TOKYO (AFP) -- Cancelling the 2020 Olympics is "unthinkable" although the classification of the coronavirus as a pandemic will likely have some impact on the Games, the Tokyo city governor said on Thursday. "It can't be said that the announcement of a pandemic would have no impact... But I think cancellation is unthinkable," Yuriko Koike told reporters. Doubts are increasingly being raised over whether the Olympics can be held as scheduled from July 24 to August 9. Organ

LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- The NBA will suspend play starting on Thursday after a Utah Jazz player preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19, the league said Wednesday. The test result was reported shortly before Utah's game against the Thunder in Oklahoma City was to begin, and that game was abruptly postponed. The league said the affected player was not at the arena. (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson have both tested positive for coronavirus, the US actor said Wednesday. Hanks, 63, said he and Wilson came down with a fever while in Australia, where he is set to film a new movie about the life of Elvis Presley. "To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive," he wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. Hanks is the first major Hollywood star to

MILAN (AFP) -- Juventus and Italy defender Daniele Rugani on Wednesday became the first Serie A footballer to test positive for coronavirus, the Italian champions confirmed. The 25-year-old "is currently asymptomatic," the Turin giants said, but the club is "currently activating all the isolation procedures required by law, including those who have had contact with him." Rugani is the first top-flight footballer to fall victim to the virus which has killed 827 in Italy and

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- President Donald Trump will make a primetime address Wednesday on the coronavirus crisis, his latest attempt to counter criticism of his response to the growing health and economic fallout from the pandemic. "I'll be making a statement later on tonight as to what I have decided to do," Trump told reporters at the White House. It was scheduled from the Oval Office for 9:00 pm (0100 GMT). Trump said he would explain his plan for tackling both the health crisis, as

BAGHDAD (AFP) -- An American soldier, a British soldier and one US contractor were killed Wednesday, a US official said, in the deadliest rocket attack in years on an Iraqi military base hosting foreign troops. The attack threatens a dangerous escalation, with suspected US-led coalition air strikes promptly targeting Iran-aligned Iraqi fighters in neighbouring Syria, a war monitor said. At least 18 fighters were reported killed. On Wednesday evening, a volley of 18 rockets hit the Taji

GENEVA (AFP) -- The World Health Organization called the new coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday, issuing a grim warning that the global spread and severity of the illness was due to "alarming levels of inaction". The call came as Europe faced a mounting number of cases -- including a slew of new countries clocking first deaths -- prompting governments to roll out increasingly tough measures to slow the rapid spread of the virus. The number of cases across the globe has ris

DETROIT (AFP) -- Joe Biden took another big step closer to clinching the Democratic nomination to challenge President Donald Trump, with wins projected Tuesday over leftist rival Bernie Sanders in Mississippi and Missouri, two of six states holding primaries. The Mississippi win, projected by US networks, confirmed crucial and overwhelming support from African American voters for Biden, the former vice president under the first black US president, Barack Obama. Results from four more states,

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Organizers on Tuesday rescheduled the Coachella music festival until October over coronavirus concerns, following advice from local health authorities. "While this decision comes at a time of universal uncertainty, we take the safety and health of our guests, staff and community very seriously," Goldenvoice, the company that puts on the event in the California desert, said in a statement. The two-weekend festival set for April will now take place over the weekend

WUHAN (AFP) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan Tuesday for the first time since the city emerged as the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic in January -- a major sign that officials believe the outbreak is under control. Xi's visit came as unprecedented quarantine measures that have sealed off Wuhan and the rest of central Hubei province since late January appear to have paid off, with new infections dropping dramatically in recent weeks. China's progress stands in stark contrast

  PARIS (AFP) -- With new tolls and key developments, here is the latest in the coronavirus crisis. Nearly 4,000 deaths Since the novel coronavirus first emerged in late December 2019, 113,255 cases have been recorded in 101 countries and territories, killing 3,964 people, according to an AFP toll based on official sources on Monday around 1700 GMT. In mainland China, where the epidemic started, 80,735 cases have been registered, including 3,119 deaths, but with a decline in new cases

LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- The number of confirmed US coronavirus cases soared past 500 Sunday, including two further deaths, as President Donald Trump defended his administration's "perfectly coordinated" response to the epidemic. The virus has reached some 30 US states, with Oregon the latest to declare an emergency, and 60 million people in California and New York are under crisis measures. Two more deaths were reported in Washington state -- both linked to a virus-hit care home near S

BEIJING (AFP) -- At least ten people were killed in the collapse of a hotel used as a coronavirus quarantine facility in eastern China, authorities said Sunday. Rescuers retrieved 48 people from the rubble, of whom 38 are still alive, the Ministry of Emergency Management said on social media. The building in the coastal city of Quanzhou had been repurposed to house people who recently had contact with patients confirmed with COVID-19, the state-run People's Daily newspaper reported. The city

BEIJING (AFP) -- World health officials have warned that countries are not taking the coronavirus crisis seriously enough, as outbreaks surged across Europe and in the United States where medical workers sounded warnings over a "disturbing" lack of hospital preparedness. Global markets tumbled again over concerns about the impact on the economy and as countries took more drastic steps to prevent contagion of a disease that has killed more than 3,300 people and infected nearly 100,000

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -- Tech firms in Seattle, a new focal point for the coronavirus epidemic, were telling employees this week to take advantage of technology to work remotely in an effort to contain the outbreak. Ten of the 12 US fatalities from the outbreak have been in the northwest state, leading to an emergency declaration by the state and proactive measures in the community where tech plays a major role in the economy. Online retail and cloud computing colossus Amazon, which has transfo