Cinmpring kici

Sabtu, 29 Februari 2020

Coronavirus Travel Advisories: Map Shows CDC's Areas Of Concern : Goats and Soda - NPR

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regularly issues "Travel Health Notices" that address disease outbreaks and other health-related matters in international destinations. The newly discovered coronavirus is now a topic of concern.

The point of the warnings is to indicate countries where the CDC believes there is a risk of infection with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Don't see the graphic above? Click here.

There are three levels of notices based on the risk presented by the outbreak and what precautions are needed to prevent infection.

China and South Korea are in the highest notice level — "Warning Level 3." CDC advises travelers to avoid all nonessential travel to these countries. As part of the warnings, which were issued in late February, the CDC also cites limited access for visitors to adequate medical care. If travel is necessary, CDC advises travelers to discuss with their health-care provider.

Hong Kong, Macau and the island of Taiwan are excluded from this notice.

The only other country with a Warning Level 3 notice is Venezuela; CDC cites "outbreaks of infectious diseases" as well as the breakdown of the country's health-care infrastructure.

During the Ebola outbreak in 2014, this warning level was issued to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

The second notice level, "Alert Level 2," suggesting that potential travelers "practice enhanced precautions," has been issued for travel to Iran, Italy and Japan, three countries experiencing person-to-person and community spread of COVID-19. This notice, according to CDC, is directed at older adults and those with "chronic medical conditions," who are at greater risk of developing a severe case of COVID-19 if infected. CDC advises them to consider postponing nonessential travel to these countries.

The third notice level is "Watch Level 1." At this level, the CDC does not recommend canceling or postponing travel but advises potential travelers to practice general precautions such as avoiding contact with sick people and washing hands for 20 seconds with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with 60% to 95% alcohol.

The CDC also currently has other travel health notices unrelated to COVID-19. For example, it has issued the Level 2 Alert for several countries in Africa and Asia because of polio and a Watch Level 1 for some parts of Central and South America for dengue.

The Coronavirus Outbreak
What you should know

Subscribe to Goats and Soda's newsletter for a weekly update on the outbreak.

Many countries with confirmed cases of COVID-19 do not currently have travel advisories from the CDC. Dr. Lin Chen, president of the International Society of Travel Medicine, said when deciding to go to these countries, travelers should look into the country's health-care system and make sure they have travel medical insurance that will provide coverage in their destination.

"I think it's important to identify what a traveler would do if they become sick," Chen said. "Having travel medical insurance is actually really important and gives you, perhaps, a peace of mind if you're going into a country that has some [confirmed] cases."

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMihAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5ucHIub3JnL3NlY3Rpb25zL2dvYXRzYW5kc29kYS8yMDIwLzAyLzI5LzgxMDQ0MDM4Mi9tYXAtd2hpY2gtY291bnRyaWVzLWhhdmUtY2RjLXRyYXZlbC1hZHZpc29yaWVzLWJlY2F1c2Utb2YtY29yb25hdmlydXPSAQA?oc=5

2020-02-29 10:00:00Z
52780638514307

Risk of coronavirus spreading globally now 'very high', World Health Organisation says - South China Morning Post

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiK2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUuY29tL3dhdGNoP3Y9Sm9zU0dDMWlNWEnSAQA?oc=5

2020-02-29 07:53:26Z
52780638514307

U.S. Expected to Sign Deal With Taliban to Withdraw Troops From Afghanistan - The New York Times

DOHA, Qatar — The United States is expected to sign a peace deal with the Taliban insurgency on Saturday that for the first time after two decades of grinding warfare would lay out the prospect of a final withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

The signing in Doha, Qatar, is seen as a vital step toward negotiating a more sweeping peace deal that could end the insurgency altogether, after years of unrelenting violence that took the lives of more than 3,500 Americans and coalition troops and tens of thousands of Afghans since the U.S. invasion in 2001.

But the agreement is dependent on the Taliban’s fulfillment of major commitments that have been obstacles for years, including breaking with international terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda. And it hinges on far more difficult negotiations between the two Afghan sides to come, addressing the shape of a potential power-sharing government and a lasting cease-fire — both anathema to the Taliban in the past.

The Trump administration has cast the deal as its pledge to a war-weary American public, for whom the Afghanistan war has defined a generation of loss and trauma and roughly $2 trillion in expenditures but has yielded no victory.

