British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has faced criticism for his country's light touch approach to tackling the coronavirus outbreak, is preparing to review its approach and ban mass gatherings, according to government sources Saturday.
Emergency legislation is due to be passed next week in parliament and the ban would come into force from next weekend.
The legislation could see the cancellation of events such as the Wimbledon tennis tournament and the Glastonbury music festival, due to begin at the end of June, as well as major horse races including Royal Ascot and Grand National.
The government's current plan is to delay the peak of the outbreak until the weather becomes warmer to cushion the blow on the health services, and the advice so far is for people who show symptoms to self isolate for a week.
The health officials advising the government argue that taking drastic measures too early would have only limited benefit and would risk tiring a population before the peak of the 

UK set to follow Europe in banning large events over virus: reports

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The international friendly match between Germany and Italy scheduled to be played in Nuremberg on March 31 has been cancelled due to the health crisis.
The region of Bavaria has banned all gatherings of over 100 people, so even if the match took place in an empty stadium, the number of team members, support staff and media participants would likely exceed that limit.
"Cancellation was inevitable," the German football federation DFB said.
Germany are also scheduled to play in Madrid against Spain March 26, but this encounter has yet to be officially cancelled.

Germany v Italy friendly international cancelled

Fiorentina's Italian forward Patrick Cutrone and Argentine defender German Pezzella have both tested positive for coronavirus, along with a club physiotherapist, the Serie A team said Saturday.
"They had some symptoms. All three tested positive. Their health is good and they are at home in Florence," Fiorentina said in a statement.
The club's Serbia forward Dusan Vlahovic was also confirmed to contracted the virus on Friday.
It total nine top-flight Italian footballers have now tested positive, including five Sampdoria players, and Juventus defender Daniele Rugani.
Serie A as well as all sport in Italy has been suspended until April 3.
The country recorded its highest one-day death toll yet of 250 on Friday, bringing the total to 1,266, with 17,660 infected.

Fiorentina players Cutrone, Pezzella catch coronavirus

The majority of the reigning NBA champion Toronto Raptors tested negative for the new coronavirus, but there is still one result pending from the medical examinations that were done in Canada, the club announced on Friday.
The team said they were still waiting on the test results of one person. They did not name the individual and didn't provide any details.
The team decided to do the testing on Wednesday in Toronto after the Raptors played Monday in Utah against the Jazz, whose players Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell both tested positive for COVID-19.
"All of the members of the travel party who were tested on Wednesday in Toronto have received their results, and they are all currently negative," a Raptors spokesman said in a news release.
"These results will not affect our protocols, however. Those asked to self-isolate by Toronto Public Health will continue to do so.
"We will all practice social distancing and good hand hygiene, and -- most importantly -- carefully monitor our ...

Raptors test negative for coronavirus, one result pending

Switzerland's armed forces said Saturday that the army is prepared to deploy to help in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected more tha 1,000 people in the country.
The army will as of Monday deploy one of its four hospital battalions, army chief Thomas Sussli said in a tweet.
The battalion will be carry out a "special service towards the security and protection of us all," he wrote.
While he did not clarify the specific service to be provided, he pointed out that more than 90 percent of the personnel in Switzerland's hospital battalions "work in other professions, but have civilian-recognised, military-acquired basic care training."
Army spokesman Daniel Reist told AFP that the battalion, made up of between 500 and 600 people, will be prepared to support work at hospitals across the country if requested.
"There has not yet been a request," he said.
The army has already deployed 23 people to support two hospitals in Switzerland's southern Ticino region, which ...

Swiss army says preparing to deploy to assist virus fight

South Africa repatriated dozens of its citizens from China on Saturday over the coronavirus, the health ministry said, the first such move by a sub-Saharan country.
The 146 South Africans were working and studying in Wuhan city, which was placed under lockdown for around two months after the novel virus was first detected in December.
They landed at Polokwane International Airport, in South Africa's northern Limpopo province, where they will be quarantined in a remote resort for 21 days.  "Flight LMG 755 from Wuhan city has landed with the South African citizens," said health ministry spokesman Popo Maja said.
"There are 146 South Africans on that flight, excluding the crew." The returnees will only be released after they get a clean bill of health at the end of the mandatory quarantine.
Government officials have assured that none of the group are infected by the virus and that the quarantine measures are only a precaution.
The entire screening, airlifting, quarantine operation is ...

