RiyadMedia

British health authorities on Sunday confirmed 12 more cases of the new coronavirus, bringing the country’s overall tally to 35, and the Czech Republic announced its first three infections.The British government’s chief medical officer, Prof. Chris Whitty, said one of the new patients “had no relevant travel and it is not yet clear whether they contracted it directly or indirectly from an individual who had recently returned from abroad.” Whitty said medical workers were still investigating the cause of that infection.Three of the new COVID-19 patients in Britain were contacts of an existing patient while six newly infected people had recently traveled from Italy and two had arrived from Iran. Both countries have been hard hit by the coronavirus that emerged late last year in central China.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters Sunday at a health center in London that he was “very, very confident” that Britain’s National Health Service can cope with the virus outbreak.″(It’s) likely to spread a bit more, and it’s vital therefore that people understand that we do have a great plan, a plan to tackle the spread of coronavirus,” he said.Coronavirus infections in Italy rose 50% Sunday and the U.S. government issued its strongest travel warning yet, advising Americans against any travel to two regions in northern Italy — Lombardy and Veneto. Authorities said the total number of people infected in Italy had risen to 1,694, a 50% jump from just 24 hours earlier and the highest figure by far in Europe. Five more people infected with the virus have died, bringing the deaths in Italy to 34, while 83 people have fully recovered.In London, the Foreign Office confirmed that non-essential staff, as well as dependants, are to be pulled out of the British Embassy in Tehran due to the spread of the virus in Iran.Elsewhere in Europe, France raised its number of reported cases to 130 on Sunday, including one in the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, the first in France’s overseas territories.The spreading virus epidemic shut down France’s Louvre Museum on Sunday, with workers who guard its famous trove of artworks fearful of being contaminated by the museum’s flow of tourists from around the world. Almost three-quarters of the Louvre’s 9.6 million visitors last year came from abroad.Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtech said Sunday that two COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in Prague and another in northern city of Usti nad Labem. All three had travel ties to northern Italy.Spain said it now has 71 virus cases, many of them linked to Italy.The Dutch health minister announced three new virus cases, bringing the country’s overall tally to 10, while new cases elsewhere brought national totals to Norway 19, Sweden 14 and Finland six.
…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called current oil price levels “acceptable” in a possible sign that Moscow is willing to bend when the world’s biggest oil exporters gather this week in Vienna to discuss supply curbs as coronavirus effects pummel oil demand and prices.Putin also said Moscow was approaching a so-called OPEC+ meeting this week in Vienna as an “instrument for long-term stability,” according to Interfax.Reports last week quoted sources saying some influential OPEC members, including Saudi Arabia, were likely to call for a larger-than-expected reduction in oil output by the group as the global spread of coronavirus and related effects slow economies and depress international demand for oil.But Russia was said to be resisting further curbs too far beyond an existing deal that has kept a lid on demand through the end of March.”I want to stress that for the Russian budget, for our economy, the current oil price level is acceptable,” Putin told Russian energy officials and producers gathered in Moscow to discuss the coronavirus and its implications on March 1.He said Russia’s budget assumes an average Brent crude price of $42.40 a barrel for supplies from the estimated $560 billion in oil reserves under Russian territory.Russia’s economy has recovered significantly from a downturn that followed its 2014 invasion and annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and a falling-off of oil prices around the same time, prompting painful measures that dented Putin’s popularity well into his fourth overall term as president.”Our accumulated reserves, including the National Wealth Fund, are enough for ensuring a stable situation, the fulfillment of all budget and social liabilities, even under a possible deterioration of the global economic situation,” Putin said on March 1.OPEC+, a group of OPEC’s 14 members and 10 other major oil producers, has “proved to be an effective instrument to ensure long-term stability on global energy markets,” Putin said, saying the cooperation had resulted in “extra revenues.”Last week, the ruble slumped to more than 67 to the U.S. dollar, its weakest level since early 2019, and its stock market slid amid a global sell-off and fears of tensions between Russia and Turkey amid competing military interests in Syria.
…

Pope Francis said Sunday he would not be taking part in a planned six-day spiritual retreat south of Rome after coming down with a “cold”.The 83-year-old pontiff suffered two coughing spells that forced him to turn away from the crowd and cover his mouth with his fist on a windy and cloudy day on Saint Peter’s Square.”Unfortunately, a cold forced me not to take part this year,” he said after reciting the traditional Angelus Prayer and addressing the unfolding migrant crisis on Turkey’s border with Greece.The annual retreat will still start Sunday but only include members of the Roman Curia administration team of the Holy See.The pope will be staying home while the rest of Italy battles Europe’s worst outbreak of the novel coronavirus that has spread from China to every continent except for Antarctica.The number of cases in Italy surpassed 1,000 on Saturday and the toll continues to mount.There have been 29 confirmed deaths and 105 people were receiving intensive care treatment in hospital — all of them in three adjacent northern regions near Milan.The Vatican quickly shot down speculation that the pope himself had come down with COVID-19.”There is no evidence to suggest a diagnosis of anything other than a slight ailment,” a Vatican spokesman told AFP Sunday.The pope himself looked relatively strong on Sunday despite the coughing fits.He smiled a few times and addressed a range of theological issues before turning his attention to the plight of thousands of migrants from Turkey who have been blocked at the rugged frontier with Greece.”I am a little saddened by the news coming from many displaced people, so many men, women and children chased because of war,” Francis said.The pontiff asked the faithful to share a prayer for “so many migrants who seek refuge in the world — and help”.Italy shuts downConcerns about the pope’s health have been mounting for days in a country where mass closures of public institutions and businesses due to the coronavirus are affecting the lives of millions.He first looked like he might be sick on Wednesday and lightened his workload for the rest of the week.The Vatican used the “mild ailment” term for the first time on Thursday to explain why the pope was spending his day around his Saint Martha’s guest house in the Vatican.But he still continued celebrating the morning mass and receiving visitors even as football matches were being canceled and businesses were telling their employees to work from home.He met with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church head Sviatoslav Shevchuk on Saturday and spent almost 15 minutes speaking on Sunday from his Vatican window.The Argentine-born pontiff has enjoyed a life of good health despite losing part of a lung as a young man and suffered from sciatica — a nerve condition that causes pain in his hip.Yet he rarely cancels appointments and normally takes extra time to mingle with supporters and the faithful. 
…

The spreading coronavirus epidemic  shut down France’s Louvre Museum on Sunday, with workers who guard its trove of artworks fearful of being contaminated by the museum’s flow of visitors from around the world.”We are very worried because we have visitors from everywhere,” said Andre Sacristin, a Louvre employee and union representative for its staffers.”The risk is very, very, very great,” he said in a phone interview. While there are no known virus infections among the museum’s 2,300 workers, “it’s only a question of time,” he said.A short statement from the Louvre said a staff meeting about virus prevention efforts stopped the museum from opening as scheduled Sunday morning. Would-be visitors were still waiting to get inside on Sunday afternoon.The shutdown followed a government decision Saturday to ban indoor public gatherings of more than 5,000 people.Sacristin said that new measure exacerbated the fears of Louvre workers that they might be in danger of contamination, because the museum welcomes tens of thousands of visitors each day. Also worrying staffers is that museum workers from northern Italy are now visiting the Louvre. They have come to collect works by Leonardo da Vinci that were loaned for a major exhibition, he said.A meeting about virus prevention is scheduled for Monday between union representatives and the museum management, said Sacristin, who will be taking part.He said museum visitors should be subjected to health checks to protect staffers and that if cases of coronavirus contamination are confirmed “then the museum should be closed.”Workers have asked for masks to be distributed but so far have been given only an alcohol-based solution to disinfect their hands, he said.”That didn’t please us at all,” he said.Louvre workers first held their own meeting on Sunday morning and then demanded talks with the museum management, he said, and some staffers were refusing to work because they fear contamination. 
…