“If the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan live up to these commitments, we will have a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home,” President Trump said on Friday ahead of the signing of the deal, which he dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to attend.

“These commitments represent an important step to a lasting peace in a new Afghanistan, free from Al Qaeda, ISIS, and any other terrorist group that would seek to bring us harm.”

At the height of the war, there were more than 100,000 American troops in the country, and tens of thousands of others from about 40 nations in the United States-led NATO coalition.

In recent years, it has been Afghan soldiers and police who have borne the brunt of the fighting, at a horrific cost in casualties and trauma.

From the start of the talks, late in 2018, Afghan officials were troubled that they were not at the table with American and Taliban officials. They worried that Mr. Trump would abruptly withdraw troops from Afghanistan without securing any of the conditions they saw as crucial, including a reduction in violence and a Taliban promise to negotiate in good faith with the government.

The best-case prospect laid out by the deal expected to be signed on Saturday is alluring: ultimately, the possibility for Afghans of an end to conflict that in one form or other has stretched for 40 years.

But behind that hope lies a web of contradictions.

The United States, which struggled to help secure better rights for women and minorities and instill a democratic system and institutions in Afghanistan, is reaching a deal with an insurgency that has never renounced its desire for a government and justice system rooted in a harsh interpretation of Islam. Though the Taliban would get their primary wish granted by this agreement, the withdrawal of American troops, they have made no firm commitments to protect civil rights for people they brutally repressed when in power.

Among the Taliban, bringing the world’s premier military power to the point of withdrawal has widely been seen as a victory with few caveats. And the public messaging from Taliban officials has not been conciliatory.

“This is the hotel that tomorrow will turn into a historic hotel,” the Taliban’s multimedia chief posted on Twitter on Friday with a photograph of the Sheraton in Doha, site of the signing. “From here, the defeat of the arrogance of the White House in the face of the white turban will be announced.”

The expected deal provides a conditional schedule for the withdrawal of the 12,000 remaining American troops. In the first phase, about 5,000 are to leave in a matter of months. The withdrawal of the rest is expected to happen over the next 14 months, depending on the Taliban keeping their end of the bargain.

The insurgents had to pledge to break with international terrorist networks and forbid Afghanistan’s use as a base for attacks by groups like Al Qaeda, which launched the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States from the haven the Taliban granted it in Afghanistan.

As part of the deal, the Taliban would also agree to open talks directly with the Afghan government and other leaders, ostensibly to negotiate a political settlement and an eventual cease-fire. But an immediate cease-fire to address the bloodshed that regularly rips through Afghanistan is not part of the agreement.

While American diplomats had pushed for a cease-fire, they settled for a “reduction in violence” and tested it over a stretch of seven days before the signing. Officials said attacks had dropped by as much as 80 percent during that period, and the hope was that the reduction could continue in the next phase, until the two Afghan sides could agree to a more comprehensive cease-fire.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the veteran diplomat leading the American peace efforts and himself a native of Afghanistan, long insisted that the United States was not simply seeking a withdrawal agreement, but “a peace agreement that enables withdrawal.”

The Taliban’s willingness to enter negotiations with other Afghans, including the government, over a political settlement has offered hope and fear to the Afghan people.

The hope is that a durable peace can be reached after generations of conflict and suffering. The fear is that the most difficult work lies ahead, and that the Taliban will come to the negotiations emboldened by the American withdrawal announcement after years of insurgent gains on the battlefield against the badly bloodied Afghan security forces.

The nearly two decades of war have been devastating, both in human and economic terms, though exact numbers are in many cases hard to come by.

Much of the peace negotiations happened in a year of record violence from both sides. In just the last quarter of 2019, the Taliban carried out 8,204 attacks, the highest in same period over the past decade. The United States dropped 7,423 bombs and missiles during the year, a record since the Air Force began recording the data in 2006.

In the past five years, about 50,000 members of the Afghan security forces have been killed, and tens of thousands of others wounded. The Taliban’s losses are harder to verify, but their casualty rate is believed to be comparable. Out of about 3,550 NATO coalition deaths in Afghanistan, nearly 2,400 have been Americans.

