Rugby's English Premiership chiefs on Wednesday indefinitely suspended the 2019/20 season due to the coronavirus pandemic but said they were committed to finishing the campaign.
The last game was played on March 8. The previous plan was that the English top-flight would resume on April 24 but that is not possible with Britain in the grip of the health crisis.
Premiership Rugby organisers are liaising with the Rugby Football Union, clubs and medical staff on a number of potential scenarios.
"The intention is to play all games and complete the season as soon as it can be done safely," Premiership Rugby said in a statement.
"In the meantime, Premiership Rugby continues to give its full support to the lockdown measures and encourage everyone to stay home, protect the NHS (National Health Service) and save lives."
Chief executive Darren Childs said the effects of the coronavirus had been "heartbreaking and devastating" but he also outlined the economic challenges ahead.
"Many livelihoods ..

Rugby's Premiership announces further delay but intends to finish season

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Britain on Wednesday reported a record 938 new COVID-19 deaths in its daily update, 152 more than its previous highest toll, as the total number of deaths passed 7,000.
"As of 5pm on 7 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 7,097 have sadly died," the health ministry tweeted, up from 6,159 on Tuesday.

Britain reports a record 938 new coronavirus deaths

The daughter and grandson of a former Kazakhstan president won a British court ruling Wednesday over plans to seize three multimillion-pound London properties from the family.
The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) had obtained unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) against the luxury properties, said to be worth a total of around GBP 80 million (USD 96.5 million, 89.6 million euros), last May.
UWOs, brought into force in January 2018 under so-called "McMafia laws" -- named after a BBC organised crime drama -- allows the NCA to seize assets if they believe the owner is a "politically exposed person" and unable to explain the source of their wealth.
The NCA said the properties' purchases were funded by Rakhat Aliyev, a former senior member of the Kazakh government who died in an Austrian prison in 2015 while awaiting trial on two charges of murder.
However, in a High Court judgement, given remotely, judge Beverley Lang overturned all three UWOs, ruling that "the NCA's assumption" that Rakhat ..

Top Kazakh family wins court ruling on London mansions

Belgium's gin and whisky drinkers have been shut up at home for three weeks to avoid the epidemic but one Waterloo distillery is taking the battle to the coronavirus.
The historic Mont Saint Jean farm south of Brussels served as a field hospital for the British forces at their decisive 1815 victory against French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's army.
Now, a micro-distillery housed in its historic buildings has returned to the healthcare business -- putting aside artisanal drinks to instead produce alcohol for disinfectant hand gel.
Several other companies around Belgium and Europe have repurposed their stills, hoping to help end a shortage that has hampered efforts by healthcare workers and consumers alike to protect themselves from infection.
The Waterloo distillery is Belgium's smallest, but the vats that once held luxury tipples now serve 200 litres (53 gallons) of 86-degree proof alcohol per week destined for hand-sanitising gels.
"We noticed that there was a shortage of ...

From gin to gel: Waterloo distillery battles virus

Irish police set up nationwide traffic checkpoints on Wednesday, armed with new powers to enforce a lockdown designed to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
Emergency legislation passed in the Irish parliament two weeks ago allows the government to curb non-essential travel during the crisis.
People violating the ban risk a fine of up to 2,500 euros ($2,700) and/or six months in prison.
"The regulations now are in effect," Garda -- Irish police -- commissioner Drew Harris said at a press conference.
"People only should be moving if they have an essential reason to move throughout country. What we'll be doing is making sure that movement is essential." Over 2,500 officers will be involved in the operation at any one time as it runs from noon Wednesday until midnight on Sunday, with an extension possible.
"It will involve thousands of checkpoints every day," police said in a statement.
The roadblocks have been put in place ahead of Easter holidays, traditionally used as an occasion for .

