World Athletics on Thursday fined Russia's track and field federation $10 million for breaching anti-doping rules and capped at 10 the number of Russians allowed to compete as neutrals at the Tokyo Olympics.
The system of allowing Russian athletes to take part as Authorised Neutral Athletes, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe warned, "will be suspended if $5 million of the $10m fine is not paid by 1 July 2020".
"The remaining $5 million of the fine will be suspended for two years, to be paid immediately if during that period RUSAF (the Russian federation) commits a further breach of the Anti-Doping Rules or fails to make meaningful progress towards satisfying the reinstatement conditions set by Council.

World Athletics fines Russia $10m, caps neutral Russian athletes at 10

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Ireland on Thursday announced the closure of all schools and colleges, and recommended the cancellation of mass gatherings as part of measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said "schools, colleges and childcare facilities will close from tomorrow (Friday)", as would state-run cultural institutions.
Indoor events of more than 100 people and those outdoor involving over 500 "should be cancelled", Varadkar said in a statement in Washington, where he was on an official visit.
Ireland has 43 confirmed cases of the disease and on Wednesday announced the country's first death.
Varadkar said more cases and deaths were expected as the world moved into "uncharted territory".
The premier said the new measures were part of the government's "duty to protect" the public and the restrictions would be in place until March 29.
He said people could still go to work, as public transport was not affected, but recommended home-working, staggered working and break ...

Ireland closes schools to curb coronavirus

British insurer LV= on Thursday said it had suspended sales of travel policies owing to turmoil linked to the coronavirus pandemic.
Many travellers do not ordinarily purchase travel insurance but the virus fallout has seen a spike in demand.
"In light of the significant impact that coronavirus is having globally, LV=... has taken the difficult decision to pause the sale of travel insurance to new customers," the company said in a statement.
"In the last couple of weeks, we've seen the number of policies sold double." LV= stressed that the suspension was a temporary move, adding there would be no change for existing customers.  "We will continue to monitor the situation closely and review the decision on an ongoing basis," the company said.
UK insurer Aviva has meanwhile adjusted its travel cover to reflect risks posed by COVID-19.
New customers can still buy insurance but would not be able to select add-on cover for "travel disruption" or "airspace closure", it added.
Aviva has paused 

UK insurers stop selling travel policies over virus

Iran announced on Thursday that another 75 people had died of the new coronavirus, bringing the overall number of deaths to 429 out of more than 10,000 infections.
It is the highest single-day death toll in the three weeks since the Islamic republic announced its first deaths from the outbreak last month.
"In the past 24 hours, 1,075 people have been infected with COVID-19... bringing the total number of infected people to 10,075 cases," health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said at a televised news conference.
"Seventy-five people hospitalised in the past few days have lost their lives and today a total of 429 infected people are no longer with us," he added.
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Iran is one of the deadliest outside China, where the disease originated.
Iran announced its first deaths, in the Shiite holy city of Qom, on February 19.
It is yet to officially impose quarantines but authorities have repeatedly called on people to refrain from travelling.
They ...

Iran virus deaths reach 429, infections pass 10,000

Real Madrid went into quarantine on Thursday as La Liga announced Spain's top two divisions will be suspended for at least two weeks over the coronavirus.
La Liga authorities made the decision after Real Madrid confirmed its senior football team is in quarantine after one of the club's basketball players tested positive for the virus.
Real Madrid's football and basketball players share facilities at Ciudad Real Madrid, the club's training ground in Valdebebas.
A club statement read: "A player from our basketball first team has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.
"Since then, the recommendation has been made to quarantine both the basketball first team and the football first team, given that the two squads share facilities in Ciudad Real Madrid.
"Likewise, it has been decided to close the facilities at our training ground and it is also recommended that all Real Madrid personnel who work there remain in quarantine."
La Liga has also followed Italy's Serie A in suspending its .

Real Madrid in quarantine as La Liga suspends fixtures

Liverpool's Champions League defence is over after Atletico Madrid played the role of party poopers at Anfield and paved the way for a strangely anti-climactic end to the season for Jurgen Klopp's Reds.
Barring an unprecedented collapse, Klopp will deliver a first league title in 30 years, though there is some doubt over whether the season can even be completed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Liverpool, after a record-breaking start to the Premier League campaign, had the title effectively sewn up by Christmas but failure to add more silverware during a historic season now feels like a let-down.
"For two and a half years we had an exceptional ride in the Champions League, we had party after party after party in the Champions League pretty much," said Klopp, whose side were also finalists in 2018.
"Tonight was a party, everything was set, it was great -- crowd exceptional, the stadium, everything showed up in the best way. The boys delivered a super game, fought hard, played well, and 

Atletico defeat casts shadow over Liverpool's historic season

McLaren pulled out of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix Thursday after a team member tested positive for coronavirus, throwing the race into chaos.
The employee was among at least five Formula One personnel -- four from Haas -- who went into isolation this week after showing flu-like symptoms typical of the virus.
"The team member was tested and self-isolated as soon as they started to show symptoms and will now be treated by local healthcare authorities," McLaren said in a statement, adding that he would be quarantined.
"The decision (to withdraw) has been taken based on a duty of care not only to McLaren F1 employees and partners, but also to the team's competitors, Formula 1 fans and wider F1 stakeholders."
Results of the tests for the Haas staff have yet to be revealed.  McLaren's decision to pull out casts doubt over whether the race will be run without a full complement of teams, and whether others will follow suit.
World champion Lewis Hamilton earlier Thursday said he ..

