China's capital will suspend buses that enter and exit the city boundary, state media reported on Saturday, as Chinese authorities scramble to contain a new SARS-like virus that has killed dozens in the country.
According to state-run People's Daily, "all passenger transport by road" that crosses in and out of Beijing will be suspended starting Sunday, citing "requirements of epidemic prevention and control".

Beijing to suspend buses entering or leaving capital to contain virus: state media

PTI Automatic

World number four Daniil Medvedev eased past Alexei Popyrin in straight sets Saturday to set up a last-16 clash with former Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka.
The tall Russian had few problems dispatching the unseeded Australian 6-4 6-3 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena as he steps up his quest for a maiden Grand Slam crown.
"I knew it was not going to be easy and happy to win in straight sets," said Medvedev, insisting he had no expectations in Melbourne.
"(But) of course every time no matter what tournament I'm super disappointed (if I lose).
"Hopefully I can win seven matches here, but very tough." He now plays experienced 2014 champion Wawrinka after the Swiss got an easy ride through his clash against John Isner, with the American retiring injured while losing 6-4 6-1.
Wawrinka, a former world number three who has never returned to his best since knee surgery in 2017, said he was happy to be in the second week of a Slam once again.
"I think I was playing well again today," he said. "I .

Medvedev cruises to set up Wawrinka last-16 clash

Skipper Babar Azam and senior batsman Mohammad Hafeez stroked masterful half-centuries to steer Pakistan to a convincing nine-wicket win over a hapless Bangladesh in the second Twenty20 international in Lahore on Saturday.
Babar scored a 44-ball 66 not out for his 13th half-century and Hafeez made an undefeated 49-ball 67 to guide Pakistan to a modest 137-run target in 16.4 overs at Gaddafi stadium, taking an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Bangladesh again failed to put up a challenging total despite opener Tamim Iqbal's 53-ball 65, managing 136-6 in their 20 overs after winning the toss and batting for a second consecutive match.
Pakistan won the first match, also in Lahore on Friday, by five wickets. The final match is at the same venue on Monday.
Pakistan were never in trouble despite losing opener Ahsan Ali in the second over, caught by Mahmudullah Riyad off paceman Shafiul Islam in the second over.
World number one Twenty20 batsman Babar, who was out without ...

Pakistan thump sloppy Bangladesh for Twenty20 series win

Top seed and world number three Akane Yamaguchi fought her way into the women's singles finals of the Thailand Masters on Saturday after a gruelling three-set victory over Spain's Carolina Marin.
The Japanese shuttler dropped the first set but launched a fierce comeback to squeeze by Marin 14-21 23-21 21-18, setting up a Sunday championship match against Korea's An Se-young.
Compatriot Kenta Nishimoto also earned a finals berth in the men's singles after stopping Thailand's hometown hope, 18-year-old Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
Kunlavut was the local favourite after star Thai women's shuttler Ratchanok Intanon was knocked out of competition at Bangkok's Indoor Stadium Huamark on Friday.
But home advantage was not enough to stop Nishimoto, who ended Kunlavut's tournament run in two sets 21-18 21-13.
On Sunday Nishimoto is up against the number three seed from Hong Kong Angus Ng Ka Long, who beat China's Shi Yu Qi in the other semi-finals 21-18 21-19.
The Thailand Masters is the second ...

Badminton: Japan's Yamaguchi, Nishimoto in Thailand Masters finals

Rescue workers raced against time Saturday to find survivors under the rubble after a powerful earthquake claimed 22 lives and left more than 1,000 injured in eastern Turkey.
The magnitude 6.8 quake struck on Friday evening, with its epicentre in the small lakeside town of Sivrice in Elazig province, and was felt in neighbouring countries.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 39 people have been rescued alive from collapsed buildings in Elazig province, with a further 22 people estimated to be trapped under the rubble.
He said the death toll had risen to 22.
Among those found alive was a pregnant woman who was rescued 12 hours after the quake hit, state news agency Anadolu said, while an AFP correspondent saw an individual saved 17 hours later.
Nearly 2,000 search and rescue personnel were sent to the region while thousands of beds, blankets and tents have been provided, the Turkish presidency said.
The rescue efforts have been taking place in freezing temperatures as wood and ...