Irish police set up roadblocks with beefed-up COVID-19 powers

Tottenham and England great Jimmy Greaves remains in hospital while he awaits the outcome of tests but his illness is not related to coronavirus, his agent said on Wednesday.
Tottenham announced on Tuesday that their record goalscorer, who turned 80 in February, was receiving medical treatment.
Greaves, who scored 44 goals in 57 England appearances, spent a comfortable night and hopes to be able to be discharged soon.
A statement on his Facebook page, run by his friend and agent Terry Baker, read: "All I can say is no news is good news at the moment. Jimmy has spoken to Irene (his wife) by phone.
"During the course of the day he will be having tests and when we find out the results I will post them on here." He added: "His problem isn't coronavirus-related and doesn't seem to be related to his previous illness. Hopefully he won't be in hospital for too long."
Greaves suffered a severe stroke in May 2015, which left him wheelchair-bound.
Free-scoring Greaves came through the ranks at ..

England great Jimmy Greaves awaits hospital test results

Scottish football clubs below the Premiership are to vote on whether to terminate their league campaigns due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The proposal would see the three divisions below the top-flight Premiership immediately curtailed and final season placings determined by points per game in league matches played by each club so far.
If it is given the go-ahead, Dundee United would be promoted to the top division while Raith Rovers would move up to the Championship and Cove Rangers would join third-tier League One.
Partick Thistle would be relegated to League One and Stranraer to the fourth-tier League Two.
If the resolution is approved, the Scottish Professional Football League has also "committed to consulting with clubs over the possibility of league restructuring" ahead of next season.
The resolution recommends that the Premiership remains postponed for the time being but final season placings would be determined by the same system if the SPFL's board determined matches could ...

Scotland's lower league football clubs to vote on ending season

Reigning Masters champion Tiger Woods had a relaxed dinner with loved ones instead of the Masters Champions Dinner he was once scheduled to host Tuesday at Augusta National.
The Masters has been postponed to November by the coronavirus pandemic, with Woods, a 15-time major winner and five-time Masters champion, among those staying home to try and slow the spread of the deadly virus.
So instead of hosting past Masters winners at Augusta National, Woods had a meal at his South Florida home and tweeted a photo of himself with his "guests" -- girlfriend Erica Herman, his daughter Sam and his son Charlie.
"Masters Champions Dinner quarantine style. Nothing better than being with family," Woods tweeted.
Woods was wearing his Masters green jacket with a red shirt, his typical final-round shirt, and the Masters champion's trophy, a replica of the course's famed clubhouse, on the table in front of him.
Food was only seen at the edges of the photo but it looked to be the same meal Woods said in 

Tiger enjoys Masters champions dinner 'quarantine style'

The world athletics championships originally scheduled for next year in Eugene, Oregon, will take place July 15-24 in 2022, avoiding a potential clash with the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
World Athletics last month shifted the event to 2022 to accommodate the rearranged Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"The World Athletics Council approved the new dates this week after extensive discussions with the sport's stakeholders including organisers of two other major championships due to take place in July-August 2022, the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the multisport European Championships in Munich," World Athletics said in a statement on Wednesday.
"The new schedule will prevent a direct conflict between any of these major events and, with careful programming, will ensure athletes can compete in up to three world-class competitions."
The world championships were initially planned to run from August 6-15 in 2021.
The competition ..

2022 world athletics championships set for July 15-24

The world's chemical weapons watchdog on Wednesday for the first time explicitly blamed Syria for toxic attacks in the country, saying President Bashar al-Assad's regime used sarin and chlorine three times in 2017.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it "has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the perpetrators of the use of sarin as a chemical weapon in Latamenah in 2017... and the use of chlorine... were individuals belonging to the Syrian Arab Air Force".

Syria responsible for 2017 chemical warfare attacks: OPCW

A man who stole three face masks from a London hospital during the coronavirus crisis has been jailed for three months.
Lerun Hussain, 34, pleaded guilty to the theft at a London magistrates' court on Tuesday after the theft from King's College Hospital late on Sunday.
Hussain, from south London, was arrested on suspicion of theft and also detained for being in breach of a court order.
Meanwhile, a doctors' surgery in Kidderminster, in the English midlands, has urged thieves to return its only box of face masks after it was stolen.
Police said they were aware of a reported theft and would be visiting the surgery on Wednesday.
There have been several coronavirus-related arrests in Britain during the pandemic, including a man held in north London for threatening to give police officers the virus by spitting on them.
So far, 6,159 deaths have been reported in Britain from COVID-19.

