China’s new coronavirus cases rise on infections from abroad

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Passengers from the Grand Princess, a cruise ship carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, walk on a tarmac before boarding a chartered plane in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, March 10, 2020. (AP)
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Updated 11 March 2020
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China’s new coronavirus cases rise on infections from abroad

  • New infections in central Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, continued to stabilize, with new cases declining for the sixth day

BEIJING: China reported an uptick in new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections, reversing four straight days of fewer new cases, driven by infected individuals arriving from abroad.
Mainland China had 24 new confirmed cases on Tuesday, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday, up from 19 new cases a day earlier.
Of the new infections, 10 were imported cases, bringing the overall cases from abroad to 79.
The Chinese capital of Beijing on Tuesday saw six new cases involving individuals who traveled from Italy and the United States, while Shanghai had two imported infections, Shandong province one and Gansu province one.
Taiwan too has begun reporting an uptick in imported cases. The government said on Wednesday the island’s 48th case was a woman in her 30s who had returned from holiday in Britain and had most likely been infected there.
As China’s efforts to control the spread of the pathogen at home start to payoff, Beijing is turning its focus on overseas cases as the coronavirus expands its footprint across the globe.
New infections in central Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, continued to stabilize, with new cases declining for the sixth day.
In Wuhan, the provincial capital, just 13 new infections were reported on Tuesday, or all of the new cases in Hubei.
President Xi Jinping on Tuesday made his first visit to Wuhan since the coronavirus outbreak forced a lockdown of the city of 11 million people.
A few cities in Hubei have started to loosen restrictions on movement of people and goods.
Hunan province and the municipality of Chongqing lowered their emergency response level as domestic infections eased across the country.
So far, 24 municipalities, regions and provinces have cut their emergency response level from the highest tier previously.
The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China so far stood at 80,778 as of Tuesday.
The death toll in mainland China had reached 3,158 as of the end of Tuesday, up by 22 from the previous day.
The central province of Hubei accounted for all of the new deaths, including 19 fatalities in the provincial capital of Wuhan. 

Virus deaths soar in Italy, US deploys national guard

Italy has recorded its deadliest day of the coronavirus crisis despite locking down the entire country, as New York deployed the National Guard to contain a disease that has sown worldwide panic.
The hardest-hit country in Europe said its death toll from the COVID-19 virus had risen Tuesday by a third to 631, with the surging epidemic taking its toll on global sporting, cultural and political events.
While authorities in China, where the outbreak began, have declared it “basically curbed,” cases are multiplying around the world, sparking panic buying in shops, and wild swings on financial markets.
China remains the hardest-hit overall with more than 80,000 cases and over 3,000 deaths, out of a global total of 117,339 cases and 4,251 deaths across 107 countries and territories, according to an AFP tally.
The virus is infecting all walks of life, including politics, with US Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden both canceling campaign rallies and British health minister Nadine Dorries saying she had tested positive.
And amid criticism of the US authorities’ response, New York deployed the National Guard for the first time during the crisis to help contain the spread of the disease from an infection-hit suburb.
There have been 173 confirmed cases in New York state, including 108 in Westchester County, home to New Rochelle where the majority of infections have been detected.
“It is a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster in the country. This is literally a matter of life and death,” said state governor Andrew Cuomo.
“People are scared, it’s an unusual situation to be in,” Miles Goldberg, who runs a New Rochelle bar, told AFP.
“It makes people nervous to be around others, it makes people nervous to get inside into businesses and such,” he said.

In an unprecedented move, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has told the 60 million residents of his country they should travel only for the most urgent work or health reasons.
And while squares in Milan and Rome were emptied of their usual bustle and traffic, some residents appeared uncertain if they were even allowed to leave their homes for everyday tasks like shopping.
The virus has battered tourism around the world, as people scrap travel plans, and a restaurant owner in Florence in northern Italy said that the impact on business had been catastrophic.
“We hope that we will see the end of it, because from around 140 covers a day, this afternoon, we’ve gone down to 20-25,” Agostino Ferrara told AFP.
Pope Francis also seemed to muddy the waters, holding a mass in which he urged priests to go out and visit the sick — something Conte has specifically discouraged.
Sporting events continued to fall victim to the virus as authorities urge people to avoid large gatherings.
Arsenal’s game at Manchester City was postponed after players from the London club were put into quarantine, making it the first Premier League fixture to be called off because of the virus.
The virus has sparked doubts about the Olympics due to open in Tokyo on July 24 and the traditional flame lighting ceremony in Greece is set to be held without spectators.
In the United States, organizers rescheduled the two-week Coachella music festival for October.

