China on Saturday reported 28 new deaths from the coronavirus outbreak, bringing the nationwide toll to 3,070.
There were 99 fresh cases of infection, according to the National Health Commission, with a rise in new cases outside the virus epicentre of Hubei province for a third consecutive day.
There were 25 new cases reported outside the central province, which remains under lockdown in a bid to control the spread of the virus.
New infections reported from Hubei have been on a downward trend for several weeks and at 74, the number of new cases is the lowest since quarantine measures were placed on the province in late January.
But health officials also reported 24 confirmed imported cases -- fuelling fears in China that infections could swell again as people get infected overseas.
The number of coronavirus cases worldwide surged past 100,000 on Friday, as a wave of countries reported their first cases.

China reports 28 virus deaths, rise in new cases outside epicentre

PTI Automatic

Saudi authorities have detained three royal family members including two senior princes, the US media reported Friday, signalling the powerful crown prince is further tightening his grip on power.
Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, a brother of King Salman, and the monarch's nephew Prince Mohammed bin Nayef were taken from their homes early Friday by royal guards after being accused of treason, the Wall Street Journal reported citing unnamed sources.
The New York Times also reported the detentions, adding that Prince Nayef's younger brother Prince Nawaf bin Nayef had also been detained.
Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The detentions mark the latest crackdown by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has consolidated his grip on power with the imprisonment of prominent clerics and activists as well as princes and business elites.
Prince Mohammed, the king's son, has also faced a torrent of international condemnation over the murder .

Saudi Arabia detains three royal princes: reports

Twenty-one people on board a cruise ship stranded off the coast of San Francisco have tested positive for the new coronavirus, Vice President Mike Pence said.
"Among those positive for coronavirus were 19 crew members and two passengers," said Pence on Friday, who has been tasked by President Donald Trump to coordinate the US government's response to the outbreak.
Pence said the ship will be brought to a non-commercial dock this weekend and all 3,533 passengers and crew will be tested.
The Grand Princess has been stranded off the coast of San Francisco since Wednesday -- when it was supposed to dock -- after it emerged that two people who had been on the ship during its previous voyage had contracted the virus.
One of them later died.

Twenty-one on cruise ship off US test positive for coronavirus

The United States has blocked the adoption of a UN Security Council statement supporting a Syrian ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey, diplomats said following a closed-door meeting.
"It's premature," the United States said on Friday, rejecting the joint statement which Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, had asked the other 14 member states to adopt, according to diplomats.
"Various countries took note and welcome the agreement," said Nebenzia. "But due to a position from one delegation, it was not possible."
Syria's war-ravaged Idlib province woke to relative calm Friday, its skies free of warplanes for the first day in months, following the ceasefire deal reached by Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"There are a lot of questions about how it will work in practice, who will monitor it, what is happening west of Aleppo and critically has the Syrian government formally signed up?" said British Ambassador Karen ...

US blocks UN statement backing Syria ceasefire: diplomats

The United Nations has asked nine countries, including China, South Korea and France, to delay by three months the rotations of their UN peacekeeping forces due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The request was made on Friday to the countries "to maintain operational strength and execute their mandated tasks," diplomatic sources at the UN said.
The nine countries also include Cambodia, Thailand, Nepal, India, Italy and Germany -- all of which have experienced significant outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus.
The UN peacekeeping missions, known as the Blue Helmets, are under constant reassessment in relation to the rotations of the soldiers and police, who are deployed to the mission by their home countries.
The UN wants to keep the deployed troops healthy while maintaining the continuity of the operations.
The Blue Helmets have around 100,000 people in peacekeeping operations in 15 countries.

