Tunisia suicide attack

Police dispatched reinforcements to the area, including forensic experts as a helicopter flew overhead.

Tunisia suicide attack kills one police officer and injures five others

Press Trust of India

The Netherlands has recorded its first death in the novel coronavirus outbreak, health officials said on Friday.
"An 86-year-old man with COVID-19 who was admitted to the Ikazia hospital in Rotterdam has died," the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said.
"This is the first patient in the Netherlands to die of the coronavirus," the RIVM said, adding that the source of the patient's contamination was unknown.
The number of novel coronavirus cases in the world is approaching 100,000 and more than 3,400 have proved fatal.
The Netherlands has seen a jump in cases from 82 to 128 over the last two days.  "The man was isolated as soon as it became clear that he had COVID-19," the RIVM said.
Everyone who had contact with the patient -- including visitors and health workers -- is being questioned about their health, the institute said.
"All those in contact with the patient who are suffering from a cold or have a fever have been asked to remain at home. If necessary, they will be ...

Netherlands confirms first coronavirus death

PTI Automatic

An Ecuadoran navy ship with 50 people on board was quarantined after it was discovered that one of the crew had had contact with the first person in the country known to be infected with the new coronavirus, authorities said Thursday.
Despite the sailors' negative test results for COVID-19, the disease which first appeared in China late last year, the ship was placed in isolation until Friday, the health minister said.
"It was decided to undertake a quarantine of the unit, a warship, the BAE Chimborazo," the navy's health director Douglas Campos said during a press conference in the southwestern city of Guayaquil.
The health ministry and the navy made the decision after a crew member "had contact with relatives of positive cases of coronavirus" in Ecuador -- which has had 13 infections -- epidemiology official Inocencio Bajana said.
"The warship crew member knows one of the cases that gave a positive (result) for that condition," and "had contact," the health ministry ...

Ecuador isolates navy ship after virus contacts discovered

Quique Setien admitted on Friday his assistant Eder Sarabia was wrong in the way he lambasted Barcelona's players with a series of foul-mouthed rants during last weekend's Clasico.
Spanish television programme Vamos showed Sarabia making a number of angry outbursts, in which Antoine Griezmann, Gerard Pique and Nelson Semedo were among those targetted for criticism by Setien's assistant coach.
Barca were beaten 2-0 by Real Madrid and Sarabia's antics on the bench have caused a stir in the Spanish media, with some reports claiming the players were unimpressed.
Setien told the newspaper El Periodico on Thursday he had apologised to the players and when asked about the issue in a press conference on Friday, he added: "This topic doesn't need too much attention, the only thing he has done wrong is the way he has expressed himself, which I don't like and I want to make that clear.
"It is normal to shout on the pitch, it is normal to warn the players, to communicate and to demonstrate your ..

Setien admits his assistant wrong to slam Barca players

Seoul suspended a visa-waiver programme for Japanese nationals Friday in retaliation for what it called an "irrational" plan by Tokyo to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, escalating a diplomatic row over their containment measures.
The two countries have close economic ties and are both major US allies, democracies and market economies faced with a rising China and nuclear-armed North Korea.
But their relationship continues to be heavily affected by Japan's colonial rule of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945 -- a dispute that escalated into a trade and security row last year.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday announced that foreign arrivals who have recently been in China or South Korea would be required to spend 14 days in quarantine.
The South's two biggest airlines Korean Air and Asiana on Friday announced the cancellations of most or all of their flights to Japan once the measure comes into force, and K-pop band Super Junior indefinitely postponed their upcoming 

South Korea to void visas of Japanese visitors in virus retaliation

Scared of the deadly new coronavirus that has swept China, pregnant women and new mothers are giving birth alone, keeping their newborns inside and switching to pricier private hospitals to avoid the risk of infection.
One new mother, surnamed Xie, told AFP she gave birth to her baby girl in Wuhan earlier this month alone, because nobody from her family was allowed to come with her to the hospital in the quarantined city where the outbreak emerged in December.
With roads blocked, she had been unable to attend pre-natal checks and was afraid to go to hospitals for fear of cross-infection.
"They let you out when you are delivering a baby," Xie said, saying she had chosen a special gynaecology hospital to give birth.
"When I got there, there was only one ward left," she said.
"During my time in the hospital I wore masks and gloves all the time and washed my hands very often. I seldom left my ward."
Some 56 million people in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province have been under ...

