The coronavirus pandemic could spell "apocalypse" in the airline industry without urgent government aid, the global aviation association said Tuesday, warning that carriers could lose more than $250 billion in revenues this year alone.
The International Air Transport Association said its latest analysis showed that annual passenger revenues will fall by $252 billion if severe travel restrictions remain in place for three months.
That would mark a 44-percent drop compared to 2019 revenues, and is more than double the $113 billion drop previously predicted by IATA before countries around the world began introducing sweeping travel restrictions.
"It is the deepest crisis we ever had in our industry," IATA chief Alexandre de Juniac told reporters in a virtual briefing, calling on governments to quickly step up and provide desperately needed liquidity.
"Airlines are fighting for survival in every corner of the world," he said in a statement, pointing out that "travel restrictions and ...

Airlines headed for 'apocalypse' without aid: IATA

PTI Automatic

Russian authorities do not know the full extent of the coronavirus outbreak across the country and should step up measures to stem the pandemic, a top official said Tuesday.
Russia, which shares a border with China and has a population of 144 million, has officially reported 495 cases of the coronavirus but no confirmed fatalities.
"The problem is that the volume of testing is very low and no one has a clear picture" of the situation in Russia and the world, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin told President Vladimir Putin during a meeting.
"The picture that is unfolding is serious," said Sobyanin, who heads an anti-coronavirus task force at Russia's State Council.
He said the number of people infected with the coronavirus was "significantly" higher than official figures.
Taking the day to discuss the epidemic, Putin later visited Moscow's new infectious diseases clinic, where he donned a hazmat suit and met head doctor Denis Protsenko.
He warned the president that Russia may be headed for ..

Russia has no 'clear picture' of extent of virus outbreak: official

A wild puma was captured after it was found wandering around the deserted center of  Santiago in search of food, Chilean authorities said on Tuesday.
Chile is under a nighttime curfew due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The puma came down to the capital city from nearby surrounding hills.
"This is the habitat they once had and that we've taken away from them," said Marcelo Giagnoni, the director of the agricultural and livestock service that took part in an operation to capture the puma alongside police and the national zoo.
The puma was around a year old and weighed approximately 35 kilograms. It was transferred to the Santiago zoo to undergo tests.
"The puma is in good health," said Giagnoni.
Last year another wild puma was rescued after perching on a tree in a densely populated sector of eastern Santiago.
It had been surveying people below for more than 15 hours before it was shot with a tranquilizer dart and fell around 18 meters onto mats below.
It was released back into the wild ...

Wild puma captured in deserted Chile capital

The coronavirus pandemic has reached Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage site, an official source said on Tuesday.
Norman Wray, president of the Galapagos Government Council, told the state EcuadorTV channel that tests results  on Monday established that four people had contracted the COVID-19 disease.
The four permanent residents of the archipelago had returned to the islands from the port of Guayaquil, the worst affected city in Ecuador with more than half of its near 1,000 confirmed cases.
The archipelago of volcanic islands lies just over 900 kilometers to the west of Ecuador.
English naturalist, biologist and geologist Charles Darwin developed his Theory of Evolution after studying endemic species in the Galapagos islands.
More than 30,000 people live on the islands, which have a limited medical infrastructure.
A week ago, the government ordered a total ban on visitors to the islands, where measures are already in place to restrict the movement of people.
In ...

Coronavirus reaches world heritage Galapagos Islands

With the death toll soaring past 300,000 this year and a quarter of humanity now infected, the pandemic shows no signs of abating as it spreads invisibly throughout vulnerable communities.
Yet unlike the novel coronavirus, this disease is preventable, curable and centuries-old: tuberculosis.
On the occasion of World TB Day, experts warned Tuesday that the sheer number of people impacted by tuberculosis -- which leaves survivors with permanent lung damage -- means there are additional millions globally vulnerable to COVID-19.
TB is latent in one in four people on Earth and has been around for tens of thousands of years. Every year around 10 million people are infected; more than 1.2 million die.
While TB was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization back in 1993, it remains the world's number one infectious killer.
The vast majority of TB deaths occur among poorer populations, meaning the disease is largely out of the mind of policymakers despite its ...

