SHANGHAI: More than 2,000 people have been infected with a new coronavirus, the vast majority in China where 56 people have died from it, and the United States said it will evacuate some of its citizens from the city at the center of the outbreak.
President Xi Jinping said during a politburo meeting on Saturday that China was facing a “grave situation,” as health authorities around the world scrambled to prevent a pandemic.
The virus, believed to have originated late last year in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife, has spread to Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as the United States, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Australia, France, and Canada.
On Sunday, China announced a nationwide ban on the sale of wildlife in markets, restaurants, and e-commerce platforms. Wild and often poached animals packed together in Chinese markets are blamed as incubators for viruses to evolve and jump the species barrier to humans.
Snakes, peacocks, crocodiles and other species can also be found for sale via Taobao, an e-commerce website run by Alibaba.
The US State Department said it will relocate personnel at its Wuhan consulate to the United States and will offer a limited number of seats to private US citizens on a Jan. 28 flight to San Francisco.
The World Health Organization this week stopped short of calling the outbreak a global health emergency, but some health experts question whether China can continue to contain the epidemic.
On Sunday, China confirmed 1,975 cases of patients infected with the new coronavirus as of Jan. 25, while the death toll from the virus has risen to 56, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The outbreak has prompted widening curbs on movements within China, with Wuhan, a city of 11 million, on virtual lockdown, with transports links all-but severed except for emergency vehicles.
Health authorities in Beijing urged people not to shake hands but instead salute using a traditional cupped-hand gesture. The advice was sent in a text message that went out to mobile phone users in the city on Sunday morning.
Cancellation and mistrust
The outbreak has overshadowed the start of the Lunar New Year, which is typically a festive time of year, with public events canceled and many tourist sites shut. Many people on social media have been calling for the week-long holiday to be extended to help prevent further spread of the virus.
WeChat, China’s ubiquitous messaging app, warned that it could ban accounts spreading rumors.
China has called for transparency in managing the crisis, after a cover-up of the spread of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002/2003 eroded public trust, but officials in Wuhan have been criticized for their handling of the current outbreak.
“People in my hometown all suspect the real infected patients' number given by authorities,” said Violet Li, who lives in the Wuhan district where the seafood market is located.
“I go out with a mask twice a day to walk the dog — that’s the only outdoor activity,” she told Reuters by text message.
Many cinemas across China are also closed with major film premieres postponed, slashing revenues. Theaters in the country took in just 1.81 million yuan ($262,167) from tickets on Saturday, a tiny fraction of the 1.46 billion yuan on the Lunar New Year Day in 2019, according to data from movie-ticketing company Maoyan.
Cruise operators including Royal Caribbean Cruises, Costa Cruises, MSC Cruises, and Astro Ocean Cruises said that they canceled a combined 12 cruises that had been scheduled to embark from Chinese ports before February 2.
Virus spreading outside China
On Saturday, Hong Kong declared a virus emergency, scrapped celebrations and restricted links to mainland China.
Hong Kong Disneyland and the city’s Ocean Park theme park were closed on Sunday. Shanghai Disneyland, which expected 100,000 visitors daily through the Lunar New Year holidays, has already closed.
In Hong Kong, with five confirmed cases, the city’s leader Carrie Lam said on Saturday that flights and high-speed rail trips between the city and Wuhan will be halted. Schools in Hong Kong that are currently on Lunar New Year holidays will remain closed until Feb. 17.
On Saturday, Canada declared the first “presumptive” confirmed case of the virus in a resident who had returned from Wuhan. The patient, a male in his 50s, arrived in Toronto on Jan. 22 and was hospitalized the next day after developing symptoms of respiratory illness, officials said.
Australia confirmed its first four cases on Saturday, Malaysia confirmed four and France reported Europe’s first cases on Friday.
The newly identified coronavirus has created alarm because there are still many unknowns surrounding it, such as how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. It can cause pneumonia, which has been deadly in some cases.
There are fears transmission could accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel during the holiday, although many have canceled their plans and airlines and railways in China are providing full refunds for tickets.
Airports around the world have stepped up screening of passengers from China, although some health officials and experts have questioned the effectiveness of such screenings.
In an illustration of how such efforts could miss cases, doctors at a Paris hospital said two of the three Chinese nationals in France who have been diagnosed with the virus had arrived in the country without showing any symptoms.
