READY FOR TAKEOFF
Navajo Nation orders new 3-week stay-at-home lockdown
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation on Monday will reinstate a stayat-home lockdown for the entire reservation while closing tribal offices and requiring new closures and safety measures for businesses due to rising COVID-19 cases.
The lockdown goes into effect Monday for a three-week period, tribal officials announced Friday night.
A previously ordered 56-hour weekend curfew began Friday night.
Much of the Navajo Nation was closed from March to August as the coronavirus swept through the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah in the U.S. Southwest.
The Navajo Nation Department of Health on Wednesday warned residents of new “uncontrolled spread” of the virus in 34 communities on the reservation.
Before the announcement, tribal officials earlier Friday evening reported 97 additional known cases and two more deaths, increasing the total cases to 13,069 with 598 deaths.
New COVID-19 restrictions on dining, gyms in Washington
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Sunday announced new restrictions on businesses and social gatherings for the next four weeks as the state continues to combat a rising number of coronavirus cases.
Starting at 11:59 p.m. Monday, a host of businesses must close their indoor services, including fitness facilities and gyms, bowling centers, movie theaters, museums, zoos and aquariums.
Retail stores, including grocery stores, must limit their indoor capacity to 25%.
Also starting at that time, indoor social gatherings with people from more than one household are also prohibited unless attendees have either quarantined for 14 days before the gathering or tested negative for COVID-19 and quarantined for seven days.
There’s no enforcement mechanism for indoor get-togethers, but Inslee said he hopes people will follow the order.
Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, restaurants and bars will be limited to to-go service and outdoor dining with tables seating no more than five people.
5 killed in wreck with wrong-way driver in South Carolina
LAURENS, S.C. – A car driving the wrong way on a South Carolina interstate caused a wreck that killed five people early Sunday morning, troopers said.
All five people in the two cars were trapped in the wreckage on Interstate 385 in Laurens County and had to be cut from the crumpled metal.
Four died at the scene and the fifth person died at the hospital, South Carolina Trooper Joe Hovis said.
The wreck happened when a 2014 Kia heading the wrong way in the southbound lanes of I-385 near Laurens hit a 2020 Hyundai head-on around 2:15 a.m. Sunday, Hovis said in a statement.
Fire damages historic mosque on Istanbul’s Bosporus Strait
ISTANBUL – A historic wooden mosque in Istanbul caught on fire Sunday and Turkish firefighters put out the blaze, working from land and sea.
The Vanikoy Mosque, built in the 17th century during the reign of Ottoman Sultan IV Mehmed, is located on the Asian side of Istanbul along the Bosporus Strait. Videos showed heavy smoke pouring from the structure.
Istanbul’s Fire Department tweeted the fire had been extinguished and cooling efforts were ongoing. The firefighters prevented the fire from reaching a forest behind the mosque
The cause of the fire had not been determined. T
Israeli military strikes Hamas targets in Gaza after rockets
JERUSALEM – The Israeli military said it struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip early Sunday after militants fired two rockets from the Palestinian territory.
In a statement, the military said fighter jets, attack helicopters and tanks hit Hamas underground infrastructure and military posts. It said two rockets were launched into Israel, with one reaching the southern Israeli city of Ashdod and the other stretching into central Israel.
There were no reports of injuries on either side.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from any militant group in the Palestinian territory.
Moldova’s presidential runoff sees big Russia-west divide
CHISINAU, Moldova – Moldovans returned to the polls Sunday for a presidential runoff, facing a stark choice between the staunchly pro-russian incumbent and his popular challenger, a pro-western former World Bank economist.
The challenger, former Prime Minister Maia Sandu, beat the odds to win the first round on Nov. 1, which narrowed the field from eight to two candidates. Sandu won over 36% of the vote, leaving the incumbent, President Igor Dodon, behind by over 3.5 points.
The election is perceived as a referendum on two divergent visions for the future of the small Eastern European nation sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania.
900 reportedly arrested in Belarus protests
KYIV, Ukraine – A human-rights group in Belarus said more than 900 people were arrested in protests around the country calling for authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko to step down.
The Sunday demonstrations continued the wave of near-daily protests that have gripped Belarus since early August. In the capital Minsk, police wielded clubs and used tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of demonstrators.
The Viasna human rights organization reported detentions at demonstrations in other cities, including Vitebsk and Gomel.