South Africans returned from virus-hit Wuhan

Greece announced two more coronavirus deaths on Saturday bringing the toll to three, as an unprecedented lockdown takes effect.
A 67-year-old man died on Zakynthos island early on Saturday and a 90-year-old man died in the northern city of Ptolemaida, the health ministry said.
Both men had health problems.
The man in Zakinthos was believed to have contracted the virus after visiting a hospital in western Greece where the first fatality was confirmed, Athens News Agency reported.
Greece closed shops, bars and restaurants on Friday as well tourist sites such as the Acropolis as coronavirus cases jumped from 117 to 190.
Only supermarkets, pharmacies and medical facilities have been allowed to stay open.
The government had already shut down schools and universities, courts, cinemas, gyms and other indoor public gathering areas for two weeks in an effort to curb the outbreak.
A torch relay for the Tokyo 2020 Games has been cancelled after Hollywood actor Gerard Butler, who starred as the ..

Coronavirus death toll in Greece rises to three

A fresh spate of rockets targeted an Iraqi base north of Baghdad on Saturday where foreign troops are deployed, Iraqi and US security sources told AFP, in a rare daytime attack.
It was the 23rd such attack since late October on installations across Iraq where American troops and diplomats are based, with the latest rounds growing deadlier.
None of the attacks have ever been claimed but the US has blamed hardline elements of the Hashed al-Shaabi, a network of armed groups incorporated into the Iraqi state.
Several rockets were fired at the Taji air base on Saturday, Iraqi and US military officials said.
"The initial toll is two wounded Iraqi Air Defence personnel who are in very critical condition," said Tahsin al-Khafaji, spokesman for Iraq's Joint Operations Command.
A military source said Iraqi security forces had found the launching pad for the rockets, but not the attackers themselves.
The US-led coalition's surveillance capabilities have been impaired by cloudy weather in recent .

New rockets target Iraq base where US, UK troops killed

Russia will close its land borders with Poland and Norway to foreigners in a bid to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, the country's prime minister said on Saturday.
The ban will come into force at midnight on Sunday and apply to all foreigners travelling "for professional, private, study or tourist reasons", apart from Belarusians, members of official delegations and residents of Russia, said premier Mikhail Mishustin in a statement.

Russia shuts land borders to Poland, Norway to foreigners: PM

After months of piling pressure on Tehran, the United States is seeing an unexpected new variable -- the novel coronavirus, which has taken a substantial toll not just on Iran but inside its government.
US policymakers are asking whether deaths within the regime are widespread enough that they could alter decision-making -- although a deadly rocket attack Wednesday in Iraq, which Washington blamed on Iran, showed at least that the cycle of conflict between the countries is not abating.
COVID-19, which has infected tens of thousands of people around the world, has hit Iran's government unusually hard, with a number of senior politicians and officials killed or infected by the disease including a vice president, a senior adviser to the foreign minister and a powerful cleric.
General Kenneth McKenzie, head of Central Command which covers the Middle East, said the United States believed the impact was worse than the more than 500 deaths reported -- the world's third highest toll after ...

US sees new pressure point as coronavirus hits Iran

The Czech government closed most shops, restaurants and pubs on Saturday in a bid to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The measure, which will be in effect until March 24, does not concern shops selling food and electronics, pharmacies or petrol stations.
"We wanted to stop people from heading to shopping malls," Prime Minister Andrej Babis told reporters, calling on Czechs to show tolerance and solidarity.
Restaurants and pubs will be closed for the same period, the government said in a statement published on its website on Saturday.
The Czech Republic has registered 150 confirmed cases of the virus and no deaths as of Saturday morning.
On Friday, the government said foreigners would no longer be allowed to cross into the country and Czechs would not be allowed to leave as of Monday.
The government had earlier already closed schools, theatres, cinemas, galleries and museums and banned gatherings of more than 30 people -- except for funerals.

