Afghanistan war: US and Afghan Taliban to start partial truce - BBC News

A seven-day "reduction in violence" between the US and the Afghan Taliban will begin on Saturday, officials say.

"This is an important step on a long road to peace," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday.

If successful, the two sides will then sign the first phase of a deal aimed at ending nearly two decades of conflict.

The agreement, scheduled to begin at midnight local time, comes after more than a year of talks between American and Afghan Taliban representatives.

In a statement, Taliban negotiators said "a suitable security situation" would be created ahead of signing a deal they hoped would "lay the groundwork for peace across the country with the withdrawal of all foreign forces".

The Afghan government, which is currently grappling with a dispute over the results of the country's presidential elections, was not part of the negotiations.

Under the terms of the partial week-long truce, it is understood that no major offensive operations will be launched against the Taliban, Afghan or international forces.

"We have come to an understanding with the Taliban on a significant reduction in violence across Afghanistan," Mr Pompeo said in a statement.

"Upon a successful implementation of this understanding, signing of the US-Taliban [peace] agreement is expected to move forward. We are preparing for the signing to take place on 29 February," the statement added.

The US has spent billions of dollars since 2001 fighting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

President Donald Trump, who pledged during his 2016 presidential campaign that he would end the US war in Afghanistan, has been pushing for the withdrawal of US troops from the country.

The BBC's Afghanistan correspondent, Secunder Kermani, says the move is seen as an opportunity for the Taliban's leadership to show they can control their fighters on the ground.

It could also pave the way for talks between Taliban negotiators and Afghan politicians, our correspondent adds.

How did the peace talks come about?

In December 2018, the Taliban announced they would meet US officials to try to find a "roadmap to peace".

But the militants continued to refuse to hold official talks with the Afghan government, whom they dismissed as American "puppets".

Following nine rounds of US-Taliban talks in Qatar, the two sides seemed close to an agreement.

Washington's top negotiator announced in September that the US would withdraw 5,400 troops from Afghanistan within 20 weeks as part of a deal agreed "in principle" with Taliban militants.

But days later, Mr Trump said the talks were "dead", after the militant group admitted to killing a US soldier.

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"They thought that they had to kill people to put themselves in a little better negotiating position", he told reporters, calling the attack "a big mistake".

In the months since the deal collapsed, there has so far been no let-up in fighting. The Taliban has warned that the US would "lose the most" by cancelling the talks.

Since 2011, Qatar has hosted Taliban leaders who have moved there to discuss peace in Afghanistan.

It has been a difficult process. A Taliban office was opened in 2013, but closed the same year amid rows over flags. Other attempts at talks have stalled.

Qatar was also the host of a major conference in July that agreed a roadmap for Afghan peace. Significantly it included both the Taliban and Afghan government officials, though the latter attended in a "personal capacity".

What's the background to the Afghan war?

It began when the US launched air strikes one month following the 11 September 2001 attacks and after the Taliban had refused to hand over the man behind them, Osama Bin Laden.

The US was joined by an international coalition and the Taliban were quickly removed from power. However, they later emerged as an insurgent force and continued deadly attacks, destabilising subsequent Afghan governments.

The international coalition ended its combat mission in 2014, staying only to train Afghan forces. But the US continued its own, scaled-back combat operation, including air strikes.

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The Taliban has, however, continued to gain momentum - in 2018, the BBC found that Taliban militants were active across 70% of Afghanistan.

Nearly 3,500 members of the international coalition forces have died in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion, more than 2,300 of them American.

The figures for Afghan civilians, militants and government forces are more difficult to quantify. In a February 2019 report, the UN said that more than 32,000 civilians had died.

The Watson Institute at Brown University says 58,000 security personnel and 42,000 opposition combatants have been killed.

Who are the Taliban?

The Taliban, or "students" in the Pashto language, emerged in the chaos that followed the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989.

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They took Kabul in 1996 and were in charge of most of the country within two years, practising their own austere version of Sharia, or Islamic law.

Before being removed from power they banned TV, music and cinema, enforced strict dress codes, severely curtailed female education and introduced brutal punishments.