Slovak opposition led by the Ordinary People party (OLANO) won an emphatic victory in the country’s parliamentary election, as voters angry with graft routed the ruling center-left Smer that has dominated the political scene for more than a decade.Results from 96.16% of voting districts showed Sunday that OLANO, a politically amorphous, pro-European Union and pro-NATO movement focused on fighting corruption, took 24.95% of the vote, far ahead of the ruling Smer with 18.5%.Support for OLANO surged in recent weeks, from less than 6% late last year, concentrating a protest vote fed by the killing of an investigative journalist and his fiancée two years ago.Seats won by other liberal and conservative parties gave OLANO a strong position to lead negotiations to form a new center-right government.‘Let’s Beat the Mafia Together’OLANO leader Igor Matovic has pledged to clean up politics, an ambition encapsulated in his party’s slogan: “Let’s Beat the Mafia Together.”“We take the result as a request from people who want us to clean up Slovakia. To make Slovakia a just country, where the law applies to everybody regardless if he is rich or poor,” Matovic said after most of the votes were counted.Matovic said he would reach out to leaders of three other parties — the liberal Freedom and Solidarity, the conservative For the People of former president Andrej Kiska, and the socially conservative, eurosceptic We Are Family — to form an alliance that would have constitutional majority of more than 90 seats in the 150-seat parliament.Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini from Smer acknowledged defeat and said the party’s run in the office, for 12 out of the past 14 years, may be over.“A probable departure of our party into opposition is not such a surprise,” Pellegrini told reporters.Smer scored its worst result since 2002. Its nationalist and Hungarian minority allies did not win any seats, the first time in decades that Hungarians will not be represented.Killings spark changeThe political shift in the euro zone member state, which has avoided fights with Brussels unlike its central European Visegrad Group neighbors Hungary and Poland, started with the 2018 killing of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée.An investigation unearthed communications between a businessman now on trial for ordering the hit and politicians and judicial officials. The defendant has denied the charges.The killings led to the biggest street protests in the post-communist era, forcing Smer leader Robert Fico to resign, though his party held on to power.Matovic, 46, told Reuters last week he wanted to be a conciliatory voice toward the EU within Visegrad.A positive signalThe former owner of regional newspapers and a lawmaker since 2010, Matovic calls himself a social conservative and economic liberal but refuses to pin down OLANO on the left-right or liberal-conservative scale.In the European Parliament, OLANO is aligned with the center-right European People’s Party.“I would like to send a positive signal,” Matovic said, adding that he did not want European partners to feel Slovakia was a corrupt place “where journalists and their fiancees are murdered just because someone unearthed corruption.”He said he would strive for better education for the underprivileged Roma minority, and wanted the Roma, Hungarian and Ruthenian minorities to feel equal.Predictions that the far-right, anti-EU and anti-NATO People’s Party could make strong gains were not borne out and the party won just more than 8%.
…

Thousands rallied in central Moscow on Saturday to call on President Vladimir Putin not to stay in power indefinitely, in the first major protest by the Russian opposition since the Kremlin chief announced controversial plans to change the constitution. The rally marked five years since the assassination of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, but its organizers also wanted the event to send a message to Putin after he proposed major constitutional changes. Organizers, including the country’s most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, called for a mass turnout to show Putin that he must not consider staying in power by any means when his current mandate ends in 2024. Moscow authorities gave permission for the rally — after a succession of demonstrations urging fair elections last summer were roughly dispersed — and the street was packed by a flow of protesters, an AFP correspondent said. “The Putin regime is a threat to humankind,” said the slogan on one placard next to a portrait of Nemtsov. “Putin’s policies are based on total lies,” said another, quoting the liberal politician who was assassinated in central Moscow on February 27, 2015. “Russia without Putin!” the crowds chanted repeatedly as they marched. The White Counter monitor, which counts attendance at protests, said 22,300 people took part in the march. The Interior Ministry said 10,500 took part. Constitutional overhaulPutin, who has dominated Russia for two decades, in January unleashed a political storm, proposing an overhaul of the constitution, the first changes to the basic law since 1993. FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with students and researchers of an industrial college in Cherepovets, Russia, Feb. 4, 2020.Analysts see the plan as beginning preparations for succession when Putin’s fourth presidential term ends in 2024, while the opposition says the Kremlin strongman wants to remain leader for life. “I think that this is a crime, that it is mocking the constitution,” said pensioner Semyon Pevzner, 75. “The only aim is to stay in power by any means possible.” Putin first came to power as prime minister in 1999 under Boris Yeltsin before becoming president in 2000. He served the maximum two consecutive terms between 2000 and 2008 before a four-year stint as prime minister. He returned to the Kremlin in 2012 for a newly expanded six-year mandate and was re-elected in 2018. But opponents fear he could remain Russia’s number one even if the job of president nominally goes to someone else in 2024. Kseniya Telmanova, 21, a student, reflected that Putin had been president for her whole life, except her first few months. “Probably those were the best months of my life,” she said, laughing. “The leaders should fear the fact they can lose power.” Russia is planning to hold a referendum on the constitutional amendments on April 22. Greater turnoutOne of the organizers of the Moscow protest, opposition leader Ilya Yashin, said the event had shown an “important dynamic” in that more people had turned out than at a similar anniversary event last year. Asked whether the opposition was planning any more protests soon, he said: “I don’t know so far. This was the main event we had been preparing.” Around 2,000 people gathered for a similar demonstration in Saint Petersburg on Saturday, clutching flowers, portraits of Nemtsov and banners reading, “They feared you, Boris.” “This is basically the only chance we have to go out and say that we are against what is going on in the country and against this police state,” said Galina Zuiko, 55. Nemtsov — one of Putin’s most vocal critics and a former deputy prime minister in the Yeltsin government — was shot and killed on a Moscow bridge near the Kremlin. In 2017, a court found a former security force officer from Chechnya guilty of his murder and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Four other men were found guilty of involvement in the killing. But Nemtsov’s family and allies insist the authorities have failed to bring the masterminds to justice. “We have not seen any major progress” in the probe, Navalny said in brief comments to pro-opposition channel TV Rain. “We will continue to turn out [every year] until this case is solved.” 
…

Some 13,000 migrants have gathered along the Turkish-Greek border after Turkey’s president threatened to allow some of the 3.6 million refugees in the country cross into Europe, the United Nations said Saturday. “Thousands of migrants, including families with young children, are passing a cold night along the border between Turkey and Greece,” the International Organization for Migration said in a statement. The U.N. agency said its staff had been tracking the movement of people from Istanbul and were providing humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable. “By Saturday evening, staff working along the 212-kilometre-long border between Turkey and Greece and in the capital had observed at least 13,000 people gathered at the formal border crossing points at Pazarkule and Ipsala and multiple informal border crossings,” it said. The agency said it had spotted “groups of between several dozen and more than 3,000.” This picture taken from the Greek side of the Greece-Turkey border near Kastanies shows migrants standing behind razor wire, Feb. 29, 2020.”The number of migrants moving through Edirne towards the border grew through the day as cars, taxis and buses arrived from Istanbul,” the head of IOM’s Turkey mission, Lado Gvilava, said in the statement. “Most of those on the move are men but we are also seeing many family groups traveling with young children,” he added. ‘Vulnerable people’Gvilava said the IOM was distributing food and other basic supplies, but with temperatures dropping close to freezing, “we’re concerned about these vulnerable people who are exposed to the elements.” IOM staff reported that buses continued into the evening to be “loaded to overcapacity” in Istanbul with people bound for the border area. The mass movement of people began after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to open the gates and allow refugees to travel to Europe as a way to pressure EU governments over the Syrian conflict. Turkey and Russia, who back opposing forces in the Syria conflict, have held talks to try to defuse tensions after an airstrike killed the Turkish troops, sparking fears of a broader war and a new migration crisis for Europe. At the border Saturday, Greek police clashed with several thousand migrants already gathered at the entrance to EU territory, where they hurled rocks at security forces firing tear gas across the frontier. In 2015, Greece became the main EU entry point for 1 million migrants, most of them refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war. 
…