Pregnant women scared to give birth in virus-hit China

Iran on Friday announced a surge in coronavirus cases and 17 more deaths including an advisor to the foreign minister, raising the total number of people killed to 124.
The Islamic republic is battling the world's deadliest outbreak of the disease outside China where it originated.
Iran has confirmed 1,234 new cases over the past 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 4,747, health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a news conference.
The new cases "are probably those who had been infected with the virus two weeks ago and... just came to us with symptoms," he added.
Several politicians or government officials are among those who have been killed by the disease in Iran.
Hossein Sheikholeslam, an adviser to Iran's foreign minister who took part in the 1979 US embassy hostage crisis, died from the virus late Thursday, state news agency IRNA reported.
A former ambassador to Syria, he also served as deputy foreign minister from 1981 to 1997.
Sheikholeslam was also one .

Iran virus death toll reaches 124 as cases soar

Bulgaria declared a nationwide influenza epidemic, closing schools and banning planned surgeries from Friday as the country -- so far spared any novel coronavirus infections -- grapples with a rise in flu cases.
Members of the national task force set up to address the new coronavirus warned hospitals were already full of flu patients, potentially jeopardising preparedness to respond to an expected virus arrival and spread.
Doctors in the EU's poorest member say the country of 7 million people has seen an unusual rapid spread of type B flu.
"Such rapid growth of type B flu has not happened in Bulgaria for the past ten years," said Todor Kantardzhiev, director of the national centre for contagious diseases.
Almost 5,000 people contracted type B flu in the last week of February, according to National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases data with babies and children aged under 14 most affected.
Schools will remain closed until March 11, the health ministry said, recommending ...

Bulgaria closes schools amid nationwide flu epidemic

The number of novel coronavirus cases in the world rose to 98,123, including 3,385 deaths, across 87 countries and territories by 0900 GMT Friday, according to a report compiled by AFP from official sources.
Since 1700 GMT Thursday, 613 new contaminations and 39 new deaths were identified.
China -- excluding the territories of Hong Kong and Macau -- where the epidemic emerged at the end of December, had 80,552 cases, of which 3,042 were fatal. There were 143 new infections and 30 deaths there between 1700 GMT Thursday and 0900 GMT Friday.
Outside China, a total of 17,571 cases have been recorded around the world since the epidemic began, including 343 deaths.
There have been 706 new cases and nine new deaths outside China since 1700 GMT Thursday.
The most affected countries after China are: South Korea (6,284 cases, 42 deaths), Italy (3,858 cases, 148 deaths), Iran (3,513 cases, 107 deaths and France (423 cases, seven deaths).
Since Thursday 1700 GMT, China, South Korea, France and ...

Coronavirus toll at 0900 GMT Friday

Smaller EU member states hit out on Friday after Germany, France and the Czech Republic blocked the export of some medical supplies that could help slow the novel coronavirus outbreak.
EU health ministers are meeting to plan a coordinated response to the epidemic, but Germany has banned exports of face masks and gloves and France has requisitioned all its own stocks.
Some EU members -- notably Italy, where at least 148 people have died -- have been hit harder than others and some ministers think precious resources should be shared.
"I think that in fact we should show our solidarity, for example in the distribution of protective resources," said Belgian health minister Maggie de Block.
"There are two countries that block all exports ... and that's not in the spirit of the EU."
Dutch minister for medical care Bruno Bruins agreed, telling the crisis meeting: "In times of scarcity it is even more important to show solidarity, especially within the EU.
"I understand that some countries ...

EU ministers urge members to share anti-virus gear

Only one manager out of three in Europe is a woman, official data showed on Friday, despite women making up half of the European workforce.
Women also accounted for just one quarter of board members of publicly listed companies, the EU's Eurostat agency revealed, in data released in time for International's Women Day on March 8.
Fighting sexism in the workplace is a priority of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, which on Thursday announced it would propose legislation to force companies to expose publicly the gender pay gap.
Companies should welcome pay transparency because female workers "are not going to be proud working for a company which is not paying them as much as their male counterparts," Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli said.
The commissioner said it also hoped to revive plans for mandatory quotas of women on company boards that has been resisted by certain member states since 2012.
Even though quotas "can be a very ugly word," they were also "a necessary ...

