International

China delays schools’ return over virus fears

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Tuesday postponed the start of the spring semester for schools and universities across the country over concerns about a deadly virus outbreak. The decision came as the death toll from the new coronavirus soared to 106 and the total number of cases surpassed 4,000 nationwide. Students are currently on holiday for the Lunar New Year and the education ministry did not provide a date for teaching to resume. But […]

China virus death toll jumps to 106, nearly 1,300 new cases: govt

WUHAN, China (AFP) — The death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in China has soared to 106 while nearly 1,300 new cases have been confirmed, authorities said Tuesday. The health commission in central Hubei province, the epicenter of the epidemic, said 24 more people had died from the virus and 1,291 more people were infected, raising the total number of confirmed cases to more than 4,000 nationwide. © Agence France-Presse

Turkey probes dozens over quake social media posts

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish prosecutors are investigating dozens of people for “provocative” social media messages about the deadly earthquake in eastern Turkey, reports said Monday. The death toll from Friday’s quake in Elazig province reached 41 people as rescue teams pulled the body of the last missing person from under the rubble, the country’s disaster agency said. The Ankara prosecutor’s office is investigating 50 individuals on suspicion of “spreading fear and panic” and “insulting […]

Icelandic volcano swell signals potential eruption

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AFP) — Small earthquakes and a so-called “inflation” of the mountain, signaling a potential volcanic eruption, have been reported near Iceland’s famous “Blue Lagoon,” local authorities said Monday. The Icelandic Met Office declared a state of uncertainty over the weekend, following days of several smaller earthquakes and swelling of the mountain. Alert levels for aviation were also raised from “green” to “yellow,” defined as when a volcano “is experiencing signs of elevated unrest […]

Global alarm grows as Beijing reports first virus death; death toll hits 82

  by Leo RAMIREZ Agence France Presse WUHAN, China (AFP) — China’s capital on Monday recorded its first death from a deadly coronavirus as it struggles to contain a rapidly spreading disease that has sparked global alarm, with countries scrambling to evacuate their citizens from the epicentre of the epidemic. The fatality in Beijing raises the death toll from the new virus to 82, with more than 2,700 people infected across the nation. Cases have […]

WHO says still probing if Chinese virus can spread before symptoms

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization said Monday it remained unclear if the deadly coronavirus spreading in China and beyond is contagious during its incubation period before symptoms appear. The virus, which can cause a pneumonia-like acute respiratory infection, has in a matter of weeks killed more than 80 people and infected some 2,740 in China, while cases have been identified in more than a dozen other countries. In a fresh report on […]

Japan will evacuate nationals from China virus city: Abe

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will evacuate all its nationals from China’s quarantined city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a deadly virus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday. “We have decided to send back all (Japanese citizens in Wuhan) to Japan if they wish so, by every means including a chartered flight,” Abe told reporters. “We are coordinating with the Chinese government at various levels, and we will accelerate the process to realize a swift […]

Just in: First coronavirus case confirmed in Germany by Bavarian health ministry

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Health authorities in Germany’s southern Bavarian region have confirmed the country’s first case of the deadly coronavirus spreading in China. The virus, which can cause a pneumonia-like acute respiratory infection, has in a matter of weeks killed more than 80 people and infected some 2,740 in China, while cases have been identified in more than a dozen other countries. “A man in the Starnberg region has been infected with the new […]

Feds probe helicopter crash that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant

by Jocelyne ZABLIT LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Federal investigators on Monday sifted through the wreckage of the helicopter crash that killed basketball legend Kobe Bryant and eight other people, hoping to find clues to what caused the accident that stunned the world. Bryant, 41, was traveling Sunday with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers and crew when the Sikorsky S-76 slammed into a rugged hillside in thick fog in Calabasas, northwest […]

Death toll in Peru tanker explosion rises to 15

LIMA, Peru (AFP) — The death toll from the explosion of a gas tanker in Lima has risen to 15 following the death of a child with severe burns, Peru’s health ministry said Monday. Nearly 50 people were injured, including six children, when a tanker truck carrying 10,000 liters of liquefied gas exploded on Thursday, igniting a major fire that destroyed several houses and vehicles in the capital’s Villa El Salvador district. Five of the […]

Mali to hire 15,000 teachers to break nationwide strike

BAMAKO, Mali (AFP) — Mali began recruiting some 15,000 teachers on Monday, the government said, in order to break a nationwide strike which began last week over demands for higher pay. A statement released by the West African state’s Youth and Sports ministry said that recruitment was open for 10,300 primary-school teachers and 5,000 secondary-school ones, for six-month contracts. The move follows up on an earlier threat made by Mali’s prime minister to hire from […]

Americans should ‘reconsider travel’ to China over virus: State

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US State Department on Monday encouraged Americans to “reconsider” any plans to travel to China amid a deadly outbreak of a coronavirus that originated in the city of Wuhan. The State Department also issued a stern warning for its citizens not to travel to Hubei province, where Wuhan is located. So far, 82 people have died as a result of the virus, all of them in China. The department […]