An association of judges in Poland published a report Saturday listing dozens of judges and prosecutors who face reprisals and disciplinary measures for having criticized or questioned changes the country’s right-wing government has made to the judicial system. The 200-page report issued by the Polish judges’ association Iustitia named judges and prosecutors who were called before disciplinary bodies, moved to lower courts or had cases taken away from them. The actions took place after the lawyers and jurists commented on the reorganization of the judiciary or issued rulings that seemed to deviate from government policy. Among those listed in the report as being subject to reprisals are Warsaw District Court Judge Igor Tuleya; Olsztyn District Court Judge Pawel Juszczyszyn; and Iustitia’s president, Judge Krystian Markiewicz of the District Court in Katowice. Markiewicz has urged the European Union to act in defense of judicial independence in Poland. Some 4,000 out of Poland’s 10,000 judges are Iustitia members. “As judges we stand guard over the civil rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution,” said the English-language version of the report. “We do not and will not agree to politicize the courts,” it said. ‘Slandering’ judges, prosecutorsThe report also names and quotes government and judiciary officials who, it says, have been publicly “slandering” the judges and prosecutors in Poland and internationally. The government says the changes it has introduced since 2016 were designed to make the justice system more efficient and free of jurists left over from Poland’s communist era. In response to criticism coming from newer judges, the government said it is taking steps to prevent “anarchy” in the court system. The EU, international judicial bodies and critics in Poland have said the changes could undercut judicial independence, the rule of law, and the democratic system of checks and balances. One recent law allows politicians to fine and fire judges who are considered biased because of their group affiliations or who take actions regarded by the government as harmful to the Polish court system. Candidate’s promiseAt a political convention Saturday, the main opposition candidate in Poland’s May 10 presidential election said that if elected, she would make right “all wrongs done to independent judges” by the ruling Law and Justice party. “Poland’s judges are persecuted,” Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska, who is running for the pro-EU Civic Platform party, said. Kidawa-Blonska is among several candidates challenging Poland’s incumbent president, Andrzej Duda. Opinion polls suggest she may provide competition for Duda, who is backed by the ruling party. Kidawa-Blonska said that as president, she would work to regain Poland’s place as a respected European Union member and to unify the country after what she described as divisions created by the conservative Law and Justice government. She said her guiding values would be “mutual respect, trust and honesty.” 
…

The pro-Irish unity Sinn Fein party would easily win a repeat Irish election if ongoing government talks fail, with an opinion poll on Saturday showing it has almost twice as much support as its two nearest rivals. The left-wing party’s support jumped to 35%, ahead of Fianna Fail at 20% and acting Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s Fine Gael at 18% in a Sunday Times/Behaviour & Attitudes poll that may influence early talks between the two center-right rivals. Sinn Fein shocked the political establishment in an election earlier this month by securing more votes than any other party for the first time, almost doubling its vote to 24.5%, ahead of Fianna Fail at 22.2% and Fine Gael at 20.9%. But it has been frozen out of government talks by its two rivals, who refuse to contemplate sharing power because of policy differences and Sinn Fein’s history as the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, the militant group that fought against British rule in Northern Ireland. The conflict, in which 3,600 people were killed, was resolved in a 1998 peace deal. Too few candidatesCaught by surprise themselves, Sinn Fein ran too few candidates to emerge with the most seats — a mistake it will not make next time around. It has already begun a series of packed national rallies to shore up its support. Both Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail have 37 seats in the fractured 160-seat parliament, with Fine Gael at 35, meaning some sort of combination of two of the three largest parties is required to form a government. Bruised by its election defeat, Fine Gael will reluctantly hold a “one-day policy exchange” with Fianna Fail next week as well as similar talks with the Green Party, whose 12 seats would be needed for the two historic rivals to reach a majority. If Ireland’s two dominant parties cannot agree to lead the next government while also maintaining their steadfast opposition to governing with Sinn Fein, a second election would be the only way to break the deadlock. All sides predict talks will take several weeks before such a choice has to be made. 
…

Socialist hardliners in Venezuela opened fire during a march headed by Juan Guaido, injuring a 16-year-old demonstrator and adding to tensions in the country as the opposition leader seeks to revive his campaign to oust Nicolas Maduro. A photo of the confrontation provided exclusively to The Associated Press shows a masked man brandishing a pistol pointed toward a group of opposition activists, including Guaido, who can be seen staring down the unidentified man. The confusing incident Saturday in the central city of Barquisimeto was believed to be the first time pro-government vigilantes known as colectivos had aimed a weapon at Guaido, whom the U.S. and more than 50 other countries recognize as Venezuela’s rightful leader following Maduro’s re-election in 2018 in a race marred by irregularities. The city’s former mayor and opposition activist Alfredo Ramos said the marchers led by Guaido were “ambushed” by about 200 colectivo members and government security forces loyal to Maduro. Ramos said worse bloodshed was avoided because the unidentified man did not open fire at that moment. Marchers scatterBut later, as the crowd swelled, a 16-year-old demonstrator was shot in the leg and several others were roughed up as the colectivos harassed participants, in some cases stealing their cellphones. Amid the sound of bullets firing into the air, the marchers quickly scattered. “Courage and strength,” Guaido said in a conversation with the injured activist that was videotaped by his aides while their caravan headed back to Caracas. “We’re going to achieve freedom for our country.” The AP was not present at the rally and was unable to verify the lawmakers’ account. There was no immediate comment from the Maduro government. Dimitris Pantoulas, a Caracas political analyst, said the incident underscored the forceful role being played in Venezuela by the colectivos. As political turmoil has swept over Venezuela the past year, armed groups loyal to Maduro have been increasingly deployed by a government determined to resist domestic opposition and mounting international pressure, Pantoulas said. Trouble ahead?”This is a tactic by the government to use violence by colectivos to intimidate its opponents,” said Pantoulas. “Every day the collectivos are feeling stronger inside the Maduro government. One day, the situation could easily get out of hand and lead to bloodshed.” While colectivos in the past have been subordinate to Maduro, Pantoulas cautioned that as the embattled leader’s grip on power has weakened, some have strayed and operate independently or are aligned with other Chavista revolution bosses. Saturday’s event marked Guaido’s first public trip outside Caracas since he returned from an international tour to rally support, including a White House meeting with President Donald Trump, who invited Guaido as a special guest to his annual State of the Union address. Guaido was met by rowdy Maduro supporters when he returned to Venezuela. Guaido, surrounded by security, pushed his way through the crowd as it pounded on his departing vehicle. His uncle, who returned on the same flight, was jailed on suspicion of bringing explosives into the country, charges Guaido called a threat against him. 
…