Season-opening Australian F1 in chaos as McLaren pulls out

Poland has recorded its first death from the novel coronavirus outbreak in the western city of Poznan, its deputy mayor said on Thursday.
The 57-year-old female teacher, who had recently been hospitalised in critical condition with pneumonia, was put into an artificial coma and on a ventilator but "unfortunately she died not long ago," Poznan deputy mayor Jedrzej Solarski told reporters.
Poland currently has 46 other confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to the health ministry.
The woman's husband and daughter are among those hospitalised with coronavirus but their conditions are not critical. Other family members, including the woman's two sons, have not been infected.
"What we feared over the last few days has come about. We have our first death from the coronavirus," Polish President Andrzej Duda told reporters.  "I offer my condolences to her close ones.

Poland confirms first coronavirus death

Ireland on Thursday announced the closure of all schools and colleges, and recommended the cancellation of mass gatherings as part of measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said "schools, colleges and childcare facilities will close from tomorrow (Friday)", as would state-run cultural institutions.
Indoor events of more than 100 people and those outdoor involving over 500 "should be cancelled", Varadkar said in a statement in Washington, where he was on an official visit.
Ireland has 43 confirmed cases of the disease and on Wednesday announced the country's first death. Varadkar said more cases and deaths were expected as the world moved into "uncharted territory".
The premier said the new measures were part of the government's "duty to protect" the public and the restrictions would be in place until March 29.
He said people could still go to work, as public transport was not affected, but recommended home-working, staggered working and break ...

Ireland orders shutdowns to curb coronavirus

Iran said on Thursday that it has sought immediate financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund to help it combat one of the world's deadliest coronavirus outbreaks.
According to a tweet by Iran's top diplomat, IMF chief Kristina Georgieva had "stated that countries affected by #COVID19 will be supported via Rapid Financial Instrument (RFI)".
"Our central bank requested access to this facility immediately," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif added on his Twitter account.  Iran has not received assistance from the IMF since a "standby credit" issued between 1960 and 1962, according to the fund's data.
Zarif said the IMF and its board "should adhere to fund's mandate, stand on right side of history and act responsibly".
The various loans that can be granted by the IMF must be approved by the institution's executive board, where the United States practically has a veto on decisions.
The United States is currently pursuing a policy of "maximum pressure" aimed at crippling .

Iran asks IMF for first loan in decades to combat virus

A joint Russian-European mission to Mars was postponed on Thursday due to technical difficulties and the global coronavirus epidemic, the Russian space agency said.
"We have made a difficult but well-weighed decision to postpone the launch to 2022," said Roscosmos director general Dmitry Rogozin.
The mission has been repeatedly postponed and was most recently scheduled for this year.

Russian-European Mars mission postponed until 2022 over coronavirus: Roscosmos

The new coronavirus outbreak "is a controllable pandemic" if countries step up measures to tackle it, the head of the World Health Organisation said on Thursday.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged on Wednesday that the global outbreak of the new coronavirus could now be considered a pandemic -- a disease actively spreading globally.
But he told diplomats in Geneva that describing the outbreak as a pandemic should not mean that countries give up the fight to stop it spreading further.
"This is a controllable pandemic," he said, according to a statement of his remarks.
"We are deeply concerned that some countries are not approaching this threat with the level of political commitment needed to control it. The idea that countries should shift from containment to mitigation is wrong and dangerous," he stressed.
More than 4,500 people have died, according to an AFP tally, while the WHO said some 125,000 cases had been reported from 118 countries and ...

COVID-19 is a 'controllable pandemic': WHO

Real Madrid went into quarantine on Thursday as La Liga announced Spain's top two divisions will be suspended for at least two weeks over the coronavirus.
The competition made the decision after Real Madrid confirmed its senior football team is in quarantine after one of the club's basketball players tested positive for the virus.

La Liga suspends fixtures for at least two weeks, Real Madrid put in quarantine

The top UN rights body decided on Thursday to suspend its main annual session at the end of this week over the new coronavirus pandemic.
A proposal presented by Human Rights Council president Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger "to suspend the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council on the 13th of March until further notice", was met with no objections.