Czechs close shops, pubs to stem virus spread

Apple is closing all of its stores outside China until March 27 in a bid to slow the spread of the new coronavirus outbreak, CEO Tim Cook said.
Cook said the firm had learned from steps taken in China, where the tech giant has just reopened its retail stores.
"One of those lessons is that the most effective way to minimize risk of the virus's transmission is to reduce density and maximize social distance," he said in a statement Friday.
"As rates of new infections continue to grow in other places, we're taking additional steps to protect our team members and customers.

Apple closing all stores outside China until March 27 due to virus

Authorities in northern Cyprus have said only Turkish Cypriots and legal residents will be allowed into the breakaway north of the island until April 1, as a precaution against the coronavirus.
Turkish Cypriot prime minister Ersin Tatar announced the measure after a cabinet meeting that lasted almost six hours on Friday.
Only Turkish Cypriot citizens and "legal residents" with residence and work permits will be allowed into the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus by land, air or sea until April 1, he said.
The Mediterranean island is divided between areas under the control of the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member state, and the breakaway TRNC, which is recognised only by Ankara.
Turkish Cypriot authorities reported their first case of coronavirus on Tuesday -- a 65-year-old German tourist.
Four more people have since tested positive in the north, bringing the total to five -- four German tourists and one Turkish Cypriot who arrived from Britain.
The Cyprus government has ...

Turkish Cypriots bar entry to non-residents over virus

International visitors to New Zealand must self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival to help slow the spread of the new coronavirus, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Saturday.
Ardern said the "unprecedented and far-reaching" measure would come into effect from midnight Sunday and affect all inbound travellers except those from Pacific island nations.
She said remote New Zealand had been relatively unscathed by coronavirus so far, with six confirmed cases and no fatalities, but the evidence showed the numbers would inevitably rise in the face of a global pandemic.
"But the scale of how many cases we get and how fast we get them is something we should do as much as we can to slow," she told reporters.
"We must go hard and we must go early."
Ardern said the self-quarantine order would be reviewed after 16 days.
She said New Zealand had also told cruise ships not to visit the country until at least June 30, while New Zealanders were being advised to avoid all non-essential travel ...

New Zealand tells overseas arrivals to self-isolate

Aliya Danzeisen rises before dawn every day to hear the news so she can prepare her school-age daughters for any harassment they may face for being Muslim.
"We don't feel any safer," the Muslim community leader says, reflecting on the 12 months since the Christchurch mosque attacks, in which a self-declared white supremacist killed 51 Muslims at Friday prayers.
The abuse experienced prior to the attacks on March 15 last year died down immediately after the killings, Danzeisen said, adding: "It felt the entire New Zealand population was rallying behind us."
But she says it is now on the rise again, a year on from the killings that rattled the normally peaceful South Pacific nation, with unease among the Muslim community amid ongoing vitriol and threats.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern -- who received widespread praise for her handling of the aftermath of the massacre -- admitted Friday there was "much more" her country could do to tackle white supremacists.
Anjum Rahman, co-founder of ...

Muslims still feel unsafe a year after New Zealand massacre

Microsoft on Friday announced that co-founder Bill Gates has left its board of directors to devote more time to philanthropy.
The 64-year-old stopped being involved in day-to-day operations at the firm more than a decade ago, turning his attention to the foundation he launched with his wife, Melinda.
Gates served as chairman of Microsoft's board of directors until early in 2014 and has now stepped away entirely, according to the Redmond-based technology giant.
"It's been a tremendous honor and privilege to have worked with and learned from Bill over the years," Microsoft chief executive and company veteran Satya Nadella said in a release.
"Bill founded our company with a belief in the democratizing force of software and a passion to solve society's most pressing challenges; and Microsoft and the world are better for it." Nadella said Microsoft would continue to benefit from Gates' "technical passion and advice" in his continuing role as a technical advisor.
"I am grateful for Bill's ..

