California's Yosemite National Park, one of the most visited parks in the nation, shut down to visitors on Friday because of the coronavirus crisis.
"Yosemite National Park is announcing modifications to operations at the request of the local health department," park officials said in a statement.
Beginning at 3:00 pm local time (2200 GMT), they said, the grounds would be "closed to all park visitors until further notice." The only people allowed access to the park, located in northern California, will be employees, the statement said.
The park's landmark Ahwahnee Hotel and other lodgings and restaurants had closed on Tuesday as a precaution over coronavirus concerns and campgrounds were also shut down.
Services at other parks throughout the country have also been suspended because of coronavirus but the parks have not been shut down.
Earlier this week, US Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced that entrance fees would be waived at national parks, drawing criticism that the move 

California's Yosemite National Park shuts down over coronavirus fears

PTI Automatic

About 12 years after the US government bailed out General Motors and Chrysler, Washington policymakers are debating how to throw Boeing a lifeline as it reels from dual crises over the coronavirus and 737 MAX.
The aerospace giant, which manufactures the US presidential jet Air Force One in addition to defense and commercial aircraft, has asked for USD 60 billion in federal support for the US aerospace industry, but it is not yet clear how such a bailout would function.
"Boeing is on the brink," prominent hedge fund investor Bill Ackman said this week. "Boeing will not survive without a government bailout." Boeing's financial picture was already under pressure even before the coronavirus.
The 737 MAX, which had been the company's top-selling plane, has been out of service for more than a year following two deadly crashes. The lengthy grounding has cost the company upwards of USD 18 billion, a figure that is expected to rise.
The coronavirus has now worsened that picture considerably, ..

Will the US government nationalize Boeing?

Smartphone shipments took an historic plunge last month as the novel coronavirus disrupted supply and demand, industry tracker Strategy Analytics said on Friday.
Global smartphone shipments dropped to 61.8 million in February, a 38 per cent drop from the same month a year earlier.
"February 2020 saw the biggest fall ever in the history of the worldwide smartphone market," said Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston. "It is a period the smartphone industry will want to forget." Smartphone supply and demand plummeted in China and across Asia, and slowed in the rest of the world, Mawston added.
"Some Asian factories were unable to manufacture smartphones, while many consumers were unable or unwilling to visit retail stores and buy new devices," said Strategy Analytics.
Despite tentative signs of recovery in China, global smartphone shipments are expected to remain weak through March.
"Hundreds of millions of affluent consumers are in lockdown, unable or unwilling to shop for .

Plunge in smartphone shipments: report

North Korea on Saturday fired two projectiles presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, Seoul's military said.
The projectiles were fired from North Pyongan province into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, without providing further details.
"The military is monitoring for additional launches and maintaining readiness," it added.
Japan's defence ministry said the North launched what appeared to be "ballistic missile-like object(s)", adding there had been no indication of anything coming down in Japanese territory or its exclusive economic zone.
Earlier this month, the nuclear-armed North carried out similar launches on two occasions -- Pyongyang said they had conducted "long-range artillery" drills, but Japan said the projectiles appeared to be ballistic missiles.
The latest launch comes amid a prolonged hiatus in disarmament talks with the United States.
The North has been continuing 

North Korea fires two 'ballistic missiles' into sea: Seoul

A staffer in the office of US Vice President Mike Pence, the pointman for Washington's response to the coronavirus outbreak, has tested positive for the illness, a spokeswoman said Friday.
"Neither President Trump nor Vice President Pence had close contact with the individual. Further contact tracing is being conducted in accordance with CDC guidelines," Pence's press secretary Katie Miller said.