Mullah Omar continued to lead the Taliban after they were ousted. He died in 2013 although the Taliban did not confirm it for two years.

The Taliban are now led by Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada.

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2020-02-21 10:26:04Z
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Coronavirus Live Updates: South Korea Cases Surge to 204 Infections - The New York Times

Here’s what you need to know:

• Cases in South Korea surge as officials focus on a church.
• Another young doctor in Wuhan, the city at the heart of the outbreak, has died.
• The company that makes iPhones said it would be cautious in resuming work at its Chinese factories.
• Beijing stepped up its war of words over critical coverage in foreign media outlets.
• Canada announces a new case, with possible links to cases in Iran.

Read updates in Chinese: 新冠病毒疫情最新消息汇总

Disinfecting a branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony in Daegu, South Korea, on Wednesday.Credit...Yonhap, via Reuters

Cases in South Korea surge as officials focus on a church.

South Korea reported a surge in confirmed infections, giving it the world’s largest number of cases related to the new coronavirus outbreak outside China if those from the Diamond Princess cruise ship are not included in Japan’s total.

South Korean health officials confirmed 100 new cases on Friday, bringing the country’s total to 204. Among the new cases, 87 were connected to a church called Shincheonji in Daegu, a city of about two and half million people in the southeastern part of the country. Officials said a 61-year-old woman who tested positive earlier this week, and who had attended services at the church, may have spread the virus there.

The church, founded by Lee Man-hee in 1984, says it has over 200,000 members around the world, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap. It closed all of its churches in South Korea this week and told followers to watch its services online.

The vast majority of coronavirus cases are in mainland China, which has reported more than 75,000 cases. Japan has 97, not counting the more than 600 cases of people who had been aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

South Korea reported on Thursday what officials said could be its first death from the coronavirus. A 63-year-old patient with symptoms of pneumonia had died the previous day at the Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, and officials learned later that he had been infected. Officials said the 61-year-old woman linked to the church had also visited the hospital in early February.

Another young doctor in Wuhan, the city at the heart of the outbreak, has died.

A 29-year-old respiratory doctor in Wuhan, the city at the center of the new coronavirus outbreak in China, died on Thursday night after being infected by the virus, according to an announcement from the hospital where he worked. It was the latest in a string of deaths among health care providers working to contain the outbreak.

The doctor, Peng Yinhua, was also among the youngest of the publicly announced victims of the virus, which has largely killed older men with underlying health conditions.

On Chinese social media, users expressed shock at Dr. Peng’s age. They also cited state media reports that Dr. Peng had planned to get married on Feb. 1, but that he had postponed the wedding because of the epidemic.

Last month, the death of another young Wuhan doctor, Li Wenliang, provoked an outpouring of anger and grief on social media. Dr. Li, 34, had been reprimanded by the local authorities for trying to warn his medical school classmates about the virus before officials had acknowledged an outbreak. When Dr. Li died of the virus, he became a potent symbol of perceived government mismanagement and concealment.

After Dr. Peng’s death, some users seemed to nod to Dr. Li as well. “We send away another hero,” one person wrote on Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like platform.

The Coronavirus Outbreak

• What do you need to know? Start here.

  Updated Feb. 10, 2020

  • What is a Coronavirus?
    It is a novel virus named for the crown-like spikes that protrude from its surface. The coronavirus can infect both animals and people, and can cause a range of respiratory illnesses from the common cold to more dangerous conditions like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.
  • How contagious is the virus?
    According to preliminary research, it seems moderately infectious, similar to SARS, and is possibly transmitted through the air. Scientists have estimated that each infected person could spread it to somewhere between 1.5 and 3.5 people without effective containment measures.
  • Where has the virus spread?
    The virus originated in Wuhan, China, and has sickened tens of thousands of people in China and at least two dozen other countries.
  • How worried should I be?
    While the virus is a serious public health concern, the risk to most people outside China remains very low, and seasonal flu is a more immediate threat.
  • Who is working to contain the virus?
    World Health Organization officials have praised China’s aggressive response to the virus by closing transportation, schools and markets. This week, a team of experts from the W.H.O. arrived in Beijing to offer assistance.
  • What if I’m traveling?
    The United States and Australia are temporarily denying entry to noncitizens who recently traveled to China and several airlines have canceled flights.
  • How do I keep myself and others safe?
    Washing your hands frequently is the most important thing you can do, along with staying at home when you’re sick.

