Cruise passengers off California await virus test results

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Coronavirus test results were expected Friday for some passengers and crew aboard a cruise ship held off the California coast.

The Grand Princess lay at anchor near San Francisco on Thursday after a traveler from a previous voyage died of the disease and at least four others became infected. While the more than 3,500 aboard the 951-foot (290-meter) vessel were ordered to stay at sea as officials scrambled to keep the virus at bay, only 45 were identified for testing, Princess Cruises said in a statement.

“The ship will not come on shore until we appropriately assess the passengers,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said.

A Sacramento-area man who sailed on the ship in February later succumbed to the coronavirus. Two other passengers from that voyage have been hospitalized with the virus in Northern California, and two Canadians who recently sailed aboard the ship tested positive after returning home, officials said.

Northern California officials also are awaiting test results from a man who died Thursday after being on a cruise where others have tested positive.

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As virus cases near 100,000, fear of ‘devastation’ for poor

BANGKOK (AP) — The number of people infected with the new virus charged toward 100,000 Friday, with the global scare upending routines, threatening livelihoods and prompting quarantines in its spread.

Asian and European shares were down following a rough day on Wall Street and the consequences of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, were becoming clear to people around the world. Halted travel and a broader economic downturn linked to the outbreak threatened to hit already-struggling communities for months to come.

“Who is going to feed their families?” asked Elias al-Arja, the head of a hotel owners' union in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where tourists have been banned and the storied Church of the Nativity shuttered.

The head of the U.N.’s food agency, the World Food Program, warned of the potential of “absolute devastation” as the outbreak’s effects ripple through Africa and the Middle East.

Across the West, there was a sense of déjà vu as the virus’ spread prompted scenes that already played out in Asia, with workers foregoing offices, vigorous sanitizing in public places and runs on household basics. Even the spectacle of a cruise ship ordered to stay at sea off the California coast over virus fears replicated ones weeks ago on the other side of the globe.

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Russia-Turkey truce holds in Syria despite minor violations

BEIRUT (AP) — Opposition activists and a war monitor reported a complete absence of Russian and Syrian government warplanes in the skies of Idlib and a relative calm in the area Friday morning, following a cease-fire deal brokered by Turkey and Russia that halted a terrifying campaign of bombing from above.

Airstrikes over the past three months killed hundreds and sent a million people fleeing toward the Turkish border during the Russia-backed Syrian government assault on the country's last rebel stronghold.

Although warplanes no longer flew sorties overhead, the activists said there was minor shelling in some areas after the truce went into effect at midnight Thursday.

Russia and Turkey back rival sides in the Syrian conflict, and have become the main power brokers in the war-torn country.

The situation in the northwestern province of Idlib worsened in recent weeks after Turkey sent thousands of troops there. Clashes with Syrian government forces have killed 60 Turkish soldiers and scores of Syrian troops since the beginning of February.

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10 Things to Know for Today

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

1. CRUISE PASSENGERS AWAIT VIRUS TEST RESULTS Coronavirus test results are expected for some of the more than 3,500 passengers and crew aboard a Princess Cruises ship held off the San Francisco coast.

2. FEAR OF ‘DEVASTATION’ FOR POOR As the number of people infected with the new virus charges toward 100,000, the World Food Program expresses concern about its impact on Africa and the Middle East.

3. FOR US LABS, IT’S WAIT AND SEE Lawmakers express doubts about the Trump administration’s timeline to deliver 1 million tests for the coronavirus this week as states report limited testing supplies.

4. ‘THE ASCENDANCY OF OLD WHITE DUDES IS NOT OVER’ Elizabeth Warren’s decision to end her campaign has left many voters feeling deflated and frustrated by what they see as sexist stereotypes in presidential politics.

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Migrants, police clash again on Greek-Turkish border

KASTANIES, Greece (AP) — Clashes erupted anew on the Greek-Turkish border Friday as migrants attempted to push through into Greece, while the European Union's foreign ministers held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation on the border and in Syria, where Turkish troops are fighting.

Greek riot-control police used tear gas and a water cannon to drive back people trying to cross the land border from Turkey in the morning. Turkish police fired volleys of tear gas back toward Greece.

Thousands of refugees and other migrants have been trying to get into Greece through the country’s eastern land and sea borders in the past week, after Turkey declared its previously guarded borders with Europe were open.

Turkey's interior minister said Thursday that the government planned to deploy 1,000 special operations police on its side of the border to prevent Greek authorities from forcing back migrants who managed to cross.

Many asylum-seekers have been camping out on the Turkish side despite Greek insistence that its border is closed. Reporters were kept away from the border area on the Turkish side, but saw at least one bus full of people leaving the area Friday morning. It was unclear where the bus was headed.