Officials in Ecuador on Saturday confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the South American nation, while Mexico reported two more cases and Brazil one more.
Ecuador’s Health Minister Catalina Andramuno Zeballos said a more-than-70-year-old Ecuadoran woman who lives in Spain arrived in the country on Feb. 14 showing no symptoms of illness.
“In the following days she began to feel badly with a fever,” Andramuno said at a news conference, adding that she was taken to a medical center. The National Institute of Public Health and Investigation in Ecuador confirmed the virus.
The deputy minister of health, Julio Lopez said that the patient’s condition was “critical.”
It was the second case in South America, following a Brazilian case reported on Wednesday. The Sao Paulo state health department reported another Brazilian case later on Saturday _ a person who had recently visited Italy.
Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno sent out a tweet urging people to stay calm, and the Interior Ministry announced it was barring mass gatherings in the cities of Guayaquil – where the infected woman was located – and Babahoyo.People wearing face masks wearing masks wait for the arrival of their relatives at the Mariscal Sucre International Airport, in Quito, Ecuador, Feb. 29, 2020.Mexico’s Health Department said late Friday that a new case had been confirmed in Mexico City, adding to the first two confirmed cases announced earlier that day. One of those was also in the capital, and the other in the northwestern state of Sinaloa.
Miguel Riquelme Solis, the governor of the northern border state of Coahuila, said Saturday that federal health officials had confirmed a fourth case, in the city of Torreon: a 20-year-old woman who traveled to Europe, including Milan, Italy, in January and February and returned to Mexico in recent days.
“Two days later she began to have symptoms,” Riquelme told Milenio television.
State Health Secretary Roberto Bernal said the woman was in good health. She and family members were under a 14-day quarantine, and two other young people who traveled with her had been in contact with authorities.
Mexican health officials said the country is not currently facing a national emergency over the virus.
Assistant Health Secretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell said that as long as the country is seeing only isolated cases there’s no need to take “extreme measures such as canceling mass events.”
Mexico was ground zero for the 2009 outbreak of the H1N1 virus, also called swine flu, and many in the country have vivid memories of that time.
Back then many stayed home as much as possible and avoided gatherings out of fear. Shops, restaurants and other businesses closed. In the capital, streets were eerily quiet compared with the usual chaotic traffic.
So far there has been no repeat of that sort of fear.
There were reports of increased purchases of items like face masks and hand sanitizer, and the National Alliance of Small Businesses said shortages of those items would likely cause prices to rise.
The Roman Catholic Bishops Conference in Mexico said parishioners should avoid physical contact during the ritual exchange of wishes for peace and said communion wafers should be placed in Mass-goers’ hands instead of their mouths.    
…

France’s annual Cesar Award film ceremony Friday is already clouded in controversy, with a shake-up of its board, sexual assault accusations against top director Roman Polanski, and now, fresh calls for more diversity on screen.After Hollywood, French cinema is having its own introspective moment. The latest hashtag trending this week is #BlackCesars, after some 30 leading members of France’s film industry denounced its lack of diversity.  In an open letter published in a French newspaper this week, they claimed actors, directors and producers of ethnic African and Asian origin, and those from France’s overseas territories, are essentially invisible. They mostly get insignificant roles, the group claimed, that would never allow them to be nominated for Cesars or other awards. Many of the signatories are from minority backgrounds.  Hermann Ebongue, secretary general of anti-discrimination group SOS Racisme, notes calls for more diversity in the industry are not new. Although this year’s Academy Awards faced similar criticism, he believes minority artists in the United States still have more opportunities to become stars than in France.  The #BlackCesars petition also points to what it calls a paradox of American film director Spike Lee becoming the first black head of the Cannes Film Festival’s jury in May.  The diversity criticism here comes amid a shake-up of the Cesar’s management. Its board resigned en masse earlier this month, after film industry members accused it of being undemocratic and dysfunctional.Women’s rights activists protest against multiple nominations for Roman Polanski at the Cesar Awards ceremony, in Paris, France, Feb. 28, 2020.Meanwhile, another crisis is part of the backdrop of the awards ceremony. Franco-Polish film director Roman Polanski, whose movie An Officer and a Spy tops the list of nominations, faces accusations of rape and sexual harassment. He denies the accusations and said he would not attend following a storm of protest.  Some minority actors and directors have broken the glass ceiling here. Among them: film star Omar Sy, and director Ladj Ly, whose movie Les Miserables — set in France’s rough, multi-ethnic banlieues, or suburbs, — is another leading Cesar contender. Ly was also France’s first black film director to be nominated for an Oscar this year.  But activists say these stars remain the exceptions. Their box-office success, they say, proves French audiences also want more diversity onscreen.  Ebongue, of SOS Racisme, says real change will come when the industry as a whole signs on to petitions like #BlackCesars — and not just a minority of members. 
…

In another one of its many fallouts, the coronavirus is creating new strains for Europe’s 26-nation Schengen zone that allows for the free movement of people among member states. European officials say, for now, there is no reason to close borders, but the spread of the virus seems to bolster nationalist arguments for the zone to be scrapped altogether.  Like in most places these days, the coronavirus outbreak is topping the French news. Several dozen cases have been reported so far. The government is advising precautionary measures like not shaking hands and forgoing the traditional kiss on both cheeks. The post office has suspended link with China.  The bigger worry, for now, lies in neighboring Italy. For the moment, the borders between France and Italy remain open. However, a recent decision to allow 3,000 Italian fans to travel to the French city of Lyon for a football match sparked controversy.  That’s just one example testing Europe’s decades-old Schengen zone. The concept of open internal borders is a cornerstone of European Union goals for closer integration—although Schengen includes several non-EU members, such as Switzerland.  As yet, the EU has not called for closing Schengen borders. However, its top official for communicable diseases, Andrea Ammon, said Europe must prepare for more serious outbreaks, like Italy’s.  “Our assessment is that we will likely see similar situations in other countries in Europe, and that the picture may, in the coming weeks, vary from country to country,” Ammon said.Experts say closing borders won’t prevent the virus from crossing them but that hasn’t stopped nationalist parties from pushing this move. Here’sAmong them is Marine Le Pen, head of France’s main opposition National Rally party. But speaking on French radio this week, she wrongly claimed the EU has not said a word about the coronavirus outbreak. She said the bloc has only condemned those who want more border control — proving an open-border ideology that is almost a religion.  Nationalist politicians in Austria, Italy and Switzerland have made similar remarks. They have long lobbied for closed borders to stop migration. The coronavirus has reinforced these arguments.  At the same time, Schengen has also been weakened by member states. A few years ago some, such as Hungary, closed their borders to counter the migration crisis. France closed its borders after the 2015 terrorist attacks on its soil.While the Schengen system allows for temporary closures, experts say in practice some countries are turning “temporary” into a more permanent state of affairs. 
…

