Banners warning that playing cards together is suicide and guards yelling at crowds to separate: a Chinese city near the coronavirus ground zero remains far from normal even after emerging from a two-month lockdown.
Huanggang, home to 7.5 million people, was among the worst-affected areas in Hubei, the province where the new coronavirus first emerged late last year before morphing into a deadly pandemic.
Travel restrictions were loosened on Wednesday and -- if healthy -- people were allowed to leave Hubei, where more than 50 million people were placed under lockdown in January to prevent the spread of the virus.
But warnings were prominently displayed across Huanggang city to remind people that the virus still posed a threat as they returned to the streets.
"Gathering to play cards is suicide," said a red banner hanging by the roadside.
"If you don't wear a mask, the virus will fall in love with you," warned another.
Restaurants in the city re-opened -- but diners weren't allowed to ..

Chinese city eases virus lockdown but life is far from normal

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Former boxing world champion Amir Khan has become the latest sportsman to help in the fight against the coronavirus, offering his wedding venue for use by Britain's National Health Service.
Khan is ready to hand over the keys to the 60,000-square-feet (5,600-square-metre) venue in his home town of Bolton as concerns grow over bed shortages.  The 33-year-old former world light-welterweight champion said in a post on his official Twitter account: "I am aware of how difficult it is for the public to get a hospital bed in this tragic time.
"I am prepared to give my 60,000 square foot 4 story building which is due to be a wedding hall and retail outlet to the @NHSuk to help people affected by the coronavirus. Pls keep safe."
Premier League side Chelsea last week said they would provide free accommodation to NHS staff in a hotel at the club's Stamford Bridge stadium.
Former Manchester United players Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs have given health workers free access to their hotels in ...

Boxer Amir Khan offers wedding venue to Britain's NHS

Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Thursday urged G20 leaders to take "effective and coordinated" action to combat the global crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, amid forecasts of a deep economic recession.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin joined the emergency videoconference chaired by King Salman, who is also under pressure to end an oil price war with Moscow that has roiled energy markets.
The talks come amid criticism the group has been slow to address the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left a global death toll of more than 21,000 and triggered financial shockwaves as more than three billion people around the world are locked down in their homes.
"This human crisis requires a global response. The world counts on us to come together and cooperate in order to face this challenge," the Saudi king said in his opening remarks as the summit began.
"We must have an effective and coordinated response to this pandemic and restore confidence in the global ...

Saudi king urges coordinated G20 response to coronavirus crisis

With more than one third of the globe's population confined to their homes in an attempt to limit the spread of the coronavirus, some are asking if the increased demand being put on the internet could substantially slow down web traffic.
To what extent has web traffic grown with billions watching on screens at home?
According to Nokia, one of the world's three largest telecoms equipment producers, most countries' telecoms networks are currently seeing a rise in internet usage of between 30 and 45 per cent, with peaks being around 20 to 40 per cent higher than this time last year.
The Finnish firm says there is an "unprecedented rise" in use of applications which require little transmission delay during normal office hours, with videoconferencing tools such as Skype or Zoom seeing usage skyrocketing 300 per cent in the United States, while video game usage is up 400 percent!
Are we in record traffic territory?
Germany's DE-CIX internet exchange, which is one of the world's most ...

Will coronavirus bump web traffic into the slow lane?

A Chinese man reportedly working as a university professor in Japan has confessed to spying and was in custody in his home country, China's foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Yuan Keqin was investigated on suspicion of espionage and had "confessed to the facts of the crime", ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing.
He was responding to a question from Japanese media about a professor at the Hokkaido University of Education who disappeared after travelling to China last June.
Yuan had returned for a family funeral and had been out of contact since, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported in December.
Geng did not confirm any details about Yuan's background but said there was "unambiguous evidence" of his guilt, adding that his case had been transferred to authorities for review and prosecution.
A group of Japanese researchers have issued an emergency appeal for the scholar, who specialises in East Asian political history, according to Kyodo.
A Japanese man detained .