Staffer in US vice president's office tests positive for virus: spokeswoman

North Korea on Saturday fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korea's military.
The launch originated from North Pyongan province, the agency said, citing the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Earlier this month, the nuclear-armed North carried out similar launches on two occasions -- Pyongyang said they had conducted "long-range artillery" drills, but Japan said the projectiles appeared to be ballistic missiles.
Shortly before the Yonhap report about the launch, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the country would convene its rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), on April 10.
The latest launch comes as a prolonged hiatus in disarmament talks with the United States drags on.
The North has been continuing to refine its weapons capabilities, analysts say, more than a year after a summit between its leader Kim Jong Un and US President ...

N Korea fires two short-range ballistic missiles: Yonhap

The United Arab Emirates on Friday reported the first two deaths from coronavirus in the country.
Abu Dhabi has reported 140 infections so far, of whom 31 have recovered, but no deaths.
"The Ministry of Health and Prevention has announced the first two deaths caused by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the country," the Emirates News Agency reported.
One of the individuals was a 78-year old Arab national who had arrived in the country from Europe.
"The cause of death was a heart attack, coinciding with complications from the coronavirus disease," the news agency quoted the ministry as saying.
The other individual, a 58-year-old Asian national and resident of the UAE, had prior chronic illnesses -- heart disease and kidney failure.
Like other countries around the world, the UAE has introduced restrictions on passenger arrivals, but has not so far imposed confinement measures, and public spaces, such as shopping centres and restaurants -- remain open.
More than 1,300 coronavirus ...

UAE reports first two deaths from coronavirus

Iran's judicial authority said Friday Tehran was liaising with Paris over the release of a French prisoner held in the Islamic republic after France released an Iranian threatened with extradition to the US.
The Iranian, Jallal Rohollahnejad, "has been freed today", the Iranian judiciary's news agency Mizan Online reported, without disclosing the identity of the French detainee.
Iranian state TV later Friday said he was already on a flight back to Tehran.
Rohollahnejad "an Iranian engineer incarcerated for more than a year in French prisons and accused of circumventing American sanctions against Iran, has been freed today," the news agency added.
The French Court of Cassation had on 11 March approved "the request to extradite Rohollahnejad to the US, but the French government freed him, changing this decision", it added.
"Taking into account the cooperation of the (Iranian) judicial system's intention to release a French detainee through reducing sentences, the French government" ...

Iran judicial authority says liaising with France over prisoner swap

Delta Air Lines on Friday warned the coronavirus pandemic will cut its second quarter earnings by 80 per cent compared to 2019, and ratings agency S&P said other US carriers faced similar fates.
"We're now projecting our June quarter revenues will be down by USD 10 billion compared to a year ago -- an 80 per cent reduction," Delta's chief executive Ed Bastian said in a note to employees.
The hotel and travel industries have borne the initial brunt of the impact of the drastic shutdowns caused by the global virus outbreak, but worse may be ahead, Bastian said, and "recovery will take an extended period once the virus is contained."
Amid the spreading economic carnage, Bastian said there are now 13,000 employees who have taken voluntary unpaid leave, and "we could use more."
That is an increase from the 10,000 he reported Wednesday had gone on leave, foregoing salary but maintaining benefits such as health insurance.
In a regulatory filing, Delta also announced it had taken out a ...

Delta warns of 80% revenue drop as US carriers fear doom

Turkey on Friday recorded five more deaths from the novel coronavirus, bringing the overall total to nine, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged people not to go out for "non-essential reasons".
"We have lost five patients who are elderly and with a weak resistance," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.
Koca also said the number of cases has reached 670 after 311 out of 3,656 patients tested positive over the last 24 hours.
In a voice message published on his official Twitter account, Erdogan urged Turks to follow hygiene rules and implement social distancing, while urging the faithful to pray at home.
"You certainly should not go out for non-essential reasons," he said.
Turkey, which has a population of 83 million, has announced a raft of measures to limit the spread of the virus, including the closure of schools and universities, and shutting mosques to mass gatherings.
On Friday, police deployed at the entrance of several mosques in Istanbul so as not to allow ...