---

“Exactly how many more medical staff have to die?” another wrote.

Earlier this week, another high-profile doctor, Liu Zhiming, died. Dr. Liu was the director of the Wuchang Hospital in Wuhan.

The company that makes iPhones said it would be cautious in resuming work at its Chinese factories.

With much of China still on lockdown, businesses are struggling to get up and running. Foxconn, the Taiwan company that manufactures Apple’s iPhones and other gadgets, indicated just how difficult that will be.

The company on Thursday said its revenues would take a hit from the spread of the coronavirus, and that it would be “cautious” in resuming work at its factories in China. Plants outside of the country, in places like Vietnam and Mexico, were at full capacity, the company said.

The warning comes as Chinese leaders try to balance restarting the economy with controlling the spread of the coronavirus. Following repeated extensions of the Lunar New Year holiday, many migrant workers remain at home, facing mandatory quarantines and lockdowns. A number of businesses and officials have issued warnings that such policies need to be relaxed to avoid a new economic crisis.

Even if factories get all their workers back, other policies are likely to make life difficult. Some local governments require new preventive measures, like requiring workers to wear masks, or housing each worker in a single dorm room. In other cases, cities have invoked mandatory two-week quarantines on all returning workers.

Concerns about production at Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, underscore the broader impact the epidemic could have on global supply chains. A huge portion of the world’s electronics come out of China’s factories. A longer suspension of production could hit overall supply.

Beijing stepped up its war of words over critical coverage in foreign media outlets.

The Chinese Embassy in Nepal has attacked a Nepalese newspaper for publishing a column criticizing Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak and an illustration of Mao Zedong wearing a face mask.

The Embassy said in a statement this week that the Kathmandu Post had “deliberately smeared” the government and people of China, and “viciously attacked” the nation’s political system.

The statement, which singled out the paper’s top editor, was the latest example of the Chinese government’s increasingly muscular brand of diplomacy and its efforts to publicly quash criticism of its policies, even abroad. This week, Beijing also announced it would expel three Wall Street Journal reporters in retaliation for a headline on an opinion piece.

The column in question in the Kathmandu Post is a syndicated opinion piece, entitled “China’s secrecy has made coronavirus crisis much worse” and originally published in The Korea Herald, that was reprinted in the Post on Tuesday. The paper accompanied the column with an illustration of a Chinese bank note digitally altered to depict Mao wearing a surgical face mask.

The Chinese Embassy’s rebuke singled out Anup Kaphle, the Kathmandu Post’s editor-in-chief, for scorn, saying that he was “a parrot of some anti-China forces.” It warned that the Chinese government could take further action.

One of Asia’s poorest and least-developed democracies, Nepal has grown closer to China as it seeks to reduce its dependence on India. Chinese investors have pumped millions of dollars into the country.

In an editorial on Wednesday, the newspaper alluded to China’s growing economic influence on Nepal and accused the embassy of violating diplomatic norms by using threatening language against the outlet and disparaging its top editor.

“The Chinese embassy’s statement, ultimately, is not just about the Post, or its Editor-in-Chief,” the editorial said. “It is a rebuke to not bite the hand that feeds.”

Canada announces a new case, with possible links to cases in Iran.

Officials in Canada announced a new case of the coronavirus on Friday in a patient who had recently returned from Iran, which itself had just confirmed its first few cases of the virus.

Iranian officials on Wednesday announced two coronavirus cases in the country, and then just hours later reported that both patients had died. On Thursday, officials there announced three more confirmed cases.

The case of the new Canadian patient, the sixth in the western province of British Columbia, could raise fears of cluster cases and an expanding global reach of the virus. Health officials are investigating viral clusters in South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Britain and France.

