The outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Europe is concerning but no reason for alarm, the European Union said on Wednesday.
"This is a situation of concern but we must not give in to panic," EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told reporters in Rome after meeting Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza.
"We must also be vigilant when it comes to misinformation and disinformation as well as xenophobic statements which are misleading citizens and putting in question the work of public authorities," she added.

Coronavirus concerning but no reason for 'panic': EU

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Scientists raced to find a treatment, crews scrubbed everything from money to buses, and quarantines were enforced on Wednesday from a beachfront resort in the Atlantic to an uninhabited island in the Pacific as the world fought the spread of a new virus.
Worries over the ever-expanding economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis multiplied, with factories idled, trade routes frozen and tourism crippled, while a growing list of countries braced for the illness to claim new territory.
Even the Olympics, five months away, wasn't far enough off to keep people from wondering if it would go on as planned.
"We don't expect a miracle in the short term," said Kianoush Jahanpour of the health ministry in Iran, where an official tally of infections of 139 was doubted by some who thought the problem was far bigger.
About 81,000 people around the globe were sickened by the coronavirus that kept finding new targets.
In Europe, where Germany, France and Spain were among the places with a growing ...

Globe braces for long battle against virus as cases spread

Malaysia was plunged into a bitter power struggle on Wednesday as Mahathir Mohamad sought to form a unity government following his shock resignation, but old foe Anwar Ibrahim also pushed to become premier.
The shock developments deepened a crisis that began when the ruling coalition -- which included both men when it stormed to a historic poll victory in 2018 -- fell apart after a failed weekend bid to form a new government without Anwar.
Anwar was Mahathir's designated successor, but he would likely have been pushed out and blocked from becoming leader if the weekend's bid had succeeded.
Their notoriously stormy relationship has shaped Malaysian politicians ever since Mahathir -- during a first stint in office in the 1990s -- sacked Anwar as his deputy, and he was jailed on dubious sodomy and corruption charges.
They reconciled ahead of the 2018 polls to oust a corruption-plagued coalition led by Najib Razak, but many were sceptical Mahathir would stick to a vow to hand power to ...

Malaysia in turmoil as Mahathir, Anwar vie for power

The novel coronavirus outbreak in China may end up saving one of the world's most trafficked animals after Beijing announced a total ban on the sale and consumption of the pangolin.
The scaly mammal -- listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) as threatened with extinction -- is a traditional delicacy across China and much of southeast Asia.
Following research linking the critters with the transmission of coronavirus to humans in the outbreak epicentre of Wuhan, Chinese officials on Monday slapped a ban on eating wild animals.
The measures, intended to halt the spread of the virus that has infected over 80,000 people worldwide and killed more than 2,700, could end up helping a number of endangered species -- but only if the ban holds long term.
"I applaud the ban, as we see that the Chinese government is determined to change a thousands-year-old tradition which is so inappropriate in today's society," said Jeff He, China director at the International Fund for 

Why coronavirus could help save China's endangered species

"One of New Zealand's darkest days" would be a year older in little over a fortnight from now but the wounds it inflicted on the country's second most populous city are still raw despite the people's resolve to "Stay Strong".
Whether it's Mohammed Hussain, Barkat Bati or Martyn Rivett, the terror attack on two mosques last year is something that evokes a sense of horror and fear.
It was March 15 last year when an alleged white supremacist Brenton Tarrant went on a gun rampage at the Al Noor Mosque, killing 51, as people offered Friday prayers.
New Zealand were locked in a Test series with Bangladesh at that time and the visiting players had a narrow escape as it had left the mosque just minutes before the massacre.
Amost a year later, the words "Kia Kaha", painted on colourful pebbles spread across the garden path of the mosque, easily grab attention. Abdul Rauf, a mosque regular, offers translation for the Maori expression.
"It means 'Stay Strong'. People from all races and religion .

