World

BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has denied the country’s healthcare system will collapse next month, contradicting his own health minister as the number of deaths in the country jumped 39% and confirmed cases topped 1,500. FILE PHOTO: Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro wears a protective mask during a news conference, amid coronavirus

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Hundreds of millions of Indians stayed at home on Sunday, heeding the prime minister’s appeal for people to self-isolate to contain the coronavirus as confirmed cases in South Asia surged to 1,144 with 10 deaths reported. General view shows a deserted national highway during a 14-hour long curfew to limit the spreading

COLOMBO/ISLAMABAD, March 21 (Reuters) – One prisoner died and three others were injured when fighting broke out on Saturday in a Sri Lankan jail over rumors of coronavirus, as governments across South Asia tightened restrictions on movement to try to stem infections. A worker cleans the hand railings at an empty shopping mall amid concerns

LOS ANGELES/WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – California issued an unprecedented statewide ‘stay at home” order on Thursday for its 40 million residents and Washington warned Americans to return home or stay abroad indefinitely, as the number of coronavirus deaths in the country hit 200. Governor Gavin Newsom’s directive, effective immediately, marks the largest and most sweeping government

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian authorities are scrambling to track down about 2,000 Rohingya men who attended a Muslim religious gathering that has led to a big spike in coronavirus cases across Southeast Asia, a security source and two other people told Reuters. More than 100,000 Rohingya live in Malaysia after fleeing from Myanmar, but

MADRID/VILAR FORMOSO, Portugal (Reuters) – Spain set up police checks at its land borders with France and Portugal on Tuesday and turned back foreigners attempting to enter, part of strict measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Europe’s second hardest-hit country. Border police officers check vehicles at the last toll gate entering Spain

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s government on Monday announced emergency measures to inject nearly 150 billion reais ($30 billion) into the economy to soften the blow from the coronavirus pandemic. Brazil’s Economy Minister Paulo Guedes speaks during a press conference to announce economic measures due the coronavirus outbreak in Brasilia, Brazil March 16, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

FILE PHOTO: An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man kisses the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City November 28, 2012. REUTERS/Marko Djurica/ File Photo JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Jewish faithful should refrain from kissing the stones of the Western Wall, the chief rabbi of the Jerusalem site said on Monday, adding to measures that

FILE PHOTO: The Crown Casino complex is pictured in Melbourne March 19, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File photo/File Photo (Reuters) – Australia’s Crown Resorts is introducing “social distancing” at its Melbourne casino in response to the coronavirus epidemic. Crown said on Monday it will keep gamblers apart by switching off every second gaming machine and electronic table,

PARIS (Reuters) – French voters appeared to be holding back from taking part in local elections on Sunday after the government pressed ahead with the vote despite a raft of new measures to curb public gatherings amid a rapid acceleration of the coronavirus. Nuns show their identifications during the first round of mayoral elections, as

FILE PHOTO: Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his wife Maria Begona Gomez Fernandez arrive ahead of the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan June 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo MADRID (Reuters) – Begona Gomez, the wife of Spanish Prime minister Pedro Sanchez, has tested positive for coronavirus, the prime minister’s office said, adding that

BEIJING (Reuters) – The number of new coronavirus cases imported into mainland China from overseas surpassed the number of locally transmitted new infections for the first time on Friday, data released by the National Health Commission showed on Saturday. A closed entrance of a residential community is seen following an outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), at

WASHINGTON/GENEVA (Reuters) – President Donald Trump declared a U.S. national emergency over the quickly spreading coronavirus on Friday, opening the door to more government aid to combat a pathogen that has infected more than 138,000 people worldwide and left over 5,000 dead. The impact of the coronavirus on everyday life deepened around the world. It

FILE PHOTO: Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic arrives for the second day of the European Union leaders summit, held to discuss the EU’s long-term budget for 2021-2027, in Brussels, Belgium, February 21, 2020. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause ZAGREB (Reuters) – Croatia has decided to close schools and universities for two weeks, starting from Monday, to fight the

SANTOS, Brazil (Reuters) – Years of rooting out drugs at the Brazilian seaport of Santos had given customs inspector Oswaldo Dias a good nose for suspicious cargo. A shipment of second-hand backhoes, bound for Europe late last year, seemed fishy. FILE PHOTO: A worker observes a container being placed on top of a truck at

FILE PHOTO: European Trade Commissioner-designate Phil Hogan of Ireland speaks as he attends his hearing before the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium September 30, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The European Union’s top trade official has canceled his plans to visit Canada and the United States next week amid escalating concerns about the