(Reuters) – Wall Street came under pressure on Friday as investors sold energy, financial and healthcare stocks on mounting fears over the coronavirus outbreak in China, while strong gains for chipmaker Intel limited losses on the main indexes. Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in…

People wear masks as they walk in Chinatown district, in London, Britain January 24, 2020. REUTERS/Toby MelvilleLONDON (Reuters) – Cases of new coronavirus in the United Kingdom are highly likely but none has been confirmed so far, health bosses said on Friday. As concern mounted about the outbreak in China, Britain’s emergency committee – known…

HOUSTON (Reuters) – A massive explosion at a machine shop ripped through a Houston neighborhood early Friday morning, and police said at least two people were killed and several injured while homes were damaged by the explosion that sent out blast waves detected for miles. “First and foremost, I want to say that we do…

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese state television’s traditional Lunar New Year extravaganza on Friday paid tribute to the people of Wuhan and to medical staff fighting the coronavirus crisis, urging them on to victory in the battle to defeat the outbreak. FILE PHOTO: A picture released by the Central Hospital of Wuhan shows medical staff attending…

BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese city of Wuhan is rapidly building a new 1,000-bed hospital to treat victims of a new coronavirus, mobilizing machinery to get it ready by early next week, state media said. The virus has killed 25 people in China and infected more than 800, the government said on Friday, as the…

MELBOURNE/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Firefighters in Australia held a minute’s silence on Friday for three U.S. colleagues killed in a plane crash as investigators began scouring the accident site in remote bushland. A destroyed building is seen at the Kangaroo Valley Bush Retreat after a wildfire raged through the property in Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales,…

SYDNEY (Reuters) – The three U.S. firefighters killed when their C-130 Hercules tanker plane crashed while battling fierce bushfires in Australia were all former U.S. military members aged in their 40s with extensive flight experience. Coulson Aviation, the private Canadian firm that employed the trio, named them on Friday as Captain Ian H. McBeth, 44,…

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Actress Annabella Sciorra testified on Thursday that Harvey Weinstein pinned her hands behind her head and violently raped her more than 25 years ago, becoming the first accuser to take the stand against the former Hollywood producer in his sexual assault trial. “He had intercourse with me as I tried to…

BEIJING (Reuters) – China put millions of people on lock down on Thursday in two cities at the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak that has killed 17 people and infected more than 630, as authorities around the world worked to prevent a global pandemic. Health officials fear the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of…

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore on Thursday confirmed its first case of a new strain of coronavirus that has killed 17 and infected more than 630 people in China, the health ministry said. FILE PHOTO: A passenger wearing a mask walks past upon arrival of a flight from Hangzhou, China at Changi Airport, Singapore January 22,…

HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam’s health ministry said on Thursday that two Chinese citizens in the Southeast Asian country had tested positive for coronavirus, but were in “good condition”. The father and son pair were hospitalized on Jan. 22 after showing signs of fever and are being treated at the Cho Ray hospital in Ho Chi…

FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., January 21, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid(Reuters) – U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday on rising worries over the coronavirus outbreak in China that prompted a lockdown of two cities in the country, while a mixed bag of results…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Some members of the U.S. Senate hearing President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, a proceeding following decades-old precedent, said they welcomed at least one of the chamber’s anachronistic rules: a ban on cellphones. “We’re all on a digital detox,” said Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, during a break in what is just the third…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russian military hackers tried to steal emails from the Ukrainian energy firm where Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic U.S. presidential contender Joe Biden, had a seat on the board, an American cybersecurity firm said on Monday. Energy company Burisma Holdings Ltd was at the center of attempts by President Donald Trump…

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – The International Court of Justice on Thursday will rule on a request for emergency measures by Gambia, which has filed a case against Myanmar accusing it of genocide against the Muslim minority Rohingya population. FILE PHOTO: Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi speaks on the second day of hearings in a…

