Formula One's British-based teams are working on a plan to manufacture medical equipment needed to fight the coronavirus.
The British government and health authorities need more ventilators in intensive care units as a result of the respiratory problems caused by the illness.
Formula One teams have engineering capabilities that could speed up the production of the units.
With the Formula One season delayed due to the pandemic, the teams are evaluating a number of routes in conjunction with existing manufacturers and organisations from the aerospace and automotive sectors.
"A collective of UK-based Formula 1 teams, engine manufactures and their respective technology arms is evaluating support for the manufacture of respiratory devices in response to the UK government's call for assistance," a statement on the F1 website said on Friday.
"The teams are working in collaboration with F1, the UK government and other organisations to establish the feasibility of the teams producing, or ...

F1 teams plan to build medical equipment to fight virus

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Wasps players will take a 25 per cent pay cut until the English Premiership resumes to offset the slump in revenue caused by the coronavirus.
Premiership rugby has been suspended for at least five weeks because of the epidemic.
The potential for the delay to go on even longer is causing concern among English clubs, who fear a severe impact on their short-term finances.
Wasps have responded by implementing the wage cut until top-flight matches return.
"We are putting in place salary reductions of 25 per cent across the majority of the rugby department until we are playing Premiership matches again," Wasps chief executive Stephen Vaughan said on Friday.
"These measures will take effect from April 1. A number of lower-paid staff will be excluded from these salary reductions."
Other Premiership clubs are implementing similar measures with the prospect of resuming games in late April looking unlikely.
"We would all love the season to be back underway immediately, but all rugby activities ..

Wasps players take 25% pay cut

A Polish member of the European Parliament said Friday he had tested positive for coronavirus, making him the first known MEP with the disease.
"Folks, I got tested for COVID-19. It was positive. I'm in the hospital and I feel fine," Adam Jarubas said on Twitter.
The 45-year-old is a member of the conservative EPP political group in the European Parliament and is also the vice president of Poland's PSL farmers party.
The European Parliament said its medical service was aware of the situation and was in touch with Jarubas.
"EP is not informed of other cases among MEPS," parliament spokesman Jaume Duch told AFP.
Jarubas last attended parliamentary sessions on March 9 and 10, before flying back to Poland the next day.
To date 378 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including six deaths, have been registered in the EU member of 38 million people.
The European Parliament will hold a special session next week to confirm the urgent measures proposed by the Commission regarding the COVID-19 ...

European Parliament has first reported virus case

The Catholic Church on Friday granted forgiveness -- under certain conditions -- for the sins of the faithful struck by the novel coronavirus.
A decree published by the Vatican also covers healthcare workers and those who pray for their wellbeing. Relatives who care for their sick family members may also be forgiven.
The conditions include the sick saying a certain number of prayers or following important celebrations from a distance.
Those who pray for the caregivers' wellbeing must also read the Bible "for at least half an hour".
The decree was issued one day after Italy overtook China for the most number of deaths from the new illness.
The pandemic has killed more than 3,400 people in the Mediterranean country.
Vatican City itself has confirmed one infection.
Pope Francis was reported to have been tested for the virus as a precaution after coming down with a cold last month.
The Vatican has never confirmed or denied the report but has stressed repeatedly that the 83-year-old ...

Church forgives sins of those stricken by virus

The authorities on the Isle of Man have arrested a man for failing to comply with strict measures on visitors to prevent the spread of coronavirus, police said Friday, in the first use of tough penalties introduced this week.
The British Crown dependency, situated off northwest England, has warned anyone breaching minimum 14-day quarantine regulations faces a fine of up to GBP 10,000 (USD 11,800, 11,000 euros) or three months in prison.
Chief Minister Howard Quayle said the measures, which were introduced on Tuesday, applied to everyone, regardless of whether they were displaying symptoms of the disease.
"We currently have one male in police custody for failing to adhere to the new legislation requiring him to self-isolate," the Isle of Man Constabulary said in a statement.
The arrested man has been placed in a designated, specially cleaned area, it added.
The Isle of Man government earlier confirmed the first case of COVID-19 on the island -- a patient who had recently returned from .

Man held on Isle of Man for refusing virus quarantine rules

Britain's Farnborough airshow, a showpiece event for the global aerospace sector battered by the coronavirus pandemic, has been cancelled for this year, organisers said on Friday.
"It is with great regret that we announce the Farnborough International Airshow 2020, due to take place in July, is cancelled," read a statement from the organisers of the biennial event.
"After very careful consideration, the unprecedented impact of the global coronavirus pandemic has forced this decision in the interests of the health and safety of our exhibitors, visitors, contractors and staff."
Farnborough, southwest of London, is one of the world's largest civilian and defence airshows, along with Paris and Dubai.
Visitors from around 100 countries had been expected for the event which traditionally features big deals for airlines, as well as air displays by civil and defence jets.
"We understand this news will be an incredible disappointment to all across the international aerospace industry, not to ..

