France to close schools to curb coronavirus spread: Macron
France will close from Monday all nurseries, schools and universities to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus, President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address, calling the outbreak the nation’s worst public health crisis in a century.
Coronavirus pandemic “could be over by June” if countries act, says Chinese adviser
The global coronavirus pandemic could be over by June if countries mobilize to fight it, a senior Chinese medical adviser said on Thursday, as China declared the peak had passed there and new cases in Hubei fell to single digits for the first time.
Cuban merchants stage unusual march in central town of Santa Clara
Dozens of small vendors staged a rare independent march through the central Cuban town of Santa Clara on Thursday against what they called excessive regulation of the private sector, according to videos on social media and two witnesses who spoke to Re…
U.S. air strike hits four Iraqi positions: Iraqi military statement
The United States flew air strikes against four locations of Iraqi paramilitary forces, police and army in Iraq, an Iraqi military statement said on Friday.
Bulgaria to declare state of emergency over coronavirus
Bulgaria plans to declare a state of emergency to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Thursday as the country’s confirmed cases rose sharply to 23.
Mexico holds out against travel curbs despite Trump restrictions
Mexico said on Thursday it was not planning to clamp down on international travel to the country or close its borders due to the coronavirus outbreak despite major U.S. curbs announced a day earlier.
EU disapproves of U.S. travel ban, ‘taken unilaterally and without’
The European Union on Thursday sharply criticized the U.S. decision to restrict travel from most European countries to contain the coronavirus pandemic, and said the crisis required global cooperation not unilateral action.
Pilot of crashed Turkish Pegasus flight did not understand guidance: report
The Dutch co-pilot of a Pegasus Airlines plane that skidded off the runway killing three passengers at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport last month did not understand guidance in Turkish and failed to brake in time, according to a report seen by Reuter…
European Union’s March summit to go ahead, staff sent home over coronavirus
A summit of European Union leaders will go ahead as planned at the end of March but most European Commission staff will be required to work from home from Monday due to the coronavirus outbreak.
South Africa retracts comment about local transmission of coronavirus
South Africa’s health ministry on Thursday retracted a comment that the country had seen the first case of local transmission of the coronavirus, saying that an error had been made by the laboratory that tested the patient.