Beijing says Chinese professor confessed to spying

All the McLaren Formula One team members quarantined Melbourne since the cancelled Australian Grand Prix have returned home, the UK-based outfit reported on Thursday.
"We are pleased to confirm that as of yesterday (Wednesday) evening, all team personnel who were in self-isolation in Melbourne, as well as management who had stayed with them, have now safely returned home," a spokesperson confirmed.
A total of 16 McLaren staff were placed in quarantine for two weeks at the request of the Australian medical authorities.
One because he had tested positive for the coronavirus, another because of developing virus-like symptoms and the remainder because they had been in close contact with the British mechanic who had tested positive.
Three management personnel remained in Australia to support them.
McLaren announced last week that the mechanic was symptom-free.
It was McLaren's decision to pull out of the race after announcing that one of their staff had tested positive for COVID-19 on the .

McLaren F1 staff back home after quarantine in Melbourne

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday said the US central bank will continue to "aggressively" pump liquidity into the economy to weather the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
He acknowledged that the economy will see a sharp downturn but the Fed aims to ensure recovery by providing credit to businesses and households, and "we will keep doing that aggressively."
"When it comes to this lending, we're not going to run out of ammunition. That doesn't happen," Powell said on NBC.
In a rare public interview, the Fed chief underlined the unusual situation of recent weeks in which a solid economy came to a screeching halt because of the virus outbreak.
"We may well be in recession," he said.
But "if we get the virus spread under control, fairly quickly then economic activity can resume, and we want to make that rebound as vigorous as possible."
The Fed slashed the benchmark interest rate to zero earlier this month and since then has launched a host of initiatives, including ...

Fed's Powell: Will keep lending 'aggressively' to support economy

Turkey's boxing federation on Thursday slammed organisers of an Olympic qualifying tournament in London after three Turkish fighters and a coach tested positive for the coronavirus.
The London competition featured around 350 male and female boxers from dozens of European nations and was the first opportunity for boxers from Europe to qualify for Tokyo 2020.
"The International Olympic Committee Boxing Task Force and the local committee in London -- responsible for the organisation -- acted as if nothing happened rather than postpone the tournament over coronavirus while every corner of the world has been on fire since December," Eyup Gozgec, president of the Turkish Boxing Federation, told AFP in a phone interview.
The Boxing Road to Tokyo event started on Saturday and was scheduled to run until Tuesday behind closed doors. But it was suspended after three days over growing coronavirus fears.
Gozgec, who is also the vice-president of the European Boxing Confederation, said his team ...

Turkish boxing chief slams London Olympic event over coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic and economic shutdown caused unemployment benefit filings by Americans workers to surge to 3.3 million last week -- the highest number ever recorded, the Labour Department reported on Thursday.
The normally routine report is at the frontlines of the economic crisis caused by the outbreak, which has forced widespread closures of restaurants, shops and hotels, and brought airline travel to a virtual halt, prompting the stunning increase in people filing for benefits nationwide in the week ending March 21.
Nearly every state cited COVID-19 for the jump in initial jobless claims, with heavy impacts in food services, accommodation, entertainment and recreation, healthcare and transportation, the report said.

Coronavirus pushed 3.3 mn to claim US jobless benefits

Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Thursday urged G20 leaders to take "effective and coordinated" action to combat the global crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, and called on them to assist developing nations.
"We must have an effective and coordinated response to this pandemic and restore confidence in the global economy," the king said in his opening remarks as G20 leaders began an emergency online summit.
"It is our responsibility to extend a helping hand to developing countries and least developed countries to enable them to build their capacities and improve their infrastructure to overcome this crisis and its repercussions," he added.

Saudi king urges 'effective' G20 response to virus crisis

As the new coronavirus risks throwing the world into the most violent recession in recent history, authorities in the Nordic region are urging their banks to forego paying out dividends to shareholders.
At a time when tens of thousands of people are losing their jobs in the crisis, the banks' plans to issue generous dividends have not been well-received by authorities and some of the public -- who recall the banks' tendency to ask for taxpayer bailouts when things go south.
Among the most radical proposals has been the call by Norway's Financial Supervisory Authority on Wednesday for a ban on financial institutions paying out 2019 dividends "until further notice".
"A ban on dividend payments and other distributions will have a profound impact," the government agency said in a statement.
It added that "in view of the widespread crisis the country is in" that it believes "that such a measure is necessary to promote financial stability." Late Wednesday evening, the Norwegian government ..