The source of the virus in Iran remains unknown. A senior health official there said that none of the people who have been diagnosed had traveled to China or been in contact with anyone who had traveled there, according to the state-controlled IRIB news agency.

The authorities in British Columbia said the new patient was a woman in her 30s, who was presumed positive based on local testing and was awaiting final confirmation from national officials.

China’s deaths and infections rise after officials change their methodology again.

Chinese officials announced on Friday that 889 new cases of the coronavirus had been reported in the previous 24 hours, raising the overall total above 75,000.

The death toll went up by 118, to 2,236.

All but three of the new deaths were in China’s central Hubei Province, the focus of the outbreak. Hubei was also the source of nearly three quarters of the new confirmed cases of infection.

The new count came one day after Chinese health authorities said they were using new criteria to count cases of the coronavirus. The move appeared to undo a change they made last week.

That earlier change allowed health officials in Hubei to count cases diagnosed in clinical settings, including with the use of CT scans showing lung infections, not just those confirmed using specialized kits to test for the virus.

On Thursday, officials said Hubei would now resume using the same criteria as the rest of the country. Cases will be considered confirmed only if the virus is found.

Trials for two coronavirus drug therapies to begin.

The World Health Organization said on Thursday that two new drug therapy trials to help fight the coronavirus are set to begin in China and that early results may be available within three weeks.

One trial involves an experimental antiviral drug made by Gilead. It has not yet been licensed for use.

The drug was tested against the Ebola virus in Congo, where it was not very effective. But when it was given to the first American known to be infected with the coronavirus, an unidentified man in Washington State, he recovered.

The second trial involves a combination of two anti-H.I.V. drugs that is sold as Kaletra in the United States and available in generic versions.

If either therapy helps prevent severe pneumonia, sepsis or organ failure in coronavirus patients, death rates may fall. Two other drugs — favipiravir and chloroquine — have also been discussed as potential treatments.

Reporting was contributed by Vivian Wang, Paul Mozur, Donald G. McNeil Jr., Choe Sang-Hun, Roni Caryn Rabin, Carlos Tejada, Elaine Yu, Steven Lee Myers, Tiffany May, Amber Wang, Claire Fu, Yiwei Wang and Zoe Mou.

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2020-02-21 09:51:00Z
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Prayer leader stabbed at London mosque as police arrest man on suspicion of attempted murder - CNN

Officers were called to the London Central Mosque near Regent's Park just after 3 p.m. local time, and found a man in his 70s with stab injuries, London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

The victim has been taken to hospital and his injuries are not life-threatening, said police, who are not treating the incident as terror-related.
Images and videos posted to social media appear to show officers restraining a man in a red sweater on the floor of the mosque.

Eyewitnesses told CNN there were around 100 people in the mosque at the time, and several helped pin the assailant to the ground. Some said they had seen the attacker attend the mosque in recent weeks.

One video posted online showed a knife on the floor next to the man.

"A 29-year-old man, who is believed to have been attending prayers, was arrested inside the mosque on suspicion of attempted murder," police said in a statement.

"He has been taken into custody at a central London police station. A crime scene has been put in place. Enquiries continue."

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "deeply saddened" by the incident, adding: "It's so awful that this should happen, especially in a place of worship. My thoughts are with the victim and all those affected."

London mayor Sadiq Khan added: "Every Londoner is entitled to feel safe in their place of worship & I want to reassure London's communities that acts of violence in our city will not be tolerated."

Police are providing extra resources to the area, Khan said.

In a statement, the mosque said: "there was an Incident today at London Central Mosque where an unknown individual attacked and stabbed the muazzin (the person who makes the call to prayer) during Asr Prayer around 3 p.m.

"The attacker was apprehended by the worshipers until the police arrived and arrested him. The muazzin did not sustain any life-threatening injuries but was seriously injured and is being treated at the hospital."

Miqdaad Versi, a spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Britain, described the attack as "extremely worrying."

"We must have no hesitation in condemning such evil," Mohammed Shafiq, CEO of the Ramadhan Foundation, added in a statement. "Mosques and all places of worship are sacred and should be protected."