With public health experts warning a tipping point for coronavirus is getting closer, European authorities are racing to try to ready their health systems to cope with a flood of sick and highly contagious patients.European countries are still in containment mode but they’re also trying simultaneously to prepare their health services and hospitals for a possible pandemic and to delay any patient surge within their borders. They acknowledge that with some evidence emerging, as yet unconfirmed, that the virus can be spread by asymptomatic people, infection control — from containment to delaying a spread — is becoming harder.Ukraine, which has not had any confirmed cases of COVID-19, has stepped up what it calls “sanitary controls” on its borders, now that neighboring countries are reporting cases. Those entering the country are meant to have their temperatures checked and officials are urging Ukrainians to refrain from travel to European Union countries. Anyone who has, especially to countries affected by the virus, is being asked to isolate themselves.In the meantime, Ukrainian authorities are preparing to reorganize the country’s hospital network and have advised medical centers to consider postponing scheduled operations to leave beds free for a possible outbreak. Local authorities have been ordered to pick two hospitals in their area to be designated to handle suspected coronavirus patients. World Health Organization specialists have started to train Ukrainian medical personnel on how to handle patients who test positive.“We are ready to brace for the coronavirus. At the same time, we are doing everything to prevent it from getting into the country,” Deputy Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said Friday.Ukrainian National Guard servicemen patrol by the gate of a military medical facility where evacuees from coronavirus-hit China are quarantined, in the town of Novi Sanzhary, Poltava region, Ukraine, Feb. 21, 2020.EU public health officials say the continent is better prepared to cope with a pandemic than others, thanks to the development over many years of Europe-wide medical networks able to quickly disseminate the latest clinical research and to collate data. Herman Goossens, director of a network known as the Platform for European Preparedness Against Emerging Epidemics, told reporters last week that acting fast and taking proactive action is critical in managing viral outbreaks.In Britain, where 20 have tested positive for the virus out of nearly 8,000 people tested, the rapid spread in some parts of Europe, especially Italy, is dispelling hopes that containment alone can help the country escape the virus unscathed.On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, will chair a meeting of the country’s COBRA emergency committee of ministers to discuss preparations. The British strategy so far, according to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, is “contain, delay, research and mitigate.”Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said midweek the hope is that Britain can avoid an epidemic until later in the year, when more may be known about the virus and how to combat it. Also, the country’s winter will be over and the demands on the National Health Service reduced. Infection-control and containment measures appear to be working currently. Britons returning from affected countries are being asked to isolate themselves, and those who are sick are being treated in specialist units with anyone they had contact with prior to diagnosis traced and ordered to isolate themselves.Officials say, though, that it is “only a matter of time” before there’s a spread in Britain, and there are worries about whether the hard-pressed National Health Service, which is short of staff and capacity after years of reduced funding, will be able to cope in the face of a full-throttle emergency. The agency’s telephone advice service has been overwhelmed by a high volume of calls and there have been complaints that anxious callers are being given contradictory advice.A general view shows Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire, England, Feb. 27, 2020. The school has been closed after a student’s parent tested positive for the coronavirus.Health officials have dusted off a 2009 battle plan drawn up to cope with a possible swine flu pandemic. Under that plan the National Health Service would prioritize access, postpone non-emergency operations and possibly treat only emergency patients. Most controversially of all, lifesaving care during a severe coronavirus outbreak could be denied to those deemed most likely not to survive. Ventilators and beds, if intensive care units are struggling to cope, would be rationed.
British officials say that single-payer health systems such as the National Health Service may have an advantages over countries with privately financed health systems as they have clearer command-and-control structures. In Britain, as elsewhere though, the big question is whether sheer numbers could be overwhelming for a service that many complain has been inadequate since funding cuts were imposed in the wake of the 2008 financial crash.Ministers are drafting emergency legislation ready for a serious upsurge and, under the plans, medical staff and other armed forces and British Red Cross personnel could be drafted to help the health service cope and to replace sick hospital staff.However, some British doctors say government ministers are being dishonest in suggesting the NHS is well prepared. They say the country’s critical-care capacity is already overstretched and would buckle in the face of a pandemic.A critical care consultant from a major London hospital told Britain’s Independent newspaper Saturday, “There isn’t any slack in the system. We are grossly under resourced. I hear them say the NHS is well prepared. We are not well prepared, it is media spin. As an NHS, we would crumble under the weight of those who need critical care.” The British Thoracic Society warned Saturday that respiratory wards are already “understaffed and overstretched” just coping with the winter season of flu and bronchitis cases.A government spokesman, though, said in a statement, “The UK is a world leader in preparing for and managing disease outbreaks, and our approach will always be led by medical experts. We have been clear from the outset that we expect coronavirus to have some impact on the UK and a global pandemic could have a pronounced effect on the NHS, which is why we are planning for every eventuality.”French lab scientists in protective suits work on developing a quick test for detecting the coronavirus, at Pasteur Institute in Paris, France, Feb. 6, 2020.In France, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has been convening emergency meetings in an effort to increase the French medical system’s readiness. An extra 70 hospitals are now being prepared to receive coronavirus patients, bringing to 108 the number of hospitals being readied for an outbreak.  Each mainland departement of France has a designated coronavirus hospital.France had 57 confirmed cases as of Friday, with all but a dozen having been diagnosed since the major outbreak in neighboring Italy a week before. The country is boosting its testing capacity for the virus. Health Minister Olivier Veran said this week, “I have called the head of the University Hospital Institute of Infectious Diseases in Marseille, it is able to perform 1,000 tests per day in the area of Marseille alone. In the hospitals of Paris we are at 400 tests per day. We are going to be able to amplify the screening to be able to answer all the requests at that scale across France.”  Like other European countries, France is scrambling to obtain high-quality protective masks and clothing for health workers. French ministers, like their counterparts in Germany, say they’re ready to follow Italy’s example and to lock down villages or towns that witness a cluster of cases. “We are preparing for an epidemic. We are now moving to stage 2. The virus is circulating in our country and we must stop its spread,” Veran said Friday.However, with cases now in Italy, France and Britain of people contracting the virus with no identifiable link to overseas travel, time may be running out, public health officials admit. 
…

Tensions between Russia and Turkey over their sometimes allied and often dueling military campaigns in Syria broke into the open Friday, with Moscow blaming Ankara for the deaths of 33 Turkish troops in Syria’s Idlib region during airstrikes. While Russia denied any role in the deaths of the Turkish soldiers, the Kremlin accused Turkish forces of operating unannounced in the region — and of providing support to terrorist groups subsequently targeted by Moscow’s ally, the Syrian government. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had met with his Security Council in the wake of the attacks, with Russian generals informing Putin that raids by terrorist groups against Syrian forces in Idlib had prompted airstrikes. FILE – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is pictured in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, March 28, 2019.Turkish troops, said Peskov, had been caught in the fighting while aiding terrorist groups in opposition to Damascus. Turkey disputed that account, insisting the attack occurred despite Ankara’s having informed Moscow that its troops were operating in the area. It also denied the presence of Syrian rebels near the scene of the attack, suggesting the air assault was intentionally targeting Turkey. Meeting possible soonPutin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Ergodan later discussed the situation by phone and agreed on the possibility of a meeting “in the near future” aimed at “normalizing conditions” in northwest Syria, said Kremlin officials. A spokesman for the Turkish leader, however, said Ergodan also was insisting on Turkey’s right to respond in kind to the Syrian airstrikes. The Turkish deaths came as Russia continues to help the Syrian government establish control over Idlib, one of the last remaining bastions of opposition to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s rule.   FILE – Smoke billows over the town of Saraqeb in the eastern part of the Idlib province in northwestern Syria, following bombardment by Syrian government forces, Feb. 27, 2020.The Syrian government’s bombing campaign, carried out with Russian support, has caused a humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 900,000 residents fleeing the fighting for the Syrian-Turkish border. It also has prompted a standoff with Turkey, which has insisted that Syria respect a Russian-negotiated buffer zone agreed to in 2018. Though Turkey has stopped short of blaming Russia for direct involvement in the latest attack, Ankara has often been critical of Moscow’s inability — or, perhaps unwillingness — to control its ally in Damascus. Cease-fire demandedAmid a visit by a Russian delegation to Ankara to discuss the crisis in Idlib on Friday, Turkish officials demanded that Russia force the Syrian government to immediately agree to a sustainable cease-fire. Turkey’s allies in NATO joined those calls, with the alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, expressing condolences to families of Turks killed in the attack and placing blame squarely on Moscow and Damascus:FILE – The Russian flag-covered coffin of Russian pilot Lt. Col. Oleg Peshkov is shown inside a Russian air force transport plane at Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 30, 2015. He was killed when Turkish F-16s shot his plane down.Early clashRussia and Turkey clashed early after Moscow’s entry into the war, with Turkey shooting down and killing a Russian pilot along the Turkish border in 2015. At the time, Putin called the death of the pilot “a stab in the back” and ordered Russian sanctions on Turkish products and a ban on Russian tourism to the country.  Yet the two sides bridged differences as Russia switched the brunt of its air power from what the West called Syria’s “moderate opposition” to widely recognized terrorist groups, such as Islamic State, that were waging attacks in Turkey proper. And for all the sparring over the events in Idlib, there seemed consensus in Moscow that Russia was interested in maintaining a working relationship with Turkey that has since expanded beyond the Syrian front into agreements involving trade, tourism and energy.   “A wider war between Turkey and Russia? Never!” said Alexei Malashenko, a longtime regional observer currently with the Institute for the Dialogue of Civilizations.  “It’s very dangerous, of course. But we are dealing with a new kind of Middle East.”  “I don’t think that either Russia or Turkey is willing to sacrifice bilateral ties just for Idlib,” concurred the Russian International Affairs Council’s Alexei Khlebnikov. Be that as it may, it was clear all sides were hedging their bets as they took stock of growing tensions in Idlib. The Interfax news agency reported that Russian and U.S. officials discussed the situation in Syria by phone Friday. Meanwhile, the Kremlin dispatched two warships armed with Kalibr cruise missiles to the Middle East on Friday. Their destination? The coast of Syria. 
…

