Japan's prime minister on Friday defended his call for schools across the country to close over the new coronavirus, as the country confirmed a fifth death linked to the outbreak.
The call for school closures came as Japan steps up its response to the outbreak, with Tokyo's Disney resorts and Universal Studios Japan announcing they would close for around two weeks -- the latest in a string of closures and cancellations.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government had "received expert views that the coming one or two weeks are crucial".
"We have to prevent emergence of a new cluster of patients among children," he told parliament.
"We made this decision because we regard it as our political responsibility."
The government cannot order schools to shut, a power that belongs to local councils, but authorities in many regions said they were neither consulted nor warned about the decision.
"This is shocking news," Chiba city mayor Toshihito Kumagai said on Twitter.
"How will parents who ..

Japan PM defends school closure plan despite critics

PTI Automatic

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal remained on course for his third ATP Mexico Open title by breezing past South Korea's Kwon Soon-woo 6-2, 6-1 in their quarter-final clash on Thursday.
Top seed Nadal eased into the semi-finals with his best performance of the week as he continues to jackhammer his way through the men's singles draw at the hardcourt event in Acapulco, Mexico.
The Spaniard finished the night with 25 winners to 11 unforced errors, and saved all eight break points he faced.
"The match has been much tougher than what the result said. I think it was a beautiful match to see," Nadal said.
"It was a good match against a tough opponent. I think he's going to have a very good tennis career." Next up for Nadal is Grigor Dimitrov, who ousted third seed Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-4 earlier in the day.
The 2014 champion Dimitrov ended a five-match losing streak against the Swiss Wawrinka. He has now won five of 12 career meetings between the two and improved to 11-2 overall at this ...

Nadal breezes into semi-finals at Acapulco tennis

- Chinese Olympic champion Sun Yang was banned for eight years on Friday for refusing to cooperate with drug-testers.
AFP Sport picks out the key dates in the 28-year-old Chinese swimming star's turbulent career:
- 2009: Breakthrough -
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Sun wins his first major medal at the age of 17, taking 1500m freestyle bronze at the world championships in Rome.
- 2010: Asian crowns -
======================
The rising star wins gold in the 1500m and 4x200m freestyle relay at the Asian Games in Guangzhou.
- 2011: Stunning world record -
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Sun shatters Grant Hackett's 10-year-old 1500m world record and also wins the 800m in front of his home crowd at the world championships in Shanghai.
- 2012: Double Olympic gold -
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Sun is edged into silver in the 200m freestyle at the London Games, but strikes gold in the 400m and 1500m.
- 2014: Secret drugs ban -
==========================
Sun wins triple gold at the Asian Games in .

Sun Yang: rise and fall of a controversial champion

Turkey warned on Friday it was opening the gates for refugees to flee to Europe after an air strike blamed on Damascus killed 33 Turkish soldiers in Syria.
The international community voiced fears of a rapidly-rising risk of escalation after the attack by Russian-backed Syrian forces in the province of Idlib, where President Bashar al-Assad is waging a bloody campaign to oust rebels from their last holdout.
The deadly bombardment has added to weeks of growing tensions between rebel supporter and NATO member Ankara and Damascus ally Moscow.
Adding to the tensions, Moscow announced that two of its warships were transitting Friday through the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul in plain sight of the city The UN has repeatedly warned that the fighting in Idlib could potentially create the most serious humanitarian crisis since the start of the civil war start in 2011.
But Russian vetoes, often backed by China, have chronically crippled UN action in Syria.
Turkey retaliated to Thursday's strike  .