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates leaves board

FIFA on Friday recommended that all international football matches scheduled for March and April be postponed due to the spread of the new coronavirus.
Falling short of banning matches outright, world football's governing body said that clubs would be allowed to refuse to send their players to national squad gatherings in March and April.
FIFA also said that it was working on rescheduling qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup in both Asia and South America which have been postponed.
"All international matches previously scheduled to take place in March and April should now be postponed until such time that they can take place in a safe and secure environment," FIFA said.
FIFA added that the "final decision" on any postponements "rests with the respective competition organisers or relevant member association in case of friendlies".
FIFA rules normally oblige clubs to release players for national team matches, but this rule has been temporarily reversed.
"In light of the current ...

All international football should be postponed, says FIFA

NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo on Friday pledged USD 100,000 for workers at the Milwaukee Bucks' FiServ Forum that will lose wages during coronavirus pandemic.
The hourly wage workers will take a big hit from the shut-down of the NBA and other sports leagues, along with cancellations of concerts as public health officials caution that large gatherings can hasten the spread of COVID-19.
"It's bigger than basketball!" Antetokounmpo tweeted. "And during this tough time I want to help the people that make my life, my family's lives and my teammates lives easier.
"Me and my family pledge to donate USD 100,000 to the Fiserv Forum staff. We can get through this together!"
Antetokounmpo's pledge comes a day after Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love committed USD 100,000 to the team's arena workers and support staff.
"I hope that during this time of crisis, others will join me in supporting our communities," Love said, adding that moral support was just as important as ...

Antetokounmpo pledges USD 100,000 for idled arena workers

Newcastle manager Steve Bruce has told his players to stay at home during the Premier League's coronavirus lockdown.
The Premier League announced on Friday that all matches would be postponed until April 3 over fears about the spread of the deadly pandemic.
Bruce said Newcastle had already drawn up a response to the coronavirus outbreak when the governing bodies acted on Friday after Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea midfielder Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for the illness.
That will entail the players staying at home and working on their personal fitness programmes to stay in shape.
Bruce, whose side were due to face Sheffield United on Saturday, said: "We've set the personal programmes in place, they're ready to go.
"I think that's what the doctors of all the clubs are recommending. Up until yesterday, we thought we were fine to play this weekend, but when the news broke (about Arteta), it was obvious the situation had changed.
"Once we heard about that, and Leicester ...

Newcastle boss Bruce tells players to stay at home

New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson is to be tested for coronavirus and has been placed in isolation after complaining of a sore throat following the Black Caps' opening ODI against Australia, team officials said.
The right-armed quick was quarantined immediately after the 71-run defeat in Sydney on Friday and would remain isolated for at least 24 hours while tests are conducted.
"In accordance with recommended health protocols, Lockie Ferguson has been placed in isolation at the team hotel for the next 24 hrs after reporting a sore throat at the end of the first ODI," New Zealand Cricket said late Friday.
"Once the test results are received and diagnosed, his return to the team can be determined."
The scare followed Australian fast bowler Kane Richardson being isolated and tested for COVID-19 after suffering a sore throat on Thursday. He missed the opening ODI, but was cleared of the virus late Friday.
Fans have been barred from the three-game series in Sydney and Hobart to curb .

New Zealand bowler Ferguson in isolation over virus fears

Guinea's President Alpha Conde has set March 22 for the constitutional referendum on his proposed reforms that opponents worry will allow him to bypass term limits and stay in power.
The vote, originally set for March 1 but delayed over local and international concerns about its fairness, will take place at the same time as legislative elections, a presidential decree said on Friday.
The campaign will run until March 20 despite some restrictions put in place on rallies since the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in the country.
The West African country has seen huge opposition rallies over the proposal to change the constitution, which many fear will allow Conde, 82, to seek a third term in office this year.
Since the protests began in October at least 31 protesters and one gendarme have been killed, according to an AFP tally.
International powers have voiced concern over the referendum, and a US official on Friday renewed a call for an investigation into the deaths since ...

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