PARIS (AFP) -- French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe raised the alarm Friday over an "extremely high" surge in coronavirus cases in the country and warned things will be "difficult" in the coming days. After 365 people died and more than 2,300 people were hospitalised in France in a single day, the military sent a plane Friday to evacuate six patients from the hard-hit east of the country where hospitals are overstretched. "We find ourselves in a crisis that will l

MADRID (AFP) -- The number of international tourist arrivals will fall by 20-30 percent in 2020 due to the novel coronavirus, putting millions of jobs at risk, the World Tourism Organization said Friday. This revises sharply lower a forecast made earlier this month of a decline of just 1.0-3.0 percent. The drop in arrivals will lead to an estimated loss of $300-450 billion in international tourism receipts, almost one third of the $1.5 trillion generated in 2019, the Madrid-based UN body sa

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A former FBI agent who mysteriously vanished in 2007 died in Iranian custody, his family concluded Wednesday, saying US intelligence had made them give up 13 years of hope. President Donald Trump did not confirm Bob Levinson's death, saying that Iran had not communicated any news on the former agent, who would have turned 72 this month. But Levinson's family said that it had learned that he was dead, although it gave no information on how or when. "We recently receiv

Lausanne (AFP) -- International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said Wednesday that the postponed Tokyo Games would require "sacrifices and compromises" from all sides to make them work. "These postponed Olympic Games will need sacrifices, will need compromises by all of the stakeholders," Bach told reporters in a conference call the day after the IOC decided to delay the 2020 Games because of the coronavirus pandemic. The IOC's role, Bach said, was "to make t

LONDON (AFP) -- Prince Charles, the eldest son and heir to Queen Elizabeth II, is showing mild symptoms of the new coronavirus but "otherwise remains in good health", his office said on Wednesday. The 71-year-old and his wife Camilla -- who does not have COVID-19 -- are currently self-isolating in Scotland, Clarence House said. "The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Coronavirus," it said in a statement, using his official title.  "He has been displaying m

HONG KONG (AFP) -- When two Spanish footballers took to the controls of "FIFA 20" after the coronavirus pandemic saw their La Liga match cancelled, a stadium-sized virtual audience watched online. The huge digital crowd last week is part of a spectacular boom for the digital gaming industry, as record numbers flock to online servers for distraction, entertainment and friendship with the "real world" seemingly falling apart. Real Betis striker Borja Iglesias kicked the winn

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Wall Street posted its best performance in nearly 90 years on Tuesday, as indices rallied on hopes that lawmakers would soon agree on a massive stimulus package to blunt the coronavirus' economic impact. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 11.4 percent rallying to end the session at 20,704.91, its biggest one-day percentage increase since 1933. The tech-rich Nasdaq gained 8.1 percent to close at 7,417.86, while the broad-based S&P 500 finished the day at 2,447.33, a

TOKYO (AFP) -- Olympic chiefs on Tuesday postponed the 2020 Tokyo Games until next year, a historic move to push back the world's biggest sporting event due to the coronavirus pandemic that is upending global society. The dramatic step is the first time the Olympics has been postponed in peacetime and comes as a devastating blow to the city of Tokyo and the Olympic movement. The decision came after a telephone call between International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach and Japanes

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump called Monday for protection of Asian Americans after charges that his use of the term "Chinese virus" had aggravated a backlash. "It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world," Trump wrote on Twitter. "They are amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form. They are working closely with us to get rid

TOKYO (AFP) -- The crowds might be thinner and parties smaller, but warnings from officials over the coronavirus have done little to stop Japanese celebrating as the country's famed cherry trees explode into bloom. Over a warm long weekend in Tokyo, people packed into traditional blossom hotspots, many not even wearing face masks, to admire the fluffy white and pink flowers hanging from delicate stems. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike admitted that taking cherry blossom parties away from Japanese

TOKYO (AFP) -- Postponing the Olympics over the coronavirus pandemic may become "inevitable", Japan's prime minister conceded Monday, after the International Olympic Committee said a delay was being considered as pressure grows from athletes and sports bodies. The comments from Shinzo Abe were his first acknowledgement that the 2020 Games may not open as scheduled on July 24, as the coronavirus marches across the globe causing unprecedented chaos. Canada's Olympic and Paralympic com

Spain on Sunday announced 394 new deaths caused by the novel coronavirus, raising to 1,720 the official death toll in Europe's worst-hit country after Italy, a 30 percent increase over the previous day. The number of confirmed cases of the disease rose by 3,646, or 14.6 percent, to 28,572, according to health ministry figures, with officials warning infections will rise further in the coming days. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his country's situation was now the most difficult sin

ROME(AFP) -- Italy reported a record 627 new coronavirus deaths Friday and saw its world-topping toll surpass 4,000, despite government efforts to stem the pandemic's spread.    The Mediterranean country's daily rate of fatalities is now higher than that officially reported by China at the peak of its outbreak around Wuhan's Hubei province.    But Matteo Bassetti of Italy's prestigious San Martino clinic in Genoa said the government probably had no idea how many people rea

HIGASHIMATSUSHIMA (AFP) -- The Olympic flame arrived in Japan to a scaled-down welcoming ceremony Friday as doubts grew over whether the Tokyo Games will go ahead on schedule with the coronavirus pandemic causing chaos around the world. As the flame, enclosed in a special lantern, landed on a charter flight, a Japanese Olympic Committee member broke ranks to call for a postponement and Olympics chief Thomas Bach admitted "different scenarios" were under consideration. "Of cours

PARIS (AFP) -- Italy surpassed China on Thursday as the country with the most deaths from coronavirus as the UN chief warned "millions" could die if it spreads unchecked around the globe. President Donald Trump said meanwhile that the United States is fast-tracking antimalarial drugs for use as a treatment and lashed out at China for not informing the world earlier about the original outbreak. China for its part reported no new domestic cases for the first time since the virus appea