WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump said Monday his administration will ask Congress to pass payroll tax relief and other quick measures as a public health and economic maelstrom brought on by the coronavirus drew closer to him personally. Intending to calm the fears of financial markets over the impact of the epidemic, Trump told reporters that he is seeking "very substantial relief" to the payroll tax. Trump also said he was seeking help for hourly-wage workers to ensure

A special North Korean flight carrying presumably dozens of diplomats and other foreigners arrived in Russia's Far East on Monday as the country tightens its lockdown intended to fend off the coronavirus. North Korea has not publicly confirmed a single case of the COVID-19 illness, but its state media have reported thousands of people have been quarantined as part of strict prevention measures. Seemingly dozens of passengers, most of them masked and some accompanied by children, lined up at

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices are plunging amid worries that an OPEC dispute will lead an economy weakened by COVID-19 to be awash in an oversupply of crude. Brent crude, the international standard, lost $8.77, or 19.3 percent, to $36.50, as of 7:23 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday after earlier touching its lowest price since early 2016. Benchmark US crude fell $8.11 to $33.17. The dramatic losses follow a 10.1 percent drop for US oil on Friday, which was its biggest loss in more than fiv

TOKYO (AP) -- Despite the spreading virus, Tokyo Olympic organizers have finally held a test event. The recent outbreak of the coronavirus has forced them to cancel or postpone several. But they allowed a sport climbing event on Friday to go ahead, with a few restrictions: no fans and no top athletes. Instead they used amateurs to test the climbing facility. Almost all sports events and large gatherings have been shut down in Japan. Preseason baseball is being played without fans, the socce

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Trump administration is limiting the number of journalists from five Chinese state-run media outlets who can work in the United States. A State Department announcement Monday cited China's increasingly harsh surveillance, harassment and intimidation of American and other foreign journalists in China for an action that comes amid efforts by foreign governments to influence US politics through state media. It said the US was not planning to place any restrictions on the

BEIJING (AP) -- Iranians hoarded medical supplies, Italians urged doctors out of retirement and South Koreans prepared to pump billions into relief efforts Tuesday as the virus epidemic firmed its hold around the globe. Mushrooming outbreaks in the Mideast, Europe and South Korea contrasted with optimism in China, where thousands of recovered patients were going home. A growing outbreak in the United States led schools and subways to sanitize, quickened a search for a vaccine, and spread fea

PARIS (AP) -- Coronavirus cases surged in Italy, and France closed the world-famous Louvre Museum on Sunday as the deadly outbreak that began in China sent fear rising across Western Europe, threatening its tourism industry. The number of countries hit by the virus climbed past 60, and the death toll worldwide reached at least 3,000. New fronts in the battle opened rapidly over the weekend, deepening the sense of crisis that has already sent financial markets plummeting, emptied the streets i

TOKYO (AP) -- The coronavirus has claimed its first victim in the United States as the number of cases shot up in Iran, Italy and South Korea and the spreading outbreak shook the global economy. Governments stepped up efforts to contain the disease. Saudi Arabia closed Islam's holiest sites to foreign pilgrims. In Japan, professional baseball teams played in deserted stadiums. The French government advised the public to forgo customary greeting kisses. Ireland and Ecuador among the countries

A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 82,000 people globally. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it. The latest figures reported by each government's health authority as of Thursday in Beijing: Mainland China: 2,744 deaths among 78,497 cases, mostly in the central province of Hubei Hong Kong: 81 cases, 2 deaths Macao: 10 cases South Korea: 1,595 cases, 13 deaths Japan:

ROME (AP) -- Italy reported a 45 percent one-day increase in people infected with the coronavirus as other countries in Europe recorded their first cases Tuesday, producing evidence that travelers are carrying the virus from the European outbreak's current epicenter. Italian officials reported 11 deaths and 322 confirmed cases of the virus, 100 more than a day earlier. While the majority were concentrated in northern Italy, some of the new cases registered outside the country's two hard-

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House on Monday sent lawmakers an urgent budget request for $2.5 billion to address the deadly coronavirus outbreak,  whose rapid spread and threat to the global economy rocked financial markets. The White House budget office said the funds are for vaccines, treatment, and protective equipment. The request could advance quickly through Congress and came as coronavirus fears were credited with Monday's 1,000-plus point drop in the Dow Jones Industrials and are

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States and South Korea are considering curtailing joint military exercises due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus, officials said Monday. After a meeting at the Pentagon to review a full range of issues, including a standoff over US demands that Seoul pay a much bigger share of the cost of hosting American forces, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo told reporters that coronavirus is a threat to their schedule o

SEOUL (AP) -- "At first, we were even told not to use the word 'Chairman'" an honorific title alluding to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to Joo Dong-man, a props manager, recalling the painstakingly meticulous process of re-creating the life in North Korea on screen for South Korean viewers. Joo was part of the crew for the drama "Crash landing on you," South Korea's biggest recent hit about the story of a billionaire heiress who accidentally paraglides to North

BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese health officials expressed new optimism Thursday over the deadly virus outbreak while authorities in South Korea's fourth-largest city urged residents to hunker down as fears nagged communities far from the illness' epicenter. The confidence voiced by China's government came as it reported a reduced number of new infections. But doubts remained about the true trajectory of the epidemic as China again changed its method of counting and new threats emerged outside the cou

TEHRAN (AP) -- Iran said Thursday that three more people have been infected with the new virus that originated in central China, following an announcement the day before that two people had died of the illness caused by the virus in the Iranian city of Qom. All schools and universities, including religious Shiite seminaries, were shut down in the holy city of Qom, according to the official IRNA news agency. Other news reports said Iran had recently evacuated 60 Iranian students from Wuhan, th