Turkey reports five more coronavirus deaths

Wall Street stocks finished a volatile session much lower Friday, spending part of the day in positive territory before plunging to bring the market's worst week since 2008 to a grim conclusion.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 4.6 per cent at 19,174.04, below the level when President Donald Trump was inaugurated, as the spreading coronavirus hammers the economy.
The broad-based S&P 500 dove 4.4 per cent to 2,304.70, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 3.8 per cent to 6,875.52.

Dow falls again to end Wall Street's worst week since 2008

Brazil's government on Friday drastically downgraded its growth projections for 2020 by 2.1 per cent to practically zero (0.02 per cent) due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Economy Ministry had already dropped its expectations from 2.4 to 2.1 per cent on March 11 in a first re-evaluation based on the impact of the deadly virus.
The new projection leaves Brazil on the verge of its first recession since 2015-16.

Brazil expects almost 0% growth in 2020 due to virus: government

Italy reported a dramatic surge in coronavirus deaths on Friday as the pandemic spread further across the planet, but Wuhan in China reported no new cases, sparking a glimmer of hope.
Worldwide fatalities from the pandemic swept past 10,000, with the number of infected people topping 250,000, according to an AFP tally.
Italy, already the worst-affected country in the world, added another 627 fatalities, taking its reported total past 4,000 despite government efforts to stem the pandemic's spread.
The nation of 60 million now accounts for 36.6 percent of the world's coronavirus deaths.
Governments and central banks continued to throw unprecedented sums of money into the economic battle, hoping against hope that a deep global recession could somehow be dodged.
In a rare incident of encouraging news Wuhan, the Chinese city where the new coronavirus first emerged in December, reported no new cases in 24 hours.
"Wuhan provides hope for the rest of the world that even the most severe ...

Italy virus toll hits one-day record as Wuhan reports 'hope'

A wave of company defaults is likely to sweep the United States and Europe as measures to contain the coronavirus spark a recession, S&P Global Ratings said Friday.
The agency said it believes the global economy will go into reverse under the impact of the coronavirus crisis and that companies will see cash flow whither and financing conditions tighten.
"These factors will likely result in a surge in defaults, with a default rate on nonfinancial corporates in the US that may rise above 10 percent and into the high single digits in Europe over the next 12 months," said S&P.
Central banks in the US and Europe have flooded markets with liquidity and freed up banks to boost lending in an effort to help firms weather drops in demand and halts in operations due to confinement measures.
S&P said companies rated B- and below will likely suffer most from financing needs and would face rapid downgrades.
AB- credit rating is already several notches into speculative territory, and ...

S&P warns 1 in 10 US firms may default on debt

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Beijing Friday to make details of the emergence of the novel coronavirus "available to the whole world" after accusing the communist regime of initially covering up the outbreak.
"The Chinese government was the first to know of this risk to the world. And that puts a special obligation to make sure that data gets to our scientists, our professionals," Pompeo told reporters at the White House.
"This is not about retribution," Pompeo said.
"We're in a live exercise here to get this right. We need to make sure that even today, the data sets that are available to every country, including data sets that are made available to the Chinese communist party, are made available to the whole world. It's an imperative to keep people safe."
In an earlier interview on Fox News, Pompeo said Beijing "wasted valuable days" after identifying the novel coronavirus by letting "hundreds of thousands" leave the epicentre of Wuhan to places including Italy, which has ..

Pompeo tells China to share virus details with 'whole world'

President Donald Trump on Friday discounted the possibility of a national lockdown after two populous US states -- California and New York -- issued tough new stay-at-home orders to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Trump said California and New York were "really two hotbeds" but the problem was not so severe in other regions as to warrant a nationwide lockdown.
"So no, we're working with the governors and I don't think we'll ever find that necessary," he said, responding to a question at a White House news conference.