Farnborough airshow cancelled over virus

Wall Street stocks were mixed in volatile trading Friday as markets tried to stage a second successive gain despite the mounting economic toll from the coronavirus outbreak.
About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 20,023.40, down 0.3 per cent.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.7 per cent to 2,393.78, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.9 per cent to 7,205.58.
California on Thursday directed its 40 million residents to stay at home, a landmark move by a major government in the United States as officials move towards a shutdown of most non-essential economic activity to attempt to limit the virus's spread.
A note from Goldman Sachs warned of an "unprecedented surge in layoffs," citing data from US states, and a massive decline in revenues in many industries.
On Capitol Hill, Senate Republicans introduced a USD 1 trillion emergency stimulus package, which includes a provision to give cash to individuals.
But there were signs of ...

US stocks mixed as virus impact worsens

Leading central banks on Friday announced a new effort to keep dollars pumping through the virus-plagued world economy.
Starting on Monday, certain dollar liquidity operations among the banks will occur daily rather than weekly, according to a joint statement from the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, Bank of England, Bank of Canada and the Swiss National Bank.

Top central banks launch new bid to keep dollars flowing

Global stock markets pushed higher Friday at the end of another volatile week, as weary investors welcomed a worldwide fightback against the coronavirus fallout by governments and central banks.
In the eurozone, markets jumped after the European Central Bank launched a vast stimulus this week, with Frankfurt, Paris, Milan and Madrid scoring gains of between 2 and 4 per cent.
London's stock market won about 2 per cent one day after the Bank of England slashed interest rates to a record-low 0.1 per cent and ahead of new UK state stimulus plans later Friday.
The dollar eased somewhat after a lengthy rally fuelled by traders cashing out of their investments, while the embattled oil market extended Thursday's gains.
US stocks rose at the opening bell, with the Dow adding 0.5 per cent in the first couple minutes of trading, as US authorities move forward with stimulus plans.
"The stock markets' upside is a result of a number of big bazookas fired off by central banks," Scope Markets analyst 

Stock markets rise on huge economic support plans

The US Defense Department announced Friday it has successfully tested an unarmed hypersonic missile, a weapon that could potentially overwhelm an adversary's defense systems.
The Pentagon said a test missile flew at hypersonic speeds -- more than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5 -- to a designated impact point.
"Today we validated our design and are now ready to move to the next phase towards fielding a hypersonic strike capability," said Vice Admiral Johnny Wolfe in a statement.

Pentagon says successfully tested hypersonic missile

Formula One's drivers will battle it out in an Esports Virtual Grand Prix series in a bid to give fans their racing fix while the season is delayed by the coronavirus.
The 2020 campaign has been put on hold due to the pandemic and races in Australia, Bahrain, Vietnam, China, Holland, Spain and Monaco were all postponed.
Formula One chiefs are aiming to start racing in Azerbaijan on June 7, but to fill the void for now the sport has asked current F1 drivers to play a racing game featuring as-yet unnamed celebrity guests.
"Featuring a number of current F1 drivers, the series has been created to enable fans to continue watching Formula 1 races virtually, despite the ongoing COVID-19 situation that has affected this season's opening race calendar," a statement said.
"The first race of the series will see current F1 drivers line up on the grid alongside a host of stars to be announced in due course.
"In order to guarantee the participants safety at this time, each driver will join the race 

F1 drivers to stage virtual reality races

Wall Street stocks rose early Friday as markets tried to stage a second successive gain despite the mounting economic toll from the coronavirus outbreak.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 20,216.56, up 0.6 per cent.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.8 per cent to 2,429.74, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.7 percent to 7,271.01.

US stocks open higher as virus impact worsens

British doctors and health workers have raised the alarm about a lack of sufficient protective kit to treat potential coronavirus patients, potentially exposing themselves and putting vulnerable patients at risk.
One doctor said he felt "terrified" of the lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) available for carers.
"I may be OK -- I'm young and healthy -- but I can't bear the thought of infecting other patients with a disease that could kill them. And that is the risk, without proper PPE," wrote one doctor in the Guardian newspaper.
Health workers are worried "less about themselves than whether they would be spreading it between their patients," said Rosena Allin-Khan, a Labour MP and a doctor in the emergency department at St George's University Hospital in London.
"They have also been worried about not being tested themselves," she told AFP.
In the absence of tests, which are currently reserved for the most serious cases, caregivers with symptoms are instead told to ...

UK health staff 'terrified' over lack of kit to fight virus

Twenty-three inmates escaped from an Iranian prison while guards were making preparations for a Persian New Year amnesty, state news agency IRNA reported Friday.
It said the detainees escaped overnight from a facility in the western city of Khorramabad, the capital of Lorestan province, just hours before the start of Nowruz, Iran's New Year celebrations.
IRNA denied guards had shot a prisoner during the escape, saying such reports came from "unreliable sources", after opposition groups tweeted that several inmates were shot.
The escapees had been serving a maximum of one-year sentences, the agency said, denying dangerous individuals went free.
On Wednesday night, Iran's judiciary said that "around 10,000 prisoners" would be released in the New Year amnesty.
The move aimed to "reduce the number of prisoners in light of the sensitive situation in the country", a judiciary spokesman said, making no explicit reference to the coronavirus pandemic which has hit Iran hard.
According to the ..

