Online gaming booms as virus lockdowns keep millions at home

HONG KONG (AFP) -- When two Spanish footballers took to the controls of "FIFA 20" after the coronavirus pandemic saw their La Liga match cancelled, a stadium-sized virtual audience watched online. The huge digital crowd last week is part of a spectacular boom for the digital gaming industry, as record numbers flock to online servers for distraction, entertainment and friendship with the "real world" seemingly falling apart. Real Betis striker Borja Iglesias kicked the winn

World NewsMarch 25, 2020

Dow has biggest rally since 1933, surging 11.4% on stimulus hopes

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Wall Street posted its best performance in nearly 90 years on Tuesday, as indices rallied on hopes that lawmakers would soon agree on a massive stimulus package to blunt the coronavirus' economic impact. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 11.4 percent rallying to end the session at 20,704.91, its biggest one-day percentage increase since 1933. The tech-rich Nasdaq gained 8.1 percent to close at 7,417.86, while the broad-based S&P 500 finished the day at 2,447.33, a

World NewsMarch 25, 2020

Tokyo Olympics postponed over coronavirus pandemic

TOKYO (AFP) -- Olympic chiefs on Tuesday postponed the 2020 Tokyo Games until next year, a historic move to push back the world's biggest sporting event due to the coronavirus pandemic that is upending global society. The dramatic step is the first time the Olympics has been postponed in peacetime and comes as a devastating blow to the city of Tokyo and the Olympic movement. The decision came after a telephone call between International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach and Japanes

World NewsMarch 25, 2020

China to lift lockdown in most of virus-hit Hubei province

BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese authorities said Tuesday they will end a two-month lockdown of most of coronavirus-hit Hubei province at midnight, as domestic cases of the virus continue to subside. People with a clean bill of health will be allowed to leave, the provincial government said. The city of Wuhan, where the outbreak started in late December, will remain locked down until April 8. China barred people from leaving or entering Wuhan starting Jan. 23 in a surprise middle-of-the-night a

World NewsMarch 24, 2020

Loss of smell, taste, might signal pandemic virus infection

NEW YORK -- A loss of smell or taste might be an early sign of infection with the pandemic virus, say medical experts who cite reports from several countries. It might even serve as a useful screening tool, they say. The idea of a virus infection reducing sense of smell is not new. Respiratory viral infection is a common cause of loss of smell, because inflammation can interfere with airflow and the ability to detect odors. The sense of smell usually returns when the infection resolves, but i

World NewsMarch 24, 2020

Trump calls to protect Asian Americans after virus uproar

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump called Monday for protection of Asian Americans after charges that his use of the term "Chinese virus" had aggravated a backlash. "It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world," Trump wrote on Twitter. "They are amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form. They are working closely with us to get rid

World NewsMarch 24, 2020

'Joy of spring': Japan fetes cherry blossoms despite virus

TOKYO (AFP) -- The crowds might be thinner and parties smaller, but warnings from officials over the coronavirus have done little to stop Japanese celebrating as the country's famed cherry trees explode into bloom. Over a warm long weekend in Tokyo, people packed into traditional blossom hotspots, many not even wearing face masks, to admire the fluffy white and pink flowers hanging from delicate stems. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike admitted that taking cherry blossom parties away from Japanese

World NewsMarch 23, 2020

Spain reports virus deaths up 30 percent in one day

Spain on Sunday announced 394 new deaths caused by the novel coronavirus, raising to 1,720 the official death toll in Europe's worst-hit country after Italy, a 30 percent increase over the previous day. The number of confirmed cases of the disease rose by 3,646, or 14.6 percent, to 28,572, according to health ministry figures, with officials warning infections will rise further in the coming days. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his country's situation was now the most difficult sin

World NewsMarch 22, 2020

Iran leader refuses US help, citing virus conspiracy theory

Iran's supreme leader refused US assistance Sunday to fight the new coronavirus, citing an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus could be man-made by America.  Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments come as Iran faces crushing US sanctions blocking the country from selling its crude oil and accessing international financial markets.  But while Iranian civilian officials in recent days have increasingly criticized those sanctions, 80-year-old Khamenei instead chose to traffic in the

World NewsMarch 22, 2020

Italy's virus toll tops 4,000 after new one-day record

ROME(AFP) -- Italy reported a record 627 new coronavirus deaths Friday and saw its world-topping toll surpass 4,000, despite government efforts to stem the pandemic's spread.    The Mediterranean country's daily rate of fatalities is now higher than that officially reported by China at the peak of its outbreak around Wuhan's Hubei province.    But Matteo Bassetti of Italy's prestigious San Martino clinic in Genoa said the government probably had no idea how many people rea