A report by infectious disease specialists at Imperial College, London on Saturday said the epidemic “represents a clear and ongoing global health threat,” adding: “It is uncertain at the current time whether it is possible to contain the continuing epidemic within China.”
As coronavirus spreads, Chinese president admits his country facing ‘grave situation’
https://arab.news/jneaf
As coronavirus spreads, Chinese president admits his country facing ‘grave situation’
- According to state broadcaster, virus death toll in China has reached 56
- Experts question the effectiveness of airport screenings of passengers from China
Father of American man slain by Israeli settlers tells Arab News US officials do not care
- Sayfollah Musallet was beaten to death on his family’s land in the West Bank
- ‘Where is the outcry from America for an American? We need justice now’
CHICAGO: Kamel Musallet, the father of a 20-year-old American citizen slain by Israeli settlers on Friday, told Arab News that US officials should treat his son’s killing “the same way they’d treat the murder of any American in any country.”
Sayfollah Musallet was beaten to death by settlers on land the family owns outside the Palestinian village of Al-Mazra’a Ash-Sharqiya in the occupied West Bank.
The family are American citizens of Palestinian heritage who have lived in Port Charlotte, Florida, most of their lives.
Sayfollah Musallet, who was born and raised in Florida, went to see family in Al-Mazra’a Ash-Sharqiya when he was confronted by “gangs of settlers” on their nearby land.
Kamel Musallet said he has only received condolences from “someone” at the US Embassy in Jerusalem, but not from any American officials in the US.
“Where is the concern? My son is an American,” he added, describing him as “a kind person, a good person.”
He said Israeli soldiers prevented family and friends from reaching his son, and medical personnel from treating him.
“He was there, injured, dying, for nearly three hours … The settlers killed him and nothing has been done,” he added.
“Settlers have been going to Palestinian-owned lands randomly attacking any Palestinians they see, trying to steal these lands.
“They’re trying to put tents up on these lands to create new settlements, destroying olive trees and killing farm animals … We’ve asked for protection but have gotten nothing … They’ve been doing this for years.”
He added: “My whole family is American. Who is speaking up in America for our rights, our lives? Where is the outcry from America for an American? We need justice now.”
He said his son had been running an ice cream store that the family opened a year before in Tampa, Florida.
“Sayfollah was such a kind soul, a hard worker. I'm an entrepreneur, so he wanted to be like me … He left a positive impression on everyone he met.”
Trump envoy arrives in Kyiv as US pledges Patriot missiles to Ukraine
- Donald Trump last week teased that he would make a ‘major statement’ on Russia on Monday
- US leader made quickly stopping the Russia-UKraine war one of his diplomatic priorities
KYIV: US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, arrived in Kyiv on Monday, a senior Ukrainian official said, as anticipation grew over a possible shift in the Trump administration’s policy on the more than three-year war.
Trump last week teased that he would make a “major statement” on Russia on Monday. Trump made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has increasingly expressed frustration about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unbudging stance on U.S-led peace efforts.
Putin “talks nice and then he bombs everybody,” Trump said late Sunday, as he confirmed the US is sending Ukraine badly needed US-made Patriot air defense missiles to help it fend off Russia’s intensifying aerial attacks.
Russia has spread terror in Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine’s air defenses are struggling to counter. June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said Thursday. Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year, it said.
That has happened at the same time as Russia’s bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1,000-kilometer frontline.
A top ally of Trump, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Sunday that the conflict is nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia’s full-scale invasion. It’s a cause that Trump had previously dismissed as being a waste of US taxpayer money.
“In the coming days, you’ll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves,” Graham said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” He added: “One of the biggest miscalculations (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there’s going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table.”
Also, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was due in Washington on Monday and Tuesday. He planned to hold talks with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as members of Congress.
Talks during Kellogg’s visit to Kyiv will cover “defense, strengthening security, weapons, sanctions, protection of our people and enhancing cooperation between Ukraine and the United States,” said the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermak.
“Russia does not want a cease fire. Peace through strength is President Donald Trump’s principle, and we support this approach,” Yermak said.
Russian troops conducted a combined aerial strike at Shostka, in the northern Sumy region of Ukraine, using glide bombs and drones early Monday morning, killing two people, the regional prosecutor’s office said. Four others were injured, including a 7-year-old, it said.
