Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, and director of vaccine development at Texas Children’s Hospital, said Thursday in a CBS Austin report that the recent increases in COVID-19 cases in cities like Houston and Dallas look “absolutely apocalyptic.” During a daily briefing in San Antonio on Thursday, Bexar County Metro Health Director Dr. Dawn Emerick said people had become too complacent and were not wearing face coverings in public....

A bull market is a run of value growth fueled by optimism that it will continue. A bear market, however, is when the value drops by more than 20 percent in a short period of time. The current bull market in U.S. stocks has run since March 2009 at the end of the financial crisis. The Dow Jones suffered the steepest one-day fall in its history on Thursday, down 4....

Travelers returning to U.S. airports from Europe have reported chaotic scenes and getting snarled up in long lines while awaiting coronavirus screening. The medical advice is for people to keep their distance from each other, but images of crowds of people standing cheek-by-jowl have been widely shared on social media as people waited for up to eight hours to be examined for the virus, according to Fox News. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced a travel ban on citizens of countries in the European Schengen zone, which went into effect on Friday....

The novel coronavirus has been recorded in 46 states and the District of Columbia, according to the latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The political response to the virus has also ramped up, with President Donald Trump declaring a national emergency. Globally, COVID-19 has infected more than 145,300 people and caused more than 5,400 deaths at time of writing, suggests a live map being maintained by Johns Hopkins University....

South Korea has reported a cluster of new cases in its capital Seoul. Cases have also surged past 1,000 in the U.S., which saw its first deaths in New Jersey and South Dakota. While the number of global cases has climbed to more than 119,000, including around 4,000 deaths, more than 66,000 people have recovered from the infection, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University. Cases of the virus, which was first detected in China’s Wuhan city in the Hubei province, have been reported in Brunei on the Asian island of Borneo, as well as Mongolia, Guernsey of the Channel Islands and Panama, in the past couple of days....

Stay: Live like a rock star at the Hotel Bel-Air (http://www.hotelbelair.com/), where a typical day on the sun-mottled patio restaurant brings sightings of real rock stars, legends like Nancy Reagan and international glitterati. Bungalows with private patios and French country furnishings are tucked among the über-verdant foliage and old-growth trees in this exclusive residential Bel-Air neighborhood. Rates from $395. The Huntley Hotel (thehuntleyhotel.com) in Santa Monica towers over the Pacific with views of the landmark Santa Monica Pier and its rainbow-colored Ferris wheel....

“Today, I crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso with [Families Belong Together] and [the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center] to help five women present themselves for asylum,” Booker said, describing the experience in a Twitter thread. “These are my observations. Please don’t look away.” One of the women seeking asylum in the U.S., the New Jersey senator said, “shared that she spent one month in detention. While there, she said the entire detention center had to stand in the sun all day without food, just water—but sometimes they ran out of water too....

Dark energy is the name given to the mysterious force that appears to be driving the universe’s accelerating expansion. Scientists know that space appears to be getting bigger at an increasingly fast rate, they just aren’t sure why. With this expansion, the universe gets cooler. It stands to reason that in the universe’s earlier stages, things were warmer. In a study released this week, researchers outlined exactly how much warmer the universe was by measuring something called the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation—faint, leftover radiation from the Big Bang....

Why You May Need a Private Patient Advocate Sometimes the only way to be sure you get the best service and outcomes possible from the healthcare system is to find someone else to help you navigate through the maze of providers, tests, treatments, and of course, medical bills you’ll encounter. But finding “someone else” and finding an expert, are two different things. Your sister or spouse may be able to help you....

The Chelsea striker joined Atletico Madrid in 2007 and went on to play a pivotal role in their success under Diego Simeone before he left for Stamford Bridge in 2014. The 28-year-old admits that he used to relish derby encounters in the capital as it gave him the chance to scrap with Madrid’s centre-back duo - although he insists their approach was always professional. “I used to love the games against Real Madrid and the chance to face Pepe and Ramos,” he told Sport TV....

