Australia confirms 2 new coronavirus cases, bringing total cases to 40

Australia has confirmed two new cases of novel coronavirus in New South Wales, bringing the country’s total to 40, Health Minister Greg Hunt said.

Speaking during an interview with CNN affiliate Sky News Australia on Wednesday, Hunt said the two patients are a man in his 30s and a woman in her 50s.

According to a news release from the New South Wales government, the man began feeling unwell after he arrived in Australia from Iran on Sunday.

The woman had not traveled outside of Australia and is believed to have acquired the illness locally, the news release added.(CNN)

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Iran’s coronavirus cases rose past 2,300 on Tuesday. Here’s what’s happening there

One week ago, Iran had fewer than 100 confirmed coronavirus cases. On Tuesday, Iranian authorities said there were 2,336 confirmed cases, making the Middle Eastern country one of the worst affected in the world.

There are now 77 confirmed deaths from coronavirus, Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi said on state TV Tuesday.

Here’s what’s going on:

  • Freeing prisoners: Iran will temporarily release more than 54,000 prisoners in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus, according to Iran’s semi-official news agency ISNA, citing Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili. The release of prisoners is under the supervision of Iran’s health ministry.
  • Lawmakers infected: 23 lawmakers from Iran’s parliament have tested positive for coronavirus. That means around 8% are infected. Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani announced last Friday that parliament sessions would be suspended until further notice.
  • Medical supplies: Iran received its first planeload of assistance from the World Health Organization on Monday. That included eight tons of test kits that will allow it to test 100,000 people, IRNA said in a report. The WHO also sent six teams of epidemiologists, physicians and specialists in laboratories tests.
  • Foreigners evacuated: The United Arab Emirates said on Monday that it is evacuating all its citizens from Iran amid fears of coronavirus spread, state news agency WAM reported. (CNN).

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New seven-kilo gold coin unveiled to celebrate James Bond film

Britain’s Royal Mint on Monday unveiled a seven-kilogram gold coin with the highest face value in its 1,100-year history in honour of the latest James Bond film.

The one-of-a-kind new coin celebrating the release next month of the 25th movie in the legendary franchise, “No Time To Die”, has a face value of £7,000 ($9,000, 8,000 euros).

At 185 millimetres in diameter, it is also the largest coin ever made by the Royal Mint, Britain’s official coin-maker.

The piece is engraved with an image of the fictional British spy’s favourite car — an Aston Martin DB5 — and its famous BMT 216A number plate surrounded by a gun barrel.

It is part of a collection of several coins and metal bars launched to mark the release of “No Time To Die”, which premieres in London later this month.

The ensemble includes gold coins weighing two kilograms, one kilogram and five ounces — with face values ranging from £10 to £2,000 — as well as a number of silver and other coins.

The mint did not release the price tag for the seven-kilo gold piece, but the recommended retail price of the two-kilo coin is an eye-watering £129,990.

Meanwhile the metal bars, which will be available in gold and silver, are set to have all of the 25 official James Bond film titles engraved on them.

“The design series focuses on iconic imagery from the Bond films,” designers Christian Davies and Matt Dent said in a statement.

“Finding the balance between design detail and what can be accomplished in production was a challenge, nowhere more so than the intricate spokes of the DB5’s wheel,” they added.

The latest instalment of the British spy saga, due to start hitting cinemas around the world in early April, sees Bond drawn out of retirement in Jamaica by his old friend and CIA agent Felix Leiter.

It is expected to be actor Daniel Craig’s last outing as 007, after starring in four previous fims.( Vanguard)

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Pope Francis tested for coronavirus after falling ill

Pope Francis has been tested for coronavirus after he fell ill and was forced to cancel a religious retreat near Rome.

The pontiff had been due to go to a Lent retreat, but he did not go – the first time he has not attended the event during his papacy – because he was suffering from a heavy cold.

The results for Covid-19 came back negative, according to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero this morning.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said he had no immediate comment on the report.

The 83-year-old Roman Catholic leader, who had part of one lung removed because of an illness decades ago, also cancelled most audiences last week.

Francis was to have taken part in the week-long retreat with senior Vatican officials that began on Sunday night at a Church residence south of Rome.

But in a surprise announcement hours earlier, he said he would be following it from his residence in a Vatican guest house.

He has been taken ill at a time when Italy is battling a surging outbreak of the potentially deadly coronavirus.

The death toll in Italy jumped to 52 on Monday from 34 the day before and the total number of confirmed cases in Europe’s worst affected country climbed past the 2,000 mark. (Vanguard)

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Van Dijk laments ‘unacceptable’ end of Liverpool run at Watford

Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk lamented an “unacceptable” display after the team’s run of 44 games without defeat in the Premier League ended with a shock 3-0 loss away to strugglers Watford on Saturday.

“First of all credit to Watford, they deserve it… It’s a tough one to take but that’s football,” van Dijk told Sky Sports after the stunning reverse at Vicarage Road. “We have to improve and we will.”

Reigning European champions Liverpool, bidding for their first title of the Premier League era, were undone by Ismaila Sarr’s second-half double and a 72nd-minute goal from Troy Deeney.

Defeat ended Liverpool’s hopes of winning their first English championship crown in 30 years with an unbeaten season as they lost in the league for the first time since January 2019.

“We have to improve we have to do better,” said van Dijk, with Liverpool still a mammoth 22 points clear of second-placed Manchester City, the current English title-holders, despite this defeat

“It’s not acceptable we lose 3-0 here.”

Saturday’s remarkable loss put paid to Liverpool’s hopes of equalling Arsenal’s celebrated ‘Invincibles’, who enjoyed an unbeaten campaign while winning the 2003/04 Premier League title as part of a sequence of 49 top-flight matches without defeat.

But Dutch international van Dijk said: “Losing hurts, the records are only for the media. We want to win our next game (against Chelsea in the FA Cup on Tuesday), we want to strike back straight away.”

Victory saw Watford climb out of the relegation zone, albeit on goal difference alone, and elated goalkeeper Ben Foster said: “It’s easy if you do it like that — we had a game plan and stuck to it really well.”(Vanguard)

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