Lara Jakes contributed reporting from Washington, and Thomas Gibbons-Neff from Kabul.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiQmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm55dGltZXMuY29tLzIwMjAvMDIvMjkvd29ybGQvYXNpYS91cy10YWxpYmFuLWRlYWwuaHRtbNIBRmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm55dGltZXMuY29tLzIwMjAvMDIvMjkvd29ybGQvYXNpYS91cy10YWxpYmFuLWRlYWwuYW1wLmh0bWw?oc=5

2020-02-29 08:00:00Z
52780629907270

US and Taliban poised to sign historic agreement - CNN

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he had dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to "witness the signing of an agreement with representatives of the Taliban" and Defense Secretary Mark Esper to "issue a joint declaration with the government of Afghanistan."

"If the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan live up to these commitments, we will have a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home," Trump said in a statement. "These commitments represent an important step to a lasting peace in a new Afghanistan, free from Al Qaeda, ISIS, and any other terrorist group that would seek to bring us harm."

NATO Secretary General: Why we're in Afghanistan and what a peace deal could do

The deal will be inked in Doha, Qatar, which served as the base for on-and-off talks between US and Taliban negotiators for more than a year. Those negotiations have been led on the US side by Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad. The two sides had reached "an agreement in principle" in early September 2019, Khalilzad said at the time. Shortly thereafter, Trump called off the talks and said he canceled a secret Camp David summit with the militant group after they took credit for a deadly attack in Kabul that killed a US service member.

In a surprise visit to Afghanistan in November, Trump announced that the talks had restarted. The US President made the announcement shortly after the Taliban released an American and Australian professor in exchange for the release of three Taliban prisoners by the Afghan government. The State Department announced in early December that Khalilzad had rejoined talks with the Taliban in the Qatari capital.

The signing of the agreement would see the realization of a campaign promise for Trump, who has sought to diminish US involvement in wars overseas. Under the plan, the American military presence would be reduced to 8,600 troops from the current 12,000 to 13,000 over the course of 135 days, according to two sources familiar with the agreement.

Pompeo, speaking at the State Department Tuesday, noted that such a drawdown would be "conditions-based," adding that it "sets a high bar for the things that will take place in order for America to ensure that we can accomplish both of those missions: a peace and reconciliation solution in Afghanistan and ensuring that the homeland continues to be as risk free as we can possibly make it."

A senior Afghan politician told CNN Friday that Afghan government is wary about the upcoming deal, which is meant to trigger intra-Afghan dialogue between Afghan stakeholders and the Taliban.

"These negotiations, if they take place, will be the first time that Afghans representing all sides of the conflict will sit down together and begin the hard work of reconciliation," Pompeo said Tuesday.

Developing the team to send to the talks has been deeply challenging but the tentative plan is for each side -- the Afghans and the Taliban -- to have 15 representatives, sources told CNN earlier this week.

If the Taliban regain power, I could lose everything

Members of Congress and regional experts have raised concerns about the deal, which has yet to be made public. On Wednesday, Rep. Liz Cheney led a group of 21 other Republican lawmakers in expressing "serious concerns" about the anticipated agreement.

In a letter to Pompeo and Esper, they wrote that they are "are seeking assurances that you will not place the security of the American people into the hands of the Taliban, and undermine our ally, the current government of Afghanistan."

There were a record high number of attacks carried out in Afghanistan last year by the Taliban and other anti-government groups. The violence in Afghanistan has continued this year, with the Taliban killing two US service members earlier this month.

There are also concerns that a deal with the Taliban could put at risk the gains made by Afghan civil society and women. Repeatedly pressed about a commitment to women's rights, Pompeo on Tuesday did not specifically answer.

"Our mission set there has been much broader than that," Pompeo said.

"Our mission set there is to deliver good security outcomes for the Afghan people, to let their political process work its way through," he said. "I'm very confident that the very concerns that you raised will be addressed as part of these conversations."

CNN's Kylie Atwood, Nic Robertson and Nicole Gaouette contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiSmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNubi5jb20vMjAyMC8wMi8yOS9wb2xpdGljcy91cy10YWxpYmFuLWRlYWwtc2lnbmluZy9pbmRleC5odG1s0gFOaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuY25uLmNvbS9jbm4vMjAyMC8wMi8yOS9wb2xpdGljcy91cy10YWxpYmFuLWRlYWwtc2lnbmluZy9pbmRleC5odG1s?oc=5

2020-02-29 05:43:00Z
52780629907270

Jumat, 28 Februari 2020

NATO Meets After Turkey Says Russian-Backed Force Killed 33 Troops In Syria - NPR

Enlarge this image

Syrians in the northwestern city of Idlib perform funerary prayers for Turkish soldiers Friday. Turkey sought an urgent NATO meeting after at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in Syria's Idlib province Thursday. Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP via Getty Images

NATO is condemning "indiscriminate air strikes by the Syrian regime and Russia," Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says, after 33 Turkish soldiers died in an attack near Idlib Thursday. The bombing caused Turkey to request an urgent NATO security meeting that was held Friday.