The other pandemic: world urged to learn TB lessons

Sixty-four migrants from Ethiopia were found dead on Tuesday, crammed inside a freight container in the northwestern Mozambican province of Tete, a senior hospital official said.
The victims were discovered in a blue cargo container loaded on a truck. They were surrounded by survivors.
Temperatures in Tete currently hover around 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit).
"A truck transporting illegal immigrants from Malawi, suspected to be Ethiopians, was stopped at the Mussacana weight bridge in Tete, and 64 people were found dead. Only 14 survived," the official, who asked not be named as he did not have the authority to speak to the media, told AFP.
"The cause of death is presumed to be asphyxiation." A picture showed a few survivors sitting surrounded by corpses, and another showed hospital workers with white plastic aprons and blue face masks, preparing to offer first aid to survivors and offload the bodies.
The bodies were taken to a local morgue.
Provincial immigration ...

64 Ethiopians found dead in cargo container in Mozambique

They may not be a miracle cure or a vaccine, but respirator valves from 3-D printers have helped coronavirus patients breathe a little easer in the Italian epicentre of COVID-19.
Italy has thrown everything at a pandemic that has killed more than 6,000 people in just a month, more than anywhere else.
Hospitals in the northern Italian heart of the outbreak have had to make life-and-death decisions about which patients to try and save, and which to send home.
There are not enough beds, doctors, equipment -- and the severe cases keep flooding in.
Italy's death rate slowed slightly between Saturday and Monday, giving a glimmer of hope that the end is in sight.
Still, the Mediterranean country registered more than 2,000 fatalities and 16,000 confirmed infections in the three-day span.
Currently, more than 3,200 intensive care patients are receiving treatment for COVID-19.
Into this unfolding disaster stepped Alessandro Romaioli, a young engineer from an Italian company called Isinnova, ...

3-D printers help save lives from virus in Italy

Carlo Ancelotti surprised an Everton fan with motor neurone disease while Jose Mourinho helped deliver care packages as Premier League managers joined in the battle against the coronavirus crisis.
The English top flight has been suspended until at least April 30 due to the pandemic but clubs and managers are pitching in to help vulnerable, isolated people.
Everton manager Ancelotti joined his club's "Blue Family" community campaign, making a phonecall to Mark Cruise, a 52-year-old Everton fan diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year.
In a video posted on Everton's Twitter feed, Ancelotti initially caught the disbelieving supporter by surprise.
"Hi Mark, how are you? I'm Carlo," Ancelotti, 60, said.
"Who is it?", Cruise replied.
"I'm the manager of Everton. I know that you are a fan of Everton," said Ancelotti before Cruise responded: "I'm a big fan of you Mr Ancelotti, you are a top fella."
The Italian chatted with Cruise about his favourite Everton games, insisting that he ...

Ancelotti, Mourinho join coronavirus battle

EU ministers on Tuesday approved starting membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania, a move hailed as restoring "credibility" after months of damaging delays and bickering.
The bloc's enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said the decision sent a "loud and clear message" to Balkan countries that their future lay in Europe.
The green light from the 27 EU member states marks a major turnaround from October, when France led a small group of countries in blocking accession talks.
That disappointment -- which followed several earlier delays -- prompted warnings that the EU risked opening the door to outside influence on its doorstep, notably from China and Russia.
"This also sends a loud and clear message to #WesternBalkans: your future is in EU," Varhelyi tweeted.
He added in a press conference: "I think today credibility has been delivered not only for the Western Balkans but for our member states." Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission -- the EU executive .

EU regains 'crediblity' with Balkan move

At least 70 Nigerian soldiers were killed in an ambush on their convoy by jihadist fighters in the restive northeast, military and security sources said on Tuesday.
Insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at a lorry carrying troops as it travelled near Gorgi village in Borno state on Monday, two military officers told AFP without giving their names.
"It was a huge loss, at least 70 soldiers have perished in the ambush," one of the officers said.
"The terrorists specifically targeted a truck loaded with soldiers with RPGs and incinerated the vehicle, killing all on board," a second officer said.
"So far 70 bodies have been recovered but the toll is certainly more than that as rescue operation is still underway." Several soldiers were injured and some others taken captive by the jihadists, the two officers said.
A spokesman for the Nigerian army told AFP that he was unable to comment on the reported attack.
The convoy had left regional capital Maiduguri on its way to launch an ...