Nearly year after, Christchurch still coming to terms with Mosque attack

Scientists have identified a critical role for a protein never implicated in asthma previously, that may lead to improved therapeutic options for people living with the condition.
Caspase-11 is a protein with an important role in defending against bacteria.
The researchers from Trinity College Dublin in Ireland found that when the protein is over-active it can provoke a damaging inflammatory reaction.
When this happens, it is likely to be a key driver of allergic inflammation in the lungs of asthmatics, according to the findings published in the journal Nature Communications.
"Caspase-11 can cause cells to die, which is a very inflammatory event as the cells then release their contents, which can irritate tissues in our body," said lead author Zbigniew Zaslona, from Trinity College Dublin.
"We have found that Caspase-11 is a key driver of inflammation in the airways in asthma. This causes the signs and symptoms of asthma which most notably involves difficulty breathing," Zaslona ...

Protein 'breakthrough' may lead to better asthma therapy

Egypt was holding a full-honours military funeral on Wednesday for the country's former autocratic President Hosni Mubarak, who was for decades the face of stability in the Middle East but who was ousted from power in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that swept much of the region.
A few dozen Mubarak supporters, clad in black and carrying posters of the former president, had gathered since morning hours at a mosque complex in an eastern New Cairo neighborhood, where Mubarak's body was brought for the funeral service.
Military pallbearers carried Mubarak's casket wrapped in the Egyptian flag into the mosque for prayers. Outside the sprawling mosque, a military phalanx waited to receive his coffin for burial.
The 91-year-old Mubarak died on Tuesday at a Cairo military hospital from heart and kidney complications, according to medical documents obtained by The Associated Press. He was admitted to hospital on January 21 with intestinal obstruction and underwent surgery, after which he was ...

Egypt holds full-honours military funeral for Mubarak

Sri Lanka on Wednesday notified the UN that it was withdrawing from a United Nations resolution for investigating alleged war crimes committed during a decades-long conflict with Tamil separatists.
"I wish to place on record Sri Lanka's decision to withdraw from co-sponsorship of resolution 40/1 on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights," Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
"Notwithstanding withdrawing from the co-sponsorship of this resolution, Sri Lanka remains committed to achieving the goals set by the people of Sri Lanka on accountability, human rights, towards sustainable peace and reconciliation," he said.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa earlier this month had said Sri Lanka was withdrawing from the resolution that the country's previous government had endorsed.
Rajapaksa was president when Sri Lankan troops defeated Tamil Tiger guerrillas in 2009, but rights groups accused the army of killing at least 40,000 Tamil ...

Sri Lanka notifies UN withdrawing from war crimes resolution

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed Turkey would not take the "smallest step back" in an escalating stand-off with Damascus and Russia over the northern Syrian region of Idlib.
Meanwhile, a meeting between Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, is expected to take place, the Turkish foreign minister, ahead of a possible summit including EU heavyweights Germany and France to find a political solution to the Idlib crisis.
"We will not take a smallest step back in Idlib, we will certainly push the regime outside the borders we designated, and ensure the return of the people to their homes," Erdogan told ruling party's lawmakers in parliament in Ankara.
As part of deals with Russia -- a key supporter of President Bashar al-Assad -- rebel backer Turkey has 12 observation posts in Idlib but several have come under fire from Assad forces.
Ankara has confirmed as many as 17 Turkish security personnel have been killed this month alone.
Erdogan bluntly warned the ...

Erdogan rules out 'smallest step back' in Syria's Idlib

The Greek islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos staged a general strike Wednesday, as protests against the construction of new migrant camps intensified.
For a second day, protesters on Lesbos faced off against riot police near the town of Mantamados, close to the site of a planned camp for up to 7,000 people.
Small groups of protesters threw stones and firebombs at the police, who responded with tear gas and flash grenades.
"You're going to die here," a protester shouted as police, as others screamed obscenities at them.
"We are in a wartime situation," local priest Father Stratis told AFP. "(The police) have the weapons, we have our heart and soul."
The regional governor's office has called a 24-hour strike, rejecting the government's plans to build the new camps to replace currently overcrowded facilities where asylum-seekers live in dire conditions.
On Chios, hundreds gathered in a protest at the main square of the island's capital.
There are more than 38,000 migrants crowded into ...