UK man jailed for stealing hospital face masks

A blistering row erupted on Wednesday after the head of the EU's top science funding agency resigned and attacked the bloc's handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Mauro Ferrari quit as president of the European Research Council (ERC) after just three months, telling the Financial Times he was "extremely disappointed" by the EU's response to the pandemic, which has hit Italy and Spain particularly hard.
The ERC hit back with a lengthy statement accusing Ferrari of being "economical with the truth" and lambasting him for not showing proper commitment to the job.
The row is the latest example of in-house bickering to mar EU efforts to manage a coordinated Europe-wide response to the crisis, which has killed thousands and crippled the continent's economy.
In a statement to the Financial Times, Ferrari said he had joined the ERC as a "fervent supporter" of the EU, but his battles with its bureaucratic approach to coronavirus had changed his mind.
He complained that the strategy he had ...

Row as EU science chief quits over virus response

Millions in Lebanon risk food insecurity due to a coronavirus lockdown unless the government provides urgent assistance, Human Rights Watch warned Wednesday.
Lebanon in mid-March ordered residents to stay at home and all non-essential businesses to close to halt the spread of COVID-19, which has officially infected 575 people and killed 19 nationwide.
Before the pandemic erupted, Lebanon was struggling with its worst economic crisis in decades, with 45 percent of the population facing poverty according to official estimates.
Lockdown measures to slow the spread of the virus have made matters worse with "millions of Lebanon's residents... at risk of going hungry", HRW said in a statement.
Lebanon is home to 4.5 million people, and also hosts around 1.5 million Syrians who have fled the nine-year war next door, most of whom rely on aid to survive.
"The lockdown... has compounded the poverty and economic hardship rampant in Lebanon before the virus arrived," said HRW senior researcher ...

Millions in Lebanon risk food insecurity over virus lockdown: HRW

Physics experts are working at Europe's CERN lab to create a basic ventilator for mild coronavirus sufferers and recovering patients, the facility said on Wednesday.
The Swiss-based lab says a model that could run on batteries should be ready for testing in hospitals within weeks and could eventually free up heavy-duty machines for use on critical COVID-19 patients.  The facility in Geneva is developing ideas pitched by its 18,000-strong global network of experts.
"We want to deploy our resources and competences to contribute to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," said director-general Fabiola Gianotti.  CERN is home to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) -- a giant lab in a tunnel straddling the French-Swiss border that is the world's most powerful particle accelerator.
Physicists and engineers from the LHC team are working on the high-energy physics community ventilator, or HEV.
The pandemic has led to a global shortage of ventilators to help hospitalised patients to breathe.
"The 

European physics lab developing basic COVID-19 ventilator

Coronavirus lockdowns may make or break relationships, but in Dubai marriages and divorces have been suspended "until further notice" to avoid gatherings that could spread the disease.
Dubai's justice department said Wednesday that the decision was among the "measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic" rolled out in the emirate which is under a strict lockdown.
Justice Khaled al-Hawsni of the family court also said on the department's website that couples who have already completed marriage formalities must not organise wedding parties "even among their immediate circles".
The United Arab Emirates has recorded more than 2,000 cases of the coronavirus, and 12 deaths.  All citizens and residents other than those in essential services require a permit to leave their homes.
Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the country, has come to a virtual halt with its famous mega-malls and sprawling hotels shuttered.
Life under the lockdown has raised many questions among anxious ...

Dubai suspends marriage and divorce during virus lockdown

Pharmacists on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali are tackling a shortage of anti-coronavirus hand sanitiser by making their own unique, tropical version -- from thousands of litres of fermented palm wine.
The idea was the brainchild of Bali police chief Petrus Reinhard Golose, who says he was alarmed that supplies of alcohol-based disinfectant were in short supply while prices soared for what was left on the market.
He rustled up some 4,000 litres of the popular, potent beverage -- known as arak -- by asking local manufacturers to donate from their stocks, with the force also dipping into its own funds to buy up extra supplies.
Staff at Bali's Udayana University were then tasked with turning the wine into a handwash that could protect against the coronavirus.  Within a week, they had managed to produce a disinfectant with a 96 percent alcohol content to meet WHO standards, according to the university.
Some clove and mint oil were added to the mixture to reduce hand irritation.
"So 

