Novel coronavirus

WATCH: Fauci, Redfield, Giroir take questions about need for a national COVID-19 strategy

By Laura Santhanam

The Trump administration initially rejected lawmakers' requests to allow these experts to offer testimony before Congress. They are scheduled to testify Friday at 9 a.m. ET.

Election officials game out worst-case scenarios in drills

By Eric Tucker, Associated Press

The Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity agency this week has hosted a three-day tabletop exercise aimed at helping local, state and federal officials prepare for and respond to worst-case scenarios on Election Day. One imagined scenario involved a supply chain…

Record economic plunge, bleak jobs numbers reveal virus toll

By Martin Crutsinger, Paul Wiseman, Associated Press

The coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy plunging by a record-shattering 32.9% annual rate last quarter. It is still inflicting damage across the country, squeezing already struggling businesses and forcing a wave of layoffs that shows no sign of abating.

Washington D.C. will not reopen school buildings in fall

By Ashraf Khalil, Associated Press

Officials have abandoned their initial plans to use a combination of distance and in-person instruction. The announcement Thursday by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser was widely expected as all surrounding school districts in northern Virginia and southern Maryland had already made…

Mexico to create drug purchasing agency amid shortages

By Mark Stevenson, Associated Press

Mexico's president says he is creating a central national purchasing agency for medicines, vaccines and medical equipment, amid persistent reports of shortages during and before the coronavirus pandemic.

Analysis: Cities hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic face bankruptcy

By Mark Davidson, Kevin Ward, The Conversation

With sales tax revenues plummeting because of the pandemic, many cities will face bankruptcy – and that could affect everything from retirees' pensions to whether roads get fixed.

Former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain dies at 74

By Associated Press

Former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain has died after battling the coronavirus.

U.S. economy shrank at record-breaking 33 percent rate last quarter

By Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy shrank at a dizzying 33% annual rate in the April-June quarter — by far the worst quarterly plunge ever — when the viral outbreak shut down businesses, throwing tens of millions out of work…

Pilgrims pray on peak day of hajj in shadow of coronavirus

By Aya Batrawy, Associated Press

Masked pilgrims arrived Thursday at Mount Arafat, a desert hill near Islam's holiest site, to pray and repent on the most important day of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage in Mecca in Saudi Arabia.