World Briefs

JAPAN Two elderly passengers taken off the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess because they were infected with the new virus have died, Japan’s Health Ministry said yesterday, becoming the first fatalities from the virus-stricken vessel. Japan now has three deaths linked to the COVID-19 illness.

AUSTRALIA Around 180 Australians evacuated from a virus-stricken cruise ship in Japan arrived in the city of Darwin to begin a second quarantine period. The former cruise ship passengers will spend the next two weeks in a camp facility near Darwin, health officials said. The new coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 illness has infected more than 620 people on the Diamond Princess.

THAILAND’s government is scrambling to cope with new travel restrictions after Israel banned the citizens of Thailand and three other Asian countries and territories from entering over concerns about a new virus. Israel this week announced it was refusing entry to all foreign nationals who traveled to Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau during the past 14 days. Israel has so far confirmed no cases of COVID-19 infections inside the country.

LAOS Southeast Asia’s top diplomats praised China’s handling of the virus outbreak and pledged to help fight the disease that emerged in a central Chinese city and spread in the region and around the world. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi highlighted the unprecedented steps his country has taken to contain the two-month outbreak in an emergency meeting with his Southeast Asian counterparts.

HONG KONG Volunteers from a theater group are turning their backstage skills to helping fight the new virus, sewing reusable protective face masks for those who can’t access or afford them. The group Nonsensemakers have turned a theater rehearsal room into a temporary handmade mask factory. With the help of friends they met online, they have been working to produce 400 fabric masks that can be reused by throwing away the inner lining.

INDIA A bus collided at high speed with a truck on a highway in southern India yesterday, killing at least 19 people, police said. The bus driver was among the dead, but the truck driver survived the head-on collision, said police officer Sauranya, who uses one name. She said nine injured people were hospitalized and others were allowed to go home after treatment. The accident occurred near Avinashi, a town in Tamil Nadu state.

GERMANY A 43-year-old German man shot and killed nine people at several locations in a Frankfurt suburb overnight in attacks that appear to have been motivated by far-right beliefs. The gunman first attacked a hookah bar in central Hanau last night, killing several people before heading about 2.5 kilometers west and opening fire again, claiming more victims.