Fears of escalation after 33 Turkish troops killed in Syria's Idlib

Moscow on Friday announced new restrictions on travel to Russia from Iran and South Korea, two countries hit hardest by the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
In a statement, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced a temporary suspension of visas for Iranians travelling to Russia for education, employment, tourism and transit.
A separate decree imposed restrictions on travel to Russia from South Korea, with exceptions including members of official delegations.
Moscow on Wednesday advised Russians against travel to Italy, Iran and South Korea, amid a spike in infections.
On Friday, South Korea reported 315 new cases of the virus, bringing the total to 2,337, including at least 13 dead.
Iran said Thursday it had recorded an additional 106 cases, bringing the total in the Islamic Republic to 245, of which 26 had proven fatal.
The travel bans announced Friday follows dramatic steps taken by officials in Moscow to control the spread of the virus in Russia, such as the closure of its ...

Russia restricts Iran, SKorea travellers over virus

China's triple Olympic swimming gold medallist Sun Yang has been found guilty of refusing to give a doping sample and banned for eight years in an eagerly-awaited judgement from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday.
The Swiss-based CAS upheld the appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against the international swimming federation (FINA) and Sun, one of China's most recognisable athletes who had already served a doping ban in 2014.
Sun, who was accused of refusing to provide blood and urine samples when drug testers visited his home in China in September 2018, has the right to appeal the ruling at the Swiss federal court.
A vial of Sun's own blood sample was smashed with a hammer during the testing session, but the swimmer was acquitted by FINA of anti-doping violations, agreeing that testers had failed to produce adequate identification.
But the ruling outraged WADA which took the matter to CAS, demanding a ban of between two and eight years for missing the ...

Chinese swimmer Sun Yang banned for eight years for doping offence

The Swiss government on Friday said it was suspending all events in the country involving more than 1,000 participants until March 15 in a bid to stop new coronavirus contagion.
"Large-scale events involving more than 1,000 people are to be banned. The ban comes into immediate effect and will apply at least until 15 March," the government said in a statement after the country registered its ninth case.

Switzerland suspends all major events to combat virus

Turkish reprisals killed 16 Syrian soldiers in the battleground northwestern province of Idlib on Friday after a bombardment Ankara blamed on Damascus killed 33 Turkish soldiers, a monitor said.
The retaliatory drone and artillery strikes hit Syria army positions in southern and eastern parts of the province which were recaptured by the government in a nearly three-month-old offensive against the rebel enclave, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
There was no immediate confirmation from Damascus of the reported deaths or any comment on the flare-up with Ankara that prompted NATO to call an urgent meeting of its ruling council for later Friday.

Turkish reprisals kill 16 Syria troops: monitor

Shares in German industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp rose at the open in Frankfurt Friday before giving way to coronavirus fears, after sealing a mammoth deal to sell its highly profitable elevators unit.
Thyssenkrupp added as much as four percent before falling back, losing 3.4 per cent to trade at 8.85 euros around 09:15 (0815 GMT) as the broader market succumbed again to fears over the virus outbreak.
The broader MDAX index of medium-sized companies -- to which it was demoted last year -- fell more than 2.5 per cent.
The Essen-based steel-to-submarines group announced late Thursday that it would sell its elevators division for 17.2 billion euros to a consortium of investors led by US-based Advent and Britain's Cinven.
"With the sale of Elevator, Thyssenkrupp can pick up speed again," chief executive Martina Merz said in a statement.
"We will reduce the company's debt as far as is necessary and at the same time invest as much as is reasonable in its further development." ...

Thyssenkrupp shares bounce on elevators deal

Canada will no longer pick up the security tab for protecting Prince Harry and his wife Meghan starting in March, the office of Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Thursday.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been living part-time in an oceanside mansion in westernmost British Columbia province since November.
Last month, they made a shock exit from life as working royals.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have provided security for the couple in this country under the internationally protected persons convention.
But that will end "in the coming weeks, in keeping with their change in status," said a statement.
Canadians have been welcoming of the royal runaways. Local monarchists surveyed by AFP are excited, while tourism groups are even giddier about the prospects of a boost from the global attention on the couple.
But a recent poll found that 77 percent of Canadian taxpayers were not keen to pay for their security costs.