Trump says 'I don't think' US will need national lockdown

Sub-Saharan Africa recorded its second coronavirus death on Friday as infections rose in South Africa, where the government warned bluntly of a long haul in the fight against the disease.
Despite stringent restrictions ranging from flight bans to school closures, countries south of the Sahara have recorded two deaths in three days, and the case tally on Friday had more than tripled in the space of a week.
The central African state of Gabon announced its first fatality from coronavirus -- a 50-year-old man, whose death followed that of a 62-year-old woman in Burkina Faso on Wednesday. Both had diabetes.
The total of known cases across all of Africa, compiled by AFP, stands at more than 900 and is rising fast after lagging other continents.
Health experts have issued loud warnings, for most African countries are desperately short of intensive-care units, equipment and trained staff. The Sahel state of Mali has just a single respirator.
Ballooning from one case two weeks ago to 202 on ...

Warning of long battle as Africa's virus numbers rise

France on Friday reported 78 more deaths from the coronavirus over the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll from the outbreak in the country to 450 people.
Top French health official Jerome Salomon told reporters that 12,612 people were now confirmed by tests in France to have been infected with the coronavirus, while warning this was a "minimal figure" compared with the real number of those infected.
He said 5,226 people had been hospitalised with the virus, with 1,300 of them in intensive care.
"Half of the patients in intensive care are under 60," he said, warning that the epidemic can hit "young adults" too.

France reports 78 more coronavirus deaths in 24 hours, total toll 450: official

Surrounded by police roadblocks, the vacant lot on the outskirts of Moscow is guarded like a military site.
Moscow city authorities are rushing here to construct a medical facility for coronavirus patients styled after a hospital built in record time after China's outbreak.
The building site, where ground broke just last week, is frantic, with a non-stop parade of Kamaz trucks and concrete mixers.
Located in Golokhvastovo, a village about 70 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of Moscow, the facility was inspired by the "experience of Chinese partners," city officials said last week.
In February, China built a prefabricated hospital with 1,000 beds over 10 days in Wuhan, the epicentre of its coronavirus epidemic.
Labourers from across Russia and Central Asia -- already accustomed to working on giant public projects in Moscow -- are surrounded by diggers, huge mounds of earth and sand, and ditches dug between bouts of freezing rain.
"We don't have a precise timetable, but we hope to finish 

Moscow workers race to finish 'Chinese-inspired' virus hospital

It's tulip season in The Netherlands but this year growers are destroying millions of flowers a day, in unprecedented scenes as the coronavirus pandemic has cut demand.
Mountains of tulips, roses, chrysanthemums and other flowers destined for destruction have been waiting for the last week in the world's biggest flower market.
Brightly coloured blooms that might normally have been destined for a romantic gesture or Mothers Day are scooped up by diggers and then dumped in huge skips.
"The only solution is that we destroyed them," said Michel van Schie, spokesman for Royal FloraHolland, a huge auction house for flowers.
"This is really the first time that we have to do this. The Dutch auction already exists for more than a hundred years, and this is the first time that we are in such a crisis," he told AFP.
Royal FloraHolland said that between 70 and 80 percent of the Netherlands' total annual production of flowers is being destroyed.
It's a bitter blow in a country where tulips are as .

Dutch destroy millions of flowers as coronavirus wilts sales

European stock markets pushed higher Friday at the end of another volatile week as the ECB unleashed fresh stimulus to boost the economy as coronavirus grips the continent, but Wall Street slumped as New York was placed under quarantine.
In the eurozone, markets jumped after the European Central Bank and EU took unprecedented measures to prop up their economies as confinement measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus causes massive disruptions to businesses.
Paris ended the day with a gain of five percent and Frankfurt nearly four per cent.
London's stock market won only 0.8 per cent as an anticipated new UK state stimulus plan failed to materialise.
US stocks failed to hold onto early solid gains as state officials ordered non-essential businesses to close in the country's financial capital New York City from Sunday evening.
"The stock markets' upside is a result of a number of big bazookas fired off by central banks," Scope Markets analyst James Hughes told AFP, before sounding 

AFP

AFP

Page 84 - Afp/pti