The world table tennis body suspended "all activities" until the end of April on Friday, joining a long list of sporting casualties of the new coronavirus outbreak.
The International Table Tennis Federation suspension, from Monday, affects a number of tournaments around the world, as well as training and promotional activities.
"Following the declaration by the World Health Organization of COVID-19 as a pandemic and the increased number of international travel restrictions, the ITTF has decided to suspend all activities provisionally, with the health and safety of athletes, coaches, officials and fans as the top priority," a statement said.
Sports from football to basketball and badminton have been hit by the outbreak, with a swathe of competitions put on hold less than five months before the Tokyo Olympics.

Table tennis joins coronavirus sports shutdown

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Dana Zatopkova, the 1952 Olympic javelin champion and wife of four-time Olympic champion Emil Zatopek, died at the age of 97 on Friday, the Czech Olympic Committee said.
"Czech sport has lost one of its greatest personalities," the Committee said in a statement.
Besides the gold from the Helsinki Olympics, Zatopkova won the Olympic silver in Rome in 1960.
In 1958, she set the world record of 55.73 metres at the age of 35. She became the European champion in 1954 and 1958.
Zatopkova was born on September 19, 1922, and shared the same birthday with her husband Emil Zatopek, the 1948 Olympic running champion over 10,000 metres, who went on to win the 5000m and 10000m races and the marathon at the Helsinki games in 1952.
Zatopek died in 2000.

Former Czech Olympic javelin champion Dana Zatopkova dies at 97

Sports-mad Australian fans are to be deprived of the weekly chance to see their teams live with rugby league, Australian Rules and rugby union forced on Friday to move behind closed doors.
This weekend will be the final chance for most spectators to get their fix of sporting action after the government moved to halt events of more than 500 people from Monday to counter the sweeping coronavirus threat.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a diehard rugby league fan, is one those heading to a game this weekend while he still can.
"The fact that I would still be going on Saturday speaks not just to my passion for my beloved (Cronulla) Sharks, it might be the last game I get to go to for a long time. That's fine," he said.
It is a major blow for the National Rugby League (NRL) and its 16 clubs, with the new season getting underway this weekend.
NRL chief Todd Greenberg said fans will be able to attend round one but then the doors will close on supporters for the first time in the code's ...

Virus puts Australian sport behind closed doors

Greece on Friday prepared to swear in the first woman president in its history as the country grapples with over a hundred coronavirus cases.
Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou, a 63-year-old senior judge, will become the new Greek head of state for a five-year term.
She will take her oath in parliament, lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier -- Greece's foremost military monument -- and go to the presidential mansion for a handover ceremony with outgoing president Prokopis Pavlopoulos, parliament said.
Sakellaropoulou was elected by parliament in January by 261 out of 300 lawmakers, one of the broadest cross-party majorities in Greek history.
She has set out her priorities as tackling the economic crisis, climate change and mass migration.
The new president was until now the head of Greece's top administrative court, the Council of State.
The daughter of a Supreme Court judge, Sakellaropoulou completed postgraduate studies at Paris's Sorbonne university.  She was the first woman to ..

Greece to hand reins to first woman president

Oil prices swung more than six per cent on Friday, but were still on track for their biggest weekly loss in more than a decade owing to a price war and the spreading coronavirus pandemic.
In another day of volatile trading, both main contracts initially dipped more than two per cent, tracking heavy falls across global markets that have suffered some of their biggest losses in years.
But the commodity abruptly changed course in Asian afternoon trade, with West Texas Intermediate rising four percent to $33 a barrel and Brent crude up 3.9 per cent at USD 34.50.
The much-needed rally came after the US military launched air strikes in crude-rich Iraq and stocks rebounded, with Asian bourses pulling back from early lows and European equities surging at the open.
Nevertheless, prices of US benchmark WTI are still down more than 20 percent this week and on course for their biggest weekly drop since the global financial crisis of 2008.
Brent, the global benchmark, is down about a quarter for ..

