NEW YORK (AFP) -- Wall Street stocks suffered a second straight rout Tuesday, with losses picking up after US health officials warned the virus was likely to hit the world's biggest economy. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 27,083.46, down 3.1 percent and about 875 points. The broad-based S&P 500 sank 3.0 percent to 3,128.51, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite In...

ALGIERS (AFP) -- Algerian authorities on Tuesday announced the country's first case of the novel coronavirus, in an Italian citizen who arrived in the country on February 17. "One case was confirmed positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), out of two suspected cases (both) of Italian nationality," the North African country's health ministry said. State television said the infected person had been p...

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- American health authorities said Tuesday they ultimately expect the novel coronavirus to spread in the United States and are urging local governments, businesses, and schools to develop plans like canceling mass gatherings or switching to teleworking. Officials are also worried the outbreak poses a threat to the the security of the US drug supply chain because a high proporti...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House on Monday sent lawmakers an urgent budget request for $2.5 billion to address the deadly coronavirus outbreak, whose rapid spread and threat to the global economy rocked financial markets. The White House budget office said the funds are for vaccines, treatment, and protective equipment. The request could advance quickly through Congress and came as coronavirus...

BEIJING (AFP) -- China on Tuesday reported another 71 deaths from the novel coronavirus, the lowest daily number of fatalities in over two weeks, which raised the toll to 2,663. The National Health Commission also reported 508 new confirmed cases, with all but nine in hard-hit Hubei province. It is up from Monday's 409 cases nationwide. Multiple provinces in China have reported zero new cases ...

BEIJING (AFP) -- The World Health Organization warned Monday that the new coronavirus might be around for months but said the measures China implemented have prevented the infections of hundreds of thousands of people. Bruce Aylward, leader of a joint WHO-China mission of experts, said the world can learn from the nation's approach to restraining the virus. "The single biggest lesson is speed. ...

PARIS (AFP) -- Infections jump sharply outside China. Italy locks down several cities. Stocks tumble on world markets. Here are the latest developments in the new coronavirus crisis. 2,592 dead in China Mainland China's official death toll hits 2,592, with more than 77,000 people now reported infected. For the first time since the Cultural Revolution, China postpones its annual parliament sess...

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong will bar non-residents arriving from South Korea from Tuesday morning in response to the growing coronavirus outbreak, the city's security chief said late Monday. "Considering the development of the epidemic in South Korea, the Security Bureau will issue a red travel alert," John Lee told reporters. "We also urge Hong Kong residents not to travel there unless necessary," ...

NAJAF-- Iraq on Monday confirmed its first novel coronavirus case in an elderly Iranian national in the southern shrine city of Najaf, according to health officials. Iraq, a country with a dilapidated healthcare system, often hosts pilgrims and religious students from Iran, where 12 people have died of the novel coronavirus since an outbreak there was first reported last week. Iraq had blocked ...

DUBAI (AFP) -- Kuwait and Bahrain confirmed on Monday their first novel coronavirus cases, the countries' health ministries announced, adding all had come from Iran. Kuwait reported three infections and Bahrain one in citizens who had returned home from the Islamic republic. (AFP)

PARIS (AFP) -- The new coronavirus that emerged in central China at the end of last year has now killed more than 2,400 people and spread around the world. Outside mainland China there have been 26 deaths and more than 1,500 infections reported, with cases concentrated in South Korea and the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined off Japan. Here is a roundup of the areas where cases of COVID-...

Austrian railways said traffic on a major route to Italy through the Brenner Pass would be suspended, after a train was stopped because of two suspected cases of the virus. Neighbouring Slovenia asked vacationers returning from ski resorts in northern Italy to be particularly vigilant for symptoms. Italy became the first European country to report one of its nationals died from the virus on Fri...

ROME (AFP) -- An elderly cancer patient became the third person known to be infected with the coronavirus to die in Italy, health officials said on Sunday, as the number of people contracting the virus continued to mount. The death of the woman in a hospital in the small city of Crema in Lombardy, the centre of Italy's coronavirus scare, followed that of a 77-year-old woman on Saturday and a 78-...

BEIJING (AFP) -- The death toll in China from the coronavirus epidemic rose past 2,400 on Sunday after 96 more people died in Hubei province, the hard-hit epicentre of the outbreak. The vast majority of the deaths were in the provincial capital of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December, according to the daily update from the Hubei health commission. The province also reported 630 new ...

SYDNEY (AFP) -- Two Australians evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for coronavirus, authorities said Friday, raising questions about Japan's policy of allowing evacuees to return home after testing negative. "We have two people who are positive for the COVID-19 virus. Those two people have mild illness," said Dianne Stephens, acting chief health officer for the ...