The virus and the response to the crisis has prompted pandemonium on global markets with volatility not seen since the world financial crisis in 2008.
After suffering its worst session in more than 11 years at the beginning of the week, the Dow Jones Index in New York bounced back significantly, rising five percent on Tuesday.
Politicians around the world have scrambled to put together emergency packages to ease the significant financial hardships the virus is expected to cause for households and businesses.
US President Donald Trump, who is relying on a strong economy to boost his re-election hopes, promised to announce “major” economic measures on Tuesday.
The biggest item on his wish list is a cut in payroll taxes. But even allies in Congress and reportedly some aides in the White House are skeptical, questioning the cost.
Italy prepared Tuesday to let families skip mortgage and some tax payments while Japan unveiled a second emergency package to tackle economic woes stemming from the outbreak, including $15 billion in loan programs to support small businesses.
Analysts warned of further volatility ahead however.
“It’s like winding up a rubber band. The more you wind it, when you let go, the more it pops,” said LBBW’s Karl Haeling.
“A lot of the uncertainty goes to the root of the virus itself.”
 


Iran says committed to diplomacy but acts in ‘self-defense’ against Israel

Updated 5 sec ago
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Iran says committed to diplomacy but acts in ‘self-defense’ against Israel

TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday his country has remained committed to “diplomacy” but will continue to act in “self-defense” following Israel’s surprise attack nearly a week ago.
“Iran solely acts in self-defense. Even in the face of the most outrageous aggression against our people, Iran has so far only retaliated against the Israeli regime and not those who are aiding and abetting it,” said Araghchi in a post on X.
“With the exception of the illegitimate, genocidal and occupying Israeli regime, we remain committed to diplomacy,” he added.


Putin says NATO rearmament not a ‘threat’ to Russia

Updated 4 min 47 sec ago
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Putin says NATO rearmament not a ‘threat’ to Russia

Saint Petersburg: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that NATO’s push to ramp up defense spending was not a “threat” to Russia, as Moscow had all the weapons it needed to defend itself.
“We do not consider any rearmament by NATO to be a threat to the Russian Federation, because we are self-sufficient in terms of ensuring our own security,” Putin told reporters, including AFP, at a televised press conference in Saint Petersburg.
He added that Russia was “constantly modernizing our armed forces and defensive capabilities.”


Trump rebuffs Putin offer to mediate Iran-Israel truce

Updated 8 min 37 sec ago
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Trump rebuffs Putin offer to mediate Iran-Israel truce

  • “He actually offered to help mediate. I said, ‘Do me a favor, mediate your own’,” Trump said

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump appeared Wednesday to rebuff Vladimir Putin’s offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict, saying the Russian president should end his own war in Ukraine first.

“I spoke to him yesterday and... he actually offered to help mediate, I said ‘do me a favor, mediate your own,’” Trump told reporters as he unveiled a giant new flag pole at the White House.

“Let’s mediate Russia first, okay? I said, Vladimir, let’s mediate Russia first, you can worry about this later.”

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov disputed the timing that Trump gave for the call.

“He (Trump) was speaking figuratively. Life is so eventful right now that looking back a few days is like looking back to yesterday,” Peskov told Russian state news agency TASS.

Trump and the Kremlin both previously said on Saturday that the two leaders had spoken that day, with the US president saying Putin had called to wish him a happy 79th birthday.

Later on Wednesday, Trump said a change in Iran’s government “could happen,” and also indicated that negotiations could be on the horizon, without giving details.

“They want to meet, they want to come to the White House — I may do that,” Trump told reporters.

Trump meanwhile insisted that the stalled peace talks to end the Ukraine war were “going to work out” despite Moscow stepping up attacks.

The US president had vowed to end the war within 24 hours of taking office and made a major pivot toward Putin, but talks have so far made little progress.

Trump described the Ukraine war, sparked by Russia’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbor in 2022, as “so stupid.”


Leaked call between Thai PM and Cambodia ‘strongman’ stokes tensions

Updated 18 June 2025
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Leaked call between Thai PM and Cambodia ‘strongman’ stokes tensions

  • Thai PM says leak shows ‘trust problem’ with Cambodian ex-premier

BANGKOK, Phnom Penh: Relations between Thailand and Cambodia suffered a major blow on Wednesday after a leak of a telephone conversation between Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and influential former Cambodian Premier Hun Sen that could further escalate tensions. 

