New York, the state with the most COVID-19 cases in the nation by far, has not restricted religious gatherings, although the state “strongly recommended” that in-person services not be held. The states with the second and third most cases, New Jersey and Michigan, also include religious exemptions in their stay-at-home orders. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis exempted religious gatherings in his order while also preventing local authorities for making restrictions, saying he didn’t “think the government has the authority to close a church....

James stated that this is a serious issue in both New York and the United States. “We are in the throes of dual crises, both of which have ravaged our communities and claimed far too many lives,” said Attorney General James. “As we recover and rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must not forget to reflect on the impact drug overdoses have had on our state and our nation.”...

New York City FC put together a very promising list of players in Wednesday’s MLS Expansion Draft, outdoing Orlando City with a group that includes proven veterans and some injured players with considerable upside. NYCFC head coach Jason Kreis figured to grab at least one of his former Real Salt Lake players, and he managed to take two in Ned Grabavoy and Chris Wingert, both key starters on Kreis’ RSL teams....

Worth a reported $17 million per year, de Blasio told MSNBC’s Morning Joe the city was severing all contracts with the Trump Organization, saying the legal team believes they’re within their right to do so because the leadership of the company was engaged in “criminal activity.” “Inciting an insurrection against the United States government clearly constitutes criminal activity,” de Blasio said. “The City of New York will no longer have anything to do with the Trump Organization....

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez was at his mother’s home on Tuesday evening when the incident occurred, the New York Daily News reported. The suspect, Shashi Rattan, 30, was a neighbor of Gonzalez’s mother, Carmen Diaz, who is 83 years old and lives in Brooklyn. According to the Daily News, Rattan allegedly set a mattress ablaze in a driveway around 9:45 p.m. on Tuesday evening. He then set fire to a lighter cube, which is used to light barbecue charcoal....

The Clark Burn Center (CBC) at the State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University in Syracuse said in a statement provided to Newsweek that it had seen 38 people hospitalized due to accelerant-related burns so far this year This number exceeds the total figure recorded at the burn center for the whole of 2020 by eight. In addition, officials said that accelerant-related burns have increased by 100 percent since 2017....

The governor reiterated the call in a tweet. “NYS is preparing for potential staffing shortages during the #Coronavirus pandemic. We are seeking recently retired health professionals as reserve staff if the need arises,” he wrote. The New York State Health Department website also published a page to collect potential reserve staff’s information: “In the event that the novel coronavirus crisis worsens, we need the help of qualified retired health professionals and related professionals to supplement our hospital capacity on a temporary basis to treat seriously ill coronavirus patients including those that may need to be intubated,” the site said....

“I understand that the dialogue has been going on for a number of years,” Cuomo said. “The Christopher Columbus statue, in some ways represents the Italian-American legacy in this country and the Italian-American contribution in this country.” One of the statues dedicated to Columbus is a 76-foot-tall monument in the center of Columbus Circle in Manhattan, while the other is located at the south end of the Mall in Central Park....

Hundreds of people turned up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn tonight to honor Rabbi Chaim Mertz who recently passed away due to coronavirus-related complications. The NYPD quickly arrived on the scene to break up the mourners who were flouting the city’s social distancing guidelines. After the incident, de Blasio warned the Jewish community against future large gatherings amid the pandemic. “My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed,” the mayor tweeted on Tuesday evening....

The obvious starting point for Met fans would be the source, i.e., the Met’s website. The company swiftly embraced streaming performances as a viable alternative after its most recent live performance, on March 11. The Met dug deep into its archives, offering up famous performances with marquee names, often with themed weeks, for free. Its online offerings continue now, including pay-per-view live concerts broadcast from around the world. The Kennedy Center offers an array of live and archival virtual performances, covering not just opera but all manner of performing arts, including jazz, comedy, and dance....

Collins sent a letter of resignation Monday to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, according to her spokesman, who said Collins’s resignation will be effective tomorrow after it’s filed in the House’s pro forma session. New York prosecutors have accused Collins of passing along sensitive information to family members while he sat on the board of Australian-based Innate Immunotherapeutics and owned about 17 percent of the company’s stock. In the indictment unsealed on August 8, 2018, prosecutors said Collins tipped off his son about a failed drug trial prior to that information becoming public....

Ardern and her partner Clarke Gayford attempted to get a seat in Olive, a café located in Wellington, the country’s capital. The couple was turned away because the restaurant had reached the maximum amount of patrons allowed under social distancing measures before ultimately being seated in the restaurant, according to a report by The New Zealand Herald. Gayford took to Twitter to reply to social media user with the handle @reinvention who seemed to witness the incident: “Omg Jacinda Ardern just tried to come into Olive and was rejected cause it’s full....

The 26-year-old, who joined Premier League side Newcastle United from Chelsea last season, says his former pastor scolded him for being inconsistent with church attendance and although, he felt bad at that time, it has shaped his life and faith in God. “One day, I went to church. If I went to church one Sunday, then the next Sunday maybe I would not go. At this time I was not even 16 years old....

“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to be a part of it,” Veasy said. “Just being a part of the history of it, and I knew it was going to help me.” The workout was held on November 16 to improve Kaepernick’s chances of being signed, but Veasy was the only member that came out of it with an NFL contract. Prior to his workout, Kaepernick was told by the NFL that it was unclear who his receivers would be for his workout, according to Howard Bryant of ESPN....

The once fringe right-wing network reportedly saw ratings soar after Election Day as it supported President Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud and more so than broadcasting giant Fox News, which called the election for Biden on November 7. But Newsmax changed its tune slightly after the 538 members of the Electoral College met to cast their ballots for president and vice president, formalizing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ victory....

Recall Gavin Newsom collected more than 2 million signatures by its Wednesday deadline. If county officials are able to verify at least 1,495,709 of those signatures by April 29, the campaign will officially qualify for a recall election, which experts predict could take place in the fall. The RGA said Thursday morning “it’s time” for Newsom’s ouster and encouraged its Twitter followers to visit its new Fire Newsom website....

The poll was conducted days after Vice President Dick Cheney delivered a speech in which he said the Bush administration’s new energy policy will focus mostly on increased production of domestic oil, natural gas and nuclear power. “Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy,” Cheney said. Cheney is leading a task force that will release a 100-page report on energy policy later this month....

“The news media used to defend freedom of speech as essential to maintaining our republic. Now, the idea that conservatives can speak freely on Parler is a ’threat to democracy.’” Gingrich also attached an article from Politico, titled “On Parler, MAGA’s postelection world view blossoms with no pushback.” The Politico article details how Parler users are using the platform to spread claims that president elect Joe Biden stole the election from Trump....

Mere hours after a disastrous 1-0 loss at Dinamo Zagreb to open their UEFA Champions League challenge, Boehly pulled the plug and let the German manager go. The warning signs were there, as Tuchel had been complaining about his squad since the preseason tour of the United States, but the move still came as a surprise. It was assumed that Tuchel would at least get time to sort things out, despite early-season Premier League defeats to Southampton and Leeds United....

The seven-day rolling average of infected Mississippi residents ranged between 20.6 percent and 24.1 percent over the last 11 days, according to data compiled by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. The state’s number of new cases rose steadily throughout July as states like Arizona, California, Florida and Texas managed outbreaks of their own. Jha said in a Twitter thread that though Mississippi has not received as much attention for its battle with COVID-19 as has a handful of other states, the situation in Mississippi “is much worse....