Oil rebounds, but still heads for biggest weekly loss in years

Kenya announced its first confirmed case of coronavirus on Friday, saying a woman who returned from the United States tested positive for the illness in Nairobi.
"I want to inform you that the Ministry of Health has confirmed the first coronavirus case in Kenya," Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe told reporters.
"The case is a Kenyan citizen who travelled back to Nairobi, returning from the United States of America via London, United Kingdom, on March 5, 2020."
The woman's temperature had returned to normal and she was stable and recovering in isolation, he said.
It is the first confirmed case of the new coronavirus in the East African region.

Kenya confirms first case of coronavirus in East Africa

Asian equities tumbled on Friday, extending a global rout that saw markets experience their worst day in decades as fears of a worldwide recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic wiped trillions off valuations.
Shellshocked investors fled for the hills as governments across Europe and in the United States struggled to get a grip on the crisis that has swept the planet and shut communities down.
Central bank moves to support financial markets have also failed to staunch the bloodletting, while Donald Trump's decision to shut the US border to European travellers added to the panic.
"Markets remain in a freefall as uncertainty persists with no reliable anchor which can create near-term stability," Ben Emons, at Medley Global Advisors in New York, said.
However, after a morning session wipeout across the region, most markets clawed back losses, even if they were still in negative territory as traders picked up bargain-basement stocks.
Tokyo, which fell as much as 10 per cent at one ...

Equities plunge after Wall St, Europe implode on virus fears

Oil prices jumped almost four per cent in Asian afternoon trade on Friday, reversing earlier losses sparked by the Saudi-Russia price war and fears about the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
West Texas Intermediate was up 3.9 per cent at nearly USD 33 a barrel, while Brent crude rose 3.7 per cent to more than USD 34 a barrel, after the US military launched air strikes in crude-rich Iraq.
Both contracts had fallen more than two percent in early trade.

Oil prices jump almost 4%, reversing early losses

A senior Australian politician tested positive for the new coronavirus and entered hospital quarantine on Friday, days after returning from a meeting in Washington attended by US Attorney General William Barr.
"This morning I woke up with a temperature and sore throat," said Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, an influential member of the government and a key architect of Australia's controversial immigration laws.
"It is the policy of Queensland Health that anyone who tests positive is to be admitted into hospital and I have complied with their advice."
Dutton said he feels "fine" but his diagnosis will raise concerns about whether other members of the cabinet and Prime Minister Scott Morrison may have been infected.
It is not yet known when Dutton contracted the virus.
He recently returned from the United States.
Dutton was in Washington a week ago for a meeting with members of the FiveEyes intelligence alliance -- Australia, the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.
His ..

Australian home affairs minister says he has coronavirus

Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande hit their Brazilian winger Fernandinho with a whopping three-million-yuan ($430,000) fine on Friday because he "seriously violated" team rules.
Fabio Cannavaro's Guangzhou said in a statement that Fernandinho "refused to follow the club and head coach's arrangements" during pre-season training in Dubai.
Guangzhou, the most successful club in Chinese Super League (CSL) history and two-time Asian champions, declined to give further details.
The 26-year-old Fernandinho, who began his career at Brazilian giants Flamengo, is reportedly in line to become the latest foreign-born player to get the green light to play for China.
The Chinese football season is indefinitely postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak, with many clubs training overseas while they wait.
Fernandinho is yet to make an appearance for Cannavaro's side, having been with Hebei China Fortune for the second half of last season.
He has spent most of his career in China with ...

Cannavaro's Guangzhou hit Brazilian with hefty $430,000 fine

New Zealand spinners Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi helped restrict Australia to 258 for seven in the first one-day international in the eerie setting of an empty Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.
Cricket Australia barred spectators from the match in response the coronavirus pandemic, leading to the strange sight of players acknowledging milestones to empty grandstands.
It was also revealed earlier that Australian fast bowler Kane Richardson was in quarantine and had been tested for the virus after falling unwell.
After Australian skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and chose to bat, the home side were at one stage looking at a score in excess of 300 following a superb opening partnership from Finch and David Warner.
But once Warner (67) and Finch (60) were dismissed, the Australian innings lost momentum and New Zealand clawed their way back into the game, despite a late flourish from Marnus Labuschagne, who made 56 from just 52 deliveries.
Finch had a lucky break when given not out ...

