A look at today’s top headlines.
Live updates: Coronavirus crisis forces world to take drastic measures – CNN
A woman at an Australian supermarket allegedly pulls a knife on a man in a confrontation over toilet paper. A Singaporean student of Chinese ethnicity is beaten up on the streets of London and left with a fractured face. Protesters on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion welcome cruise passengers by hurling abuse and rocks at them.
Trump says UK and Ireland now included in European travel restrictions
The Trump administration on Saturday expanded travel restrictions from Europe to include the United Kingdom and Ireland as it works to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Here’s how much Europe’s royal families really cost
Of the 10 main royal families in Europe, nine still receive public funding for carrying out their duties — the only exception being the Princely House of Liechtenstein, which doesn’t get any taxpayer money to cover its expenses.
This pandemic risks bringing out the worst in humanity
A woman at an Australian supermarket allegedly pulls a knife on a man in a confrontation over toilet paper. A Singaporean student of Chinese ethnicity is beaten up on the streets of London and left with a fractured face. Protesters on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion welcome cruise passengers by hurling abuse and rocks at them.
Family of Premier League star held at knifepoint in burglary
The family of Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen was held at knifepoint in a burglary while the player was away with his club on Champions League duty.
Japanese PM Abe insists Tokyo 2020 goes ahead
Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe insisted Saturday that the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead this summer as planned despite growing fears about the viability of staging the Games amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
Cats and dogs abandoned at the start of the coronavirus outbreak are now starving or being killed
Many animals in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus originated, have died or are at risk of dying after residents evacuated their homes in the wake of the city’s lockdown.
Sick Heidi Klum says she hasn’t been able to get tested for coronavirus
Heidi Klum hopes she just has a cold, but in case it’s not, she’s been trying unsuccessfully to get tested for COVID-19.
Floyd Mayweather honors his late ex-girlfriend in a series of Instagram posts
Floyd Mayweather paid tribute to his ex-girlfriend Josie Harris with a series of Instagram photos on Friday after she was found dead outside her home earlier this week.
Coronavirus hits sport as Olympic torch relay goes behind closed doors
Scottish Rugby has opened a £500,000 hardship fund to assist clubs facing financial problems as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The governing body is also bringing forward collective club support payments, which exceed £500,000, by a month, to April from May. All rugby in Scotland will halt from Sunday 15 March at 18:00 GMT.
Virus isolation for over-70s ‘within weeks’
Action to isolate the UK’s over-70s for an extended period to shield them from coronavirus is planned in the coming weeks, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed. He told Sky News the measure “is a very big ask of the elderly and vulnerable, but it is for their own protection”.
Disarray hits US airports over virus screenings
US airports have been thrown into chaos as new coronavirus health screening measures for people returning from Europe come into force. Long queues formed as travellers waited for hours for the screenings before passing through customs. The US is banning the entry of people travelling from the UK and Ireland from midnight on Monday (04:00 GMT Tuesday).
Germany to ‘largely’ shut key borders on Monday
Germany will “largely” shut its borders with France, Switzerland and Austria from Monday to stop coronavirus spreading, government sources say. Other EU states are also taking radical action, with Austria banning gatherings of more than five people from Monday. Romania is to declare a state of emergency.
Coronavirus: Wayne Rooney says footballers treated as ‘guinea pigs’
Wayne Rooney says the government and football authorities have treated footballers as “guinea pigs” during the coronavirus outbreak. Elite football in Britain has been suspended until at least 3 April, with the Premier League saying “conditions at the time” will determine its return. “For players, staff and their families it has been a worrying week,” he said.
How Italy is fighting its coronavirus isolation with music
To curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, Italy has been put on total lockdown. Originally contained to the north of the country – which has seen the worst of the outbreak – the restriction was extended to the entire country by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
Apple shuts all stores around the world – except in China
Apple will shut down all of its retail stores outside of China until March 27, the company announced Saturday. As part of an effort to keep coronavirus from spreading, the company will focus on online sales instead.
It may be easier to get coronavirus than we thought
First, the obligatory caveat: There’s still so much we don’t know about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, the disease that results from the virus. New genetic developments are coming everyday – so fast that even the CDC can’t keep up.
Trump’s coronavirus advice is literally the opposite of what he’s doing
A surprise White House press conference Saturday offered plenty of coronavirus news: The U.S. travel ban will be extended to the UK and Ireland, domestic travel may be restricted, and the president has taken a coronavirus test (result currently unknown). But most notable is the gap between what Trump is saying and doing.
Tesla eyes U.S. city for new Cybertruck factory
Tesla is looking for a place to build what CEO Elon Musk called “the most kick-ass of any pick-up truck,” the Cybertruck. And we know at least one city that it’s considering. Late Tuesday, Musk tweeted about the next Gigafactory, as Tesla car plants are called, with a general hint about where it would be based.
Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma to send 1 million masks to U.S., plus testing kits
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma is sending aid to the United States. The Alibaba co-founder committed to sending 1 million medical masks and 500,000 coronavirus testing kits to the U.S. on Chinese social site Weibo on Friday. It’s being done through the Jack Ma Foundation.