Rescuers scramble to find survivors after Turkey quake kills 22

Australia confirmed on Saturday its first four cases of the new coronavirus that has claimed 41 lives in China, becoming the latest country in a growing list to be affected by the illness.
One man was being treated in isolation after arriving in Melbourne a week ago from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.
He has pneumonia but is in a stable condition, health officials said.
Three other men in Sydney who also arrived recently from China had tested positive for the disease and were in isolation in local hospitals.
"They are not particularly unwell," New South Wales state chief health officer Kerry Chant told a press conference.
She said public health officials had managed to track most of the people who had been with two of the men on their flights from China and none were showing symptoms of the illness.
Officials were still trying to trace the travel of the other man and are waiting on test results from several other people suspected of contracting the ...

Australia confirms first coronavirus cases

England captain Joe Root and rising star Ollie Pope shared a free-scoring century partnership before fast bowler Anrich Nortje hit back for South Africa on the second day of the fourth and final Test at the Wanderers Stadium on Saturday.
England, holding an unbeatable 2-1 lead in the series, were 300 for seven at lunch.
The first hour belonged to Root and Pope as they added 66 runs to England's overnight total of 192 for four.
It made their partnership worth 101, with the 22-year-old Pope in particularly good form as he made a fluent 56, his third fifty-plus score in four innings.
But mid-morning drinks brought an immediate change, with Pope chopping the first ball after the short break onto his stumps as he tried to withdraw his bat from a fast delivery by Nortje, ending an exhilarating 78-ball innings which included eight fours.
Root was dropped by Faf du Plessis at slip in Nortje's next over but fell to a catch by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock in Nortje's following over.
Root made ..

South Africa's fast bowler Nortje halts England progress

Iran condemned Saturday what it called the "illegal and inhuman" treatment of its nationals by US border security officers, after reports a student was deported despite having a valid visa.
"Such absolutely discriminatory measures that only happen over people's race, nationality or religion are against international human rights laws and principles," foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.
"These individuals were questioned by America's border security over their political views and beliefs, and their social media accounts were forcefully entered," he said in a statement.
US media reported on Monday that an Iranian student headed to a Boston university had his visa cancelled at the airport and was deported by immigration officials.
Tensions have soared between Tehran and Washington since a US drone strike killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad on January 3.
Iran retaliated five days later by launching a wave of missiles at US troops stationed in Iraq.
Tehran was ...

Iran condemns 'inhuman' US treatment of its nationals

Delta Air Lines was Friday fined USD 50,000 by the US Department of Transportation to settle allegations it discriminated against three Muslim passengers who were ordered off their planes.
In its consent order, the department said it found Delta "engaged in discriminatory conduct" and violated anti-discrimination laws when it removed the three passengers.
In one incident on July 26, 2016, a Muslim couple were removed from Delta Flight 229 at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris after a passenger told a flight attendant their behavior made her "very uncomfortable and nervous".
"Mrs X" was wearing a head scarf and the passenger said "Mr X" had inserted something into his watch.
The flight attendant said she saw Mr X texting on his cell phone using the word "Allah" several times.
The captain then spoke with Delta's corporate security, who said Mr and Mrs X were US citizens returning home and there were "no red flags."
However the captain refused to let them re-board the plane.
The ...

Delta fined USD 50,000 for discriminating against Muslim passengers

Prime Minister Boris Johnson discussed telecoms security with US President Donald Trump as he prepares to announce if Britain will use China's Huawei in its 5G networks, officials said Saturday.
In a phone call on Friday evening, the two leaders "discussed a range of issues, including cooperation to ensure the security of our telecommunications networks", a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
A White House statement also confirmed they discussed "working together to ensure the security of our telecommunications networks".
The United States has banned Huawei from the rollout of its next generation 5G mobile networks because of concerns -- strongly denied -- that the firm could be under the control of Beijing.
Washington has been lobbying London to do the same, but there is speculation that it will grant the firm some kind of limited access.
Huawei is already well established in British 3G and 4G networks, and officials have warned that banning it would be hugely costly and delay the ...

