The EU's border protection agency Frontex said Sunday it is on "high alert" on Europe's borders with Turkey as thousands of migrants seek to enter the bloc, adding it is deploying support to Greece.
"We... have raised the alert level for all borders with Turkey to high," the Frontex spokeswoman said in a statement to AFP.
"We have received a request from Greece for additional support. We  have already taken steps to redeploy to Greece technical equipment and additional officers," she added.
Thousands of migrants were getting unimpeded passage across Turkey to the borders of European Union member countries Greece and Bulgaria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he "opened the gates" for them after dozens of his troops were killed in airstrikes in northern Syria by Damascus's Russian-backed regime.
He is seen to be using the migration flow to try to pressure the EU and its NATO member states to lend him support in Turkey's military operation in Syria.
Frontex said it was ...

EU border agency on 'high alert' deploys extra staff to Greece

PTI Automatic

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Sunday that a seven-day partial truce would continue, but he rejected a key component of a new US-Taliban deal that calls for the release of thousands of insurgent prisoners.
The so-called "reduction in violence" period, which saw attacks plummet across Afghanistan, ran for the week preceding Saturday's signing of a historic accord between the US and the Taliban in Doha.
The agreement spells out a withdrawal timeline of 14 months for all foreign forces, provided the Taliban honour several pledges and enter talks with Kabul for a more comprehensive peace deal.
"The reduction in violence will continue with a goal to reach a full ceasefire," Ghani told a press conference.
"General (Scott) Miller has told Taliban to do so. It is expected (to continue)," he added, referring to the US commander in charge of foreign forces in Afghanistan.  A Taliban source did not immediately comment.
The partial truce saw scenes of jubilant Afghans dancing in the street as 

Afghan partial truce to continue with 'full ceasefire' goal: Ghani

Sumo's spring tournament will be held behind closed doors, Japanese media reported Sunday, the latest sporting event in the country to be affected by coronavirus fears, less than five months before the Tokyo Olympics.
The governing body of Japan's ancient sport held an emergency meeting and decided to bar spectators from the major tournament in Osaka scheduled for March 8-22, public broadcaster NHK and others reported.
The decision comes after the International Tennis Federation said Japan's home Davis Cup tie against Ecuador on March 6-7 would be played behind closed doors.
And football's top-flight J-League postponed all matches until March 15.
The Japan Sumo Association (Nihon Sumo Kyokai) could not immediately be reached for comment but had earlier told AFP it would hold an emergency meeting in Osaka to discuss the issue.
All the tickets for the spring tournament were sold out, and some 7,000 spectators a day were expected to visit the venue in the western city.
The viral outbreak 

Virus forces sumo spring tournament behind closed doors: reports

The EU's border protection agency Frontex said Sunday it is on "high alert" on borders with Turkey as thousands of migrants seek to enter the bloc, adding it is deploying support to Greece.
"We... have raised the alert level for all borders with Turkey to high," the Frontex spokeswoman said in a statement to AFP, adding: "We have received a request from Greece for additional support. We  have already taken steps to redeploy to Greece technical equipment and additional officers.

EU border agency on 'high alert', deploys extra staff to Greece

Mexico confirmed its fourth case of the new coronavirus -- all linked to recent travel to Italy -- after a young woman tested positive for infection.
Health authorities on Saturday said the 20-year-old from northern Coahuila state was carrying the virus without showing symptoms.
She had recently travelled to Milan and was now under isolation in her home, according to the state government.
Another eight people are being tested for suspected infection, authorities said.
The other three confirmed cases -- two men in Mexico City and one man in northern Sinaloa state -- are all believed to have visited northern Italy, authorities said Friday.
Italy has emerged as one of the global hotspots of the COVID-19 outbreak with more than 1,100 cases in cities across the country's north.
The virus has infected around 87,000 people and killed nearly 3,000 since it first emerged in central China late last year.

Mexico confirms fourth coronavirus case, all linked to Italy

Greece has blocked nearly 10,000 migrants trying to enter from the Turkey border over the past 24 hours, a Greek government source said Sunday.
A massive influx of migrants swelled along the border over the weekend after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to open its frontier to Europe.
He is seeking to pressure EU governments over the Syrian conflict after an airstrike in Syria's Idlib province on Thursday killed dozens of Turkish soldiers.
A Greek government source said Sunday its army and police had stopped thousands from entering its territory.
"From 0600 (0400 GMT) Saturday morning to 0600 Sunday morning, 9,972 illegal entrances have been averted in the Evros area," the government source said, referring to the northeastern region along the Turkey border.
Huge crowds tried to cross into Greece via the Kastanies Forest in the early hours of Sunday, the source said.
Greek authorities said 73 migrants had been arrested, but added that they "weren't from Idlib, but ...