Jihadist ambush kills at least 70 Nigerian soldiers

World stock markets rallied strongly Tuesday after the US Federal Reserve launched an unprecedented bond-buying plan, the latest salvo in a global counter-attack against fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.
European equities charged higher as investors shrugged off grim survey data showing collapsing eurozone and UK business activity in March, followed by Wall Street which also surged at the opening bell in New York.
The dollar beat a retreat from Monday's three-year peak against the euro on the Fed news.
London stocks won more support after Britain became the latest western nation to implement a nationwide lockdown to help curb the spread of COVID-19.
"Stock markets in Europe are higher... as traders picked up the bullish baton from the indices in Asia," said CMC Markets UK analyst David Madden, who also noted that traders had been expecting the "brutal" survey data.
"Political fighting in the US has prevented a stimulus scheme from being revealed earlier, but dealers are ...

Global stock markets rally on Fed boost

Pressure mounted on Olympic organisers to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Games after the powerful US track and field federation urged this summer's showpiece be pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.
USA Track and Field became the latest influential sports body to ask for the Games to be called off after its head Max Siegel "respectfully requested" in a letter that the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) "advocate ... for the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo".
USOPC had said it was too soon to axe the July 24-August 9 Games, much like International Olympic Committee (IOC) head Thomas Bach, who said that it would be "premature" to make such a big decision.
"The right and responsible thing to do is to prioritise everyone's health and safety and appropriately recognise the toll this difficult situation has, and continues to take, on our athletes and their Olympic Games preparations," wrote Siegel.
USATF joined a growing chorus of calls from sports organisations to ..

Mounting Tokyo 2020 postponement calls put pressure on defiant Olympic chiefs

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), under pressure to postpone this summer's Tokyo Games, is asking National Olympic Committees (NOCs) about the impact of the coronavirus crisis on athlete preparation.
In a questionnaire entitled "COVID-19 and preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games", which AFP has obtained in French, the IOC asks the Olympic committees of its member countries "how do the emergency regulations relating to COVID-19 limit the training and preparation of your athletes?"
The IOC has been under pressure since USA Swimming on Friday opened what has become a chorus of protests by urging that the Games, scheduled from 24 July to 9 August, be called off.
In its questionnaire, the IOC asks about possible forced alterations or even relocation of training camps, without indicating what it intends to learn from the answers.
On Friday, USA Swimming warned that its swimmers could no longer train normally without the risk of catching the virus.
They were echoed by the ...

IOC asks member countries about coronavirus impact

Australia on Sunday announced a USD 38 billion spending plan to limit the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic, as citizens were told to cancel domestic travel plans to slow the virus spread.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the latest Australian dollars 66 billion announced Sunday brought government and central bank measures to support the economy to Australian dollars 189 billion - or nearly 10 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
"These extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and we face a global challenge like we have never faced before," he told reporters in Canberra.
"Today's announcement will provide hope and support for millions of Australians at a time when they need it most." Small businesses and non-profits will receive cash subsidies of up to Australian dollars 100,000, unemployment payments will be temporarily doubled and pensioners will receive Australian dollars 750 cash.
Workers whose income has fallen by at least 20 per cent due to the ...

Australia announces $40 billion for virus relief

The Spanish athletics federation (RFEA) joined the calls for the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics this summer because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
"The Board of Directors of the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation, on behalf of the majority of Spanish athletes, is advocating the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games," the RFEA said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, USA Track and Field urged its national Olympic committee to request a postponement of the Games, scheduled for July 24 to August 9 in Japan, where 11,000 athletes from around the world are expected.
"Circumstances do not guarantee adequate preparation or fair competition with the rest of the athletes in the world, without endangering the health (of Spanish athletes)," said the RFEA.
Spain, one of the most affected countries, had recorded more than 1,320 deaths from Covid-19 by Saturday and is enforcing confinement to try to stop the spread of the virus.
Beyond athletics, the American and French ...

Spanish athletics joins calls for Olympic delay

With football having ground to a halt because of the coronavirus pandemic, the usual transfer rumour mill has fallen silent and nobody cares much where Neymar or Paul Pogba might be playing next season.
Nobody even knows when next season might be, and the financial impact on football clubs, and therefore the transfer market, is likely to be significant.
A study by KPMG this week estimated that cancelling the rest of this season would cost clubs across Europe's top five leagues as much as four billion euros ($4.33 billion) in lost revenue.
The knock-on effect could be enormous, trickling down to smaller clubs worldwide.
After all, look at a club like Monaco, who have raked in huge sums in recent years from selling players like Kylian Mbappe, who went to Paris Saint-Germain in 2018 for 180 million euros. They have then invested that money in new recruits, helping spread the wealth.
"Given the international situation, clubs are going to be less inclined to pay the kind of sums we look ...