NAVAL AIR STATION PENSACOLA, Fla. (Reuters) – With an FBI investigation underway, Navy security officer David Link still is not allowed to talk about what he saw when a Saudi gunman killed three U.S. sailors at this sprawling Florida naval base last month. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper meets Navy sailor David Link, one of…

DAVOS, Switzerland/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he did not consider the brain injuries suffered by 11 U.S. service members in Iran’s recent attack on a base in Iraq to be serious, as the American military moved more troops out of the region for potential injuries. In a statement on Wednesday,…

LONDON (Reuters) – Terry Jones, one of the British Monty Python comedy team and director of religious satire “Life of Brian”, has died at the age of 77 after a long battle with dementia, his family said on Wednesday. Born in Wales in 1942, Jones was also an author, historian and poet. He had been…

(Reuters) – The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit record highs on Wednesday as a strong forecast from IBM added to optimism over earnings, while investors assessed risks from a virus outbreak in China. Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., January 21, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidInternational…

(Reuters) – Tesla Inc shares surged on Wednesday, and the company became the first publicly listed U.S. automaker to cross $100 billion in market valuation, more than Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co combined. FILE PHOTO: Philip Floyd, senior engineering technician for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), demonstrates a front crash prevention…

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen called on China on Wednesday to share “correct” information about a new coronavirus and for the World Health Organisation (WHO) not to exclude Taiwan from collaboration on the outbreak for political reasons. Foxconn employees wearing masks attend the company’s year-end gala in Taipei, Taiwan January 22, 2020. REUTERS/Yimou…

HONG KONG (Reuters) – The Chinese-ruled gambling hub of Macau confirmed on Wednesday its first case of pneumonia linked to an outbreak of a newly identified coronavirus strain in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, China’s state news agency Xinhua said. The patient, a 52-year-old woman, was a tourist from Wuhan and reported to a…

BETHEL, Alaska (Reuters) – The U.S. Census Bureau launched on Tuesday its latest once-in-a-decade head count of Americans in one of the most remote corners of the country, a tiny Alaska Native village on the Bering Sea coast. U.S. Census Bureau Director, Dr. Steven Dillingham poses with Census employees in the Ravn Air terminal in…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate blocked Democratic attempts on Tuesday to obtain evidence and call a witness in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, an early sign the proceeding could advance on lines favorable to Trump. As the third presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history began in earnest, Trump’s chief legal defender described the…

GENEVA (Reuters) – North Korea said on Tuesday it was no longer bound by commitments to halt nuclear and missile testing, blaming the United States’ failure to meet a year-end deadline for nuclear talks and “brutal and inhumane” U.S. sanctions. FILE PHOTO: A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When White House counsel Pat Cipollone argues President Donald Trump’s case in a Senate trial this week, he will also be defending his role in a controversial legal strategy that helped lead to Trump’s impeachment on a charge of obstructing Congress. FILE PHOTO: White House Counsel Pat Cipollone departs after meeting with…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate is holding an impeachment trial on charges by the House of Representatives that President Donald Trump abused his powers and obstructed a congressional inquiry into his effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) speaks to a Senate page…

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Michael Avenatti is living in a jail cell that reportedly once housed convicted Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, making it impossible for the celebrity lawyer to prepare for his upcoming extortion trial, his lawyers said. FILE PHOTO: Attorney Michael Avenatti arrives at the United States Courthouse in the Manhattan…

(Reuters) – The NFL will cap its centennial season with a compelling Super Bowl featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers that will highlight a clash of styles and two dynamic young quarterbacks poised to lead the league into its next hundred years. FILE PHOTO: Jan 19, 2020; Santa Clara, California, USA; San…

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Mining giant BHP Group (BHP.AX) said on Tuesday that poor air quality caused by smoke from Australia’s bushfires is hurting coal production, as authorities cautioned a reprieve from hazardous fire conditions could end within days. Rubble are seen at a property damaged by bushfires in Kangaroo Valley, Australia, January 20, 2020. REUTERS/Angie…