The NATO meeting was held in solidarity with Turkey, which says the troops were killed in an area where Russian-backed Syrian forces are fighting anti-regime militants. Russia denies playing a role in the strike, which came after weeks of heightened violence in Idlib province.

"I call on them to stop their offensive, to respect international law and to back U.N. efforts for a peaceful solution," Stoltenberg said. "This dangerous situation must be de-escalated."

Stoltenberg did not lay out any changes NATO might make to its current security arrangement in the area. But Turkey says its military struck 200 Syrian regime targets Friday, in retaliation for the strikes.

"This attack occurred even though the locations of our troops had been coordinated with Russian officials in the field," Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency.

Listing the damage of the retaliatory attacks, Akar said, "Turkish forces destroyed five Syrian regime choppers, 23 tanks, 10 armored vehicles, 23 howitzers, five ammunition trucks, a SA-17, a SA-22 air defense system as well as three ammunition depots, two equipment depots, a headquarter and 309 regime troops."

Turkey requested the NATO meeting under Article 4 of the organization's founding treaty. The provision allows any ally to "request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened."

Russia's Defense Ministry says its military did not conduct any airstrikes in the area where the Turkish soldiers were killed, NPR's Lucian Kim reports from Moscow.

On Thursday, Russia's foreign ministry acknowledged that the country's air force is supporting the Syrian army's "Dawn over Idlib" operation. But the agency also said the offensive "focuses exclusively on the terrorists who are holed up in the deescalation zone."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Friday, in a conversation that the Kremlin says included a "substantive exchange of views" on Syria and an agreement to improve coordination between Russia's and Turkey's defense ministries.

"The two leaders have a thorny relationship," NPR's Lucian Kim reports from Moscow. "Putin has sold Erdogan an advanced air defense system and last month opened a natural-gas pipeline from Russia. But in 2015, Russia nearly went to war after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter plane."

In Friday's phone call, Putin and Erdogan agreed to look at the possibility of "soon holding a meeting at the highest level," the Kremlin says.

Stoltenberg said Turkey's NATO allies are "constantly looking" for ways to support Turkey, as a bloody and destabilizing civil war plays out in neighboring Syria. He added that the group will continue to augment Turkey's air defense, to prevent missile attacks from Syria.

"There's a Patriot missile battery in southern Turkey and AWACS flights keeping an eye from above," Teri Schultz reports for NPR's Newscast. "Turkey has reportedly asked the U.S. directly to share more missile-defense capabilities."

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMidGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm5wci5vcmcvMjAyMC8wMi8yOC84MTAzMDcyMDUvbmF0by1tZWV0cy1hZnRlci10dXJrZXktc2F5cy1ydXNzaWFuLWJhY2tlZC1mb3JjZS1raWxsZWQtMzMtdHJvb3BzLWluLXN5cmlh0gEA?oc=5

2020-02-28 15:36:00Z
52780628766708

Coronavirus live updates: IMF likely to downgrade global growth, FDA sees first drug shortage - CNBC

Disinfection professionals wearing protective gear spray anti-septic solution against the coronavirus (COVID-19) at a subway station on February 28, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea.

Chung Sung-Jun | Getty Images

This is a live blog. Please check back for updates.

All times below are in Eastern time.