New Zealand spinners restrict Australia at empty Sydney stadium

Malaysia's football leagues will be suspended from next week to avoid spreading the new coronavirus, officials said Friday.
This weekend's fixtures will be played behind closed doors, they added after emergency talks hosted by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
"Monday onwards all leagues and competitions under Malaysian Football League and Football Association of Malaysia will be postponed until further notice," FAM secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam told AFP.
Malaysia has recorded 149 coronavirus cases, although 26 of them have recovered and been discharged.
Football has been badly affected by the pandemic, with leagues in Italy, Spain, Japan, South Korea and China also on hold.

Malaysia puts football on hold over coronavirus

US President Donald Trump late Thursday praised Tokyo's Olympic preparations and their "magnificent" venue just hours after he suggested delaying the Summer Games for up to a year due to the coronavirus.
Trump's apparent change of heart came after a phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"Just had a great conversation with Prime Minister Abe of Japan. I told him that the just completed Olympic venue is magnificent," Trump tweeted late Thursday.
"He has done an incredible job, one that will make him very proud. Good things will happen for Japan and their great Prime Minister. Lots of options!"
Just hours earlier Trump was the first foreign leader to suggest delaying the Tokyo Olympics because of the coronavirus, dropping a bombshell on his "good friend" Abe.
"Maybe they postpone it for a year," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, 19 weeks before the opening ceremony in Tokyo's Olympic Stadium.
Trump's comments came the same day as actresses dressed as ancient Greek ...

Trump praises Tokyo Olympic preparations after suggesting delay

The last of Apple's 42 stores in China reopened Friday, as the country slowly goes back to work following weeks of quarantine that forced the closure of businesses.
The firm announced on February 1 that it would shut all its stores, corporate offices and contact centres across the mainland as the epidemic rapidly spread.
More than 3,100 people have died and 81,000 infected in China but the number of cases has declined in recent weeks, suggesting strict quarantine measures have met some success in halting the virus.
Apple's stores have gradually been reopening over the past few days and a spokeswoman for the company told AFP the remaining few would throw their doors open Friday.
The company's website shows its stores now have "special operating hours".
Many retailers and eateries in China have shortened their opening hours during the epidemic, many checking customer temperatures and restricting numbers in-store.
China has seen a slow return to work after an extended Spring Festival ...

Last of Apple's 42 stores in China reopen

Australia on Friday warned citizens the coronavirus pandemic is now so widespread that they should reconsider all foreign travel, as the government stepped up measures to slow the spread of the disease.
"We now advise all Australians to reconsider your need to travel overseas at this time, regardless of your destination, age or health," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
The government had previously advised against travel to regional epicentres in China, Italy, South Korea and Iran.
After some reluctance, Morrison said a growing number of examples of community transmission within Australia also meant that the government would soon move to halt events of more than 500 people.
"By Monday," he said, "we will be advising against organised non-essential gatherings of persons of 500 people or greater." Just hours earlier, Morrison had urged Australians to go to sports matches, and boasted he would do the same over the weekend.
His comments came even as the Formula One Grand Prix in ...

Australia tells citizens to reconsider all foreign travel

New Zealand's leader Jacinda Ardern admitted Friday there was "much more" her country could do to tackle white supremacists a year after the Christchurch mosque massacres.
Ardern was widely praised for her compassion towards the Muslim community after a lone gunman attacked two mosques on March 15 last year, killing 51 in New Zealand's worst modern mass shooting.
But she said some in the South Pacific nation continued to espouse the views of the Australian attacker, a self-avowed white supremacist who targeted Muslims at Friday prayers.
"New Zealand is not free of those groups who define themselves as extremist white supremacists, those groups exist here," she told reporters.
"The responsibility we have is to combat not only that existence, but the precursors to that existence. There is much more that we can do," she said.
Ardern, who was speaking ahead of a national memorial service on Sunday, said the best way to honour victims was to call out racism, bullying and ...