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A promising 2020 presidential campaign for women falls short

At her home in suburban Detroit, Jill Warren spent Thursday morning glued to her phone, searching for news about the woman she fiercely believed should be the next president of the United States: Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Voter Warren had known that candidate Warren (no relation) was lagging badly and would likely drop out. Still, the news of the Massachusetts senator's departure from the presidential primaries was devastating — not only because of how the senator's message had resonated with her but because the exit was a final blow to hopes, once so bright, that a woman would be chosen to face President Donald Trump in November.

"It's a day for many people of mourning, just true mourning and grieving," said Jill Warren, a 61-year-old semi-retired nonprofit consultant.

“The ascendancy of old white dudes is not over," she said.

Elizabeth Warren's exit, coming after the one-time front-runner couldn't win a single Super Tuesday state, brought home a new and painful reality to some voters: If 2019 was the Year of the Woman, with a record number of women sworn into Congress and a record number launching presidential campaigns, 2020 was another Year of the Man in presidential politics.

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Trump set to sign $8.3B bill to fight coronavirus outbreak

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to sign an $8.3 billion measure to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak. The legislation would provide federal public health agencies money for vaccines, tests and potential treatments, and help state and local governments prepare for and respond to the threat.

The Senate passed the measure Thursday to help tackle the outbreak in hopes of reassuring a fearful public and accelerating the government's response to the virus. Its rapid spread is threatening to upend everyday life in the U.S. and across the globe.

The money would pay for a multifaceted attack on a virus that is spreading more widely every day, sending financial markets spiraling again Thursday, disrupting travel and potentially threatening the U.S. economy's decade-long expansion.

Thursday's sweeping 96-1 vote sends the bill to the White House for President Donald Trump's signature. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., cast the sole “no” vote. The House passed the bill Wednesday by a 415-2 vote.

The plan would more than triple the $2.5 billion amount outlined by the White House 10 days ago. The Trump proposal was immediately discarded by members of Congress from both parties. Instead, the bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations committees negotiated the increased figure and other provisions of the legislation in a burst of bipartisan cooperation that's common on the panel but increasingly rare elsewhere in Washington.

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Asian shares drop as virus fears grip markets again

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares slipped Friday as fears about the virus outbreak once again dominated financial markets.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei dived 3.1% to 20,663.32. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 2.1% to 6,259.20. South Korea's Kospi dropped 2.3% to 2,037.08. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 2.1% to 26,213.51, while the Shanghai Composite slumped 0.9% to 3,049.95. Shares also dropped in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

Markets have endured roller coaster ups and downs for weeks amid uncertainty over how much damage the outbreak of the new coronavirus will do to the global economy.

Vishnu Varathan at Mizuho Bank in Singapore said the potential damage from the new virus was two-fold, with the initial impact coming from a direct impact on the economy.

“One succumbs to the sheer fear of community spread, prospects of deep economic impact from a sharp drop off in demand for travel and seizures in supply-chains," Varathan said in a commentary.

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AP Exclusive: Gun found inside Epstein jail during lockdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal investigators found a loaded gun Thursday that had been smuggled into the jail where Jeffrey Epstein killed himself last summer, following a weeklong lockdown that turned up other contraband and led to a criminal probe into guard misconduct, the federal Bureau of Prisons told The Associated Press.

The handgun was located by Bureau of Prisons officers inside a housing unit at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, prison officials said in a statement to the AP. It marked a massive breach of protocol and raised serious questions about the security practices in place at the Bureau of Prisons, which is responsible for more than 175,000 federal inmates, and specifically at the jail, which had been billed as one of the most secure in America. Officials have not said where specifically the gun had been found, or how it had been smuggled inside the jail.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into potential misconduct by guards, focusing on the flow of contraband into the lockup uncovered during the search for the gun, three people familiar with the matter told the AP. They were not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Attorney General William Barr named a new director last week to take charge of the agency, which has been the subject of intense scrutiny since Epstein took his own life while in custody in August. But the agency has been plagued for years by serious misconduct, violence and a chronic staffing shortage

The investigation and search at the Manhattan facility began last week after officials received information that a gun may have been smuggled into the lockup and placed the jail on lockdown "in order to protect the public, staff and inmates until a comprehensive search could be completed,” the agency said in a statement.

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Washington, DC, gets its first coronavirus pop-up shop

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's capital has pop-up shops for food and drink, even marijuana. And now, coronavirus prevention supplies.

As local stores sell out of masks and hand sanitizer, Adilisha Patrom, owner of a co-working and event space next to Gallaudet University, saw an opportunity and jumped on it.

Inside, her storefront, different models of face masks and hand sanitizer bottles in various sizes are displayed along a stack of information sheets from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Thursday, one man stopped by, asked how much the masks cost and then left.

A Florida native who came to Washington to attend Howard University, Patrom, 29, sells her masks for between $5 and $20, depending on the model. She also puts together prevention kits with masks, surgical gloves and sanitizer, which sell for $20 to $30.

The high-end N95 masks are priced at about twice what they sell for on Amazon. But Patrom says her goal isn't to get rich. Rather, she sees the shop as a service to the community and says discounts are available to those in need and to senior citizens, who are most vulnerable to the virus.