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BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing on Wednesday accused the United States of a “provocative” act by sending a warship into disputed territorial waters in the South China Sea. The USS McCampbell missile destroyer sailed near the Paracel Islands on Tuesday without authorization, according to the People’s Liberation Army. The Paracel Islands are a chain of disputed islands and reefs in the South China Sea, claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. “Under the guise of ‘freedom […]
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The UAE national oil company said on Wednesday it was ready to boost its oil supplies by around one million barrels per day as a price war with Russia simmers. “In line with our production capacity growth strategy … we are in a position to supply the market with over four million barrels per day in April,” Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. said in a statement. “In addition, […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Wednesday that Rome was allocating 25 billion euros ($28.3 billion) to fight the novel coronavirus outbreak that has killed 631 people in Italy. “We have allocated an emergency sum of 25 billion euros,” Conte told reporters during a break in a meeting on the government’s response to the rapidly escalating health crisis. The entire sum “will not all be used immediately,” Conte added. Economy Minister Roberto […]
KIEV, Ukraine (AFP) –Ukraine’s capital Kiev announced Wednesday it was closing schools and universities until the end of March to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. “We are introducing preventive measures in Kiev as of March 12,” mayor Vitaly Klitschko said, saying classes would be suspended in schools and universities until the end of March. Kindergartens, movie theatres and entertainment centers will also be closed and mass events canceled, Klitschko said on Facebook. “Even […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — The head of the Lombardy region around Milan urged the Italian government Wednesday to shut down all non-essential businesses and transport for 15 days in the industrial north to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus. The appeal from Attilio Fontana came as Italy’s death toll from the new disease shot up to 631 and infections surpassed 10,000, the worst numbers after China. The Italian fashion and financial capital Milan has […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing on Wednesday ordered people arriving in the city from any country to go into 14-day quarantine as China reported an increase in imported coronavirus cases, threatening its progress against the epidemic. China has made major strides in its battle against the virus, prompting President Xi Jinping to visit Wuhan, the central city at the heart of the global epidemic, on Tuesday and declare that it has “basically curbed” the spread […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Belgium has recorded its first death from the novel coronavirus strain that is sweeping the globe, health officials said Wednesday. Maggie De Block, health minister in the caretaker federal government, said the victim was 90 years old. The ministry is to hold a news conference later in the day, but as of Tuesday Belgium had recorded 267 cases of the coronavirus strain that causes COVID-19 disease. China remains the hardest-hit country […]
RABAT, Morocco (AFP) — Morocco’s health ministry said Tuesday the country had recorded its first death linked to the new coronavirus, an 89-year-old woman who suffered from chronic health problems. The woman, a Moroccan citizen who had been living in Italy, “suffered from chronic illnesses affecting the respiratory and cardiovascular system”, the ministry said in a statement. She returned to Morocco in late February, before testing positive for the virus and being transferred under medical […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The death toll from the collapse of a coronavirus quarantine hotel in east China rose to 26 on Wednesday, with three more people feared still trapped in the rubble, according to state media. Dozens of people were pulled alive from the wreckage of the six-storey Xinjian hotel in the coastal city of Quanzhou but 26 others were either found dead in the ruins or have since died of their injuries, the […]
by Jerome TAYLOR HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Cathay Pacific on Wednesday said profits plunged in 2019 as it reeled from political unrest in Hong Kong, while it warned financial losses lay ahead owing to the spread of the new coronavirus. The flagship carrier was battered throughout the second half of last year as violent pro-democracy protests raged for months in Hong Kong, sparked by widespread public anger at Beijing’s rule. The demonstrations, which saw […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Some companies in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the new coronavirus outbreak emerged late last year, are to be allowed to return to work, provincial officials said Wednesday. Businesses involved in providing daily necessities can resume work and production immediately, as can those that are key to “global industrial chains” after getting approval, said the Hubei provincial government. Other companies are expected to resume production only after March 20. Similar rules […]
by Sean Chang and Amber Wang TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Behind the barbed wire-topped fences of Taipei Prison, a small group of inmates are hunched over clacking sewing machines, working overtime to churn out face masks and help ward off the new coronavirus. Usually, the men would be making prison uniforms in the bright-lit sewing factory in the city of Taoyuan. But after the coronavirus spread to Taiwan they switched to making masks, putting together […]