Coronavirus: UN asks 9 countries to delay peacekeeper rotations

The EU-Turkey pact that has since 2016 limited migration to Europe is "dead", the Greek PM has said, accusing Ankara of "assisting" an ongoing surge of thousands of migrants on the border.
"Right now, let's be honest, the agreement is dead," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told CNN on Friday.
"And it's dead because Turkey has decided to completely violate the agreement, because of what happened in Syria," he added.
Thousands of migrants have gathered at the border since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week that his country would no longer stop them from trying to leave.
The announcement came after dozens of Turkish troops were killed in an air strike in Syria.
Since then, Greek forces say they have prevented nearly 39,000 people from crossing the border. Turkey claims the real number is more than three times higher.
Turkey agreed in 2016 to stop letting migrants leave in exchange for six billion euros -- but Ankara says other parts of the EU deal including improved 

EU-Turkey migration pact 'dead': Greek PM

A woman in her 50s living in the Vancouver area has been identified by health authorities as the first apparent case of local transmission of the novel coronavirus in Canada.
Officials said in a statement late Thursday that the woman had not recently taken any trips nor had known contact with anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
She was diagnosed while being screened for influenza.
"This is a community case and we are doing a detailed investigation right now to try and determine where her source of infection was," British Columbia health officer Bonnie Henry said.
The case suggests the virus is spreading in the country. As of Friday, Canada had 51 confirmed cases.
Health Minister Patty Hajdu, meanwhile, announced an increase in funding for COVID-19 research to Can$27 million after an initial sum was deemed insufficient. The funds will be split between 47 research teams.
Meanwhile, 129 Canadians who were mostly confined for two weeks to their rooms aboard the ...

Canada probing apparent local coronavirus transmission

The University of Washington on Friday announced that it was moving all classes online as the western US state faces the country's deadliest outbreak of the new coronavirus.
In an email to students, university president Ana Mari Cauce said the precautionary social distancing decision, taken in consultation with public health officials, aimed to "ensure the successful conclusion of the quarter for UW students."
Beginning Monday, all classes and final exams will take place online for the remainder of winter quarter, which ends March 20.
"We plan to resume normal class operations when spring quarter begins March 30, pending public health guidance," Cauce added.
The university, which has a student population of nearly 46,000, is located in Seattle, the area with the largest number of COVID-19 cases recorded so far in the United States.
School officials said Friday that they had learned a staff member had received a presumptive positive test for the virus and was in self-isolation at ...

US university suspends in-person classes over virus concerns

Boeing made missteps and withheld information about the 737 MAX while federal regulators failed to provide proper oversight, leading to a "fundamentally flawed" aircraft, a US congressional committee said Friday.
The preliminary report from the House Transportation Committee blasts Boeing management and the Federal Aviation Administration and calls for changes.
"The fact that multiple technical design missteps or certification blunders were deemed 'compliant' by the FAA points to a critical need for legislative and regulatory reforms," the report said, calling the aircraft "fundamentally flawed and unsafe.

Congress blasts Boeing missteps, FAA blunders on MAX, calls for reform

The number of international tourist arrivals is expected to drop sharply this year, the World Tourism Organization said Friday, reversing a previous forecast for a substantial increase.
The United Nations' UNWTO said in a statement that arrivals were now projected to fall by 1.0-3.0 per cent in 2020, instead of a previous forecast of growth of 3.0-4.0 per cent.
This will lead to an estimated loss of USD 30-50 billion (29-45 billion euros) in international tourism receipts, the Madrid-based body said.
If confirmed, this will be the first annual decline in the number of international tourist arrivals since 2009 when the global economic crisis hit the travel and tourism sector hard.
"This first assessment expects that Asia and the Pacific will be the worst affected region, with an anticipated fall in arrivals of 9.0 per cent to 12.0 per cent," the statement said.
"Estimates for other world regions are currently premature in view of the rapidly evolving situation." The UN body said travel 

International tourist arrivals to drop 3% due to virus: UN

Italy on Friday reported 49 more deaths from the new coronavirus, the highest single-day toll to date, bringing the total number of fatalities over the past two weeks to 197.
The total is the second-highest in the world after China. Italy also saw its number of COVID-19 infections grow by 778 to 4,636, the fourth highest after China, South Korea and Iran.
The Italian government has been watching closely to see if the cases are spreading from the richer north, where infections had largely been contained during the first 10 days of the epidemic.
All 22 Italian regions have now registered cases, and one new death was reported Friday in the Lazio region that includes Rome and its outskirts.
But there were no new deaths reported in the south, which recorded its first and only fatality in the southeastern region of Puglia around the city of Bari on Wednesday.
The number of people receiving intensive care grew to 462 from 351 on Thursday.

