World Briefs

IRAN The head of Iran’s counter-coronavirus task force has tested positive for the virus himself , showing the challenges facing the Islamic Republic amid concerns the outbreak may be far wider than officially acknowledged. The announcement regarding Iraj Harirchi came after he gave a news conference with journalists in Tehran about the virus just one day prior, seeking to minimize the danger posed by the outbreak.

INDIA-US Defending the host who has showered him with pomp and pageantry, President Donald Trump refused yesterday to speak out publicly against a controversial new Indian citizenship law pushed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has sparked deadly protests over discrimination against Muslims. “I don’t want to discuss that. I want to leave that to India,” Trump told reporters.

US The White House sent lawmakers an urgent $2.5 billion plan to address the deadly coronavirus outbreak, whose rapid spread and threat to the global economy rocked financial markets. The White House budget office said the funds are for vaccines, treatment and protective equipment. The request was immediately slammed by Democrats as insufficient.

AUSTRIA Public broadcaster ORF reports that authorities have confirmed the first COVID-19 cases in the Alpine country. ORF quoted authorities in the western state of Tyrol saying that one of the two confirmed cases involved a person from northern Italy. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the individual had recently traveled there. ORF reported that the patients currently have a slight fever and are being isolated at an Innsbruck hospital.

US Democratic rivals to Bernie Sanders are preparing to try to knock him off his front-runner perch in a debate today before a critical South Carolina primary that could dramatically reshape the race. With mounting fear among the Democratic establishment that the self-described democratic socialist is on the verge of gaining a significant lead, several candidates are resorting to a last ditch effort to stop him.

GREECE Riot police and residents clashed for several hours on the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios, as protesters tried to prevent authorities from bringing excavating machines from the mainland to build new migrant detention camps. Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds that gathered to try and stop police from disembarking from government-chartered ferries.

EGYPT Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian leader who was the autocratic face of stability in the Middle East for nearly 30 years before being forced from power in an Arab Spring uprising, died yesterday, aged 91. Mubarak was a stalwart U.S. ally, a bulwark against Islamic militancy and guardian of Egypt’s peace with Israel. His overthrow, however, plunged the country into years of chaos and uncertainty.