BEIJING BEGINS TESTING 20M FOR COVID-19
BEIJING » Faced with a growing number of coronavirus infections across Beijing, city officials are trying to test 20 million of the capital’s 22 million residents in the hope of avoiding the pain of imposing a citywide lockdown like in Shanghai.
On Tuesday, residents across the city, waited in long lines to get tested. Government workers in full protective gear set up tents and crowd-control barriers to organize the flow of people.
“The current epidemic situation is severe and complex,” Tian Wei, a spokesman for Beijing’s Communist Party committee, said at a news conference Tuesday.
The Beijing government on Monday ordered the testing after recording several dozen new infections since Friday.
Harris positive for COVID-19.
WASHINGTON » Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, the White House announced, underscoring the persistence of the contagious virus even as the U.S. eases restrictions in a bid to return to pre-pandemic normalcy.
Neither President Joe Biden nor first lady Jill Biden was considered a “close contact” of Harris in recent days, said the vice president’s press secretary, Kirsten Allen.
Parents sue after death of teen from Florida drop-tower ride.
ORLANDO, FLA. » The parents of a 14-year-old boy who fell to his death from a 430foot drop-tower ride in central Florida’s tourist district sued its owner, manufacturer and landlord on Monday, claiming they were negligent and failed to provide a safe amusement ride.
The parents of Tyre Sampson said in the lawsuit filed in state court in Orlando that the defendants failed to warn their 6-foot-2-inch, 380-pound son about the risks of someone of his size going on the ride and didn’t provide an appropriate restraint system.
N. Korea’s Kim vows to bolster nuke capability during parade.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA » North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to accelerate the development of nuclear weapons and threatened to use them if provoked in a speech he delivered at a military parade that featured powerful missiles capable of targeting the country’s rivals, state media reported Tuesday.
Kim’s remarks suggest he will continue provocative weapons tests in a pressure campaign aimed at wresting concessions from the United States and its allies.
Biden to speak at Mondale memorial Sunday.
MINNEAPOLIS » President Joe Biden plans to speak at a memorial service in Minnesota on Sunday for former Vice President Walter Mondale, who died last April at age 93.
Biden will travel to Minneapolis for the event at the University of Minnesota. The president has described Mondale as a “dear friend and mentor” and “one of our nation’s most dedicated patriots and public servants.”