Overnight from Sunday to Monday, Russia fired four S-300/400 missiles and 136 Shahed and decoy drones at Ukraine, the air force said. It said that 61 drones were intercepted and 47 more were either jammed or lost from radars mid-flight.
The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses downed 11 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions on the border with Ukraine, as well as over the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.
Fatal Air India crash probe ‘far from over’ says CEO days after preliminary report
- The Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London began to lose thrust and sink shortly after takeoff
- Air India jetliner crashed after engine fuel cutoff switches flipped almost simultaneously
NEW DELHI: The probe into last month’s Air India Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad city is “far from over,” CEO Campbell Wilson said in an internal memo on Monday, adding that the airline is open to further inquiries and warned against “premature conclusions.”
The memo, seen by Reuters, comes after a preliminary report on Saturday showed confusion in the cockpit shortly before the Air India jetliner crashed and killed 260 people last month, after the plane’s engine fuel cutoff switches flipped almost simultaneously and starved the engines of fuel.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London from the Indian city of Ahmedabad began to lose thrust and sink shortly after takeoff, according to the report on the world’s deadliest aviation accident in a decade released by Indian accident investigators.
The memo said that the preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance faults and that all required maintenance had been carried out.
Wildfire destroys a historic Grand Canyon lodge and other structures
- Millions of people visit the park annually, with most going to the more popular South Rim
FLAGSTAFF: A fast-moving wildfire destroyed a historic lodge and dozens of other structures on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, forcing officials to close access to that area for the season, the park said Sunday.
The Grand Canyon Lodge, the only lodging inside the park at the North Rim, was consumed by the flames, park Superintendent Ed Keable told park residents, staff and others in a meeting Sunday morning. He said the visitor center, the gas station, a waste water treatment plant, an administrative building and some employee housing were among the 50 to 80 structures lost. “Numerous” historic cabins in the area also were destroyed, the park said.
Two wildfires are burning at or near the North Rim, known as the White Sage Fire and the Dragon Bravo Fire. The latter is the one that impacted the lodge and other structures.
Started by lightning on July 4, the Dragon Bravo Fire was initially managed by authorities with a “confine and contain” strategy to clear fuel sources. They shifted to aggressive suppression a week later as it rapidly grew to 7.8 square miles (20 square kilometers) because of hot temperatures, low humidity and strong wind gusts, fire officials said.
No injuries have been reported.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs called on the federal government late Sunday to investigate the National Park Service’s response to the wildfire.
“They must first take aggressive action to end the wildfire and prevent further damage,” she said in a post on X. “But Arizonans deserve answers for how this fire was allowed to decimate the Grand Canyon National Park.”
Millions of people visit the park annually, with most going to the more popular South Rim. The North Rim is open seasonally. It was evacuated last Thursday because of wildfire, and will remain closed for the rest of the season, the park said in a statement.
Firefighters at the North Rim and hikers in the inner canyon were evacuated over the weekend. The park said along with the fire risk, they could potentially be exposed to chlorine gas after the treatment plant burned. Chlorine gas is heavier than air and can lead to blurred vision, irritation or respiratory problems if high amounts of it are breathed in, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rafters on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon also were told to bypass Phantom Ranch, which has a set of cabins and dormitories along the river.
Historic lodge burned
The Grand Canyon Lodge was often the first prominent feature that visitors see, even before viewing the canyon. A highway ends at the lodge, which was known for its sloped roof, huge ponderosa beams and massive limestone facade. By walking across the lobby and descending a stairwell, visitors could get their first view of the Grand Canyon shining through windows across the “Sun Room.”
“It just feels like you’re a pioneer when you walk through there (the lodge),” said Tim Allen, a longtime resident of Flagstaff, Arizona, and yearly visitor to the Grand Canyon. “It really felt like you were in a time gone by.”
Allen said the North Rim felt special and more personal because of its remoteness and reduced number of tourists. He often spent time there camping and doing rim-to-rim hikes, trekking all the way to the bottom of the canyon and back out.
“It’s heartbreaking,” he said of the destruction caused by the fire.
Caren Carney was staying at the lodge with her husband, parents and 12-year-old son when a park ranger knocked on their door Thursday and told them to evacuate. Carney’s parents first took her to the North Rim in the early 90s when she was 12, and the family decided to do the same with her son this year now that he was the same age. She was overjoyed to show her husband and son the serene beauty of the North Rim for the first time, and to bring her dad back to one of his favorite places in the world.