The Spain international is currently in Brazil after being told by Antonio Conte via text that he was not in the Blues manager’s plans for the 2017-18 campaign. Costa has made it clear he wants to join former club Atletico Madrid despite their current transfer ban, but feels Chelsea are asking for too much money. The 28-year-old has been linked with a host of other clubs including AC Milan, Besiktas and Everton, but he insists he only wants to play for Atletico and does not feel he can have his future dictated to him by a club who do not want him....

That’s what’s at stake between the two sides as they meet in San Jose, Costa Rica on Thursday, the first of a set of three final matches remaining in the World Cup qualifying campaign. John Herdman has led Canada to an undefeated record atop the CONCACAF World Cup qualification table. A win in San Jose would secure a spot at this winter’s big dance, while a point plus a Panama loss or draw against Honduras would do the trick as well....

Some onlookers questioned the ethics of the act, as Costa’s sportsmanship has been brought into the spotlight for perhaps acting disrespectfully to Saturday’s opponents. Others, however, have questioned the legality of the celebration to the point that now match officials have had to involve themselves in the discussion. A photo posted by Yan Perin (@yangaucho) on Oct 22, 2016 at 10:05am PDT Referee Dr. Jochen Drees told ARD Radio: “For us, it depends on whether he has climbed a fence or made derogatory gestures....

After years of tests and missteps, VOD may be having its day. With splashy launches this month in Philadelphia and New York City, 7 million homes now have access to what is essentially a giant DVD player that sits at the cable company’s hub and streams movies and programs to their TV sets. Unlike pay per view, which shows a handful of films at appointed hours, VOD lets digital-cable subscribers pay a few dollars to pick from a selection of new and classic movies at any time, and to pause, fast-forward or rewind at will....

Speculation regarding possible criminal charges for Brian Laundrie, who has been named a “person of interest,” had already begun before the remains were found and his current whereabouts remain unknown. Now, people are wondering if his parents could also possibly face charges like obstruction of justice, although thus far authorities have given no indication they committed any crime. “The FBI is executing a court-authorized search warrant today at the Laundrie residence in North Port, FL relevant to the Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Petito investigation,” the Tampa office of the FBI tweeted on Monday....

The drivers had a coming together on the track, in which Wallace was knocked into the outside wall by Larson, on lap 95, before coming down the track and slamming into the right rear of Larson’s Chevrolet. The impact sent both cars spinning, with playoff driver Christopher Bell being caught in the crash, knocking him out of the race as well. With the race coming to slow, Wallace exited his car and headed towards Larson who had got out of his wrecked vehicle....

Powered by a head-turning 25-point, 13-rebound masterclass from Andrew Wiggins in Game 5, Golden State rides a 3-2 lead heading into Boston where it will look to finish off the Celtics and claim its first championship since 2018. A clinching opportunity means it’s time to really crank up the volume on the Finals MVP chatter. And with another Stephen Curry teammate grabbing the series by the horns, there seems to yet again be some drama building around whether or not the two-time regular season MVP will finally claim some individual Finals hardware....

China’s Xinjiang region has been under a formal lockdown for over a month now, and it appears to have worked. The lockdown started at the end of July when Xinjiang faced growing numbers. So, the city’s denizens were forced to take shelter inside their homes to help stop the spread. No new cases have been reported in a week, according to AFP Correspondent Laurie Chen. Because of the clear progress, it seems the homebound residents are ready for change....

According to The Evening Standard, Janine and Joe Shuter, aged 24 and 37, respectively, met six years ago through their jobs. The couple shares a deep love of reading: since their first date at Blackwell’s bookstore five years ago, the couple has amassed a whopping shared collection of 880 books. “That first date was really special because we had both grown up with a massive love of literacy, even though we are both dyslexic....

Nate Pentz said he and his partner Jess Pentz had stopped at the store along State Road 27 in Hayward, Wisconsin, to buy condoms after leaving her birth control at home. “As Jess was checking out, cashier John told her he couldn’t sell her the condoms,” Pentz wrote in a Twitter thread on Sunday that has since gone viral. “Oh I got them from over there,” Jess told the cashier, according to Pentz....