Ties between the two neighbors are at their worst in more than a decade after a row over border territory that has sparked fears of a military confrontation following a sharp rise in nationalist rhetoric and the mobilization of troops on both sides of their frontier.

The leaked June 15 phone call, which has been confirmed as authentic by both Hun Sen and Paetongtarn, shows the Thai premier telling Hun Sen, whom she called uncle, that she is under domestic pressure and urging him not to listen to “the opposite side” which includes a prominent Thai military commander at the border.

“He just want to look cool and saying things that are not useful to the nation, but in truth what we want is peace,” she told Hun Sen through a translator in the leaked audio clip, referring to the general.

Paetongtarn later told reporters her conversation with Hun Sen was part of a negotiation tactic and she has no problem with the Thai army.

“I won’t be talking privately with him (Hun Sen) anymore because there is a trust problem,” she said.

Hun Sen said the leak came from one of the 80 politicians he shared the audio recording with. Self-styled strongman Hun Sen was Cambodia’s premier for nearly four decades and has maintained a high public profile since handing over power in 2023 to his son, Prime Minister Hun Manet. 

The two governments had until recently enjoyed warm ties, helped by the close relationship between Hun Sen and Thailand’s former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Paetongtarn’s influential father. Both former leaders are still active in politics.

Fierce rhetoric

The leak could put that relationship in jeopardy and will add to speculation in Thailand that Paetongtarn and the powerful Thai military are at odds on how to respond to the border crisis with Cambodia.

Cambodia’s rhetoric has become more fierce in the past week, with Hun Sen blaming Thai “extremists” and the Thai army for stoking tensions, saying Paetongtarn’s government was “unable to control its military the way our country can.”

The billionaire Shinawatra family has a troubled history with the army, with two of its governments ousted by generals in coups in 2006 and 2014.

Lt. Gen. Boonsin Padklang, commander of Thailand’s Second Army Area overseeing the eastern border, on Wednesday told local media that Paetongtarn had called him to explain the leak.

“I don’t have any issue, I understand,” Boonsin said. The weeks-long standoff followed a brief border skirmish on May 28 that left a Cambodian soldier dead. Both countries have called for calm while vowing to defend their sovereignty over contested stretches of a 820-km (510-mile) land border, parts of which are undemarcated. Attempts to settle the issue have failed, with Cambodia on Sunday delivering on its vow to seek resolution at the International Court of Justice, the jurisdiction of which Thailand says it does not recognize.

On Wednesday, Cambodia’s defense ministry said Thailand had again violated its sovereignty with drone flights, trench digging and troop deployments, which Bangkok rejected.

Thousands of Cambodians joined a state-organized march in the capital Phnom Penh on Wednesday to support the government, shouting slogans, waving national flags and holding portraits of Hun Manet and Hun Sen.

“Cambodia’s land! We won’t take others’ land, we keep our land!” some chanted.


France plans European ‘initiative’ to end Iran-Israel conflict: presidency

Updated 18 June 2025
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France plans European ‘initiative’ to end Iran-Israel conflict: presidency

  • France, UK and Germany were involved in talks that led to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers
  • French president urged Israel to end strikes on targets in Iran not linked to nuclear activities or ballistic missiles

PARIS: France is planning along with European partners to suggest a negotiated solution to end the conflict between Iran and Israel, President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Wednesday.
At a national security council meeting, Macron ordered Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to draw up in the coming days “an initiative with close European partners that would propose a demanding negotiated settlement to put an end to the conflict,” it said, without giving details on the nature of the plan.
Barrot has been in regular touch with his German and British counterparts since Israel launched massive air strikes against Iran on Friday.
All three countries were involved in talks that led to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for relief from sanctions.
The United States withdrew from that accord during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Macron also urged Israel to end strikes on targets in Iran not linked to nuclear activities or ballistic missiles.
He voice “concern over the current escalation, with Israeli strikes increasingly hitting targets not linked to Iran’s nuclear or ballistic program, and a mounting number of civilian victims in Iran and Israel,” his office said.
He said it was “necessary to urgently end these military operations, which pose significant threats to regional security,” it added.
The French president also urged the foreign ministry to take measures to help French citizens leave Israel or Iran if they wished to do so, the Elysee added, without providing further details.