|
This is VOA news. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd.
Britain on Saturday removed Spain from its list of safe countries to travel to after the country measured a spike in new coronavirus cases. The decision means those visiting Spain will have to quarantine for 14 days following their return to the United Kingdom. Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Britain Jonathan Van-Tam said the decision came after a "tipping point" with new data about the level of disease in Spain. "The tipping point is new data received about the level of disease in Spain, particularly on the mainland." The decision means anyone returning to Britain from Spain either from the mainland or from its adjoining islands will be required to self-isolate. Hurricane Hanna came ashore along the Texas Gulf coast late Saturday, lashing the shoreline with wind gusts, rain and storm surge and even threatening to bring possible tornadoes to a part of the country trying to cope with a spike in coronavirus cases. In an AP interview, the National Hurricane Center Stacy Stewart says that residents can expect high winds, heavy rains and a storm surge. " ... and it will produce strong gust winds, a storm surge of up to 5 feet in some areas and especially lots of heavy rainfall across the central and southern Texas coast and even well inland." Many parts of Texas, including the area where Hanna is expected to come ashore, have been dealing with a surge in coronavirus cases in recent weeks. But local officials said they were prepared for whatever the storm might bring. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tweeted on Saturday that he has tested negative for the coronavirus. Saturday's negative diagnosis follows four tests taken by the Brazilian leader. Previous results had been positive. This is VOA news. Broadcaster Regis Philbin, the genial host who shared his life with television viewers over morning coffee for decades, has died at 88. AP's Ben Thomas reports. "I feel pretty good." "You do?" "Well I feel, you know, a little of the weight of the whole thing, you know, the somberness of it all." "And where is Regis going?" "Regis, I don't know." Regis Philbin was most genial of TV hosts sharing his life with viewers and bantering about the events of the day over morning coffee, first co-host Kathie Lee Gifford starting in 1985 and from 2001 until his retirement in 2011 with Kelly Ripa on "Live! with Regis and Kelly." " ... they watch it, they say, because it makes them feel better. And it can't get any better than that. It makes them happy and I'll never be able to op that." His family says he died Friday night from natural causes. Regis Philbin was 88. I'm Ben Thomas. The life of the late Jackson Lewis, the Georgia congressman and civil rights icon, was celebrated Saturday in Alabama. AP correspondent Julie Walker has more. "The Boy from Troy," Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. called him, came home for the last time and it was ??? Troy University where he'd wanted to go to school but was denied because he was Black. He'd spent the rest of his life fighting to end racism. His young nephew was one of several who spoke. "My name is Jackson Lewis Brewster and Congressman John Lewis was my uncle and my hero. And it's up to us to keep his legacy alive." Lewis' body will cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday 55 years after the famous civil rights march. He will lie in state in Montgomery, then on Monday and Tuesday in the U.S. Capitol before heading to Atlanta for his funeral Thursday at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King preached. Lewis died last week at the age of 80. I'm Julie Walker. Tens thousands took to the streets of the Russian Far East city of Khabarovsk for the third straight week on Saturday, protesting against the arrest of the region's governor, Sergei Furgal, on charges of involvement in multiple murders. A member of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, Furgal was elected governor in 2018 and is widely popular in the region. British guitarist Peter Green, who led the first incarnation of Fleetwood Mac in a career shortened by psychedelic drugs and mental illness, has died at age 73. He made his mark as a composer with Albatross, and as a songwriter with Oh Well and Black Magic Woman. Green left Fleetwood Mac for good in 1971. The band's new line-up, including Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, gained enormous success with a more pop-oriented sound. For more, visit our website voanews.com. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd. |