Italy reports 49 more coronavirus deaths, toll at 197

Facebook said Friday it was shutting its London office and part of its Singapore base for "deep cleaning" after an employee in the Asian city state was diagnosed with coronavirus.
A staff member working at the US technology giant's Marina One office in Singapore was on Friday diagnosed with COVID-19, a spokesman told AFP.
"We have immediately closed the affected areas for deep cleaning and advised employees based in the affected area to work from home until 13 March," he said in an emailed statement.
The infected employee had also visited Facebook's London offices between February 24 and 26.
"We are therefore closing our London offices until Monday for deep cleaning and employees are working from home until then," the spokesman said.
The company said it was getting in touch with individuals who had direct contact with the person infected, and had asked them to self-isolate and monitor for any potential symptoms.
Facebook has already closed its Shanghai office until further notice, ...

Facebook shuts London, Singapore offices after coronavirus case

The number of novel coronavirus cases in the world rose to 100,842, including 3,456 deaths, across 92 countries and territories by Friday, according to a report compiled by AFP from official sources.
Since 1700 GMT Thursday, 3,332 new contaminations and 110 new deaths were identified.
China - excluding the territories of Hong Kong and Macau - where the epidemic emerged at the end of December, had 80,552 cases, of which 3,042 were fatal. There were 143 new infections and 30 deaths there since 1700 GMT Thursday.
Outside China, a total of 20,290 cases have been recorded around the world since the epidemic began, including 414 deaths.
There have been 3,189 new cases and 80 new deaths outside China since 1700 GMT Thursday.
The most affected countries after China are: South Korea (6,284 cases, 42 deaths), Italy (4,636 cases, 197 deaths), Iran (4,747 cases, 124 deaths) and France (577 cases, nine deaths).
Since Thursday 1700 GMT, China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, the United States, France, ...

Coronavirus toll by Friday

OPEC and its allies failed to reach a deal on oil production cuts on Friday, after Moscow refused to tighten supply to counter the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.
The day before, OPEC ministers had recommended reducing output by 1.5 million barrels per day in face of the global slowdown caused by the epidemic and the resulting fall in demand for oil.
But the decision hinged on agreement from the so-called OPEC+ grouping -- Russia foremost among them.
And on Friday, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the talks between OPEC and his OPEC+ grouping had failed to bring about a deal.
"Regarding cuts in production, given today's decision, from April 1, no one -- neither OPEC countries nor OPEC+ countries -- are obliged to lower production," he told reporters after the meeting.
OPEC's Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said the meeting had been adjourned, although consultations would continue.
"At the end of the day, it was the general, painful decision of the joint ...

OPEC, allies fail to reach deal on oil production cuts

Liton Das and Tamim Iqbal became the first Bangladeshi opening pair to score a hundred each as Bangladesh crushed Zimbabwe by 123 runs in the rain-hit third one-day international to complete a clean sweep in the three-match series in Sylhet on Friday.
Liton hit 176 off 143 balls, the highest ever individual ODI score for Bangladesh, while Tamim stayed unbeaten on 128 off 109 balls as the duo put on 292 runs in Bangladesh's highest partnership for any wicket.
Tamim had scored Bangladesh's previous highest score in the second ODI just three days ago.
Liton and Tamim guided Bangladesh to 322-3 in 43 overs before 4-41 from Mohammad Saifuddin ensured victory and gave captain Mashrafe Mortaza a fitting farewell.
It was Mashrafe's last game as Bangladesh's ODI captain after he announced his decision to step down from the position on Thursday and his teammates rose to the occasion to dominate Zimbabwe.
As Bangladesh's innings was interrupted by rain, Zimbabwe were set a revised target of 342 .

