Nation, world briefs 2/9/16

Obama asks for anti-Zika funding

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is asking Congress for more than $1.8 billion in emergency funding to fight the Zika virus and the mosquitoes that spread it here and abroad but said "there shouldn't be a panic on this." The virus is spreading rapidly through Latin America. While most people experience mild or no symptoms, Zika is suspected of causing a devastating birth defect -- babies born with abnormally small heads -- and pregnant Americans are urged to avoid travel to affected areas. U.S. health officials said the money is critical for research into the birth defect known as microcephaly and to speed development of a vaccine and better diagnostic tests, expand mosquito control programs and help Zika-stricken nations.

4 survivors pulled alive from rubble

TAINAN, Taiwan -- At least four people, including an 8-year-old girl, were rescued Monday from a high-rise Taiwanese apartment building toppled by a powerful quake two days earlier, as frustration grew among families waiting for searchers to reach their buried loved ones. More than 100 people are believed to be under the debris in a disaster that struck during the most important family holiday in the Chinese calendar, the Lunar New Year. Saturday's quake killed at least 38 people in Tainan city in southern Taiwan, all but two of them in the collapse of the 17-story building. Even though the 6.4-magnitude quake was shallow, few buildings were reported to have been damaged, which experts said was because Taiwan's building standards are high.

Greyhound resolves ADA allegations

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Greyhound Lines has agreed to pay $300,000 to certain bus passengers and a $75,000 civil penalty to resolve allegations it repeatedly violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Under the terms of a consent decree filed Monday in Delaware, the company will implement several reforms, including hiring an ADA compliance manager. The consent decree resolves claims Greyhound failed to provide proper services to disabled passengers, including failing to maintain features such as lifts on its buses and to assist passengers in boarding and exiting buses. Greyhound has agreed to compensate individuals who experienced barriers based on disabilities during the three years before Monday's filing.

Organ transplants set for HIV patients

BALTIMORE -- Johns Hopkins Medicine recently received approval to perform organ transplants between HIV-positive donors and recipients. The hospital announced in a news release Monday it plans to perform the nation's first kidney transplant between an HIV-positive donor and recipient and the first such liver transplant in the world. These transplants could take place as soon as a suitable organ becomes available and a recipient is identified and prepared. Dr. Dorry Segev estimates more than 1,000 people could be saved each year with the donations of organs from 500 to 600 HIV-positive people. The transplants are possible because of the 2013 HOPE Act, which allowed HIV-positive people to donate organs.

-- From wire reports