Only a third of managers in Europe are women: Eurostat

Ukraine's government said Friday cooperation with the International Monetary Fund was an "absolute priority" as it sought to allay fears of a possible breakdown in ties with the lender after a government reshuffle.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who analysts say has been unhappy with the government's handling of the economy and his own flagging popularity, this week ousted Oleksiy Goncharuk as prime minister and changed his key ministers.
As part of the reshuffle, respected finance minister Oksana Markarova left government, sparking concern over the fate of the ex-Soviet country's further cooperation with its Western donors.
"The government will continue a balanced fiscal policy and constructive cooperation with the IMF and other Ukraine creditors," newly-installed Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said in a statement.
On Friday, Markarova's replacement, Igor Umansky, conducted talks with Goesta Ljungman, the IMF representative in Ukraine, in what was his first official engagement 

Ukraine says IMF cooperation 'absolute priority'

Vietnam's women footballers will play the second leg of their Olympics playoff against Australia behind closed doors over concerns of COVID-19, football authorities said Friday.
The March 11 game will be held in the Cam Pha stadium in northern Quang Ninh province.
The Matildas are on verge of Tokyo Olympics after thrashing Vietnam 5-0 in the first leg of their playoff at home on Friday.
A statement released by Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) on Friday said the match organiser decided not to open ticket sales to the public "due to the complicated development of COVID-19 outbreak".
"Spectators should not come to the stadium area... avoid large public gatherings, to ensure effective prevention of the outbreak," according to the statement.
VFF General Secretary Le Hoai Anh told AFP that "only accredited people can attend the game".
Vietnam last month suspended all sporting competitions in the country in February in order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
All games in the ...

Vietnam to host Olympic playoff behind closed doors

Egypt detected 12 new cases Friday of the novel coronavirus among workers aboard a Nile cruise boat heading from Aswan to Luxor, a health ministry statement said.
"Twelve new cases tested positive for the coronavirus among Egyptian staff on the cruise boat without showing any symptoms," the joint statement with the World Health Organization said.
Authorities were alerted after it was found that a Taiwanese tourist of "American origin" who travelled on the ship had caused the virus to spread, they said.
WHO had alerted Egyptian officials that tests revealed that the tourist, a woman, was the "main case that infected other cases", the statement added.
It was not clear where the tourist contracted the virus and if she had gone back to Taiwan or another country.
The 12 workers were quarantined after they were suspected of contracting the coronavirus and tested positive on the last day of their 14-day isolation.
Other people who were on the boat and had come in contact with the tourist ...

Egypt detects 12 new coronavirus cases on Nile cruise boat

The Milan-San Remo cycling race has become the latest sporting event in Italy to be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, the organisers announced on Friday.
The early season one-day event, scheduled to take place on March 21, was shelved alongside next week's Tirreno-Adriatico, a week-long stage race.
No alternative dates for either races have yet been given.
The Strade Bianchi, the first big race of the Italian cycling season set for Saturday, was cancelled Thursday.
The race's start town Milan is in Lombardy, a COVID-19 hot-spot, and so far 148 people have died from the outbreak in Italy.
The Paris-Nice stage race in France is set to go ahead staring Sunday despite several top teams withdrawing due to fears over the virus.
A swathe of Italy's Serie A football matches have been cancelled and the Italian government has decreed that no fans be allowed to attend sporting events inside stadiums until April 3.

Milan-San Remo cycling race postponed because of coronavirus

Nigerian police have rescued 13 people, including a child and six pregnant women, from an illegal clinic in southwestern Ogun state, a spokesman said Friday.
The women, aged between 20 and 25, told police the owner hired men to impregnate them and then sell the newborns for profit in what has been dubbed a "baby factory".
The "factories" are usually small illegal facilities parading as private medical clinics that house pregnant women and offer their babies for sale.
In some cases, young women have been held against their will and raped before their babies are sold on the black market.
"The operation was carried out on February 28 after an inmate of the home located around Mowe escaped and tipped off the police," police spokesman Abimbola Oyeyemi told AFP.
"We also arrested the owner of the home and two men who are suspected of being hired to impregnate the women," he said.
Oyeyemi said the women told the police that the home's owner usually hired men to sleep with them to make ...