Bangladesh thrash Zimbabwe in fitting farewell to Mashrafe

The US government announced Friday it is ready to begin collecting DNA from all immigrants it detains, to be saved in a federal police database.
The Department of Homeland Security first revealed the measure in October as part of President Donald Trump's efforts against undocumented migration, attracting strong criticism from civil liberties groups and migrants.
A law adopted in 2005 authorizes certain federal agencies to collect DNA from foreigners who have been arrested, but Barack Obama's administration had asked for an exemption for migrants.
The government lacked the manpower to analyze hundreds of thousands of DNA tests each year, it argued at the time.
But technology has since advanced, making it easier to carry out the tests, the Department of Justice said.
"The proposed rule change would help to save lives and bring criminals to justice," said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.
Human rights activists counter that the measure is a threat to personal data protection and ...

US ready to collect DNA from detained migrants

The coronavirus is getting a new name from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - the "Wuhan virus" - to the anger of China where the global pandemic was first detected.
For the second day in a row, Pompeo on Friday publicly referred to COVID-19 as the "Wuhan virus" or "Wuhan coronavirus," a reference to the central Chinese metropolis that is hardest hit.
Asked in a CNBC interview about the success of Beijing's response to the outbreak, Pompeo said, "I'm happy you complimented the Chinese Communist Party today, but remember this is the Wuhan coronavirus that's caused this."
And in a news conference on Thursday, Pompeo highlighted USD 37 million in US aid for countries hit by "the Wuhan virus's spread."
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, asked in a briefing this week about the terms "Wuhan virus" or "China virus," said it was "highly irresponsible" for media to use them.
"By calling it 'China virus' and thus suggesting its origin without any supporting facts or evidence, some ...

Pompeo speaks of 'Wuhan virus' despite China's protests

The number of international tourist arrivals will fall by 1.0-3.0 per cent this year due to the novel coronavirus, the World Tourism Organization said Friday as it reversed a previous forecast of growth of 3.0-4.0 per cent.
This will  lead to an estimated loss of USD 30-50 billion (29-45 billion euros) in international tourism receipts, the Madrid-based United Nations body said in a statement.

International tourist arrivals down by as much as 3% in 2020 due to virus: UN

Lebanon's central bank on Friday sought to rein in exchange rates and enforce a cap on the local currency in the parallel market to contain its unofficial devaluation.
Central bank chief Riad Salameh asked "all exchange offices, under pain of legal or administrative sanctions, to commit exceptionally to a maximum buying price for foreign currency in Lebanese pounds of no more than 30 per cent above the exchange rate set by the central bank to deal with lenders".
The official exchange rate has stood at 1,507 Lebanese pounds to the dollar for decades, but the value of the local currency has plummeted to more than 2,600 on the black market.
Money changers in protest-hit Lebanon had agreed in January to cap the dollar exchange at 2,000 pounds, but the move has failed to stem spiralling rates.
Friday's central bank order, which reinforces the January agreement, is to apply for the next six months, according to the statement carried by state-run National News Agency.
Debt-ridden Lebanon is .

Lebanon moves to stem spiralling unofficial exchange rate

Opera great Placido Domingo, who has been hit by allegations of sexual harassment, has withdrawn from the Royal Opera House's upcoming performances of "Don Carlo", the London venue said Friday.
"The Royal Opera House and Maestro Placido Domingo have mutually decided that he will withdraw" from the July show, it said, adding that it had received no claims of misconduct against him during his time there.

Scandal-hit Placido Domingo pulls out of London performance

German airline giant Lufthansa said Friday it would slash capacity by half in the coming weeks, as the group battles "drastic declines in bookings and numerous flight cancellations" prompted by the novel coronavirus.
"Based on further demand development, capacity will be reduced by up to 50 per cent in the coming weeks," Lufthansa said in a statement, after announcing Monday it would cut its flight plan by 25 per cent.
The carrier's shares were down slightly in afternoon trading in Frankfurt, shedding 0.8 per cent to trade at 11.41 euros (USD 12.90), but still outperforming the overall blue-chip DAX index, which was down 3.1 per cent.
Lufthansa with subsidiaries like Eurowings, Swiss and Austrian Airlines has announced deep cuts in its timetable this week as the effect of the COVID-19 disease began to bite.
It will not fly routes to China and Iran until late April, while Israeli restrictions on non-resident arrivals from some EU countries prompted it to cut flights to the Jewish state 

AFP

AFP

Page 120 - Afp/pti