeks after backlash
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Authorities have discovered the body of a North Carolina professor who recently announced his retirement amid backlash over his comments on social media. Deputies found the body of 55-year-old UNC-Wilmington professor Mike Adams while performing a wellness check at his home. Investigators did not release additional details about the circumstances of Adams’ death. In May, the white professor referred to Gov. Roy Cooper as “Massa Cooper” and compared coronavirus restrictions to living in a “slave state.” The tweets prompted more than 60,000 people to sign an online petition to get Adams fired from his job.
AP-TROPICAL WEATHER
Gonzalo strength remains steady as it approaches Caribbean
MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Gonzalo is continuing to move across the Atlantic, though forecasters say it hadn’t strengthened for nearly a day. As of late Thursday night, Gonzalo was centered about 730 miles east of the southern Windward Islands with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. A National Hurricane Center advisory says the storm was heading west at 14 mph. There is still a chance that Gonzalo could become a hurricane, but the storm is expected to weaken as it moves into the Caribbean Sea. When Gonzalo strengthened into a named storm Wednesday, it became the earliest named seventh tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.
CONGRESS-JOHN LEWIS
John Lewis funeral to be held at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist
ATLANTA (AP) — The funeral for the late civil rights icon and congressman John Lewis will be held Thursday at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once led. Lewis’ family announced that the funeral will be private, but the public is invited to pay tribute over the coming days during a series of celebrations of Lewis’ life beginning Saturday in his hometown of Troy, Alabama. Ceremonies will also be held in Selma, Alabama, and his body will lie in state at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta and the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
YANKEES-NATIONALS-PREGAME
Yanks, Nats kneel in Black Lives Matter salute; Fauci's toss
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Nationals and New York Yankees knelt in unison before the first game of the baseball season as part of an opening day ceremony Thursday night that featured references to the Black Lives Matter movement, the coronavirus pandemic -- including an off-the-mark first pitch by Dr. Anthony Fauci -- and the home team’s 2019 championship. Players from both clubs wore T-shirts saying Black Lives Matter during batting practice, and the letters “BLM” were stenciled into the back of the mound at the center of the diamond.
TRAVELER PROGRAM SUSPENDED
Trump lets New Yorkers back into federal travelers program
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The Trump administration says New Yorkers can once again enroll and re-enroll in Global Entry and other federal travel programs. The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday it had lifted a ban that dates back to February. The administration cited a still-existing state law that lets immigrants in the country without legal authorization obtain state driver’s licenses and limited federal access to state records. The Legislature in April amended the provision, and the Trump administration can now access driving records of individuals who are applying for the trusted travelers program. The announcement comes at a time when international travel has been severely curtailed because of the pandemic.
ELECTION 2020-REPUBLICAN CONVENTION
Trump calls off Florida segment of GOP National Convention
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has scrapped plans for a four-night Republican National Convention scheduled for Florida next month, citing a “flare-up” of the coronavirus. Trump’s formal renomination will still go forward in North Carolina. Trump made the announcement Thursday at the White House. He had moved parts of the GOP convention to Florida last month amid a dispute with North Carolina’s Democratic leaders over holding an indoor gathering with maskless supporters. But those plans were steadily scaled back as virus cases spiked in Florida and much of the country over the last month.
CONFEDERATE SCHOOL NAME
Board changes school's name from Robert E. Lee to John Lewis
SPRINGFIELD, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s largest school system is removing the name of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from one of its high schools in favor of the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis. The Fairfax County School Board approved the change during a meeting Thursday. A news release posted on the school district’s website says the new name will be effective for the 2020-21 school year. Other names under consideration included Barack Obama, Cesar Chavez, Mildred Loving, Central Springfield and Legacy. The change comes nearly three years after the school system removed the name of Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart from another high school. Lewis, a civil rights icon, died last week.
AP-FINANCIAL-MARKETS
S&P 500 has biggest loss in nearly 4 weeks as tech stumbles
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street stumbled Thursday, undercut in part by a discouraging report showing that layoffs are picking up across the country with coronavirus counts. Technology stocks had the sharpest drops after a better-than-expected profit report from Microsoft wasn’t enough to satisfy investors expecting even more. They helped drag the S&P 500 down 1.2%. The index had its first loss in five days and its worst in nearly four weeks. Other stock indexes around the world were mixed, while gold rose again through the uncertainty to touch its highest price in nearly nine years. Treasury yields and oil prices fell.
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