The London Central Mosque mosque is a key place of worship for Muslims in London, regularly attracting large number of visitors and worshipers.

The site was opened by King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II, in 1944. The mosque, together with the Islamic Cultural Centre, were built on land that was gifted to the Muslim community in Britain by the government, according to the mosque's website.

The main prayer hall of the mosque can hold more than 5,000 worshipers at a time, and its gold-colored dome and tall minaret have become an integral part of the north London skyline.

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2020-02-20 19:43:00Z
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Coronavirus live updates: Inspectors in Wuhan go door-to-door searching for every coronavirus case - CBS News

"Wartime" measures have been implemented in some parts of the Chinese province of Hubei, which is home to Wuhan — the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Some residents have been barred from leaving their apartments, and officials in protective suits were going door-to-door in Wuhan this week looking for infected people.

"This must be taken seriously," Wang Zhonglin, Wuhan's newly selected Communist Party secretary, said, according to the Associated Press.

China has been widely criticized for its initial handling of the outbreak. Authorities were accused of trying to silence doctors, and residents complained of overcrowded and under-resourced hospitals.

There are now tens of thousands of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus globally and more than 2,000 deaths — most of them in mainland China.

Medical personnel are seen walking among patients with mild symptoms of coronavirus resting at night in a temporary hospital set up in a sports stadium in Wuhan, China, February 18, 2020. Contributor/AFP via Getty Images

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2020-02-20 16:39:00Z
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Coronavirus live updates: Inspectors in Wuhan go door-to-door searching for every coronavirus case - CBS News

"Wartime" measures have been implemented in some parts of the Chinese province of Hubei, which is home to Wuhan — the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak. Some residents have been barred from leaving their apartments, and officials in protective suits were going door-to-door in Wuhan this week looking for infected people.

"This must be taken seriously," Wang Zhonglin, Wuhan's newly selected Communist Party secretary, said, according to The Associated Press.

China has been widely criticized for its initial handling of the outbreak. Authorities were accused of trying to silence doctors, and residents complained of overcrowded and under-resourced hospitals.

There are now tens of thousands of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus globally and more than 2,000 deaths — most of them in mainland China.

— Contributing: Associated Press

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2020-02-20 15:35:00Z
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Far-Right Mass Shooting Targeting Immigrants in Germany Kills Nine - Slate

Police officers secure a crime scene behind a police cordon in front of a bar in Hanau, near Frankfurt, on Feb. 20, 2020.

PATRICK HERTZOG/Getty Images

A gunman opened fire on two hookah bars near Frankfurt Wednesday night, killing nine people in an attack apparently targeting immigrants in the German city. The 43-year-old shooter, identified by German authorities as only Tobias R. for legal reasons, espoused far-right racist views in text and videos on the web, advocating for the elimination of minority ethnic groups and immigrants in Germany. German officials said they are treating the mass shooting, one of the deadliest in the country in years, as a terrorist attack.

The attack began in a hookah bar frequented by the immigrant community in Hanau, a city 16 miles east of Frankfurt, around 10 p.m. After opening fire into the Midnight shisha bar, the shooter then fled in a dark car to the Kesselstadt neighborhood, where the attack continued at the Arena Bar and Café. A seven-hour manhunt ensued with police ultimately tracing the suspected gunman through witness statements and surveillance cameras to his home in the city. German authorities say the man returned to his apartment where he is believed to have shot himself and his 72-year-old mother. Both were found dead due to gunshot wounds.

Local media reported the man suspected of carrying out the attack left a confession letter and a video, which have been recovered by police. The apparent xenophobic motive for the shooting again shines a spotlight on a troubling trend of far-right extremist politics in Germany that has until recently been governed from the center. “While violent crime is relatively rare in Germany, the country has experienced a rise in far-right and Islamist terrorism as well as an organized-crime wave,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “According to Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, far-right extremists committed 10,105 violent crimes in the last decade, as well as 83 murders since 1990. In comparison, Islamist terrorists killed 17 people in the same period. Around 12,000 people are listed as far-right extremists by law enforcement agencies in Germany… Last Friday, federal prosecutors arrested 12 people as part of a probe into a far-right extremist group suspected of plotting attacks on politicians, asylum seekers and Muslims.”