In Nordics, bank dividends under fire

French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu says this year's Tour de France could be staged without spectators in a bid to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
The French government is in talks with Tour organisers about the future of the June 27-July 19 edition of world cycling's top event which draws more than 10 millions fans annually to the roads of France.
All options are being considered including postponement or cancellation of the event which has been raced every year in peacetime since 1903, the minister said.
"Everything is imaginable. We have (imposed spectator bans) for other competitions before, even though it won't have the same impact because the business model of the Tour doesn't depend on ticket sales like football or rugby," she told France Bleu radio station on Wednesday.
The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics and the Euro 2020 football championships has focused attention on the Tour which winds its way for thousands of miles through the towns and villages of France in a .

French sports minister evokes Tour de France spectator ban

Leeds United's players and coaches, including Argentine manager Marcelo Bielsa, have agreed to defer their wages "for the foreseeable future" to ensure all non-football staff at the club can be paid.
Leeds were on the brink of ending a 16-year wait to return to the lucrative Premier League before football was suspended across England until at least April 30 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The club said the lack of income would cost "several million pounds each month".
"Leeds United can confirm that the players, coaching staff and senior management team have volunteered to take a wage deferral for the foreseeable future to ensure that all non-football staff at Elland Road and Thorp Arch (training ground) can be paid and the integrity of the business can be maintained during these uncertain times," Leeds said in a statement.
"It is important that we all work together to find a way that the club can push through this period and end the season in the way we all hope we can," the ...

Leeds players and coaches defer wages to save other staff

The Spanish MotoGP due to be staged on May 3 has become the latest sporting casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.
"The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has obliged the event to be rescheduled," organisers announced on Thursday.
"As the situation remains in a state of constant evolution, a new date for the Spanish GP cannot be confirmed until it becomes clearer when exactly it will be possible to hold the event," a statement added.
The postponement of the race at the Jerez circuit follows the cancellation of the elite category season-opening MotoGP in Qatar.
The next three legs of the 2020 calendar in Thailand, Texas and Argentina have also been put on ice, with Dorna, the series promoter, hoping to run them in the second half of a truncated season.
Dorna has already said it will push back the end of the season two weeks to 29 November.
"A revised calendar will be published as soon as available," Thursday's statement from the promoter and FIM, motor cycling's ruling body, added.
The season 

Spanish MotoGP postponed due to coronavirus

The lockdown in the Chinese outbreak city of Wuhan brought the COVID-19 epidemic crashing to a halt, giving health systems crucial breathing room to deal with serious cases, new research showed Thursday.
Chinese authorities ordered schools, universities and businesses shut following a cluster of COVID-19 cases in the transport hub in January, confining millions of people to their homes in a bid to contain the outbreak.
The measures sent the numbers of new cases tumbling, and parts of Hubei province, where Wuhan is situated, have slowly started returning to normal.
With roughly three billion people currently advised to stay at home amid the pandemic, a study published in The Lancet Public Health examined what the rest of the world can learn from Wuhan.  Researchers developed a model to estimate the impact that school and business closures had on COVID-19 transmission rates, using data on how often people interact and where.
The Wuhan outbreak came at the worst possible time -- on the ..

Wuhan lockdown bought health systems vital time: study

A meeting of NATO foreign ministers scheduled for next week will be held by video conference because of the coronavirus pandemic, the alliance said on Thursday.
The meeting set for April 2 "will be held by secure teleconference" and will be chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the statement said.
"Precautionary measures are in place at NATO Headquarters to limit the further spread of the COVID-19 virus, including restricted access to visitors, media and non-essential staff," the statement said.
These came following the restrictions on movement imposed by the Belgian government since March 18, the alliance added.
Stoltenberg was urged by delegations to abandon his plans to hold a physical meeting given the lockdowns and social distancing rules imposed worldwide.
The meeting will focus on the economic impact of the pandemic on allied defence budgets and the latest developments for NATO's missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