Greece blocks nearly 10,000 migrants at Turkey border

A staunch Muslim nationalist backed by a scandal-mired party was sworn in as Malaysia's premier Sunday after a reformist government's collapse, but ex-leader Mahathir Mohamad, 94, slammed the move as illegal.
The Southeast Asian nation was plunged into turmoil after Mahathir's "Pact of Hope" alliance, which stormed to a historic victory in 2018, collapsed amid bitter infighting.
Mahathir, who was the world's oldest leader, initially quit as premier but then sought to return.
He lost in a power struggle however to little-known Muhyiddin Yassin, who heads a coalition dominated by the multi-ethnic country's Muslim majority and has faced criticism for controversial remarks about race.
The king's decision Saturday to pick Muhyiddin as premier was greeted with shock as Mahathir's allies claimed to have enough support, and it sparked widespread anger that the democratically elected government had been ejected.
Muhyiddin's coalition includes the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the 

New Malaysia PM sworn in as Mahathir fights on

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said he could have been killed during a shooting attack on a protest march in the country's west that wounded a teenage boy.
Guaido had been leading around 2,000 supporters through Barquisimeto city on Saturday when the incident occurred.
A photo released by Guaido's supporters showed a man standing next to a motorcycle, with his face covered, aiming a gun in the direction of the parliament speaker.
His team said a 16-year-old boy was later shot in the leg but is now in a "stable condition." They attributed the attack to pro-government vigilantes.
"The dictatorship could have killed me today, without a doubt," Guaido said in a video published to social media after the march.
"They shot... but that is not going to push us back," he added.  The state government and Barquisimeto mayor's office have not commented on the incident.
Venezuela lurched into crisis a year ago when Guaido declared himself acting president, following claims the country's ..

Guaido denounces attack on Venezuela opposition rally

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani pushed back Sunday against a key component of the US-Taliban deal signed a day earlier, saying he had not committed to releasing any insurgent prisoners.
"There is no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners," Ghani told a press conference.
"This is the right and the self-will of the people of Afghanistan. It could be included in the agenda of the intra-Afghan talks, but cannot be a prerequisite for talks.

'No commitment' to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners: Ghani

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Sunday the government was waging "all-out responses" to contain the novel coronavirus as the country added 586 more cases, taking the total to 3,736.
South Korea has the largest national total in the world outside China, after it saw a rapid surge in the number of coronavirus cases in recent days.
Scores of events have been cancelled or postponed over the contagion, while the country's central bank has warned of a minus growth in the first quarter for the world's 12th-largest economy, noting the epidemic will hit both consumption and exports.
"The government is now waging all-out responses after raising the crisis alert to the highest level," Moon said at an Independence Movement Day ceremony, scaled down due to the outbreak.
"We will be able to overcome the COVID-19 outbreak and revive our shrunken economy," he added.
Samsung Electronics suspended operations at its domestic smartphone plant in Gumi -- 200 kilometres (210 miles) southeast of ...

South Korea wages 'all-out responses' to virus with 586 new cases

A day ahead of Israel's third election in a year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Sunday that if re-elected he would annex swathes of the occupied West Bank within weeks.
In an interview with Israeli public radio, Netanyahu said annexation of the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank was his top priority among "four major immediate missions".
"That will happen within weeks, two months at the most, I hope," he said in the interview aired 24 hours before polls were scheduled to open.
"The joint US-Israeli mapping committee started work a week ago," he added.
US President Donald Trump's widely-criticised Middle East peace plan, unveiled in late January, gave the Jewish state a green light to annex the area and proposed a committee to set out the exact borders of the territory to be annexed.
Netanyahu listed his other priorities as signing an "historic" defence treaty with the United States, Israel's key ally, and "eradicating the Iranian threat", without elaborating on 

