Disruption grows: Nations try to slow virus, help economies
BERLIN — Mass disruptions shuddered across the globe Tuesday as governments struggled to slow the spread of the coronavirus while also trying to keep their economies afloat. The chaos stretched from Lithuania, where border traffic jams were nearly 40 miles (64 kilometers) deep, to Detroit, where bus service came to a sudden stop when drivers didn’t show up for work.
European Union leaders, meanwhile, agreed to shut down the bloc’s external borders for 30 days. In the United States, West Virginia became the last state to report a case of the disease, confirming that it has spread nationwide.
And the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump was considering a plan to immediately return to Mexico all people who cross the southern border illegally, according to two administration officials who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the plan hasn’t been finalized.
Increasingly worried about the economic fallout of the global shutdown, the U.S., Britain and the Netherlands announced rescue packages totaling hundreds of billions of dollars, while longtime International Monetary Fund critic Venezuela asked the institution for a $5 billion loan.
But it was everyday people who suffered most.
Ex-California Rep. Duncan Hunter gets 11 months in prison
SAN DIEGO — Former California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter was sentenced Tuesday to 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing campaign funds and spending the money on everything from outings with friends to his daughter’s birthday party.
The ex-Marine’s attorneys had asked for most or part of his sentence be spent in home confinement, citing his military service fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his nearly six terms in Congress. Hunter, 43, resigned from Congress in January after representing one of Southern California’s last solidly Republican districts.
But U.S. District Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan said given the amount of money Hunter misspent and the number of years he carried out the pilfering, home confinement was not an option.
Prosecutors ahead of Tuesday’s sentencing submitted 87 pages to the judge that showed a corrupt congressman who intentionally and repeatedly stole from his campaign funds for a decade.
“Today’s sentence reinforces the notion that the truth still matters, that facts still matter,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Phil Halpern said after the hearing.
Iraqi officials say rockets strike Baghdad’s Green Zone
BAGHDAD — At least three rockets struck Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone near the American Embassy late Tuesday, a day after an attack on a training base south of Baghdad where U.S.-led coalition troops and NATO trainers were present, Iraqi security officials said. It was the fourth such attack in the span of a week.
At least three rockets struck the Green Zone, the seat of Iraq’s government and home to several foreign embassies, two Iraqi security officials said. Myles Caggins, spokesman for the coalition, said the rockets fell at least 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the embassy.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The previous evening, rockets hit the Basmaya base near the Iraqi capital, an Iraqi army statement said. The projectiles landed in an area that includes agricultural land and a factory, according to the statement. No more details were provided.
A Spanish contingent of the coalition and NATO trainers are present at the Basmaya site. There was no immediate confirmation of the attack from the coalition and no militant group claimed responsibility for the assault.
Spreading birthday card love in the time of coronavirus
NEW YORK — Mona Helgeland was sad for her children. Their birthdays were coming up but they were self-quarantined because of the coronavirus and going to miss celebrating with friends and family.
So, the Norwegian single mother of two went on Facebook groups and asked people to send greeting cards. She said she has been “blown away by the kindness.” In just a few days since that first post, she has received dozens of cards from across the world – from Alaska to South Africa.
“It’s beautiful. I started crying,” Helgeland, 37, said about the cards that some have posted with drawings of her son’s favorite Japanese cartoon characters, or cows, zebras and hearts, as well as photos from the studio where they make the Harry Potter films that her children love.
To Helgeland, who has a painful spinal joint disorder called ankylosing spondylitis, the message during these uncertain times is clear: “It’s important to stay positive and take care of each other and spread love, not just the virus.”
Tens of millions of people were hunkered down Tuesday. Countries across the globe shut their borders, and cities locked down, closing schools and businesses to try to curb the spread of the virus, which has infected more than 190,000 people and killed more than 7,500.