NATO foreign ministers to meet by video conference

A cruise ship stricken by a coronavirus outbreak was told Thursday to leave Australian waters, days after local infection numbers spiked when passengers on another vessel were allowed to disembark and roam freely around Sydney.
Seven passengers have tested positive for COVID-19 aboard the Artania, which had been due to travel onward to South Africa but is now anchored near the port of Fremantle.
Its operators say they are planning to fly the vessel's mostly German passengers home from Australia on a chartered plane by Saturday.
Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said he would ask the national government to call in the navy if the ship refused to move on from Australian waters.
"This ship needs to leave immediately," he told reporters.
"No one will be disembarking at Fremantle unless a passenger is in a life-threatening emergency," he said.
Two other cruise ships are in nearby waters.
The Magnifica, carrying around 1,700 passengers, departed Fremantle on Tuesday after being ...

Virus-stricken cruise ship told to leave Australian waters

The United States on Thursday granted Iraq a 30-day waiver to keep importing Iranian gas despite American sanctions, two Iraqi officials told AFP, the shortest extension yet.
The US slapped tough sanctions on the Iranian energy sector in late 2018 and has granted Iraq a series of waivers, usually for 45, 90 or 120 days.  Baghdad relies on gas and electricity imports from its neighbour Tehran to supply about a third of its power grid, crippled by years of conflict and poor maintenance.
"This is the final extension," one source at the Iraqi president's office told AFP.
The source said Washington had been frustrated that Iran was meddling in the government formation process in Iraq.
Adnan Zurfi, who has had close ties with US officials since the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, was nominated on March 17 and has a month to pull together his cabinet.
"The US did not want to put Zurfi in a difficult position by not renewing the waiver," a second senior Iraqi official told AFP, ...

US grants Iraq shortest sanctions waiver yet for Iran gas

Romania's Health Minister Victor Costache resigned on Thursday following criticism of the government over its handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Costache did not give a reason for his resignation while Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said it was for "personal and professional reasons." Orban added: "I regret his resignation, I understand it and I want to thank him for the good collaboration."
The government has come under fire as Romania's hospitals struggle to cope with an increasing number of coronavirus patients.
On Wednesday Costache told a TV news channel that all of Bucharest's population would be tested for COVID-19, a plan widely panned as not feasible and misguided when medical staff do not have access to widespread testing.
Many Romanian doctors and nurses have also taken to social media to criticise the lack of protective medical equipment such as masks and gloves.  A number of medical professionals have also contracted the virus.
Romania has confirmed 1,029 cases of .

Romania health minister resigns as country struggles to stem virus

The coronavirus death toll in Spain surged to 4,089 after 655 people died within 24 hours, the health ministry said on Thursday.
It was a 19 percent increase on figures released Wednesday by the authorities in Spain, which has the world's second highest death toll from the disease after Italy.
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose to 56,188, the ministry said.
Despite a national lockdown imposed on March 14, which parliament on Thursday agreed to extend until April 11, both deaths and infections have continued to mount, with officials warning this week would be particularly bad.
But the rise in the number of new deaths was smaller than that recorded on Wednesday when the figure rose by 738 or 27 per cent.
Health authorities are hoping it will soon become clear whether the lockdown is having the desired effect.
The Madrid region has suffered the brunt of the epidemic with 17,166 infections -- just under a third of the total -- and 2,090 deaths, or 51 percent of the national ...

Spain virus death toll tops 4,000

The number of declared coronavirus cases in Europe topped 250,000, according to an AFP tally Thursday, more than half of which are in hard-hit Italy and Spain.
Europe is the worst-affected region in the world with 258,068 cases, including 14,640 deaths, ahead of Asia's 100,937 infections and 3,636 fatalities, according to a tally compiled from national health data and World Health Organization figures.
Italy has 74,386 registered infections and Spain has 56,188.  The global number of infections now stands at 481,230 across 182 countries, with 21,867 deaths.
The number of actual infections is believed to be higher since many countries are only testing severe cases or patients who require hospitalisation.

AFP

AFP

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