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2020-02-20 13:18:00Z
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Coronavirus updates: 2 passengers die after leaving 'chaotic' quarantined cruise ship - NBC News

• Ukranians protest over evacuees returning from China

• Chinese warns of more action against Wall Street Journal

• 2 people who were on quarantined cruise ship in Japan have died

• Quarantine on Diamond Princess cruise ship 'chaotic,' Japanese expert claims

• Number of new confirmed cases drops in Hubei province

• South Korea confirms first death of person infected with coronavirus

• Two people die in Iran after contracting coronavirus

• Thousands of Americans voluntarily self-quarantine after returning from China

---

Ukrainians burn tires, block hospitals in protest of evacuees from China

Protesters from the village of Novi Sanzhary in Ukraine blocked the road leading a quarantine building where evacuees arriving by plane from Wuhan, China are due to be held for at least two weeks. The plane carrying Ukraine nationals landed at the Kharkiv Airport Thursday.

Hundreds of police were dispatched to keep order, and some were seen dragging some protesters away from the crowd at the demonstration, which the authorities said had started overnight on Wednesday.

Local media reported thatresidents of the town in the Poltava region protested the people arriving from China by blocking the road and burning tires. They also engaged in clashes with police.

The protest prompted President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to issue a statement Thursday reassuring Ukrainians that there was no danger, that the authorities had done everything possible to make sure the virus would not spread to Ukraine.

“But there is another danger that I would like to mention. The danger of forgetting that we are all human and we are all Ukrainian,” he said.

“Attempts to block routes, block hospitals, not allow Ukrainian citizens into Ukraine - this does not show the best side of our character. Especially when you consider that most passengers are people under 30 years of age. For many of us, they are almost like children.”

The Ukrainian authorities say all passengers on board had been screened twice for the virus before being allowed to fly, but that was not enough to quell the protesters.

Ukraine has no confirmed cases of the virus. — Oksana Parafeniuk and Reuters

Chinese warns of more action against Wall Street Journal

China warned on Thursday that it might take more action against the Wall Street Journal, a day after revoking the press credentials of three of the U.S. newspaper's correspondents over a column that China said was racist.

“Regrettably, what the WSJ has done so far is nothing but fudging the issue and dodging its responsibility. It has neither issued an official apology nor done anything on accountability,” Geng Shuang, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday.

“We are not interested in the structural divide at the WSJ,” he said. “There is only one media agency called the WSJ, and it must be responsible for what it has said and done.”

China on Wednesday revoked the press credentials of the newspaper's Beijing deputy bureau chief, Josh Chin, and reporters Chao Deng and Philip Wen, also based in Beijing, ordering them to leave the country in five days.

The decision came after authorities repeatedly called on the newspaper to apologize and investigate those responsible for the headline of a Feb. 3 column that called China the "real sick man of Asia".

Also on Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned China’s expulsion of the three foreign correspondents and said that China should not restrict freedom of speech. — Eric Baculinao

Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings.

2 former passengers on quarantined cruise ship in Japan have died

Two people diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by novel coronavirus, who were at one point on board a quarantined cruise ship have died, Japan’s health minister said in parliament Thursday.

13 more coronavirus cases were also reported on the ship Thursday, bringing the total number of cases on the ship to 634.

The deaths appear to be the first involving cases from the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined off Yokohama with around 3,700 passengers and crew after a one-time passenger later tested positive for the virus.

Health Minister Katsunobu Kato offered his condolences to the family of the couple, who were both were Japanese nationals — a man and woman in their 80s.

The man was taken off the cruise ship on Feb. 11 and the woman was taken off on Feb. 12 after testing positive for the coronavirus.

The health ministry has also confirmed that two government officials who performed administrative duties on the cruise ship have tested positive for the virus.

People were quarantined on the cruise ship for around two weeks, and those who have tested negative have begun to leave the ship.