23 Iran prisoners escape on eve of Persian New Year

More than 10,000 people have now died in a coronavirus pandemic that has swept from China throughout the world, forcing the confinement of tens of millions in their homes.
As the virus has marched westwards, the severity of the outbreaks and the focus of concern has shifted from Asia to Europe, with increasingly tough restrictions being imposed by national governments.
The US state of California, among the worst hit in the country, has told its 40 million residents to stay at home, the most drastic move yet in the United States to combat the pandemic.
However, the California measures will not be enforced by police unlike in France, Italy, Spain and other European countries where people face fines if they break the rules.
Germany's biggest state Bavaria on Friday became the first region in the country to order a lockdown for two weeks, imposing "fundamental restrictions" on going out.
The strict measures follow the template set by China, where a lockdown imposed in Hubei province where 

Virus deaths pass 10,000 as California shuts down

The coronavirus death toll rose to 1,002 in Spain on Friday after 235 people died in 24 hours, and the number of cases approached 20,000, the health ministry said.
The spiralling number of infections has propelled Spain into the top four worst-hit countries in the world -- with the figures growing as the country steps up its capacity for testing.
Over the past seven days, the number of deaths has risen 10-fold, the figures show.
Since the last update around midday on Thursday, another 2,833 infections have been confirmed, taking the overall number of cases to 19,980, the ministry's emergencies coordinator Fernando Simon said.
But he said it was "very likely that the figures underestimated the overall number" of people with the virus, saying the testing laboratories were "overwhelmed" which could skew the numbers.
Of those diagnosed, 52 percent were in hospital and around six percent were being treated in intensive care.
Madrid remains the worst-hit area, accounting for 7,165 cases, or 

Spain virus toll tops 1,000, nearly 20,000 infected

A plane from China carrying more than one million face masks for the Czech Republic landed in Prague on Friday, the government said.
The Czech government has come under fire over a shortage of medical material which has led thousands of Czechs to make face masks at home as the state banned people from leaving home without their noses and mouths covered.
"The plane behind us contains 1.1 million FFP2 respirators which will be distributed immediately to hospitals and other places," Interior Minister Jan Hamacek told a televised press conference at Prague airport.
Schools, pubs, theatres, cinemas and other facilities are closed across the Czech Republic, an EU member of 10.7 million people, which has registered 774 confirmed cases of the virus with three cured patients and no deaths.
On Saturday, the Czech government expects another China Eastern plane with millions of face masks and an An-124 Ruslan cargo plane carrying over 100 tonnes of medical material from China.
Hamacek said he ...

Chinese plane with a million masks lands in Prague

In sparsely-populated rural Spain, where the residents are elderly and resources are few, neighbours are pulling together to help the old and the vulnerable weather the deadly epidemic that is ravaging the country.
Until now, interior regions like Aragon, or Castile and Leon have come off relatively lightly in a country that ranks fourth in the world for its number of COVID-19 infections, with cases soaring towards 20,000 and over 1,000 deaths.
But with the government imposing a nationwide lockdown to try and stem the spread, these provinces are facing a unique challenge: how to look after the frail and elderly living in far-flung communities in some of the least-populated areas of Europe.
Sergio Caminero, 30, is one of a handful of younger people who have offered to do the shopping for his elderly neighbours. He lives in Lovingos, a hamlet of just 50 people about 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Madrid.
On Tuesday, he went to pick up some shopping for an elderly neighbour. "She's ..

Village networks pull together to fight virus in rural Spain

South Africa's coronavirus numbers breached the 200 mark on Friday as Health Minister Zweli Mkhize warned the country was in for the long haul in its fight against the disease.
"We have now moved to 202 cases," he told a news conference in the central city of Bloemfontein, marking a jump of 52 in new infections.
He pointed to established scientific projections showing that infections "ultimately can affect up to 60 percent of the population."
But it "doesn't mean they will all be affected at the same time, doesn't mean that they will all have serious illness. It just means that the way the viral infection spreads, that will likely happen," Mkhize said.
The virus is "going to be with us for quite a while," he warned.
"It's a reality we must face, but it's not a reality that says we now face an apocalypse."
South Africa's first coronavirus case was confirmed on March 5, and the numbers have risen fast in recent days. Its tally is the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.
The country's measures 

South Africa braces for virus fallout as infections breach 200

The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 5,000 people in Europe, according to an AFP tally on Friday based on official sources.
In total, there were 5,168 deaths across the continent, mostly in Italy which is now the hardest hit country in the world with 3,405 fatalities.
Europe registered 1,034 news cases in the past 24 hours, for a total of 110,568 infections, according to the tally compiled at 1100 GMT.

Europe's coronavirus death toll tops 5,000: AFP tally

Germany's largest state Bavaria on Friday became the first region in the country to order a lockdown to prevent coronavirus infections.
"From midnight tonight for a provisional period of two weeks, there will be fundamental restrictions on going out," state premier Markus Soeder said.
"We are not locking Bavarians in but we are winding down public life almost completely," Soeder said at a press conference, adding that restaurants would be closed and citizens would no longer be allowed to meet in groups outside.

AFP

AFP

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