Arden says racist threat lingers after New Zealand mosque attacks

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday the league shut-down because of the coronavirus pandemic is likely to last "at least 30 days".
That would see the league shuttered through what would have been about the last month of its regular season.
"What we determined today is that this hiatus will be, most likely, at least 30 days," Silver said on TNT's "Inside The NBA" program.
The NBA suspended play on Wednesday after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.

NBA coronavirus shutdown likely to be 'at least 30 days' - Silver

Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert apologised Thursday for potentially exposing people to the coronavirus, a day after news of his infection with COVID-19 prompted the NBA to abruptly suspend the season.
In a post on Instagram, the 27-year-old Frenchman said he had "no excuse" for disregarding safety warnings about coronavirus earlier this week.
Gobert had triggered scorn on social media on Monday after pointedly touching every microphone and voice recorder on a table in front of him at a media availability.
But Gobert's cavalier stunt took a serious turn on Wednesday after it emerged he had contracted COVID-19, moments before Utah's game with Oklahoma City.
ESPN later reported that Gobert had been similarly nonchalant about the coronavirus risks in the locker room, touching other players and their belongings.
A second Utah player, Donovan Mitchell, was confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 earlier on Thursday.
A shamed Gobert meanwhile spoke Thursday of his embarrassment at his ...

Gobert apologises for 'embarrassing, inexcusable' virus gaffe

The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on the global economy, but in the United States it has thrown into sharp relief the depth of inequality and the sheer number of people living on the edge in the world's largest economy.
Neither the rich nor the poor have been spared in the COVID-19 outbreak, but can it be the catalyst for reforms extending new social benefits to all Americans?
In the midst of the spreading illness, many Americans cannot follow expert advice to stay home from work when they show symptoms, because they either don't have enough paid sick leave or don't have any at all and can't afford to miss a paycheck.
"The virus is sending a clear message: all Americans are unsafe if the poorer among us do not have access to basic benefits like sick leave and health care," said Edward Alden, visiting professor at Western Washington University.
President Donald Trump has announced insurance companies would waive fees to test for the virus, but experts say more must be ...

Coronavirus shines spotlight on US economic inequality

Manchester United put one foot in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday with a 5-0 win at LASK Linz in one of four last 16 first leg matches played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Odion Ighalo slammed home the opener via the underside of the bar from 20 yards just before the half-hour, and Daniel James added a second with a sharp run and finish just before the hour mark.
Juan Mata bagged a third eight minutes from the end and Mason Greenwood and Andreas Pereira struck in injury time, as United extended their unbeaten run to 11 matches, with nine clean sheets in that time.
"I think the quality in our play was good. We were well prepared for them and they did fantastic," United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told BT Sport.
"There was some high-class finishing in the goals ... It should have been more goals before half-time, but we got the goals we needed."
The game was played without fans in line with the guidance of the Austrian government -- one of four matches .

Man Utd thrash LASK behind closed doors in Europa League

F1 boss Chase Carey insisted Friday it was too soon to say whether other races will be cancelled this season over rising coronavirus fears as McLaren said 15 team members were now in quarantine.
The pin was pulled at the last minute on the opening Grand Prix of the year in Australia as concerns spiked following a McLaren staff member testing positive.
It saw the team withdraw from the Melbourne race and McLaren said another 14 personnel were now in quarantine at the team hotel for two weeks, in accordance with local health authority directives.
They were all in close contact with the person who tested positive.
"Any other team members who show symptoms will be tested immediately and self-isolate, in line with our protocol," McLaren said.
With so many staff out of action, McLaren's participation in the next race at Bahrain this month, that organisers already said will be run without fans, is in doubt.
Carey refused to be drawn on whether Bahrain and the third Grand Prix in Hanoi would .

AFP

AFP

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