Princess Cruises, the operator of the Diamond Princess, said Thursday that around 600 passengers had been cleared by the Japanese health ministry to disembark on Wednesday, and several hundred others were expected to be cleared Thursday.

The two deaths linked to the Diamond Princess brings the number of people who have died in Japan to three. The other death was not connected to the cruise ship. — Olivier Fabre and Phil Helsel

Coronavirus quarantine on Diamond Princess cruise ship 'chaotic,' Japanese expert claims

The novel coronavirus quarantine measures put in place by Japanese officials on board a cruise ship where thousands of people have been kept in isolation were “completely chaotic,” an infectious disease specialist who visited the vessel has claimed.

In two YouTube videos, one in English and one in Japanese, Kentaro Iwata, a professor at Kobe University Hospital in the central Japanese city of Kobe, criticized the situation on the Diamond Princess.

Feb. 19, 202001:36

“Everybody could have the virus,” he said, adding, "The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of the infection control.” — Matthew Mulligan and Yuliya Talmazan

Number of new confirmed cases drops in Hubei province after diagnostic change

Health officials in Hubei province, the center of the coronavirus outbreak, recorded a big drop in the number of new confirmed cases Wednesday.

Over the last 24 hours there were 349 new confirmed cases, down from 1,693 a day earlier.

However the number of deaths in Hubei jumped to 2,029, up by 108 the previous day.

On Wednesday, China's health authority released the sixth edition of it`s diagnostic criteria for the coronavirus, removing a category of cases diagnosed clinically, such as through chest x-rays, in Hubei.

The Hubei health commission did not say in its statement if the sharp drop in the province's new confirmed cases on Wednesday was due to the change.

Last week, the province tweaked its diagnostic methodology to include clinically confirmed cases, resulting in a massive spike in new confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, nationwide, the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak climbed to 2,118 as of Wednesday. It surpassed 2,000 the day before. The total number of confirmed cases rose to 74,576. — Leou Chen, Dawn Liu and Reuters

South Korea confirms first coronavirus death

South Korea has reported its first death of a person infected with coronavirus as well as 22 new cases, bringing the nation's total to 104.

The exact cause of death is being investigated, the country’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the mayor of a large South Korean city told residents to stay indoors Thursday as a surge in confirmed cases linked to a local church raised the prospect of wider transmission.

Malls, restaurants and streets in Daegu, the country's fourth largest city with a population of 2.5 million, were largely empty in scenes that local social media users likened to a disaster movie.

The cases in the city have been traced to an infected person who attended a local church, a scenario that KCDC described as a "super-spreading event."

Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant in front of a church in Daegu, South Korea, on Thursday. Kim Jun-beom / AP

The mayor cautioned that at least 90 more of the around 1,000 other people who attended services at the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony were also showing symptoms. — Nayeong Kim and Reuters

Two people die after contracting coronavirus in Iran

Iran has recorded its first two deaths linked to the coronavirus outbreak, an adviser to the country’s minister of health told Mehr news agency Wednesday.

Alireza Vahabzadeh said the two people died in hospital due to age, respiratory illness and immune deficiency.

Six other people and families of the two dead have also been put under quarantine as schools and universities in the city of Qom closed their doors to stop the spread of the virus.

On Thursday, thee more patients were confirmed to have the virus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to five, according to the head of health ministry's public relations office. — Amin Hossein Khodadadi

Thousands of Americans voluntarily self-quarantine after returning from China

Thousands of travelers who have returned to the United States after recent trips to China are spending nearly half a month behind closed doors under voluntary self-quarantine, even though they do not pose any immediate coronavirus-related health risk to others and are showing no symptoms.

Instead, they simply traveled in China within the past few weeks and have since been flagged by health officials at one of the 11 airports nationwide through which all U.S. citizens and their families flying from China are being routed.

And now they're being asked to stay home for 14 days — the maximum amount of time it's thought to take to develop the illness after being exposed — limiting physical contact with others as much as possible and watching for symptoms. — Erika Edwards

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2020-02-20 13:07:00Z
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