News

Yahoo News reports: Thousands of people rushed to flee Northern Italy after plans by the government for a 16-million-person quarantine were leaked to the media ahead of time. Italy on Sunday shut down its Northern Lombardy region, which includes Milan, and 14 nearby provinces, a lockdown that is due to last until at least April 3. In Italy’s south dozens …

The Middle East Eye reports: A recently elected Iranian member of parliament died on Saturday from the novel coronavirus, state news agency IRNA has reported. Fatemeh Rahbar, 55, was a conservative MP from the capital Tehran who was elected in last month’s general election. Her party won the most seats in a vote that was marred by the lowest turnout …

The BBC reports: Dublin has cancelled its annual St Patrick’s Day parade amid fears about the spread of coronavirus, Irish broadcaster RTÉ has reported. Earlier on Monday, Cork moved to cancel its parade, the second largest in the country attracting up to 50,000 people. The city council said public welfare was paramount and cancellation was the correct decision. Irish Health …

The Washington Post reports: D.C. officials on Monday urged hundreds who attended Christ Church Georgetown on several recent days to self-quarantine because of their exposure to the Rev. Timothy Cole, the church rector who is the first known coronavirus patient in the District. Cole tested positive for coronavirus Saturday and is hospitalized at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in stable condition. …

Reuters reports: Italy ordered a virtual lockdown across much of its wealthy north, including the financial capital Milan, in a drastic new attempt to try to contain a outbreak of coronavirus that saw the number of deaths leap again sharply on Sunday. The unprecedented restrictions, which aim to limit gatherings and curb movement, will impact some 16 million people and …

The New York Times reports: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has detained three members of the royal family, including a brother of the king and a former crown prince, a sign of how fully Crown Prince Mohammed has consolidated power, and that he may have seen a potential threat to it. The detentions were disclosed Friday by a member of …

CNN reports: The top editor at the Washington Examiner, a leading conservative news organization, instructed staff in recent months to refrain from writing negative stories about Fox News, according to two people familiar with the matter. The people who spoke to CNN Business said that they believed the Examiner’s editor in chief, Hugo Gurdon, handed down the order because he …

Miami’s PBS affiliate reports: Miami elected officials and administrators are announcing that this year’s the annual Calle Ocho Festival, part of Carnaval Miami and sponsored by Kiwanis of Little Havana, will be canceled over the potential spread of coronavirus. Calle Ocho Festival, which was scheduled for March 15, attracts hundreds of thousands of people each year to heart of Little …

Gothamist reports: Train cars and buses are being cleaned daily, and the entire fleet is getting a deep clean every 72 hours. Meanwhile, surfaces in stations will also be getting wipe downs—turnstiles, MetroCard and ticket vending machines, slam gates, benches, elevator buttons, and handrails will be disinfected daily. Governor Andrew Cuomo specified that the weapon of choice here is bleach …

The New York Post reports: An additional nine New Yorkers have tested positive for coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday, ballooning the total numbers of cases to 22 statewide. Eight of the new cases are in Westchester, connected to a single New Rochelle lawyer, identified by sources as 50-year-old Lawrence Garbuz, while the ninth is on Long Island, Cuomo said. …

The Los Angeles Times reports: California reported its first death related to coronavirus on Wednesday. Placer County Public Health officials announced that a patient who had tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from a cruise to Mexico last month died. The individual was an elderly adult with underlying health conditions and was the county’s second confirmed case of COVID-19, reported …

Courthouse News reports: An attorney for a men’s rights group argued Tuesday before the Fifth Circuit that the military’s all-male draft registration system, which the Supreme Court upheld in 1981, should now be struck down as unconstitutional. Marc Angelucci, representing the National Coalition for Men and two men challenging the male-only draft, said a 2015 decision by the military to …

The New York Post reports: A hospital worker who became New Hampshire’s first coronavirus patient had been ordered to self-isolate — but went to a college’s business event instead, health officials have revealed. The selfish Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center staffer showed symptoms after returning from a trip to Italy, and was told to stay home while awaiting the test result, which …

Bloomberg News reports: Italy will shut down schools across the country until mid-March to curb the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, newswire Ansa reported. The closure, which starts Thursday, is aimed at tackling the outbreak of the highly contagious disease, which has killed 79 people in the country and crippled the rich northern regions. As many as 8.7 million children …

CNN reports: Former CNN anchor Bobbie Battista has passed away at the age of 67, according to a family spokeswoman. Battista passed away on Tuesday morning after a four year battle with cervical cancer, according to Wendy Guarisco, family spokeswoman. “Bobbie was the consummate trooper in her struggle with cancer, she was courageous and fearless in her battle and thoughtful …

The New York Post reports: A New Rochelle man has been confirmed to have the coronavirus — making him the second person in the state to have the illness, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday — as two Jewish private schools closed, including one in The Bronx attended by one of the man’s children. The Westchester County man — an attorney …

Reuters reports: Pope Francis, who canceled a Lent retreat for the first time in his papacy because he is suffering from a cold, has tested negative for coronavirus, the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero reported on Tuesday. 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 …

Mediaite reports: Chris Matthews announced his resignation from MSNBC Monday night after more than two decades at the network. The MSNBC mainstay made the stunning at the start of Monday’s night edition of Hardball, a show that has for years been a staple of the network’s politics programming. It also became a headache for MSNBC brass in recent weeks as …

Entertainment Weekly reports: James Lipton, the elegant, articulate wordsmith and theater academic whose desire to give his acting students a greater insight into their art led to the popular Bravo series Inside the Actors Studio, has died. He was 93. Lipton passed away early Monday at his home in Manhattan from bladder cancer. Conceived by Lipton in 1994, Inside the …

Agence France-Presse reports: The Taliban said Monday they were resuming offensive operations against Afghan security forces, ending the partial truce that preceded the signing of a deal between the insurgents and Washington. The declaration comes only a day after President Ashraf Ghani said he would continue the partial truce at least until talks between Afghan officials and the Taliban kick-off, …