panic

14 Stories

Health Officials Tried to Lock Everyone In an Ikea. Then, Chaos

Patrons bust out of Shanghai store after lockdown due to customer's close contact with COVID patient

(Newser) - Usually when it's closing time at a store, patrons calmly make their final purchases and exit. The scene was a bit more chaotic over the weekend at an Ikea in Shanghai after health authorities tried to lock everyone inside following a coronavirus report tied to one of the customers....

Family's Souvenir Causes Airport Panic

US travelers in Israel had unexploded shell in their luggage

(Newser) - A US family's trip to the Middle East ended in chaos when airport screeners found an unexploded shell they'd found and kept as a souvenir. Reuters reports on the Thursday incident at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, where the family showed up for their trip back to the...

'Panic' Buying Hits US Stores
'Panic' Buying Hits US Stores
the rundown

'Panic' Buying Hits US Stores

Shoppers stock up amid COVID-19 fears

(Newser) - Plan to go shopping today? Get ready for a lineup. Multiple media outlets are reporting on big crowds nationwide at chain stores including Target, Costco, and Walmart. "We saw the line around the block and we thought the world had gone mad," a Costco shopper in Lawndale, Calif....

Toilet Paper Is the 'Icon' of Panic Buying
Toilet Paper Is the
'Icon' of Panic Buying
the rundown

Toilet Paper Is the 'Icon' of Panic Buying

Shoppers are looking for a sense of control, say psychologists

(Newser) - Anyone who's been in a supermarket of late has likely seen the empty shelves for hand sanitizers and ... toilet paper? The latter is seen as a prime example of panic buying amid the coronavirus outbreak, and not just in the US. Coverage:
  • The psychology: Toilet paper is sort of
...

After Loud Sound, a 'Sea of People Running' in NYC

People started screaming, thinking it was another shooting

(Newser) - The mass shootings over the weekend in El Paso and Dayton have everyone on edge, and that anxiety played out Tuesday night in New York City after a loud sound sent people running. ABC News reports that thousands of locals and tourists in Times Square started screaming and fleeing in...

Fresh Prince Lyrics Prompt Panic, School Lockdown

Receptionist thought kid was 'shooting some people outside of the school'

(Newser) - A Pennsylvania school district went into crisis mode yesterday over a shooting "threat" that turned out to be misheard lyrics from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song. High school student Travis Clawson, 19, unwittingly found himself the subject of a manhunt when the receptionist at his eye doctor'...

Panicked? Don't Take a Deep Breath
Panicked?
Don't Take a Deep Breath

Panicked? Don't Take a Deep Breath

Shallow breathing will actually make you feel better

(Newser) - Feeling panicked? Calm down and take a … shallow breath. Researchers who developed a new treatment for panic attacks say that the common advice of taking a deep breath can actually make you feel worse, LiveScience reports. That’s because breathing too deeply and too quickly can cause you to...

Buffett: 'Financial Panic Is Behind Us'

He sounds optimistic note at Columbia University forum

(Newser) - Warren Buffett says the worst is over. "The financial panic is behind us," he declared at Columbia University. The Berkshire Hathaway chief acknowledged that the US economy "still is sputtering some," but he sounded a bullish note on investment opportunities around the globe. While he gave...

Fake Lottery Winner Causes Store Ruckus

Ohio woman gets 'extravagant' without meds, daughter says

(Newser) - An Ohio woman may be charged with inciting panic after telling a store full of shoppers that she had won the lottery and was treating. Police had to show up at the Burlington Coat Factory to put down the ruckus when word got out, the Columbus Dispatch reports. The 45-year-old...

Flu Carries Lessons for Bioterror Fight
 Flu Carries Lessons 
 for Bioterror Fight 

OPINION

Flu Carries Lessons for Bioterror Fight

(Newser) - The H1N1 flu outbreak spotlights a public-health infrastructure ill suited to respond to a pandemic or its close cousin, a bioterror attack, D.A. Henderson writes for Newsweek. We must “sharpen our health-care response. Rapid diagnosis and response are critical,” he writes. The “interconnected world we live...

Bloomberg Blasts 'Photo Op' Flyover

Chain of communication broke down on DoD photo op

(Newser) - New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is livid over a Department of Defense photo op that sent two planes buzzing over lower Manhattan today, ABC News reports. Bloomberg called the flyover “ill-conceived” and expressed ire over the DoD's failure to notify him. "Poor judgment would be a nice...

Media Frenzy Makes Recession Worse
 Media Frenzy Makes 
 Recession Worse 
OPINION

Media Frenzy Makes Recession Worse

Sky isn't falling for many, but barrage 'crackling with panic' makes us feel that way

(Newser) - There’s no doubt the economy is bad. The of flood sky-is-falling news stories make that abundantly clear. But the avalanche of bad news—delivered faster than ever before through myriad, ever-present media outlets—has fed upon itself, sinking all of us into a deeper state of collective panic than...

Thousands Flee After New Quake Warning

Roads jam, open spaces fill with crowds in Chengdu, Dhina

(Newser) - A new quake warning sent thousands of frightened Chinese running into the streets of Chengdu today, Reuters reports. With nerves still raw from last week's disaster, drivers jammed roads and people dragged their bedding into open spaces. A 5.0 aftershock in Pingwu County also sent buildings swaying in Chengdu,...

Can 1987's Black Monday Happen Again?

Not likely, but credit crunch proves we can invent new screw-ups

(Newser) - Twenty years ago, Black Monday—now, the credit crunch. Haven’t we learned a thing? Yes and no, says MSNBC: Today, "circuit breakers" make a 1987-style sell-off unlikely by cutting off trading at certain limits. And new, tighter mortgage standards will keep credit under control. But greed and fear...

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