UN Human Rights Council to suspend session over COVID-19

The number of novel coronavirus cases globally stood at 125,293, with 4,600 deaths, across 115 countries and territories by 0900 GMT Thursday, according to a tally compiled by AFP from official sources.
Since 1700 GMT on Wednesday, 1,192 new cases and 34 new deaths have been reported.
China -- excluding the territories of Hong Kong and Macau -- where the epidemic emerged at the end of December had 80,793 cases, of which 3,169 were fatal. There have been 15 new infections and 11 deaths since 1700 GMT Wednesday, while 62,793 people have recovered from the virus.
Outside China, a total of 44,500 cases have been recorded around the world since the epidemic began, including 1,431 deaths. Some 1,177 cases are new, with 23 new deaths.
The most affected countries after China are Italy (12,462 cases, 827 deaths), Iran (9,000 cases, 354 deaths), South Korea (7,869 cases, 66 deaths), and France (2,281 cases, 48 deaths).  The United States has recorded 1,101 infections and 28 deaths since it ...

Coronavirus toll at 0900 GMT Thursday

Spain's equality minister has tested positive for coronavirus and has been quarantined with her partner, deputy prime minister and Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias, a government statement said on Thursday.
"The minister (Irene Montero) is in a good condition and second deputy prime minister Pablo Iglesias is also in quarantine due to the situation," the statement said.
"This morning, all members of the government will undergo testing," it added, indicating the results would be published later in the day.
The announcement was made barely two hours before the government was to convene a special cabinet meeting to discuss an emergency plan of action to respond to the coronavirus crisis.
Although the meeting would go ahead, it would only include those ministers whose presence was essential, and all of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's upcoming appointments would be conducted by videoconference, the statement said.
The statement came as Spain struggles to handle a quadrupling of cases in three ..

Spain minister tests positive for virus

Algeria has registered its first death from the novel coronavirus, the health ministry announced on Thursday.
No further details on the death were provided in the ministry statement, cited by the official APS press agency.
Another five new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded, bringing the total number of confirmed cases on Algerian soil to 24, the ministry added.
A 25th case -- and the first registered in the country -- concerns an Italian who tested positive in February but who has since left Algeria.
Of the five new cases announced on Thursday, two are Algerians who had been in France.
They have been hospitalised in the Souk Ahras area of eastern Algeria, and the Kabylie region east of the capital Algiers.
The three others were being treated in a hospital in the Blida area, southwest of Algiers, the health ministry said.
Already in Blida, 17 members of the same family had been infected with the virus, in connection with confirmed cases among Algerians in France.
The health ministry 

Algeria registers first coronavirus death

European Union leaders on Thursday rebuked the United States for imposing a unilateral travel ban on arrivals from countries in the Schengen passport-free zone without consulting them.
"The coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent, and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action," EU presidents Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel said.
"The European Union disapproves of the fact that the US decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation," they said in a written statement.
"The European Union is taking strong action to limit the spread of the virus.

EU slams US for 'unilaterally' imposing travel ban

The new coronavirus outbreak "is a controllable pandemic" if countries step up measures to tackle it, the head of the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
"We are deeply concerned that some countries are not approaching this threat with the level of political commitment needed to control it," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told diplomats in Geneva, according to a statement.

COVID-19 is a 'controllable pandemic': WHO chief

Investors in coal plants risk losing more than USD 600 billion as power from renewables proves cheaper than electricity generated from new coal projects, market watchdog Carbon Tracker said Thursday.
In a new analysis of the cost of coal power across the world, it found that more than 60 percent of the existing supply is already more expensive than electricity from renewables such as solar and wind.
Coal is the most polluting fossil fuel, and experts from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) say power derived from it must fall drastically if the world has any hope of meeting the Paris climate goals.
Yet nearly 500 gigawatts of new coal power is under construction or being planned, at a total cost of $638 billion (560 billion euros).
Sriya Sundaresan, co-head of power and utilities at Carbon Tracker and co-author of the report, titled "How to Waste Over Half a Trillion Dollars", said this represented a substantial stranded asset risk as coal plants ...

Coal investors face $600 bn loss to renewables: analysis

World Athletics is to decide Thursday whether to start the procedure of reinstating the new-look Russian athletics federation, as well as initiating the process to allow Russian athletes who test clean to compete under a neutral banner at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Russia has been suspended by World Athletics (then known as the IAAF) since 2015 over repeated doping scandals -- a ban upheld 12 times -- and has been fighting for readmission.
The last report by World Athletics' Task Force, in November, led to its decision-making Council suspending the process of reinstating RUSAF over charges against its officials that they obstructed an anti-doping investigation.
The Council also put a freeze on the system of allowing Russian athletes to compete as "Authorised Neutral Athletes".
Those decisions prompted wholesale change at RUSAF, which has a newly-appointed head in Yevgeny Yurchenko.
In one of his first conciliatory moves in the stand-off, Yurchenko sent two letters to World Athletics, ...

AFP

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