World NewsMarch 21, 2020

WHO warns young people: ‘You’re not invincible’

GENEVA(AP) -- The head of the World Health Organization has sent a message to young people about the new coronavirus: "You're not invincible."    WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says health officials are continuing to learn about the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. He said older people are hardest hit but "younger people are not spared."    He said data from many countries shows people aged 50 and under make up a "significant pr

World NewsMarch 21, 2020

Italy overtakes China with most virus deaths, Trump slams Beijing

PARIS (AFP) -- Italy surpassed China on Thursday as the country with the most deaths from coronavirus as the UN chief warned "millions" could die if it spreads unchecked around the globe. President Donald Trump said meanwhile that the United States is fast-tracking antimalarial drugs for use as a treatment and lashed out at China for not informing the world earlier about the original outbreak. China for its part reported no new domestic cases for the first time since the virus appea

World NewsMarch 20, 2020

Wuhan offers hope on virus front; Italy nears stark toll

  BEIJING (AP) -- Thursday was a day of contrasts on the front lines of the battle against the new coronavirus. In a sign of hope, the Chinese city of Wuhan reported no new homegrown infections, but in a stark warning for the world, Italy appeared set to surpass China‘s death toll from the virus. The two milestones were a dramatic illustration of how much the global outbreak has pivoted toward Europe and the United States. They also showed how the arc of contagion can vary in d

World NewsMarch 19, 2020

EU's Brexit negotiator Barnier says he has COVID-19

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- The EU‘s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has the coronavirus, he announced on Thursday. 　 “I tested positive yesterday for Covid-19. I’m as well as I can be, strictly confined to my home,” Barnier, 69, said in a video posted on his Twitter account. 　 “I‘m fine, morale is good,” added the former French foreign minister, who is in France. 　 “I naturally am following all instructions, as does my team. My message to all those

World NewsMarch 19, 2020

EU to ban most foreign travelers for 30 days to curb virus

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders agreed Tuesday to immediately impose travel restrictions on most foreigners entering Europe for at least 30 days to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, and to set up fast-track transport lanes to keep vital medical equipment, food and goods flowing smoothly inside the bloc. As the virus case count in Europe climbed to over 60,000 and with more than 2,700 people dead, nervous national governments have introduced quick-fix measures such as parti

World NewsMarch 18, 2020

Tokyo Olympics plans 'insensitive, irresponsible': IOC member

MONTREAL (AFP) -- International Olympic Committee member Hayley Wickenheiser said Tuesday that vows to press ahead with plans for the Tokyo Games are "insensitive and irresponsible." Wickenheiser, a member of Canada's women's ice hockey team that won four straight Olympic golds between 2002 and 2016, made her comments on Twitter. The 41-year-old IOC Athletes Commission member was speaking as the IOC said there was no need for "drastic decisions" over the staging of th

WorldMarch 18, 2020

Biden wins Washington primary, capturing 5 out of 6 states

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Joe Biden has been declared the winner of last week's Democratic presidential primary in Washington state, giving him victories in five out of six states that voted March 10. After nearly a week of counting votes, the former vice president on Monday held onto a small lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders that turned out to be insurmountable. Washington was a state that Sanders had been hoping to win. In 2016, he won more than two-thirds of the delegates from the Washington

WorldMarch 17, 2020

Coronavirus: latest global developments

PARIS (AFP) -- Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: Border closures, checks French President Emmanuel Macron says the 27-nation European Union is to close all its external borders for 30 days. Germany implements controls at its land borders with Austria, Denmark, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Spain announces it is closing its land borders. Chile closes all its land, maritime and air frontiers. Egypt will close its airports from Thursday to March 31. Greece a

World NewsMarch 17, 2020

Tom Hanks released from hospital after virus quarantine

GOLD COAST (AFP) -- Tom Hanks has been released from the Australian hospital where he was in isolation since testing positive for the coronavirus last week, but his wife Rita Wilson remains hospitalised, health officials said Tuesday. The multiple Oscar-winning actor was on the Gold Coast near Brisbane to film an Elvis Presley biopic directed by Australian Baz Luhrmann when he and Wilson, both 63, came down with the disease. Wilson, a singer-songwriter, had given concerts in Sydney and Brisba

World NewsMarch 17, 2020

Markets plunge as intervention fails to staunch virus panic

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Stock markets and oil prices went into freefall Monday as interest rate cuts and fresh stimulus measures by central banks failed to dampen fears amid the global coronavirus pandemic. The US Federal Reserve on Sunday slashed borrowing costs to zero -- its second emergency cut in less than two weeks -- and took action coordinated with central banks in several European countries to counteract global "dollar funding pressures." The Fed acted again on Monday, with its

World NewsMarch 17, 2020