Reuters World News Summary
Following is a summary of current world news briefs.
Italy expected to maintain lockdown as it awaits steady coronavirus decline
Italy looks certain to remain under lockdown for at least two more weeks, officials said on Monday, with the number of new coronavirus cases yet to show a decisive decline. Nearly 11,000 people have died in Italy since Feb. 21, the highest death toll from the virus in the world, while some 97,689 people have been infected in a little over five weeks, more than anywhere except the United States.
Australia enacts sweeping lockdown powers to combat coronavirus spread
People in Australia's most populous state of New South Wales, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Australia, could be heavily fined or jailed for leaving their home without a good reason from Tuesday under sweeping new powers designed to slow infection rates. The public health order, enacted late on Monday, comes amid warnings that it is too early to tell whether an apparent slowdown in infection rates across the country in recent days meant the outbreak was being brought under control.
UK's Johnson "full of vigor", top adviser self-isolates
The coronavirus outbreak at the heart of the UK government spread on Monday with Prime Minister Boris Johnson's senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, self-isolating with symptoms just days after the British leader himself tested positive. Johnson, who announced on Friday that he was infected with the virus but would continue to lead the government's response to the outbreak, chaired a meeting on Monday from self-isolation in Downing Street.
Senior Italian cardinal, papal vicar for Rome, has coronavirus
Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, Pope Francis' vicar for the diocese of Rome, on Monday became the highest-ranking Catholic official known to test positive for coronavirus. De Donatis' office said he was tested for the virus after feeling unwell and was admitted to a Rome hospital. His closest aides had gone into voluntary quarantine as a precaution, a statement said.
UK's Prince Harry and wife Meghan bid farewell to royal roles
Prince Harry and his American wife Meghan posted their last message as working members of Britain's royal family on Monday before officially embarking on new careers without their "Royal Highness" styles. Harry and Meghan shocked Queen Elizabeth and the other Windsors in January by announcing plans step back from their royal roles. A later deal brokered by the 93-year-old monarch means they will go their own way from April.
In scrappy Cambodian casino town, Chinese plan future beyond coronavirus
When casino owner Kang Qiang looks out the window of his 20th floor office in this city on the remote Cambodian coast, he sees construction cranes sitting idle. The Chinese-funded gambling enclave of Sihanoukville has suffered a double blow. Travel restrictions imposed in recent weeks to slow the global coronavirus pandemic have deepened the effects of a ban last year on lucrative online gambling.
U.S. spies find coronavirus spread in China, North Korea, Russia hard to chart
As U.S. spy agencies seek to assemble a precise picture of the world's coronavirus outbreaks, they are finding serious gaps in their ability to assess the situation in China, Russia and North Korea, according to five U.S. government sources familiar with the intelligence reporting. The agencies also have limited insight into the full impact of the pandemic in Iran, although information on infections and deaths among the ruling class and public is becoming more available on official and social media, two sources said.
Special Report: Five days of worship that set a virus time bomb in France
From the stage of an evangelical superchurch, the leader of the gospel choir kicked off an evening of prayer and preaching: "We're going to celebrate the Lord! Are you feeling the joy tonight?" "Yes!" shouted the hundreds gathered at the Christian Open Door church on Feb. 18. Some of them had traveled thousands of miles to take part in the week-long gathering in Mulhouse, a city of 100,000 on France's borders with Germany and Switzerland.
Brazil's Bolsonaro says no more quarantine measures can be imposed
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said on Monday that no more coronavirus-fighting quarantine measures can be imposed than those already in place because jobs are being destroyed and the poor are suffering. Speaking to Rede TV, Bolsonaro repeated his view that there is a large degree of "hysteria" around the pandemic, and said Economy Minister Paulo Guedes told him measures taken to combat the crisis could cost 800 billion reais ($155 bln) and that the economy could recover within a year.
U.S. expected to renew sanctions waivers allowing Iran nonproliferation work: sources
The United States is expected to allow Russian, Chinese and European companies to continue their work at Iranian nuclear sites to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear weapons, four sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity and included one U.S. official, said a U.S. decision could come as early as Monday to renew waivers to sanctions that bar non-U.S. firms from dealing with Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.
