World briefs

INDONESIA’s most active volcano erupted yesterday, spewing sand and pyroclastic material and sending a massive column of smoke and ash as high as 6,000 meters into the sky. The eruption of Mount Merapi unleashed searing gas clouds and ash that made rain thick and muddy in several villages.

BRITISH authorities laid out plans yesterday to confront a COVID-19 epidemic, saying that the new coronavirus could spread within weeks from a few dozen confirmed cases to millions of infections, with thousands of people in the U.K. at risk of death. Officials hope the most drastic measures won’t be needed.

ENGLAND prop Mako Vunipola has gone into self-isolation because of the virus outbreak after travelling through Asia and may miss his team’s last two Six Nations rugby matches. Vunipola returned at the weekend from Tonga, but flew through virus-hit Hong Kong.

GLOBAL OUTBREAK Fine wines and hipster gin. Hunting rifles and knives. Contemporary paintings and million-dollar sports cars. They’re all marketed at trade events that are quickly going dark across the globe due to the new coronavirus – and taking with them sales opportunities that may be difficult to make up.

FRANCE Chanel staged a comparatively low-key affair for Paris Fashion Week as the coronavirus outbreak kept many of the regular VIPs and fashion editors away. The stalwart Parisian design house streamed its show online. Some of the guests who came to see Chanel’s fall collection up close yesterday wore CC-branded face masks.

USA In a surprise move, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a sizable half-percentage point  yesterday in an effort to support the economy in the face of the spreading coronavirus. Chairman Jerome Powell (pictured) said at a news conference that the virus “will surely weigh on economic activity both here and abroad for some time.”

USA Tornadoes ripped across Tennessee yesterday, shredding at least 40 buildings and killing at least 19 people. One of the twisters caused severe damage across downtown Nashville, destroying the stained glass in a historic church and leaving hundreds of people homeless. Daybreak revealed a landscape littered with blown-down walls and roofs, snapped power lines and huge broken trees, leaving city streets in gridlock. 

IRAN has nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since November in violation of its deal with world powers and is refusing to answer questions about three possible undeclared nuclear sites, the U.N. atomic watchdog agency said. The International Atomic Energy Agency made the statement in a confidential report distributed to member countries that was seen by The Associated Press.