Total confirmed cases: More than 83,700
Total deaths: At least 2,859

11:15 am: Jeremy Siegel sees coronavirus as a 'severe one-year shock' to stocks but then a 'bounce back'

Wharton School professor Jeremy Siegel said the coronavirus outbreak would cause a one-year hit that could drag down earnings by as much as 30%, but that markets should rebound next year. Siegel, speaking on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" as the stock market extended its dramatic sell-off, said the odds are "overwhelmingly yes" that the economy and stocks will bounce back in the next couple of years, despite the outbreak. "I see this as a very severe one-year shock, and then a bounce back that could be extremely rigorous," Siegel said. —Pound

11:00 am: IMF likely to downgrade global growth due to coronavirus, IMF spokesman says

The fast-spreading coronavirus will clearly have an impact on global economic growth and the International Monetary Fund is likely to downgrade its growth forecast as result, a spokesman for the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday. "Clearly the virus is going to have an impact on growth," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told a regular briefing. He gave no specific details. Rice said he expected a decision soon on the impact of the coronavirus for the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in April, noting that a range of options were under consideration. Reuters reported Wednesday that officials were considering scaling back the meetings or holding them by teleconference. —Reuters

10:55 am: FDA reports first coronavirus-related drug shortage

The Food and Drug Administration said the pharmaceutical industry reported the first shortage of a drug due to the coronavirus outbreak that has spread to 44 countries in a matter of weeks. The FDA, which declined to identify the drug, said the shortage is related to a manufacturing site impacted by the outbreak in China. "The shortage is due to an issue with manufacturing of an active pharmaceutical ingredient used in the drug," the agency said in its notice dated Feb. 27. "It is important to note that there are other alternatives that can be used by patients. We are working with the manufacturer as well as other manufacturers to mitigate the shortage." —Lovelace

10:40 am: WHO raises threat assessment of coronavirus to 'very high' at global level

World Health Organization officials are increasing their risk assessment of the coronavirus, which has spread to at least 49 countries in a matter of weeks, to "very high" across the world. "We have now increased our assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of impact of COVID-19 to very high at global level," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO, said during a press briefing at the agency's headquarters in Geneva. Outside of China, there are 4,351 cases across 48 countries, including 67 deaths as of Friday morning Tedros said."He said health officials are seeing "linked epidemics of COVID-19 in several countries, but most cases can still be traced to known contacts or clusters of cases." —Lovelace

9:50 am: World Health Organization holds press conference

World Health Organization officials are holding a press conference Friday to update the public on the coronavirus outbreak. On Thursday, the WHO said COVID-19 had spread substantially beyond China and was circulating in over 44 countries. Epidemics have emerged in Iran, Italy and South Korea, where the number of cases are rapidly rising every day. "We're at a decisive point," WHO's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Thursday. "The epidemics in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy and the Republic of Korea demonstrate what this virus is capable of." Watch the live press conference here.

9:41 am: United Airlines slashes Asia service

United Airlines said it's reducing service throughout Asia as the spread of coronavirus drives down demand. The air carrier has more service to Asia than any other U.S. airline. United is lowering capacity on flights to and from Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore and Seoul, South Korea. Delta Air Lines said earlier this week it would cut its weekly flights to Seoul to 15 from 28. South Korea has more cases of coronavirus outside of China than any other country. United also said it will extend its suspension of service to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong through April 30. —Josephs

Medical officers spray Indonesian nationals with antiseptic as they arrive from Wuhan, China's center of the coronavirus epidemic, and before transferring them to the Natuna Islands military base to be quarantined, at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam, Riau Islands, Indonesia, February 2, 2020.

Antara Foto | Reuters

9:30 am: Moscow deports 88 foreigners for violating coronavirus quarantine

Moscow authorities are deporting 88 foreign nationals who violated quarantine measures imposed on
them as a precaution against coronavirus, the RIA news agency said, citing Moscow's deputy mayor. Hundreds of people have been quarantined in Russia to stop the virus from spreading. Moscow authorities have carried out raids on potential carriers of the virus — individuals at their homes or hotels — and used facial recognition technology to enforce quarantine measures. —Reuters

9:28 am: New York City tests patient recently returned from Italy

New York City is testing a person who recently returned from Italy for the COVID-19 infection after the CDC expanded its testing guidelines Thursday. The U.S. expanded its testing criteria include Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea, the NYC Health Department said in a tweet. "The spread of the virus from person to person in other countries around the world has raised our level of concern. But rest assured we are deploying all the tools at our disposal to keep New Yorkers healthy," NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said in a video posted on the agency's website. —Kopecki

8:44 am: Mexico confirms first cases

Mexico's health secretary confirmed the country's first two cases of the coronavirus. Hugo Lopez-Gatell said one of the patients is in Mexico City and the other in the northern state of Sinaloa, and neither is seriously ill. At least five family contacts of the first patient have been placed in isolation. He said one of the men had contact with someone who had traveled to the northern Italian region where there has been an outbreak. Brazil on Wednesday confirmed Latin America's first confirmed case of the new coronavirus in a man who traveled to Italy this month. —Associated Press

