By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and MARYCLAIRE DALE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many American workers applying for unemployment benefits after being thrown out of a job by the coronavirus face a new complication: States’ efforts to prevent fraud have delayed or disrupted their payments.

California has said it will stop processing new applications for two weeks as it seeks to reduce backlogs and stop phony claims. Pennsylvania has found that up to 10,000 inmates improperly applied for aid.

The biggest threat is posed by sophisticated international fraud rings that often use stolen identities to apply for benefits, filling out the forms with a wealth of accurate information that enables their applications to “sail through the system,” said Michele Evermore, an expert on jobless aid at the National Employ...

By The Associated Press

LONDON — Britain has reported the highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day with 6,632 infections.

Public Health England Medical Director Yvonne Doyle says the figure is a “stark warning’ as infections rise across all age groups.

She says citizens must follow the new restrictions announced by the government this week to control the spread of the virus. Doyle suggested downloading the National Health Service’s new coronarvirus contact tracing app.

Britain has the highest death toll in Europe, with nearly 42,000 confirmed dead. The rise in cases announced Thursday reflects both the spread of the virus and increased testing, which has more than doubled since the peak of the first wave in April and May.

___

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRU...

By LISA MASCARO, AAMER MADHANI and KEVIN FREKING

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional leaders from both parties, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, swiftly pushed back Thursday after President Donald Trump declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Trump said during a Wednesday news conference, “We’re going to have to see what happens,” responding to a question about committing to the results. “You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”

By Thursday, the White House sought to clarify Trump’s words

“The president will accept the results of a free and fair election,” said Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany...

BILLERICA — Less than a week after Town Manager John Curran said that he expects both the Vining and old Ditson elementary schools to finally be demolished this spring, he informed the members of the Board of Selectmen recently that their effort to give away old desks from the schools was a “huge success.”

“It was a great success and it was a good way to use those desks,” Curran said. “With the climate we’re in, desks are a pretty good thing for remote learning, so people will use them for that purpose.”

Curran’s remarks came during the board’s virtual meeting, where he provided an update on the Sept. 12 event.

According to Curran, the town had 100 families pre-register for the event, though only half showed up.

Still, Curran was confident that the demand for desks re...

KEVIN FREKING

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump paid respects to late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Thursday morning, just two days before he announces his nominee to replace her on the high court.

The president and first lady Melania Trump — both wearing masks — stood silently at the top of the steps of the court and looked down at Ginsburg’s flag-draped coffin, surrounded by white flowers. The death of the liberal-leaning justice has sparked a controversy over the balance of the court just weeks before the November presidential election.

Trump has called Ginsburg an “amazing woman,” but some spectators were not happy that he came. Moments after he arrived, booing could be heard from those holding about a block away from the building...

By NADINE ACHOUI-LESAGE and JAMEY KEATEN

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Swiss authorities ordered 2,500 students at an elite hospitality management school to quarantine themselves due to a coronavirus outbreak allegedly linked to off-campus partying, the latest back-to-school sign of higher education’s place in the pandemic.

Authorities in Switzerland’s Vaud canton, or region, said all undergraduates at the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne, or the Lausanne Hospitality Management University in English, were told to quarantine at home both on and off campus because the virus already had spread too widely for a more limited order.

“Significant outbreaks of infection have appeared at several levels of training, making impossible a more targeted closure than that involving 2,500 students,” the...

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and MARYCLAIRE DALE

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment aid rose slightly last week to 870,000, a historically high figure that shows that the viral pandemic is still squeezing restaurants, airlines, hotels and many other businesses six months after it first erupted.

The figure coincides with evidence that some newly laid-off Americans are facing delays in receiving unemployment benefits as state agencies intensify efforts to combat fraudulent applications and clear their pipelines of a backlog of jobless claims.

California has said it will stop processing new applications for two weeks as it seeks to reduce backlogs and prevent fraudulent claims. Pennsylvania has found that up to 10,000 inmates are improperly receiving aid.

The Labor...

AYER – Local government officials and national environmental experts are asking the U.S. Army for a study to be conducted at the Nashua River after three potentially hazardous items were found in the river this summer.

During its Sept. 15 meeting, the Ayer Select Board approved a motion to send a letter to the U.S. Army Garrison in Devens requesting a UXO Study for the Nashua River.

Town Manager Robert Pontbriand said Sept. 21 that the town would send the letter in the coming days. The request comes after three UXOs, or unexploded ordnances, were found in two different locations in the river this summer: two found by a Shirley resident on the bottom of the river near Lake George Street in Devens on July 24 and another found on Aug...

By The Associated Press

Here’s what’s happening Thursday in Election 2020, 40 days until Election Day:

ON THE TRAIL: President Donald Trump visits North Carolina and Florida and Vice President Mike Pence visits Wisconsin and Minnesota.

HOW TO VOTE: AP’s state-by-state interactive has details on how to vote in this election.

TODAY’S TOP STORIES:

TRUMP BALKS: Trump is declining to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 presidential election. Trump told reporters he would “have to see what happens” when asked about the matter. His Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, responded by asking, “What country are we in?”

BIDEN’S COURT: Some leading progressives are pressing Biden to endorse expanding the number of high court justices should he win the White House...

Here’s another chance to see live theater, from a safe distance, if you are so inclined.

The Players Ring, based on Marcy Street in Portsmouth, N.H, will reopen on Friday, Oct. 2, with the U.S. premiere of “Mary and Me” by Irish playwright Irene Kelleher, starring Emily Karel and directed by Peter Josephson. It plays through Sunday, Oct. 11.

The reopening of The Players Ring, closed since March due to the pandemic, features new protocols to keep audience, actors and staff safe. These include a new air handling and ventilation system, reduced capacity from 75 to 33 seats, social distancing of 6 feet, a health check at the door and a mandatory mask policy.

“Our number-one priority in deciding to reopen has been the safety of our artists, volunteers and audiences,” said Production Mana...