Canada to no longer pay for Harry and Meghan security

Russia on Friday said that Turkish troops who came under fire by the Syrian army were among "terrorists", after at least 33 were killed in Idlib province.
On Thursday "Turkish soldiers who were in the battle formations of terrorist groups came under the fire of Syrian troops," the defence ministry said in a statement.
It said Turkish forces had not communicated their presence in the area, "where they should not have been".
"The Russian air force is not used in this zone," the ministry added.

Russia says Turkish troops shelled by Syria among 'terrorists'

Two Russian warships armed with cruise missiles were on Friday transitting the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul on their way to Mediterranean waters, as tensions spiralled between Turkey and Russia following the deaths of at least 33 Turkish soldiers in Syria, the military said.
The two Russian frigates -- the Admiral Makarov and the Admiral Grigorovich -- had earlier left the port of Sevastopol on the peninsula of Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and were transitting the Bosphorus and then the Dardanelles straits, a Russian military spokesman said.
"The frigates Admiral Makarov and Admiral Grigorovich -- armed with highly accurate Kalibr-NK missile systems -- are carrying out a planned transit from Sevastopol," fleet spokesman Aleksei Rulev told the RIA Novosti and Interfax news agencies.
He did not specify where the ships were eventually heading, but Russian naval ships that pass through the Bosphorus normally head into the Mediterranean to back Moscow's operations in .

Russian warships transit Bosphorus as Turkey tensions soar

A pet dog was quarantined at an animal centre in Hong Kong after it tested positive to low levels of the new coronavirus, officials said Friday, in the first such case in the city.
The canine, which belongs to a 60-year-old woman infected with the virus, has no "relevant symptoms", the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said.
But "nasal and oral cavity samples were tested weak positive to COVID-19 virus," a spokesman said, without explaining why they tested the animal in the first place.
The dog was collected from the owner's home on Wednesday, after the woman was diagnosed with the contagion and placed in a hospital isolation ward.
It would be closely monitored and undergo further tests to confirm if it really has the virus or if "this is a result of environmental contamination of the dog's mouth and nose," the department said.
The canine would be held until it returned a negative result.
While there is no evidence domestic animals such as dogs and cats can catch the .

Pet dog quarantined in Hong Kong with low levels of coronavirus

Turkey on Friday called on the international community to establish a no-fly zone over the northwestern province of Idlib to protect civilians from Syrian regime bombardments a day after the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers.
"The international community must act to protect civilians and impose a no-fly-zone," Fahrettin Altun, communications director at the Turkish presidency, said on Twitter.
Syrian regime forces backed by Russian air strikes have since December clawed back chunks of the Idlib region, forcing close to a million people to flee their homes and shelters amid bitter cold.
The United Nations said Monday that the latest fighting was coming "dangerously close" to encampments of the displaced, risking an imminent "bloodbath".
"Millions of civilians are being bombarded by air for months now.
Infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, is being targeted by the regime systematically. A genocide is happening slowly before our eyes. Those with conscious and dignity must speak ..

Turkey calls for no-fly zone over Syria's Idlib

NATO's ruling council will meet Friday for urgent talks on the Syria crisis after at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike blamed on Damascus.
"The North Atlantic Council, which includes the ambassadors of all 29 NATO allies, will meet on Friday 28 February following a request by Turkey to hold consultations under article 4 of NATO's founding Washington Treaty on the situation in Syria," the alliance said in a statement.
Under Article 4, any NATO member can request talks when they believe their "territorial integrity, political independence or security" is threatened.  It is separate from the alliance's Article 5 mutual self-defence pact, which refers to an attack on any members' territory.
Dozens more Turkish troops were injured in the air strike in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, where President Bashar al-Assad is seeking to wipe out the last rebel stronghold.
The losses come after weeks of growing tensions between Ankara and Damascus ally Moscow, and bring to .

