World

Countries scrambled to secure their mask supply as panic buying, hoarding and robbery spread over fears of the deadly coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday, with global health officials warning that protective gear stocks were rapidly dwindling. The disease that first emerged in China occurs almost daily in new countries, with Iran, Italy and South Korea facing increasing numbers. Italy’s death toll …

A coronavirus outbreak has weighed on the transport and tourism sectors in Japan, including bullet trains, with fears about infection making people reluctant to venture outdoors or share confined spaces with others for long hours. The number of passengers between Feb 1 and 19 of the Shinkansen Line connecting Tokyo and Osaka fell 8% from a year earlier, its operator …

Twitter staff across the world were asked to work from home starting Monday in an effort to stop the spread of the deadly new coronavirus epidemic. The outbreak has spread across the world since emerging in central China late last year, killing more than 3,100 people, infecting over 90,000, and prompting a wave of travel restrictions. The social media platform’s …

South Korean health authorities said a religious sect leader tested negative for coronavirus on Tuesday after being taken to a “drive-through” test site late Monday in the midst of criticism over how his church became the outbreak’s nucleus. Lee Man-hee, who created the Shincheonji Church of Jesus and headed it, apologised on Monday and called the outbreak a “great calamity,” …

Turkey’s Erdogan’s decision last week to step back from a 2016 deal that halted the flow of migrants from the Middle East into Europe has reignited again the fears of a new crisis. Erdogan claimed that the the numbers would reach around “25000-30000”.  He also added that Turkey will not close it’s doors and that EU should keep its promises. …

Pete Buttigieg, who as a relative unknown entered the Democratic presidential race and established himself as the party’s future during an unprecedented rise to the top tier of a crowded field, ended his bid for the White House on Sunday. Buttigieg, 38, a former two-term mayor of South Bend, Indiana, a war veteran in Afghanistan and the first openly gay …

The global death toll from the new coronavirus epidemic surpassed 3,000 on Monday after more people died at its epicentre in China, as cases soared around the world and US officials faced criticism over the country’s readiness for an outbreak. The virus has now infected more than 88,000 people and spread to more than 60 countries after first emerging in …

The discussions covering trade and trading standards, agriculture, security, transport, energy, fisheries and police cooperation kick off in Brussels under teams run by Frenchman Michel Barnier for the EU and governmental advisor David Frost for Britain. They take place just over a month since Britain ceased to be an EU member, and are meant to wrap up by the end …

The new confirmed case of coronavirus in the US, diagnosed in a California woman, is of “unknown origin” and was found in a patient who had not traveled overseas or had contact with any known travelers, said local health officials on Friday. According to Dr. Sara Cody, Chief Health Officer for Santa Clara County, the patient, described only as an …

Cebu authorities are tracking seven of Daegu City’s 26 South Korean citizens, the 2019 coronavirus disease epicenter in South Korea, who allegedly had gone missing after arriving in town. Earlier reports indicated that 26 Koreans were placed under quarantine in Cebu by the Department of Health (DOH) area 7. According to the paper, an emergency meeting with the handling of …