Greek islanders strike as migrant camp row intensifies

Greece on Wednesday reported its first coronavirus case, a woman who had recently travelled to northern Italy.
A health ministry spokesman said the 38-year-old woman was in a Thessaloniki hospital and in good condition.
The announcement comes as the COVID-19 virus continues to surge in Italy, making it the hardest-hit country in Europe.
The Greek government on Tuesday said a shutdown of some public areas and travel restrictions would be activated in case of a mass outbreak.
The measures, contained in a government decree, include temporary travel bans to and from countries with a large number of infections and enable beds to be requisitioned in hotels and private clinics.
The decree also foresees the temporary closure of "indoor public gathering areas" such as schools, places of worship, cinemas, theatres, sports halls and businesses.
"We are ready to do whatever is necessary to protect public health," government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters.
Greece's health ministry has ...

Greece reports first coronavirus case

China's coronavirus crisis has sparked a thriving black market in fake medical supplies, forcing a crackdown from authorities who have seized 31 million counterfeit or substandard face masks.
Fraudsters have begun producing illegal products to satisfy runaway demand as masks and disinfectant remain in short supply and manufacturers struggle to keep up.
In one case this month, swindlers took customers' cash and gave them fake delivery notes for masks that didn't exist, Chinese security officials said.
Du Hangwei, deputy minister of public security, told a press conference Wednesday that masks and other products worth 174 million yuan ($24 million) had been seized and police had dealt with 22,000 criminal cases related to the virus epidemic.
The outbreak has killed more than 2,700 people in China and infected at least 78,000, sparking panic-buying of protective equipment as people seek to keep the virus at bay.
As the country slowly returns to work after weeks ground to a halt, ...

Coronavirus outbreak fuels China black market for supplies

Manchester City's appeal against their two-year European ban has been officially registered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS announced on Wednesday.
The Premier League club have vowed to fight the sanction imposed by UEFA on February 14 for breaching financial fair play regulations.
Although CAS did not indicate a time-frame for the appeal process, it is expected to take several months.
In a statement, CAS said: "The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has registered an appeal filed by Manchester City football club against the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

Man City lodge appeal against European ban: sports court

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are going ahead, organisers said Wednesday, even as the government called for major events in coming weeks to be postponed, cancelled or scaled back over the new coronavirus.
The fate of the Summer Games has been in the spotlight as the outbreak of COVID-19 forces the cancellation and delays in Japan of everything from football matches to the rituals that mark the opening of the March sumo tournament.
But organisers have been at pains to insist that Olympics and Paralympics scheduled for the summer are not in danger of being scrapped.
"We have not thought about it. We have not heard about it. We have made inquiries, and we were told there is no such plan," Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto told reporters.
"Our basic thinking is to conduct the Olympics and Paralympics as planned. That's our assumption."
Muto said organisers would consider how to respond to the call from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday for organisers of major events in the next two weeks to ...

Tokyo Olympics on, organisers say, as virus hits Japan events

Pakistan on Wednesday summoned a senior Indian diplomat to protest against alleged ceasefire violations by Indian troops along the Line of Control in Kashmir.
The Foreign Office claimed that a 40-year-old civilian sustained serious injuries  in the ceasefire violations by Indian troops in Nezapir Sector on Tuesday.
"This escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed 1,970 ceasefire violations," the Foreign Office said in a statement.
"The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation," it said, but did not identify the Indian diplomat.
Pakistan urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate these and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit; and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.
India should permit UN Military Observer Group in ...

Pakistan summons senior Indian diplomat over 'ceasefire violations'

The US is ready to consider an agreement with the Taliban after they have agreed to dramatically reduce violence across the war-torn Afghanistan, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper told lawmakers on Wednesday.
The US plans to sign an agreement with the Taliban on Saturday in Qatar.
The historic deal would see the US withdraw thousands of troops, winding down America's longest war which was launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks but has grown increasingly unpopular at home.
"If the Taliban demonstrate the willingness and capability to do so, the US is prepared to consider an agreement that advances the peace process," Esper told members of the House Armed Services Committee ahead of a hearing on defence posture statement.
"Should, intra-Afghan peace dialogues progress, the US will reduce our force posture as appropriate, based on conditions on the ground," Esper said.
In Afghanistan, he said, the US remain committed to ending the war through a political agreement that ensures ...

