World Briefs

IRAN The new virus has killed two elderly Iranian citizens, the state-run IRNA news agency reported early today. IRNA quoted Alireza Vahabzadeh, an adviser to the country’s health minister, as saying that both of the victims had been carrying the coronavirus and were located in Qom, about 140 kilometers south of the capital Tehran. No additional details were released.

LAOS China’s top diplomat assured his Southeast Asian counterparts that the situation in a central Chinese province where the outbreak of a new virus began has “been brought under effective control.” Foreign Minister Wang Yi (pictured) also expressed confidence that China can “secure an early victory against this outbreak.” Wang made the remarks in a speech to diplomats from the ASEAN in Vientiane. Six countries in the 10-nation bloc have confirmed cases of the virus.

JAPAN About 500 passengers left the cruise ship Diamond Princess yesterday at the end of a much-criticized two-week quarantine aboard the vessel, docked in Japan, that failed to stop the spread of the new virus among passengers and crew. The quarantine’s flop was underlined as authorities announced 79 more cases, bringing the total on the ship to 621. More on p7

SOUTH KOREA Fans of South Korean club Suwon Bluewings had to submit a medical questionnaire, wear a mask and have their temperature taken before watching the team play in the Asian Champions League yesterday. Then the team lost to Vissel Kobe 1-0 on a last-minute goal from Kyogo Furuhashi.

RUSSIA will still issue official, business, humanitarian and transit visas to Chinese nationals, the country’s Foreign Ministry said, clarifying the conditions of a sweeping entry ban for Chinese citizens announced the day before. The ban goes into effect on Thursday at midnight Moscow time. It was imposed due to the “worsening epidemiological situation” in China, the office of Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said.

DUBAI A small instrument inside the drones that targeted the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry and those in the arsenal of Yemen’s Houthi rebels match components recovered in downed Iranian drones in Afghanistan and Iraq. These gyroscopes have only been found inside drones manufactured by Iran, Conflict Armament Research said in a report released on yesterday. That follows a report from the U.N. saying its experts saw a similar gyroscope from an Iranian drone obtained by the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

ETHIOPIA America’s top diplomat yesterday asserted that South Africa’s plan to allow expropriation of private property without compensation would be “disastrous” for the country’s economy and its people. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pictured) made the comments in an address in Ethiopia on the final day of an Africa visit largely aimed at countering China’s influence on the continent of more than 1.2 billion people.