Fears of an escalating conflict in Syria grew Friday as Turkish forces pounded Syria’s military in retaliation for the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers. Meanwhile, Russia’s and Turkey’s presidents spoke, as Ankara threatens to launch even more assaults on Russian-backed Syrian forces.”Turkish forces destroyed five Syrian regime choppers, 23 tanks, 10 armored vehicles, 23 howitzers, five ammunition trucks — as well as three ammunition depots, two equipment depots, a headquarters, and 309 regime troops,” Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told reporters close to the Syrian-Turkish border.Ankara’s assault came in retaliation for an airstrike Turkey blamed on Syrian forces that killed 33 Turkish soldiers in Syria’s Idlib province on Thursday.The deadly airstrike followed Turkish forces backing Syrian rebels in an attack to recapture the strategically important town of Saraqeb. Idlib is the last rebel enclave, which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is vowing to retake.  Ankara says it struck all known Syrian military targets and that it is now assessing operations in preparation for further attacks.  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued an ultimatum for Damascus forces, by Saturday, to give up recent gains and retreat back behind a de-escalation zone agreed between Ankara and Moscow in 2018 in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, while backing rival sides in the Syrian civil war, have been working closely to resolve the conflict.But Thursday’s deadly airstrike is seen posing the biggest threat to the recent Turkish-Russian rapprochement. In a bid to defuse tensions, Erdogan spoke with Putin by phone Friday.”The two leaders will meet in-person as soon as possible,” said Fahrettin Altun, presidential communication directorate.  Western support?Ankara is looking to its western allies to support its forces in Syria. “The international community must act to protect civilians and impose a no-fly-zone,” tweeted Altun.Turkey called for an emergency meeting of NATO Friday, but while receiving words of solidarity, no concrete measures of support were agreed on.Erdogan has recently called for the deployment of American Patriot missile system to offer protection for Syrian civilians and Turkish forces on the ground in Idlib.But experts warn that there appears little support for any action that brings the risk of a military confrontation with Russian forces. Underlining Moscow’s commitment to Damascus, Friday saw two of Russia’s warships pass through Istanbul en route to Syria to reinforce its Syrian military presence.VOA’s Steve Herman contributed to this report.
 
…

The situation in Syria’s rebel-controlled Idlib region remains explosive, following the killing there of more than 30 Turkish soldiers in an airstrike by Russia-backed Syrian government forces. Bracing against possible Turkish countermeasures, Russia is moving two warships toward the eastern Mediterranean.Meanwhile, NATO is urging Damascus to “respect international law,” and cease airstrikes over civilian areas in Idlib. Turkey also has sent scores of Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan refugees to its border with Greece in an apparent effort to pressure the EU to support its position in the northern Syrian province.NATO’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg offered the group’s “condolences” to member state Turkey in a press conference Friday, after an urgent meeting requested by Ankara following the deaths of 33 Turkish soldiers in Idlib. Stoltenberg stopped short, however, of offering any NATO military support to Ankara.”We stated very clearly that we call on Russia and the [Syrian leader Bashar al-] Assad regime to stop the … indiscriminate air attacks and also to engage and support U.N.-led efforts to find a lasting political, peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria,” Stoltenberg said.Arab media showed video of two Russian naval frigates equipped with Caliper missiles as they were crossing the Dardanelles, on their way to waters off Syria. At the same time, a Russian military delegation met with their Turkish counterparts in Ankara Friday to try to defuse tensions.Russia claims that Turkish forces were working alongside “terrorist groups” in Idlib province when they were hit by a Syrian government airstrike. Turkey denies the claim. The Russian Foreign Ministry repeated Friday that “terrorist groups will not be tolerated” in Idlib. 
…