Carney said she was heartbroken Sunday to hear that such a “magical place” had burned down. After evacuating, the family from Georgia relocated to the South Rim to continue their vacation and they could see the blaze from across the canyon.
“We told my son while visiting that this is now a family tradition and he should bring his children when they are 12,” Carney said. I hope there will be something as magnificent for them to see in the future, and I’m so glad we got to have one final look at it in the present before it was lost.”
Aramark, the company that operated the lodge, said all employees and guests were safely evacuated.
“As stewards of some our country’s most beloved national treasures, we are devastated by the loss,” said spokesperson Debbie Albert.
An original lodge burned down from a kitchen fire in 1932, four years after construction was completed, according to the Grand Canyon Historical Society. The redesigned lodge using the original stonework opened in 1937.
Thomas Sulpizio, president of the historical society, said the lodge contained some valuable archives that he wasn’t sure were saved.
The lobby also contained a famous 600-pound bronze statue of a donkey named “Brighty the Burro.”
Meanwhile, officials reported progress in battling a second wildfire burning north of the Grand Canyon. Fire lines on the White Sage Fire that forced evacuations at the North Rim and in the community of Jacob Lake were holding, officials said. By Sunday afternoon the fire had charred 63 square miles (162 square kilometers) of terrain.
On the southern edge of the fire, hand crews and bulldozers were working uphill, and the spread of the blaze had been minimal.
But to the east and north, the fire has spread rapidly, with grasses and standing dead trees contributing to the fire’s intensity, officials said. The fire was pushing downhill toward the Vermilion Cliffs area, and crews were assessing opportunities to create buffer zones that help slow or halt the fire’s progress.
Wildfire closes national park in Colorado
Elsewhere, one of several wildfires burning in Colorado that closed Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, about 260 miles (420 kilometers) southwest of Denver, has burned 5.6 square miles (14.5 square kilometers) and forced the evacuation of homes near the park. The fire was started by lightning on Thursday on the south rim of the park, a dramatic, deep gorge carved by the Gunnison River.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued a disaster declaration on Sunday because of it and other fires burning in western Colorado. His office said they were all started the same day by the same storm.
Another wildfire burning near the Colorado-Utah border near La Sal, Utah, also started Thursday and has burned around 14 square miles (36.3 square kilometers).
South Korea medical students end 17-month class boycott
- South Korean health care was plunged into chaos early last year when then-president Yoon Suk Yeol moved to sharply increase medical school admissions
- The initiative met fierce protest, prompting junior doctors to walk away from hospitals and medical students to boycott their classrooms
SEOUL: Thousands of South Korean medical students are set to return to classrooms after a 17-month boycott, an industry body said Monday, ending part of a standoff which also saw junior doctors strike.
South Korean health care was plunged into chaos early last year when then-president Yoon Suk Yeol moved to sharply increase medical school admissions, citing an urgent need to boost doctor numbers to meet growing demand in a rapidly aging society.
The initiative met fierce protest, prompting junior doctors to walk away from hospitals and medical students to boycott their classrooms, with operations canceled and service provision disrupted nationwide.
The measure was later watered down, and the government eventually offered to scrap it in March 2025, after Yoon was impeached over his disastrous declaration of martial law.
“Students have agreed to return to school,” a spokesperson for the Korean Medical Association said Monday, adding that it was up to each medical school to decide the schedule for student returns.
The Korean Medical Students’ Association said in an earlier statement that the students had reached this decision because a continued boycott “could cause the collapse of the fundamentals of medical systems.”
Some 8,300 students are expected to return to school, but no specific timeline has been provided.
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok welcomed the decision, calling it a “big step forward” in a Facebook post Sunday, adding President Lee Jae Myung was deliberating ways to solve the issue.
In addition to the student boycott, some 12,000 junior doctors went on strike last year – with the vast majority of them still declining to return to work.
Lee – who took office in June after winning snap elections following Yoon’s removal from office – had said on the campaign trail he would seek to resolve the medical strike.
The increase in medical school admissions led to a record number of students re-taking the college entrance exam in November in a bid to capitalize on reforms that made it easier to get into coveted majors.