Netanyahu pledges 'immediate' annexation steps if re-elected

Stock markets in the oil-rich Gulf states plunged at the start of trading Sunday over fears of the impact of the novel coronavirus, which also battered global bourses last week.
All of the seven bourses in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which closed Friday for the Muslim weekend, were hit as oil prices dropped below USD 50 a barrel.
The Saudi bourse, the region's largest and one of the world's top 10 share markets, was down 3.1 per cent at the opening bell.
The region's slide was led by Kuwait Boursa, where the All-Share Index fell 10 per cent, triggering its closure. Kuwait's bourse was closed for most of last week for national holidays.
The Dubai Financial Market dipped 4.3 per cent, while its sister market in Abu Dhabi was down 3.8 per cent an hour after opening.
Qatar Stock Exchange dropped 0.6 per cent, Bahrain's bourse edged down 2.1 per cent and the Muscat Securities Market in Oman lost 0.6 per cent.
At least 115 cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported by the ...

Gulf bourses dive as coronavirus hits oil price

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani said Sunday that a seven-day partial truce would continue, but he rejected a key component of a new US-Taliban deal that calls for the release of thousands of insurgent prisoners.
The so-called "reduction in violence" period ran for the week preceding the signing of a historic accord between the US and the Taliban in Doha on Saturday.
The agreement spells out a withdrawal timeline of 14 months for all foreign forces, provided the Taliban honour several pledges and enter talks with Kabul for a more comprehensive peace deal.
"The reduction in violence will continue with a goal to reach a full ceasefire," Ghani told a press conference.
"General (Scott) Miller has told Taliban to do so. It is expected (to continue)," he added, referring to the US commander in charge of foreign forces in Afghanistan.
But, in a sign of a bumpy road ahead, Ghani pushed back against a clause in the deal that calls for the Taliban to release up to 1,000 prisoners and for ...

Afghanistan's partial truce will continue, 'with goal' for full ceasefire: Ghani

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal captured his first title of 2020, easily defeating unseeded Taylor Fritz in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, in the final of the ATP Mexico Open on Saturday.
The 33-year-old Nadal, playing in his first tournament since losing in the quarter-finals at the Australian Open last month, didn't drop a set all week and improved to 19-2 all-time at this event.
He nabbed his third Mexico Open title to go with victories in 2013 and 2005.  Nadal wasted no time figuring out Fritz's game in the first career meeting between the two.
The 19-time Grand Slam winner made eight unforced errors and needed just one ace but it came in the final game of the second set to get to championship point.
Nadal closed it out with a blistering serve that handcuffed Fritz and gave Nadal his 85th career title.
Nadal ceded the world number one ranking to Novak Djokovic after the Australian Open, where the Serb won a record eighth title.
Nadal could have regained the top spot with a win in Acapulco, but 

Nadal cruises past Fritz to win Acapulco title

Ireland on Saturday confirmed its first case of coronavirus after a man who had returned from northern Italy tested positive, the government said.
Health officials said the man, from the east of Ireland, was "receiving appropriate medical care" after they followed "established protocols" in testing and diagnosing him with COVID-19.
"The case is associated with travel from an affected area in northern Italy, rather than contact with another confirmed case," the Department of Health said in a statement.
The authorities were working rapidly to identify any contacts the patient may have had, "to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread," it added.
Health Minister Simon Harris said the development was "not unexpected".
"We have been preparing for this since January," he added.
The COVID-19 epidemic continues to spread around the world, with cases now recorded in several dozen countries.
More than 2,900 people have been killed and nearly 86,000 infected.  Qatar and 

Ireland confirms first coronavirus case

Nigerian health authorities said Saturday an Italian who tested positive for the coronavirus in Lagos, the first case in Nigeria, has been relocated for better care, a health official said.
The Italian, quarantined at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba on Friday, had complained of poor facilities, Lagos health commissioner Akin Abayomi told journalists.
He was moved to a renovated facility with air-conditioning and the patient was now comfortable.
"As of this morning, his condition has improved, he hasn't developed any new symptoms, but he's still got a mild fever," he added.
Several people from the company where he worked had been contacted and officials were trying to trace other people with whom he might have had contact, Abayomi added.
Meanwhile, Nigeria consumer officials warned against arbitrary hikes in prices of protective kits and products.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) said suppliers of protective apparel and hygiene products, ...