REYHANLI, Turkey  – The presidents of Turkey and Russia spoke over the phone on Friday, a day after Syrian government airstrikes killed 33 Turkish troops, significantly ratcheting up tensions between Ankara and Moscow. It was the highest number of Turkish soldiers killed in a single day since Ankara first intervened in the Syrian conflict in 2016.
The development was the most serious escalation in the conflict between Turkish and Russia-backed Syrian forces and raised the prospect of all-out war with millions of Syrian civilians trapped in the middle.
NATO envoys held emergency talks at the request of Turkey, a NATO member, and scores of migrants began converging on Turkey’s border with Greece seeking entry into Europe after Turkey said it was no longer able to hold refugees.'' Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country already hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, has long threatened to "open the gates'' for millions of refugees eager to flee to Europe unless more international support was provided.
Refugees, meanwhile, headed to the land border with Greece, taking minibuses and taxis from Istanbul. Dozens waited at the Turkish side of the border gate at Pazarkule and dozens of others were in no-man's land between the two countries.
Others headed to Turkey's west coast to attempt to reach the Greek islands, a short distance away. Several rubber dinghy boats with groups of people clambering aboard were seen on Friday, heading for the island of Lesbos after apparently setting off from Ayvacik, northwest Turkey in broad daylight.
A Greek police official said dozens of people had gathered on the Turkish side of the land border in Greece's northeastern Evros region, shouting "open the borders." Greek police and military border patrols were deployed on the Greek side to prevent anyone trying to cross without authorization.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press on the record.
At one point, Greek police said they used tear gas and flash grenades to move migrants back, after an estimated 450 people gathered at the Turkish side of the Kastanies border crossing. The crossing was closed temporarily.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy warned the movement of migrants to the West could continue if the situation in Idlib deteriorated.
"Some asylum seekers and migrants in our country, worried about developments, have begun to move towards our western borders," he said. "If the situation worsens this risk will continue to increase.'' However, he added that there was "no change'' in Turkey's migration policy.
Bulgaria said it was also beefing up security on its border with Turkey to counter a possible migrant influx, deploying "army units, national guard and border police staff," Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said after a Cabinet meeting.There is a real threat” of a new migrant wave from Turkey, he said.
The latest crisis stems from a Russian-backed Syrian government military campaign to retake Syria’s Idlib province, which is the last opposition-held stronghold in Syria. The offensive, which began Dec. 1, has triggered the largest single wave of displacement in Syria’s nine-year war, sending nearly 950,000 people fleeing to areas near the Turkish border for safety. Ankara, the Syrian rebels’ last supporter, sealed its borders in 2015 and under a 2016 deal with the European Union agreed to step up efforts to halt the flow of refugees.
Turkey has had 54 soldiers killed in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province since the beginning of February, including the latest fatalities, and now feels the need to respond strongly.
Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan’s ruling party, said Turkey was “no longer able to hold refugees” following the Syrian attack – reiterating a standing threat by Ankara.
The Thursday night attack in Idlib sharply raises the risk of direct military confrontation between Turkey and Russia, although Turkish officials blamed Syria, not Russia, for the attack. The Turkish stock market fell 10% in the wake of the airstrike, while the Turkish lira slid against the dollar.
Turkey is a main backer of the Syrian opposition while Russia has been giving military support to the weeks-long Syrian government offensive in Idlib.
The Kremlin said Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed implementing agreements in Idlib.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking in Moscow, said Russia remains committed to the agreements reached by Putin and his Turkish counterpart. Commenting on the deaths of the Turkish troops in Idlib, Lavrov said that if the agreements between the two countries’ armies – “including sharing of accurate coordinates of the Turkish troops’ location” – had been implemented in full, “such tragedies could have been avoided.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the Turkish troops that came under fire in Idlib were deployed among “terrorist battle formations.” They were in the area of Behun, and according to coordinates given to Russia’s Reconciliation Center in Syria, “there were no Turkish military units in the area … and there weren’t supposed to be,” the ministry said.
Russian air forces did not carry out airstrikes in the area, the statement added, and after receiving information about Turkish casualties, the Russian side took all the necessary measures in order for the Syrian forces to stop the fire.''
Meanwhile, two Russian frigates carrying cruise missiles have been deployed to Syria, Russian navy officials said Friday. Admiral Makarov and Admiral Grigorovich of the Black Sea Fleet are en route to the Syrian coast with Kalibr cruise missiles on board. Both warships previously took part in Russia's offensive in Syria.
Syrian state news agency, SANA, carried a brief report saying Turkey has acknowledged its forces were killedin operations of the Syrian Arab Army against a terrorist organization,” adding that Syrian troops at the time were repelling attacks by “terrorist groups backed by Turkey.”
Erdogan held a six-hour emergency security meeting in Ankara late on Thursday, the Anadolu news agency reported. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevult Cavusoglu spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg by telephone while Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, who plays a senior role in foreign affairs, spoke to U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group, said after the attack on Turkish troops, Turkey’s armed forces shelled Syrian army positions in different parts of Idlib, killing at least 16 soldiers. It gave no further details and there was no comment from Syria’s state media.
In recent weeks, Turkey has sent thousands of troops as well as tanks and other equipment to Idlib. As recently as Wednesday, Erdogan gave the Syrian government until the end of February to pull back from its recent advances or face Turkish “intervention”.
Turkey provides some of the militants with direct support and has accused Syria of breaking a 2018 agreement to reduce the conflict in Idlib. Russia and Syrian President Bashar Assad have said Turkey has failed to honor a deal to separate extremist groups from other fighters in the region.
On Thursday, the Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters retook a strategic northwestern town from government forces, cutting a key highway just days after the government reopened it for the first time since 2012.
Despite losing the town of Saraqeb, Assad’s forces made major gains to the south. Assad now controls almost the entire southern part of Idlib province after capturing more than 20 villages Thursday, state media and opposition activists said. It’s part of a weekslong campaign backed by Russian air power into Syria’s last rebel stronghold. 
…

Mexican health authorities announced Friday they have confirmed the first two cases of coronavirus in Mexico.A man in Mexico City who recently visited Italy tested positive Friday, and another patient is confirmed in the northern state of Sinaloa. Brazil is the only other country that has coronavirus in Latin America.The coronavirus emerged in at least five other countries Friday: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Lithuania, New Zealand and Nigeria.The case in Nigeria, detected in the economic capital Lagos, is the first case in sub-Saharan Africa and the third to be confirmed in Africa. Nigerian officials said the case involved an Italian citizen who entered the country this week.In Azerbaijan, a Russian citizen who had arrived from Iran has been confirmed with the virus, and in Belarus an Iranian student who arrived from Azerbaijan tested positive.Lithuania also announced Friday, a woman who returned this week from a visit to Italy tested positive.New Zealand confirmed its first coronavirus case Friday, saying a recent arrival from Iran had tested positive.People wearing protective masks walk on street in Minsk, Belarus, Feb. 28, 2020. Azerbaijan, Belarus, Lithuania, New Zealand and Nigeria have reported their first cases of coronavirus.In the Netherlands, first case was confirmed late Thursday and another Friday, both had recently traveled in Northern Italy.The number of new coronavirus cases has dropped in the center of the outbreak, China, but has risen in South Korea — the hardest-hit country outside China.China’s National Health Commission reported 327 new cases and 44 deaths early Friday — the lowest number of new cases in more than a month.But the number in South Korea reached 2,337, with 571 new cases and 16 deaths. Most of the cases are in Daegu, the South’s fourth largest city.At least 46 countries are reporting cases, and governments in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East are taking some extraordinary steps to contain the virus.The United States and South Korea called off joint military drills. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ordered schools to close at least through March.A sign advertising protective face masks is marked “Sold out” inside a store in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 28, 2020.About 1,000 people were in quarantine in Germany’s most populous state, as the number of confirmed cases in Europe’s biggest economy exceeded 50.California health officials said they were monitoring 8,400 people for symptoms after their arrival on domestic flights.Australian doctors warned the public health system could be overwhelmed in the event of a pandemic, a day after the government launched its emergency response program.As of Friday, there were more than 83,670 coronavirus cases worldwide, and more than 2,865 deaths. Most of the cases are in China. 
…

Refugees can now gain access to Europe through Turkey.Turkey shares borders with two European Union countries, Greece and Bulgaria.Turkey’s security forces have been ordered not to stop the exodus, at least temporarily reversing an arrangement made with the EU in 2016.The decision comes after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed by Syrian government forces in northern Syria’s Idlib region Thursday.About 1 million Syrian refugees have been displaced and have gathered near the border with Turkey since December.Turkey already houses nearly 4 million Syrian refugees.Early Friday, close to 300 migrants began the trek to Turkey’s Edirne province on the Greek border.Media reports said that in addition to the Syrians making the trip, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis and Moroccans were also part of the group.Refugees are also heading toward Ayvacik, where they hope to travel by boat to the Greek island of Lesbos. 
…

Two Baltic countries have reported their first case of coronavirus, each with mild symptoms.Lithuania confirmed its first case Friday, detected in a woman who returned home after attending a conference with colleagues in Italy’s northern city of Verona.The 39-year-old woman has mild symptoms and has been isolated in hospital in the northern town of Siauliai following her return Monday, Lithuanian Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga said at a late night press conference, adding that passengers seated beside the woman on the plane and in adjacent rows are going to undergo tests for the virus.On Thursday, Estonia reported its first coronavirus case, a day after a man returned to the county from a business trip in his homeland, Iran.Estonian Social Affairs Minister Tanel Kiik told public broadcaster ERR that the man is currently hospitalized.“The person, a permanent resident of Estonia who is not a citizen, arrived in Estonia on Wednesday evening,” Kiik said.According to local media, the man contacted Estonian health authorities himself upon his arrival in Tallinn by bus from the Latvian capital Riga, where he flew in from Istanbul.Italy and Iran are among the countries with the largest numbers of COVID-19 cases outside Asia.
 
