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LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Former UN chief Javier Perez de Cuellar, who was known for his peace-making efforts including brokering a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq war, died Wednesday in his native Peru, aged 100, his son said Perez de Cuellar served as UN secretary-general from 1981 to 1991, when he was often described as a “pacifist by vocation and nature.” Lauded by his countrymen as one of the most illustrious Peruvians of his era, Perez […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s total number of novel coronavirus cases — the largest outside China, where the disease first emerged — approached 6,000 on Thursday as authorities reported 145 new infections. The total stood at 5,766, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, with 35 deaths. So far 36 countries and regions have imposed a blanket entry ban on people who have recently been in the South, according to the […]
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi health authorities announced on Wednesday the country’s first two deaths from the new coronavirus, one in the capital Baghdad and the other in the autonomous Kurdish region. A 70-year-old Muslim cleric died on Wednesday from the virus, the first death from the outbreak in a country where 31 people have been infected. The Iraqi preacher had been quarantined in the northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah before his death, a spokesman for […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US government on Wednesday approved the sale to Poland of Javelin anti-tank missiles, the weapon system at the center of the Ukraine scandal that led to President Donald Trump’s impeachment. The Pentagon said the order, authorized by the State Department, was for 79 Javelin missile launchers and 189 missiles worth $100 million. Poland’s conservative government has stepped up its efforts in Washington, which it regards as its most reliable […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s biggest supermarket on Wednesday announced a limit on toilet paper purchases after the global spread of coronavirus sparked a spate of panic buying Down Under. Woolworths said the restriction of four packs of toilet paper per person would apply “to ensure more customers have access to the products”. Hand sanitizers will also be sold from behind the service counter and restricted to two per person. “It will help shore up […]
by Dmitry ZAKS ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy on Wednesday closed all schools and universities until March 15 as the number of deaths from the new coronavirus in the Mediterranean country hit 107. The measure is the most restrictive response to COVID-19 of any European nation and tougher than the closure of schools — but not universities — taken by fellow Group of Seven (G7) member Japan. Italy reported 28 more deaths on Wednesday — […]
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — German airline giant Lufthansa said Wednesday it would ground 150 of its more than 750 planes worldwide, days after announcing a slimmed-down timetable over the effects of the novel coronavirus. “25 long-haul aircraft and 125 short- and medium-haul aircraft” will no longer fly, a spokesman for the group also including carriers Eurowings, Austrian and Swiss told AFP. Shares in Lufthansa have plunged in recent days as the likely impact […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — At least two staff working for the EU administration in Brussels have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and are receiving treatment, European officials said Wednesday. One case, a man working at the European Defence Agency (EDA), had returned from Italy on February 23. The second, who works in security for the European Council, is thought to have been infected in Brussels after having contact with the first man. Meetings at […]
WARSAW, Poland (AFP) — Poland on Wednesday announced its first case of coronavirus while adding that nearly 70 people were being tested for the disease. The man, who had visited Germany, is “not part of a risk group” and his life is not in danger, Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski told a news conference. He indicated the man was not elderly, whose lives are at greater risk. He was hospitalized in the western city of Zielona […]
by Amir Havasi TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Coronavirus has killed 92 people in Iran, officials said Wednesday, as the world’s deadliest outbreak outside China spread to all but one of the country’s provinces. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani meanwhile dismissed a US offer to help it fight the novel coronavirus outbreak, charging that Washington hides behind a “mask of sympathy” while sanctions are depriving the country of medicine. The Islamic republic reported 15 new deaths from […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The death toll in the United States from the new coronavirus rose to 11 on Wednesday, as lawmakers in Congress reached a deal to provide more than $8 billion to fight the outbreak. Governor Gavin Newsom reported the first fatality in California from the COVID-19 illness while health officials in nearby Washington state said a 10th person had died there. Newsom gave no details about the person who had […]
NEW YORK, NY (AFP) — US media tycoon Michael Bloomberg quit the Democratic presidential race and endorsed frontrunner Joe Biden Wednesday after being snubbed by voters on Super Tuesday despite blowing more than half a billion dollars on his campaign. “Three months ago, I entered the race for president to defeat Donald Trump. Today, I am leaving the race for the same reason: to defeat Donald Trump — because it is clear to me that […]