Trump, Johnson talk telecoms security ahead of Huawei decision

Iraqi security forces cleared anti-government protesters from streets and squares in Baghdad and the south on Saturday, AFP journalists reported, stoking protester fears their long-running campaign risks being sidelined.
It came a day after populist politician Moqtada Sadr organised his own mass rally demanding US troops leave Iraq before announcing that he would no longer back the separate youth-dominated protest movement demanding sweeping reform.
Within hours, security forces had stormed a protest camp in the southern port city of Basra, forcibly dispersing activists, an AFP correspondent reported.
Their tents were burned down and municipal staff could be seen clearing the charred remains to reopen the square.
Many demonstrators were seen taking down tents in the cities of Hilla, Diwaniyah, Kut and Amarah.
In the capital, security forces cleared sit-ins from Tayaran Square, Mohammad Qasim highway and Ahrar Bridge, according to Baghdad military command.
A medical source told AFP six 

Iraq security forces clear streets stoking protester fears

Hong Kong on Saturday declared the outbreak of a mystery virus as an "emergency" -- the city's highest warning tier -- as authorities ramped up measures aimed at reducing the risk of further infections spreading.
"Today I declare the lifting of the response level to emergency," chief executive Carrie Lam told reporters.

Hong Kong declares Wuhan virus outbreak an 'emergency'

A central Chinese city that is the epicentre of a new SARS-like virus outbreak is building a second hospital "within half a month" to treat cases, state media reported Saturday.
According to the People's Daily, the new hospital will add 1,300 hospital beds, in addition to another new facility which is being built in Wuhan to deal with the outbreak -- reportedly within 10 days.

Virus-hit Chinese city to build second new hospital to treat cases: state media

Elina Svitolina became the sixth top 10 women's seed to exit in the Australian Open third round after she was well beaten by unseeded Garbine Muguruza on Saturday.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Muguruza won 6-1 6-2 and faces Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan or Dutch ninth seed Kiki Bertens in the last 16 in Melbourne.
The 26-year-old Spaniard Muguruza, a former world number one but now ranked 32, failed to win two matches in a row last year after the French Open in May-June.
But the 2016 Roland Garros and 2017 Wimbledon champion spent the off-season climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to help clear her mind of tennis -- and it appears to have done the trick.
She seized the first set against fifth-seeded Ukrainian Svitolina in only 23 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.
She saved two break points while serving for the match, then sealed an emphatic victory with a powerful forehand winner.
"I was very concentrated and focused on what I wanted to do, it all went fast my way," the Spaniard said of the rapid ...

Muguruza claims Svitolina scalp as top women's seeds tumble

Two Rohingya women were killed and seven others injured in shelling the Myanmar military and insurgents blamed on each other, days after the UN's top court ordered the country to protect the beleaguered Muslim minority.
Military spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told AFP said that one woman was killed on the spot by "heavy weapons" while another died after arriving at hospital in conflict-torn northern Rakhine state.
He blamed the deaths on incursions by the Arakan Army, rebels fighting for more autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in the same area where the Rohingya crisis unfolded.
But a spokesperson for the Arakan Army said there had been no fighting with the military in that area and they are "accusing and faking it".
The conflict has seen scores of civilians killed, hundreds wounded and some 100,000 displaced in the past year.
Earlier this month four Rohingya children were killed and five others injured alongside their teacher after an explosion hit while they collected ...

Two Rohingya women killed in Myanmar shelling

Gael Monfils dismissed concerns an injured hand was hampering his game on Saturday, saying he was fit and well for his fourth-round clash at the Australian Open.
Monfils bruised his racquet hand playing a computer game last month but he said the problem didn't trouble him at all.
"I'm fine. I'm in second week, playing great tennis," said the Frenchman, who beat Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, 6-3 to reach the last 16.
"I played ATP Cup, was fine. I practised here for one month. I was really fine. I never said I was hurt."
The 10th seed told reporters last week that he hit his right hand against a headboard while playing a computer game, and had iced it and taken anti-inflammatories.
He has since played two matches at the ATP Cup and three at the Australian Open, beating Lu Yen-hsun, Ivo Karlovic and now Gulbis as he seeks his first Grand Slam win.
"I love the game. I love waking up every morning with the goal to win for the first time a Slam," said Monfils, who next plays ...