Bali's miracle: turning wine into hand sanitiser

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Wednesday that a failure by his eurozone peers to agree a coronavirus rescue package was "unthinkable" and expressed hope they would overcome their differences at a meeting tomorrow.
"Our collective responsibility is to come to an agreement within 24 hours. A failure is unthinkable," Le Maire said after marathon overnight eurozone finance minister talks stalled on disagreements about how to fund the package.
"I do not want to point the finger of blame at anyone because I think that would not be useful," he added.
France has backed Italy and Spain, among the hardest hit countries, in seeking pooled EU debt to raise funds but Germany and the Netherlands oppose this option.

French minister says failure to agree eurozone virus rescue 'unthinkable'

Germany and France, the EU's two largest economies, are bracing for a painful recession as the coronavirus pandemic slashes output to the lowest levels in decades, forecasts said on Wednesday.
Gross domestic product in export powerhouse Germany is expected to shrink by nearly 10 per cent in the second quarter as shutdowns aimed at slowing the outbreak paralyse the global economy, the country's leading research institutes said in a report.
Germany's second-quarter plunge in GDP should be twice as big as any during the 2008-2009 financial crisis and would mark the steepest fall since the institutes' records began in 1970.
"The corona pandemic will trigger a serious recession in Germany," the six institutes including Ifo, DIW and RWI said, estimating that the economy already contracted by 1.9 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter.
France is already in a technical recession, the Bank of France said, after official data showed the economy shrank 0.1 per cent in the last quarter of ...

France, Germany face historic economic declines

Fire broke out Wednesday at the central Berlin site where the German imperial family's palace is being reconstructed, injuring one and sending black smoke pouring into the sky.
The fire broke out outside the building in two tar kettles, causing a propane gas cylinder to explode before around 80 firefighters extinguished the blaze.
"Pictures of fire above the entrance to the palace sent shivers down all our spines," junior minister for culture Monika Gruetters said in a statement.
One worker was slightly hurt by smoke inhalation, firefighters said.  "Everything is under control again," the emergency responders posted on Twitter.
The Humboldt Forum, a museum slated to open in the rebuilt palace in autumn, said work on the building would not be slowed by Wednesday's upset.
Standing on the same site since the 15th century and home to Prussia's royal Hohenzollern family, the Stadtschloss was demolished by the communist East German government in 1950 after being damaged in World War II ...

Fire at rebuilt Kaiser's palace in Berlin

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho has accepted he was in the wrong for holding a one-on-one training session with midfielder Tanguy Ndombele in a public park in London.
Mourinho was pictured on social media flaunting government rules by meeting up with the midfielder Tuesday, even though they kept to social distancing guidelines.
Fellow Spurs players Davinson Sanchez and Ryan Sessegnon were spotted running side by side in a separate session, while Serge Aurier filmed himself on Instagram running alongside a friend.
"I accept that my actions were not in line with government protocol and we must only have contact with members of our own household," said the Portuguese manager.
"It is vital we all play our part and follow government advice in order to support our heroes in the NHS and save lives." London Mayor Sadiq Khan told the BBC the players and Mourinho should be leading by example.
"My concern is people, particularly children, who might support Spurs or follow football may see these ...

Mourinho admits he was in the wrong over training session

A fifth of UK private companies want to furlough -- temporarily lay off -- staff owing to the coronavirus turmoil, the British Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday.
Analysts said that the figure, based on a BCC survey of 1,000 companies, could rise to around 30 per cent, costing the government up to 40 billion pounds (45 billion euros, USD 49 billion) under its jobs retention plan.
"Our latest data shows that many businesses face a cliff-edge scenario, either at the end of this month or over the course of the next quarter," said BCC Director General Adam Marshall.
"We've seen a big jump in the number of firms furloughing staff, and many are now starting to apply for access to government loan and grant schemes to keep themselves afloat."
The jobs plan, designed to prevent mass redundancies in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, sees the state pay 80 per cent of the wages of furloughed workers. It goes up to a maximum of 2,500 pounds per month each.
The Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme, ...

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