Nigeria moves coronavirus patient for better health care

As US troops prepare to leave Afghanistan, opening the door for a potential Taliban comeback, women across the war-torn country are nervous about losing their hard-won freedoms in the pursuit of peace.
The militants were in power for around five years until the US invasion of 2001. They ruled Afghanistan with an iron fist that turned women into virtual prisoners under a strict interpretation of sharia law.
The Taliban's fall transformed women's lives, much more so in urban areas like Kabul than in conservative rural Afghanistan.
But across the country, women remain wary of the insurgents, desperate to see an end to the violence, but fearful of paying a heavy price.
Under the Taliban, women were barred from seeking education or work -- rights that Afghan female professionals are fiercely protective of today.
In the western city of Herat, saleswoman Setara Akrimi, 32, told AFP: "I will be very happy if peace comes and the Taliban stop killing our people." "But if the
Taliban come back ..

Peace, but not at our cost: Afghan women fear Taliban return

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Sunday the government was waging "all-out responses" to contain the novel coronavirus as the country reported 376 new cases, taking the total to 3,526.
South Korea has the largest national total in the world outside China, after it saw a rapid surge in the number of coronavirus cases in recent days.
Scores of events have been cancelled or postponed over the virus, while more than 70 countries raised their travel restrictions against South Korea.
"The government is now waging all-out responses after raising the crisis alert to the highest level," Moon said at a ceremony marking Independence Movement Day, scaled down due to the outbreak.
"We will be able to overcome the COVID-19 outbreak and revive our shrunken economy," he added.
Nearly 90 per cent of the cases were in Daegu, the centre of the country's outbreak, and its neighbouring North Gyeongsang province, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. The ...

South Korea reports 376 more coronavirus cases, total 3,526

The Xuda Shoes Company is usually bustling at this time of year, with workers having long returned from a Lunar New Year holiday in their hometowns to kick-start production of tens of thousands of shoes daily.
But China's coronavirus epidemic has changed all that.
Only about one-third of the roughly 1,000-strong workforce at Xuda's factory in the eastern export hub of Wenzhou are around, the rest blocked by virus-induced travel disruptions and safety measures.
Getting back to full annual capacity of seven million pairs of shoes could take several more weeks, company officials said.
The situation in Wenzhou, a trade entrepot for centuries and now a major producer of much of the world's shoes, eyeglasses and clothing, reflects the slow progress in fully reviving China's economy, the world's second-largest and an indispensable lynchpin of global growth.
China's economy remains rooted in manufacturing, much of that for export, and heavily reliant on countless labourers from the vast ...

One worker at a time, virus-hit China's factories sputter back online

Kylian Mbappe scored twice and grabbed an assist as runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain coasted to a 4-0 win over Dijon despite the absence of the suspended Neymar.
Pablo Sarabia struck the opener inside three minutes at the Parc des Princes, as PSG played without Neymar who was serving a one-match ban after his red card in last week's win over Bordeaux.
Dijon, who beat PSG 2-1 at home in November, are hovering just above the relegation play-off place but held out for 70 minutes before PSG added a second through Mbappe.
The France international then set up Mauro Icardi for a third goal just moments after the Argentine came on as a replacement for Edinson Cavani.
Mbappe bagged his second and PSG's fourth in stoppage time as Thomas Tuchel's side preserved their 13-point lead over Marseille at the top of the table.
"It was a good match. We were able to score quickly which settled us down," said PSG captain Marquinhos.
PSG travel to Lyon on Wednesday for a French Cup semi-final ...

PSG ease past Dijon without banned Neymar

Ottawa confirmed Saturday that a group of Canadians had been detained in Ethiopia after a humanitarian organization reported that 15 volunteers and workers, including 13 Canadian nationals, had been apprehended.
Global Affairs Canada, the foreign ministry, said it had "raised this case directly with the government of Ethiopia and officials are in contact with local authorities to gather further information."
The charity, Canadian Humanitarian, said that the 15 detained individuals were medical professional volunteers, general volunteers and staff members.
All were Canadians except for two Ethiopian staff members, it said.
Canada's foreign ministry said it was "aware that Canadian citizens are detained in Ethiopia." According to Canadian Humanitarian the detained "are being investigated on the allegations that they were practicing medicine without permission and had dispensed expired medication."
"While we cannot comment on the specifics of the expiry of the medication, we can with ...

AFP

AFP

Page 136 - Afp/pti