Nigeria police free 13 from 'baby factory'

Slovakia reported its first case of the novel coronavirus on Friday, after a man whose son visited Venice in COVID-19 hotspot Italy, tested positive.
"Today, a 52-year-old patient was confirmed to be infected," Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini told journalist Friday.
He said the man, who has not been named, is currently hospitalised in Bratislava.
"The patient did not travel anywhere recently but his son returned from Venice a couple of weeks ago," Pellegrini added.
The patient's sample was tested twice, so there is no doubt about coronavirus, according to the prime minister.
"His son has not shown any signs of illness," Pellegrini said.
More than 300 samples of suspected infections were tested negative in Slovakia as of Friday, local health authorities said.
Slovakia had been the only country in Central Europe without a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus.
The virus, which now affects around 90 countries and territories, has infected more than 98,000 people worldwide and left ...

Slovakia confirms first coronavirus case

China may soon lift the quarantine imposed on the province at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak which has been under lockdown for more than a month, a senior government official hinted Friday.
Asked about the draconian measures taken in central Hubei province to contain the spread of the virus, Ding Xiangyang, deputy secretary-general of China's State Council, told journalists "the day everyone is waiting for will not be too far away".
But Ding stressed that cases in Hubei -- and its capital Wuhan where the virus emerged -- still made up a huge proportion of the national toll.
Some 56 million people in Hubei have been effectively quarantined since late January, to stop the virus from spreading across the country when people returned to work from their hometowns after the extended Lunar New Year break.
But new cases in Hubei and Wuhan have been on a downward trend for several weeks.
For the first time since China started publishing cases of new infections, on Friday there were .

China may soon lift quarantine on virus-hit Hubei province: official

The Pope has accepted the resignation of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, whose conviction for shielding an alleged child-molesting priest was overturned on appeal last month, the Catholic Church in Lyon said on Friday.
Barbarin, who will now step down as Archbishop of Lyon, was given a six-month suspended jail sentence last March for not reporting a priest in his diocese who had allegedly abused dozens of boy scouts in the 1980s and 1990s.
Last month, appeals judges said Barbarin should have reported the priest, but could not be held criminally liable for his failure.

Pope accepts resignation of French cardinal: church

An attacker targeted the US embassy in the Tunisian capital on Friday, causing an explosion and injuries among police before being killed, police said.
The assailant tried to enter the embassy but was prevented by police who guarded the diplomatic mission in the Berges du Lac district, a police official said.
Several police were wounded in the attack, the official added, without giving further details.
"The operation was doomed to fail," he said.
Police said the attacker had been riding a motorcycle.
They did not immediately confirm if it was a suicide attack, but body parts were seen strewn on the ground at the scene.
The explosion caused panic among pedestrians near the embassy, images shared online showed.
Tunisia faced a rise in jihadist activity after its 2011 revolution, with attacks killing dozens of security personnel, civilians and foreign tourists.
While the security situation has significantly improved since a series of deadly attacks in 2015, Tunisia has maintained a state 

Blast targets US embassy in Tunis, attacker dead: police

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has voiced his frustration over how Manchester United's preparations for their derby against Manchester City have been impeded by the scheduling of their midweek FA Cup tie.
United cruised through to the quarter-finals at second-tier Derby on Thursday, when Luke Shaw's second career goal and two strikes from January signing Odion Ighalo wrapped up a 3-0 win.
Europa League football this season means United are used to playing on Thursdays, but City have an extra day to prepare for Sunday's Old Trafford encounter after beating Sheffield Wednesday the previous evening.
"It's that help we get from the FA again -- that extra 24 hours that they've had," Solskjaer said.
"I cannot believe why there's a derby on Sunday and we've got to play Thursday night. What's the point in that? That doesn't level the playing field."
City also had an extra day ahead of December's derby at the Etihad Stadium, although Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial scored in a shock 2-1 win for ...

AFP

AFP

Page 122 - Afp