Monfils says hand fine after video game nasty

Andrey Rublev's "amazing" unbeaten start to the season showed no signs of slowing Saturday, with the Russian young gun rallying from a set down to dump 11th seed David Goffin from the Australian Open.
The 22-year-old extended his unbeaten streak to 11 games, beating the Belgian 2-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to secure a place in the fourth round.
He will face either seventh seed Alexander Zverev or veteran Spaniard Fernando Verdasco next in a bid to make his first quarter-final at Melbourne Park.
The 17th seed said he was trying hard not to think about how many times he had won, but kept getting reminded about by the media.
"To be honest, I was not even thinking about it, how many matches I win, how many matches I lose. It's more in the media, they start saying, like, you win 10 matches," he said.
"Then you start to think, wow, I won 10 matches.
"Of course, it's amazing that I win that many matches in a row. But tennis is this kind of sport that every week is only going to be one ...

Rublev tries to block out hot streak after run to Melbourne last 16

With baseball caps and scarves covering their faces, only their serious eyes are visible as a dozen children stand to attention, rifles by their side.
In the heart of the violence-plagued Mexican state of Guerrero, learning to use weapons starts at an early age.
In the village of Ayahualtempa, at the foot of a wooded hill, the basketball court serves as a training ground for these youths, aged between five and 15.
The children practice with rifles and handguns or makeshift weapons in various drill positions for a few hours every week.
"Position three!" yells instructor Bernardino Sanchez, a member of the militia responsible for the security of 16 villages in the Guerrero area, which goes by the name of Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities (CRAC-PF).
Guerrero is one of the poorest and most violent parts of Mexico, with one of the country's highest murder rates because of drug gang wars over the trade in opium and marijuana.
In the face of indifference from the authorities, 600 

Mexican children take up arms in fight against drug gangs

World number one Rafael Nadal and Wimbledon champion Simona Halep dodged an exodus of seeded players as the shocks kept rolling at the Australian Open on Saturday.
A day after Serena Williams and title-holder Naomi Osaka fell by the wayside, second seed Karolina Pliskova crashed out to leave another gaping hole in the women's draw.
Pliskova and Osaka's exits mean two of the top three women's seeds are out of the running, clearing obstacles for the likes of Halep and 2016 winner Angelique Kerber.
Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, the sixth seed, won only one game against Estonia's Anett Kontaveit, the world number 31, as she bombed out 6-0 6-1.
Croatian 19th seed Donna Vekic also crumbled to lower-ranked opposition when she lost 7-5 6-3 to Poland's Iga Swiatek, who is returning from a stress fracture in her foot.
Nadal took the court against fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta after staying up to watch Roger Federer's late-night thriller with John Millman, which went to a fifth-set ...

Nadal, Halep roll on as shocks rattle Australian Open

Bolivia's Interim President Jeanine Anez on Friday said she would stand in the May 3 presidential election, which comes after the resignation of Evo Morales in November.
"I have made the decision to stand as a candidate in the national elections," Anez said in a speech.
A little-known senator, Anez assumed the presidency on November 12, two days after Morales resigned following three weeks of sometimes violent protests against his controversial re-election in a poll the Organization of American States said was rigged.
"I had not planned to participate in this election," Anez said, explaining that she had finally decided to stand due to the lack of unity among the opposition to Morales' Movement for Socialism (MAS) party, which is leading the polls.
However, the polls were carried out before economist Luis Arce announced he will stand in the election, backed by the MAS.
"The dispersion of votes and candidacies led me to make this decision," said Anez.
According to a poll published in ..

Bolivia interm leader Anez to run in presidential election

China has ordered nationwide measures to identify suspected cases of a deadly virus on trains, aeroplanes and buses, as the death toll and number of patients has skyrocketed.
Inspection stations will be set up and passengers with suspected pneumonia must be "immediately transported" to a medical centre, the National Health Commission said in a statement.

AFP

AFP

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