US ready to consider agreement with Taliban that advances peace process:Defence Sec Esper

The US and South Korean militaries, used to being on guard for threats from North Korea, face a new and formidable enemy that could hurt battle readiness: a virus spreading around the world that has infected more than 1,200 people in South Korea.
As the new coronavirus, which was first found in China, has begun to sweep through South Korea, soldiers stationed in close quarters on bases throughout the country are at particular risk.
Already 20 South Korean soldiers and one American have tested positive.
In response the allies are taking aggressive measures to guard against a viral outbreak and are even considering curtailing a key joint military exercise, something experts say is inevitable because if the virus were to spread through the ranks it could significantly weaken their ability to fight if necessary.
In the military, soldiers are living as a group. So even if just one person contracts the virus at his base, its aftermath would be really tremendous, said Kim Dae-young, an ...

US, South Korea militaries face new enemy in viral outbreak

At least 22 "armed criminals" and two police officers were killed in clashes between Burundi security forces and an unnamed armed group at the weekend, police said late Tuesday.
Police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye said an armed group appeared in the hills of western Bujumbura-Rural province last week and engaged in several clashes with police.
On Sunday police "dismantled" the group "with a toll of 22 armed criminals... and two policemen killed, and six criminals arrested."
On Monday a local official said 13 people had been killed.  Burundi's main opposition party, the National Freedom Council (CNL), said it saw a link with the May 20 presidential elections.
The appearance of the armed group sparked a wave of arrests of 23 of its local leaders last week, the CNL said.
"We denounce this harassment orchestrated by the government ahead of the May 2020 elections," party spokesman Therence Manirambona said on Saturday.
The fighting broke out 30 kilometres (18 miles) east of Bujumbura, the ...

At least 22 'criminals' killed in clash with Burundi police

A Chinese man infected with coronavirus and his wife have been charged in Singapore for lying to health authorities investigating whether they had passed the illness to others, officals said Wednesday.
Singapore has recorded nearly 100 cases of the COVID-19 infection since the illness first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan last December.
With nearly 2,800 confirmed deaths and more than 81,000 cases worldwide, Singapore has banned the entry of visitors who have travelled through China or parts of South Korea within two weeks of their arrival.
Hu Jun, originally from Wuhan, arrived in Singapore on January 22 and later tested positive for the illness. The 38-year-old has since recovered and been discharged from hospital.
His Chinese wife, a resident of the city-state, was issued a quarantine order.
Singapore's health ministry said the couple "had given false information... about their movements and whereabouts" to officials investigating whether they could have passed the ...

Singapore charges man with virus for lying to health officials

Veteran Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim said Wednesday a group of lawmakers had backed him to become the country's next prime minister days after Mahathir Mohamad's shock resignation.
But his comments came moments after Mahathir, at 94 the world's oldest leader, said that he wanted to form a unity government and was willing to return as premier.
Anwar read a statement saying MPs from three parties that had been members of the "Pact of Hope" alliance, which formed the government until Mahathir's resignation, had named him as their candidate for the premiership.

Malaysia's Anwar says group of MPs back him to become PM

Belgian chemicals giant Solvay, facing difficulties linked to the coronavirus and the Boeing 737 MAX scandal, on Wednesday announced plans to cut 350 jobs around the world by the end of 2021.
The company said in a statement it would axe 500 posts including some in senior management, but create 150 in the advanced materials sector, which supplies compounds to the aviation industry.
Turning to its 2019 results, Solvay announced a 1.0-percent percent decline in bottom-line net profit to 1.075 billion euros ($1.2 billion) last year, while revenues stagnated at 10.244 billion euros.
And the group warned of challenges in the months to come.  Results for the first three months of 2020 were "expected to be down by high single digit as a combined result of the 737MAX production halt, the impact of the COVID-19 virus, and the increasingly challenging oil and gas market," Solvay said.
The chemicals giant has ramped up its target for reducing costs by 2024, aiming to cut more than 350 million ...

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