NATO to hold urgent talks after Turkish troops killed in Syria

South Korea reported 315 new coronavirus cases on Friday afternoon, taking its rise on the day to 571 and overtaking the increase reported in China, where the disease first emerged.
The South -- which has an advanced health system whose statistics are regarded as reliable by observers -- now has 2,337 cases, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on its website.

S. Korea reports 315 more coronavirus cases, daily rise 571

Asian markets spiralled downwards Friday, extending a collapse in New York and Europe that has wiped trillions of dollars off valuations as the coronavirus spread rapidly around the world with the WHO warning the deadly epidemic was now at a "decisive point".
Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul and Bangkok all fell by more than three per cent while Jakarta was hammered more than four per cent.
The casualties have put equities around the world on course to record their worst week since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago as investors run to the hills on fears the virus will smash the global economy.
And while the panic has already caused a bloodbath on trading floors, there are warnings there could be worse to come.
The Dow suffered its worst points loss on record, shedding almost 1,200 points, while its 4.4 per cent drop marked the worst performance in two years. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also tanked more than four per cent, with London, Frankfurt and Paris all posting losses of more ...

Asian markets slammed again as virus fears cause global turmoil

One of the murderers of acclaimed journalist and AFP contributor Javier Valdez Cardenas was sentenced Thursday to 14 years and eight months in prison by a Mexican court.
Heriberto Picos Barraza, nicknamed "El Koala", was one of the perpetrators of the crime committed in the northwestern city of Cualiacan in May 2017, according to the prosecution.
He had served as a driver for two men, Juan Francisco Picos Barrueto and Luis Idelfonso Sanchez, who shot Valdez outside his office.
A co-founder of the weekly newspaper Riodoce, Valdez, 50, was one of the most prominent chroniclers of Mexico's deadly drug war in a state where notorious kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman once reigned.
The public prosecutor's office ordered the accused to pay 9 million pesos (around 420,000 euros, $460,000) to the journalist's family.
The sum will be covered by the Executive Commission for Victim Assistance (CEAV), a branch of the interior ministry.
The prosecution argued that the assassination was ordered by ..

Mexico court jails man over murder of journalist Valdez

Nigeria reported the first new coronavirus case in sub-Saharan Africa on Friday, as global stock markets tanked on deepening fears of a pandemic and the World Health Organization warned against the "fatal mistake" of complacency.
The virus has proliferated around the globe over the past week, emerging in every continent except Antarctica, prompting many governments and businesses to try and stop people travelling or gathering in crowded places.
The virus has killed more than 2,800 people and infected over 83,000 worldwide -- the vast majority in China -- since it emerged from a suspected animal market in a central Chinese city in late December.
The number of new deaths and infections has been tapering off in China, following unprecedented quarantine efforts locking down tens of millions of people in the worst-hit cities.
But infections elsewhere have started to surge, with Iran, Italy and South Korea becoming the major new hotspots and cases being confirmed in more than 50 ...

Virus detected in sub-Saharan Africa, global stocks tank

Lithuania confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus in a woman who returned from Italy, the government said on Friday.
The 39-year-old, who returned from Verona, has been isolated in hospital in the Baltic state's northern city of Siauliai and has mild symptoms. Her family members are being monitored.
"We are putting all efforts to establish all people who contacted the infected person so that we can adopt preventive measures and (stop) the spread of the virus," Deputy Health Minister Algirdas Seselgis said in a statement.
More than 83,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 2,800 have died, mostly in China, where the virus originated late last year.

Lithuania confirms first case of coronavirus

Belarus reported Friday its first coronavirus case, an Iranian student who arrived in the country from Azerbaijan last week.
The health ministry said the patient was in a "satisfactory" condition.
People the student had been in contact with since their arrival on February 22 had been placed in quarantine in the hospital for infectious diseases in the capital Minsk, it added in a statement.
The ministry also said that there would now be health checks on anyone arriving in the country from Italy -- the worst affected country in Europe -- Iran and South Korea.
Travellers from China were already subject to such controls.

AFP

AFP

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