Uncertainty abounds as football's transfer industry grinds to a halt

Argentina striker Paulo Dybala said that he has become the third Juventus player to test positive for coronavirus while former AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini revealed that he and his son have also been infected.
"Hi everyone. I just wanted to let you know that we have received the Covid-19 test results and that Oriana (Sabatini, his girlfriend) and I are positive," the 26-year-old Dybala tweeted on Saturday.
"Fortunately, we are perfectly fine. Thank you for your messages." Italian champions Juventus said that Dybala had been self-isolating since Wednesday.
"He will continue to be monitored. He is well and is asymptomatic," said the club in a statement.
Later Saturday, the club said Maldini, now the technical director at Milan, and his 18-year-old son Daniel, a youth team player, were also battling the disease.
"Paolo and Daniel are both well and have already completed two weeks at home without contact with others," said a statement from AC Milan.
"They will now remain in quarantine .

Dybala, Maldini test positive for coronavirus

Football might have ground to a halt across the world, but not in Australia where they are soldiering on, with a handful of fans turning up to cheer on their teams outside shuttered grounds this weekend.
The domestic A-League has six rounds to go and Football Federation Australia decided to press ahead without spectators amid the coronavirus pandemic, despite two of the 11 teams undergoing mandatory quarantine.
Like rugby league and Australian Rules, which are also pushing on with their seasons, it has lucrative broadcast commitments with the fear of financial repercussions part of the thinking.
In opting to keep going, Football Federation Australia head of leagues Greg O'Rourke said they were adhering to government directives and expert medical advice.
"We understand that these are difficult times for everyone," he said.
"We will always put the health, welfare and safety of our players, coaches, match officials, volunteers, administrators and fans at the centre of our decision-making 

Football grinds to a halt, but not in Australia

Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz, who was hospitalised with coronavirus, died at the age of 76, his son announced.
Sanz was in charge of the Spanish giants from 1995-2000, overseeing two Champions League titles.
"My father has just passed away. He did not deserve this ending and in this way," tweeted his son, Lorenzo Sanz junior.
"One of the best, bravest and hardest-working people I have ever seen. His family and Real Madrid were his passions."
Three days ago, Sanz Jr., a former professional basketball player, said that his father had been admitted to a Madrid hospital after suffering the symptoms of the coronavirus which has killed more than 1,320 people in Spain.
Sanz claimed a place on the Real Madrid board in the mid-1980s, when the president was Ramon Mendoza.
He replaced Mendoza as president in 1995.
With Jupp Heynckes as coach and star players such as Davor Suker, Roberto Carlos, Clarence Seedorf, Fernando Hierro and Raul, Real won the Champions League in 1998 by ...

Former Real Madrid president Sanz dies after contracting coronavirus

Australia's prime minister on Sunday told citizens to cancel any domestic travel plans to slow the spread of coronavirus, warning stronger measures were imminent to deal with localised outbreaks.
Scott Morrison said the government was "moving immediately" to recommend against non-essential travel, announcing the measure as Australia's coronavirus infections topped 1,000 cases.
He said work-related trips, the transport of essential supplies and travel on compassionate grounds could continue but people should cancel any other travel plans ahead of the upcoming Easter school holidays.
"More stronger measures will be coming and they will be coming in more localised areas to deal with outbreaks," Morrison said.
"What that means is, what may be necessary in a part of Sydney may not be necessary at all in... other parts of the country." Australia has already sealed off its borders, putting in place an unprecedented ban on entry for non-residents in the hope of stemming the rise of COVID-19 ..

Australians told to stop travelling within the country

Rwanda has suspended all "unnecessary movements" outside the home and clamped down on travel across its borders, in one of the toughest measures yet imposed in sub-Saharan Africa to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
"Unnecessary movements and visits outside the home are not permitted," the government announced in a statement late Saturday, excusing trips for healthcare, food, or banking.
All borders are closed except for the passage of goods and cargo and returning Rwandan citizens, read the statement, which also announced the closure of all but the most essential markets and restrictions on travel between cities and districts.
Rwanda as of Saturday had recorded 17 confirmed cases of coronavirus, the highest number in the East Africa region.
All commercial flights to the country had already been suspended, and all bars closed.
Anyone arriving in Rwanda will be subject to 14 day quarantine at designated locations.
International visitors for tourism and trade shows are a major source .

AFP

AFP

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