…

In an effort to end “period poverty,” the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday moved Scotland a step closer to becoming the first country in the world to to provide free sanitary pads and tampons in public places.The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill passed 112-0, with one abstention. If the bill moves past the second phase, where legislators propose amendments, free menstrual products will be available in places such as pharmacies, community centers and youth clubs.Menstrual products are currently taxed as luxury items.The cost of the legislation is estimated to be $31 million a year. Scotland has already made strides in ending the 5% “tampon tax.”In 2018, the country created a national policy that ensured free pads and tampons in schools and universities. The European Union plans to remove a sales tax on menstrual products by 2022 and let individual countries decide the prices.“(This) is a milestone moment for normalizing menstruation in Scotland, and sending out that real signal to people in this country about how seriously parliament takes gender equality,” the bill’s sponsor, Monica Lennon, said during Parliament’s debate. “We are changing the culture, and it’s really exciting that other countries right around the world are watching very closely to see what we do.”
…

An international manhunt for a Russian spy chief accused of plotting assassinations and coups in several countries is shedding light on how Russia’s covert activities have been increasing throughout Europe, according to Western intelligence analysts. A general of Russia’s military intelligence service (GRU), Denis Sergeev, who is under investigation in Spain for his possible role in supporting Catalonia’s independence drive, also has been accused of masterminding a murder attempt in Bulgaria, according to information sent by Bulgaria’s public prosecutor’s office to Spanish police last week. FILE – Military forces work on a van in Winterslow, England, March 12, 2018, as investigations continue into the nerve agent poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury, England, on March 4, 2018.British counterintelligence services have long suspected Sergeev of involvement in a similar attempt to poison a high-level Russian defector in Britain, Sergei Skripal. Authorities in the Balkan state of Montenegro, meanwhile, accuse him of hatching plans for a coup to block their country’s recent entry into NATO. The Kremlin has strongly denied the charges. But Spanish defense analyst Felix Arteaga of Madrid’s Elcano Royal Institute says Sergeev’s activities “fit within the pattern of Russian activity in Europe,” which he said shows signs of “widening.” “They have moved from covert actions to others that are more for the aim of displaying influence,” Arteaga told the newspaper El Pais. Part of elite unitAccording to European intelligence officials, Sergeev is a senior operative of the GRU’s elite 29155 unit charged with conducting sensitive foreign missions for the Kremlin. His alleged role in recent “black operations” has been traced through records of his air travels, hotel stays and personal contacts with other suspected GRU officers at locations and times that coincide with a series of attacks. According to Bulgarian authorities, Sergeev, accompanied by another undercover GRU officer, landed in the capital, Sofia, four days before arms dealer Emilian Gebrev, his son and another executive in their company were poisoned with a lethal chemical agent in April 2015. Bulgarian press reports said the GRU may have wanted to kill Gebrev because he was supplying arms to Georgia, which had a brief war with Russia in 2008. At least eight Russians were involved in the assassination attempt, according to Bulgarian investigators who have told Spanish police that at least one of them has been identified through an FBI laboratory analysis of images caught on the security camera of an underground parking garage on April 28, 2015. The images show a man in gloves sprinkling powder on the door handle of Gebrev’s car. Sergeev left Bulgaria two days later, flying back to Russia via Istanbul. He made two trips to Britain in 2018 on dates that coincide with an attempt to assassinate Skripal using methods similar to those employed against Gebrev.   FILE – Demonstrators wave independence flags in Barcelona, Spain, April 15, 2018, during a protest in support of Catalonian politicians who have been jailed on charges of sedition.Trips to BarcelonaA false passport that Sergeev used to enter Britain under the assumed name of Sergey Fedotov also has been traced to two trips he made to Barcelona, which Spanish investigators suspect may have involved efforts to penetrate Catalonia’s independence movement. His two-week stay in Barcelona between September 29 and October 9, 2017, coincided with the October 1 regional referendum on independence, which Spain’s central government considered illegal. Spanish police investigators say they have no specific evidence of Sergeev’s contacts with separatist groups. But officials of Spain’s defense ministry and other European intelligence agencies have said Russia boosted the independence cause with a propaganda campaign involving hundreds of thousands of social media messages placed by hackers operating from locations in Russia and Venezuela. Targeting NATO, EUHans Georg Maassen, who at the time was Germany’s counterintelligence chief, told an international security conference in 2018 it was “very feasible” that Moscow launched “disinformation” efforts to distort events in Catalonia as part of a larger strategy to weaken NATO and the European Union. While Sergeev was in Catalonia, the newly formed Republic of South Ossetia — propped up by Moscow in territory forcibly seized from Georgia — opened a consulate in Barcelona that may have been used as a front for Russian activities, according to Spanish intelligence analysts. During sometimes violent pro-independence demonstrations in November, Spanish police arrested a Russian national in Catalonia carrying a Russian made M-75 grenade in his Belarus-registered car. Spanish press reports quoted police as saying he was being investigated in connection with the Sergeev espionage ring. 
…

What do Belgium and the U.S. state of Arkansas have in common? The answer is a fondness for bicycling, according to Belgian Ambassador to Washington Dirk Wouters. In a recent interview, Wouters cited the Southern state’s ambitious bid to host an international cycling event next year as an example of the “dynamic” energy he has witnessed almost everywhere he has traveled in the United States. “It comes with business. That’s the interesting part about it,” Wouters said, explaining that the cycling pitch includes plans to market bicycles, jerseys, beer, tourism and a range of other products and services. “There’s also a lot of symbolism involved,” he added, noting that biking is part of the Belgian DNA. “It’s a rather simple sport — two wheels, accessible to everyone.” Given Belgium’s size, “you can cover the whole country from one end to the other all by bike. I think that has a lot to do with it.” Impressed by PittsburghWouters said he experienced the same entrepreneurial energy on a visit to Pittsburgh, a Northeastern city that once based its prosperity on the steel industry but has had to reinvent itself in recent decades as its old steel mills became unprofitable and closed. Pittsburgh’s luster could have faded with the steel mills, he said, “but it didn’t.” “You can still see the old city and these wonderful steel bridges, and the old industry, but at the same time, they have developed so many new activities,” Wouters said. Describing the city’s Carnegie Mellon University as “a powerhouse,” he said, “On robotics, they’re world leaders, as simple as that.” Turning to his own country, the ambassador argued that Belgium should be seen as much more than its capital, Brussels, which is recognized internationally as host to the headquarters of the European Union and NATO. “That would be as if you say the United States is Washington. Doesn’t make sense, right?” Wouters stressed that while Belgium is small geographically – about the size of the American state of Maryland – it’s the ninth-largest source of foreign investment into the United States, “ahead of China, Mexico, South Korea, India, you name it.”  “Fourteen or 15 of our biggest companies have invested in the South and Southeastern parts of the United States,” Wouters said, citing Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina as among the top destinations of Belgian investment. “And of course New York state and Texas.” Energy and moreEnergy accounted for the “first and biggest” part of Belgium’s trade relationship with Texas, he said, driven by the heavy oil tanker traffic between Houston and the Belgian port of Antwerp, a major transit point for goods heading deeper into Europe. But, he said, “the time that Texas did only oil and gas is long past!” The relationship today increasingly involves health and life sciences, cybersecurity and renewable energy, among other things. Wouters has also noticed something else about Texas: “There, they say first they’re Texan before they say they’re American.” Similarly, Wouters has learned in his travels that “each state has its own microcosms, its characteristics and specificities.” And several of the larger states pack an economic clout comparable to those of major countries, he said, suggesting that if Texas, New York state and California were to become independent nations, the G-20 group of major economic powers would have to be reconfigured. Vying for investmentBut the ambassador said he has also seen qualities that are shared by all regions of the United States, including a widespread commitment to free trade and a competition to attract foreign investment that at times can reach a “nuclear level.” That drive is understandable, he said. “If a governor can say, ‘I don’t have unemployment in my state. This year I created several thousand new jobs. We have comparative advantage compared to other states in certain sectors,’ that’s very powerful. “And governors can make a difference. I’ve seen that,” Wouters said. 
 
…