Health & Science

• Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 08:20 UTC

  Beijing furious with Vargas Llosa for saying combating the coronavirus outbreak would be different if China was a democracy

  

  China hit out on Monday at Peru's Nobel literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa for allegedly expressing “irresponsible and prejudiced opinions” over the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 08:19 UTC

  Rio do Janeiro authorities order people out of the beaches and closed Christ the Redeemer statue

  

  Anyone hoping to escape wall-to-wall coronavirus coverage with a day at the beach can forget about it in Rio de Janeiro, where authorities armed with megaphones blared out messages on Monday ordering everyone home.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 08:15 UTC

  Trump urges to halt social activities for 15 days and not congregate in groups larger than ten people

  

  President Donald Trump urged Americans on Monday to halt most social activities for 15 days and not congregate in groups larger than 10 people in a newly aggressive effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus in the United States.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 08:02 UTC

  British supermarkets appeal to consumers to be more considerate after shelves were plundered: “we have adequate supplies”

  

  British supermarkets have called on consumers to be more considerate and reiterated they have adequate supplies, as the coronavirus saw shelves plundered and a surge in online orders. The country's leading grocery retailers, including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose, penned a joint letter to customers, which ran in newspapers on Sunday and Monday appealing for calm.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 07:58 UTC

  Hundreds flee in a major break out of four Sao Paulo jails

  

  Hundreds of prisoners broke out of four Brazilian jails on Monday, the day before their day-release privileges were due to be suspended over the coronavirus outbreak, Sao Paulo state prison authorities and local media reported.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 07:49 UTC

  Argentine researchers find fossilized wing skin of a 43 million year old penguin in Antarctica

  

  Argentine researchers have announced the discovery of fossilized skin on the remains of the wing of a 43-million-year-old penguin on Marambio Island in the Antarctic.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 07:34 UTC

  Nightmare: assessing the coronavirus damage for the cruise industry

  

  The novel coronavirus is becoming a financial and public-relations nightmare for the cruise industry, from failed quarantine attempts on ships to passenger lawsuits and a stream of cancellations.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 07:30 UTC

  Brazilian football suspended; Flamengo's coach tested positive for coronavirus

  

  Flamengo coach Jorge Jesus has tested positive for coronavirus and is under quarantine in Rio de Janeiro while doctors perform a second confirmatory test, he and his club said on Monday.

• Monday, March 16th 2020 - 11:20 UTC

  Coronavirus: Argentina closes borders for 15 days and suspends classes until March 31

  

  Argentina will close its borders for 15 days to non-residents in order to combat the spread of coronavirus, President Alberto Fernandez announced on Sunday. Public and private school classes would also be suspended until March 31, Fernandez said. National parks would also be closed.

• Monday, March 16th 2020 - 11:19 UTC

  G7 global rescue: Fed cuts rates to almost zero and launches US$ 700bn stimulus program

  

  The US has cut interest rates to almost zero and launched a US$ 700bn stimulus program in a bid to protect the economy from the effect of coronavirus. It is part of a coordinated action announced on Sunday in the UK, Japan, the Eurozone, Canada, and Switzerland.