Blogroll

Lebanon recorded its first death from coronavirus on Tuesday, local broadcasters said, adding that the patient had been in quarantine since returning from Egypt.

Ant Financial, an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, will start allowing third-party vendors to offer services such as food delivery and hotel bookings on its Alipay mobile payment platform in an expansion beyond its financial services focus.

Infectious disease and public health experts doubt the viability of plans by Italy's government to extend quarantine measures across the entire country, saying they are probably unsustainable, and unlikely to halt the spread of COVID-19.

The president of the European Parliament Davide Sassoli said on Tuesday he was in self-isolation at his Brussels home as a precaution after having traveled to Italy.

Poland's government has decided to cancel all mass events due to the coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Tuesday.

Japan unveiled on Tuesday a second package of measures worth about $4 billion in spending to cope with the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak, focusing on support to small and mid-sized firms, as concerns mount about risks to the fragile economy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, on Tuesday, the first time he has done so since the epidemic began and a sign that Beijing believes its efforts to control the virus are working.

Tech firms at Malaysia's one-time Silicon Valley of the East, swimming in orders from customers fleeing trade war-hit China, have seen fortunes turn again in the space of just a year as the coronavirus outbreak cuts them off from Chinese suppliers.

Ant Financial, an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, will open its Alipay mobile app platform to 40 million service providers in China over the next three years and help them digitize their offerings, it said on Tuesday.

Japan will unveil on Tuesday a second package of measures to offset the impact of a coronavirus outbreak, focusing on support for small businesses, Finance Minister Taro Aso said, as concerns mount about risks to the fragile economy.

U.S. President Donald Trump has not been tested for the coronavirus, the White House said on Monday, though at least two lawmakers with whom he has recently come into contact have announced they were self-quarantining after attending a conference with a person who had tested positive for the virus.

India's Hindu festival of Holi was subdued on Tuesday with fears of the coronavirus putting a damper on the usually boisterous celebration marked by the throwing of colored powder and dousing with dyed water.

Airlines across the globe have suspended flights or modified services in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Here are today's developments on the coronavirus epidemic:

President Donald Trump on Monday said he will be taking "major" steps to gird the economy against the impact of the spreading coronavirus outbreak and will discuss a payroll tax cut with congressional Republicans on Tuesday.

Cyprus' largest medical facility suspended most services on Tuesday, authorities said, after a medical doctor heading the heart surgical ward tested positive for coronavirus.

Singapore has started charging visitors for coronavirus treatment, the city-state said as it reported new imported infections involving people who had traveled from neighboring Indonesia.

When news of the coronavirus outbreak spread around the world in January, officials of the Malaysian tech company Qdos quickly realized what they needed to do to keep their factory in China running: get enough surgical masks for the 800 staff there.

Weary passengers aboard a cruise ship idled at sea for days by a coronavirus outbreak erupted in cheers on Monday as the vessel sailed into San Francisco Bay en route to the Port of Oakland and the next, unexpected phase of their voyage - two weeks of quarantine.

Japan's government will unveil on Tuesday a second package of steps to cope with fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, with a focus on financial support for small businesses, Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Tuesday.