Top Eight

Top eight CNS stories for today including the Senate is expected to pass a roughly $2 trillion economic relief package in response to the coronavirus outbreak; California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the nation’s largest banks will voluntarily freeze mortgage payments for 90 days on families mired in the Covid-19 crisis; Spain’s death toll from the pandemic shot past that of China, and more.

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National

1.) After striking an early morning deal, the Senate is expected to pass a roughly $2 trillion economic relief package on Wednesday in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

A bitterly divided Congress has some wondering whether another government shutdown may result from an impasse on the federal budget. (AP file photo/Andrew Harnik)

2.) U.S. markets built slightly on Tuesday’s rally as the $2 trillion stimulus package makes its way through the Senate.

Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, March 18, 2020. Global stock markets have sunk in a third day of wild price swings after President Donald Trump promised to prop up the U.S. economy through the coronavirus outbreak.(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Regional

3.) California Governor Gavin Newsom delivered a dose of good news for homeowners on Wednesday, announcing the nation’s largest banks will voluntarily freeze mortgage payments for 90 days on families mired in the Covid-19 crisis.

A Caltrans freeway sign reads: "Wash your hands, Stay healthy, Avoid COVID-19" in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling for all bars, wineries, nightclubs and brewpubs to close in the nation's most populous state. Also Sunday, he urged seniors and people with chronic health conditions to isolate themselves at home in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/John Antczak)

4.) Sharing a sliver of good news Wednesday from ground zero of the U.S. Covid-19 epidemic, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo touted evidence that the embrace of social distancing could be slowing transmission rates.

A medical worker wearing a single protective glove and a face mask walks past a line of workers and visitors waiting to be tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, at the main entrance to the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Monday, March 23, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

5.) Green Bay is asking Wisconsin officials to postpone the state’s April primary election in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, arguing in a federal lawsuit that the city cannot safely conduct in-person voting due to the safety risks presented by the virus.

Downtown Green Bay, Wis., along the Fox River. (Photo via Chris Rand/Wikipedia Commons)

International

6.) Spain’s death toll from the coronavirus pandemic shot past that of China on Wednesday after it reported a stunning 738 more deaths, its most in a day.

FILE, in this Tuesday, March 24, 2020 file photo, a patient, center, is transferred to a medicalised hotel during the COVID-19 outbreak in Madrid, Spain. The coronavirus is winning a war of attrition waged against health care workers throughout the world but more so in Spain, where necessary equipment to shield them from contagion and enough testing kits for the new virus have been lacking for weeks. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, file)

7.) While Mexico, Brazil and Nicaragua disregard the World Health Organization’s recommendations, the rest of Latin America has closed airports and land borders to everyone except citizens trying to return.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro speaks at a ceremony to kick off the Economic Freedom Project, at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 20, 2019. (AP photo/Eraldo Peres)

8.) Differences in countries’ Covid-19 response measures mean that in one shop on the border between the Netherlands and Belgium, you can buy baby clothes but not men’s pajamas.

A Zeeman clothing store in Delft, the Netherlands. (CNS Photo/Molly Quell)

Categories / Uncategorized

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