GENEVA (AFP) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday warned against "blanket measures" over the novel coronavirus outbreak, pointing out the epidemic outside of China was only affecting a "tiny" proportion of the population. WHO also said that -- with a mortality rate of around 2 percent -- COVID-19 was "less deadly" than other coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SA...

BEIJING (AFP) -- The death toll from China's new coronavirus epidemic jumped past 1,800 on Tuesday after 93 more people died in Hubei province, the hard-hit epicentre of the outbreak. In its daily update, the province's health commission also reported 1,807 new cases, a smaller number of infections compared to those declared on Monday. The new cases mean more than 72,300 people have now been af...

TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese officials have confirmed 99 more people infected by the new virus aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, bringing the total to 454, the Health Ministry said Monday . The ministry has been carrying out tests on passengers and crew on the ship, docked in Yokohama, a port city near Tokyo. The 14-day quarantine for those on the ship was due to end Wednesday. Ou...

LONDON (AFP) -- British consumers will face higher prices and limited ranges of goods in the event of a return to customs controls after the Brexit transition period, an industry body warned Monday. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) issued the gloomy warning in a report entitled A Fair Deal for Consumers: EU Trade Roadmap -- which outlined its priorities for London's trade talks with Brussels....

BEIJING (AFP) -- The death toll from China's new coronavirus epidemic jumped past 1,700 on Monday after 100 more people died in hard-hit Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak. In its daily update, the province's health commission also reported 1,933 new cases. At least 70,400 people have now been infected nationwide. Most are in Hubei, where the virus first emerged in December before s...

A recent speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping that has been published by state media indicates for the first time that he was leading the response to a new virus outbreak from early on in the crisis. The publication of the Feb. 3 speech was an apparent attempt to demonstrate that the Communist Party leadership had acted decisively from the beginning, but also opens Xi up to criticism over why ...

BEIJING (AFP) -- The death toll from the new coronavirus outbreak surpassed 1,600 in China on Sunday, with the first fatality reported outside Asia fuelling global concerns. More than 68,000 people have now been infected in China from a virus that emerged in central Hubei province in December before spreading across the country and some two dozen countries. Amid criticism over the handling of t...

BEIJING (AFP) - The death toll from China's coronavirus epidemic rose to 1,483 on Friday but the number of new infections in hard-hit Hubei province fell after a change in case definitions caused a massive increase the previous day. The central province's health commission reported 116 more deaths and 4,823 new cases, the majority involving "clinically diagnosed" patients. The province, the epi...

The race for the nomination is long and unpredictable, but for now Sanders is a source of worry for those in the party who fear that, with his sweeping and expensive health care reform proposals, he is too far to the left to beat Trump. "I'm afraid. I'm afraid because if Bernie wins it, half the country is going to side with socialism," Robert Burrows, a 35-year-old mechanic in Manchester, told ...

BEIJING (AFP) -- The number of fatalities from China's new coronavirus epidemic jumped to 1,110 nationwide on Wednesday after hard-hit Hubei province reported 94 new deaths. In its daily update, Hubei's health commission also confirmed another 1,638 new cases in the central province, where the outbreak emerged in December. There are now more than 44,200 confirmed cases across China, based on pr...

TOKYO (AFP) -- An additional 39 people on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship off the Japan coast have tested positive for the new coronavirus, Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said Wednesday, bringing the total to 174. "Out of 53 new test results, 39 people were found positive," he told reporters, adding that a quarantine official had also been infected with the virus. He added that:...

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump faced fresh accusations of abuse of power Tuesday after the Justice Department moved to override its own prosecutors who are seeking a stiff sentence of seven to nine years for Republican political operative Roger Stone. In new turmoil for the administration, the four prosecutors who tried the Stone case resigned as the Justice Department suggested a...

Thai health authorities have barred a cruise ship from docking that has already been turned away by the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan out of concern over a new virus, although no cases have been confirmed on board. The chief of the Department of Disease Control, Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoenchai, said Tuesday that the Public Health Ministry had rejected a request from the crew of the MS Westerdam...

Ferocious winds, with gusts over 200 kph (125 mph), lashed Corsica and whipped up a forest fire that flared overnight on the French Mediterranean island on Tuesday, after a storm with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains battered northern Europe for days, killing at least eight people and causing severe travel disruptions. More than 300 fire officers were involved in fighting the blazes and two...

Americans’ use of apps and dating websites to meet potential partners is growing despite concerns about such platforms, a survey showed. A report by the Pew Research Center showed 31 percent of US adults have used a dating app or service. The figure is close to half among adults under 30 years old and people who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual. Twelve percent of those surveyed said they...