8:23 am: NYC pathology specialist says US needs to ramp up capabilities

It's unclear how many people in the U.S. are circulating with the virus, senior director of New York City Health's system-wide special pathogens office Dr. Syra Madad said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." She said the possible case of community transmission earlier this week in California was a "wake up call." Cities across the country need to begin to prepare to control an outbreak and treat patients, she added. "We need to ramp up diagnostic capabilities," she said. "The more you wait, the more human toll is going to mount." —Feuer

7:47 am: Yum China says its reopening China stores

Yum China, which operates Pizza Hut and KFC in China, said it is gradually reopening restaurants when possible to do so. Some reopened stores will only be partially operational. Yum China had closed about 30% of its stores in response to the outbreak and introduced contactless delivery and pickup for its food. Shares of the Yum Brands operator were down amid broader market losses. —Lucas

7:26 am: Former Fed governor says he expects coordinated global central bank response

7:15 am: US malls 'will be hit hard' if virus worsens, new study shows

If the coronavirus spreads further in the U.S., that could mean bad news for U.S. mall owners, according to new survey data. Fifty-eight percent of people say they are likely to avoid public areas, such as shopping centers and entertainment venues, if the virus' outbreak worsens in the U.S., a poll by Coresight Research found. It surveyed 1,934 U.S. consumers 18 and older on Tuesday and Wednesday. Roughly 27.5% of respondents said they were already beginning to cut back visits to public areas, Coresight's survey said. Data suggests malls "will be hit hard," it said. —Thomas

A couple wearing protective facemasks as a prevention measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus walk at a nearly empty shopping mall in Beijing on February 27, 2020.

Nicolas Asfouri | AFP | Getty Images

7:10 am: US markets set to continue losses

6:45 am: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Lithuania, New Zealand and Nigeria confirm their first coronavirus cases

Five more countries on Friday reported their first cases of the coronavirus, with the deadly flu-like illness now reported in every continent except Antarctica. The five are Azerbaijan, Belarus, Lithuania, New Zealand and Nigeria, which became the first known case of the coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa. On Thursday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned that the international spread of the virus showed it had "pandemic potential." —Meredith

6 am: WHO warns coronavirus outbreak could soon reach every country in the world

5:40 am: Iran's death toll rises to 34, total number of coronavirus cases at 388

Iranian couple wearing protective masks to prevent contracting a coronavirus walk at Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran February 20, 2020.

Nazanin Tabatabaee | WANA | Reuters

Iran's health ministry confirmed that 34 people have died because of coronavirus infections, Reuters reported Friday, citing an announcement on state television. The total number of infections in the country has climbed to 388, the ministry added. Iran is at the epicenter of the outbreak in the Middle East, having recorded the highest number of coronavirus fatalities outside China. —Meredith

Read CNBC's coverage from the Asia-Pacific overnight: New Zealand, Nigeria report first cases, China's death toll over 2,700

— CNBC's Leslie Josephs, Sam Meredith, Saheli Roy Choudhury, Christine Wang, Weizhen Tan contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiSGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNuYmMuY29tLzIwMjAvMDIvMjgvY29yb25hdmlydXMtbGF0ZXN0LXVwZGF0ZXMtb3V0YnJlYWsuaHRtbNIBTGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNuYmMuY29tL2FtcC8yMDIwLzAyLzI4L2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLWxhdGVzdC11cGRhdGVzLW91dGJyZWFrLmh0bWw?oc=5

2020-02-28 13:26:00Z
CAIiEBdluAVf5mOl63oyet9ZYCkqGQgEKhAIACoHCAow2Nb3CjDivdcCMJ_5ngY

Syria war: Alarm after 33 Turkish soldiers killed in attack in Idlib - BBC News - BBC News

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Syria war: Alarm after 33 Turkish soldiers killed in attack in Idlib - BBC News BBC NewsView Full Coverage on Google News
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiK2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUuY29tL3dhdGNoP3Y9eHotYU9DWG5tVTTSAQA?oc=5

2020-02-28 15:19:56Z
CCAiC3h6LWFPQ1hubVU0mAEB