Other Security News
COVID-19 Pandemic News

Other Security News

• Senior U.S. Democrats Demand Russia Sanctions Over 2020 Election Interference RFE/RL 25 Feb 2020 -- U.S. Senate Democratic leaders have urged the administration of President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Russia after U.S. intelligence officials briefed members of Congress that Russia was again trying to interfere in a national election.

COVID-19 Pandemic News

• Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation report - 36 WHO 25 February 2020
• WHO Emergencies Press Conference on coronavirus disease outbreak - 25 February 2020 WHO


• Trump Seeks $2.5B to Fight Coronavirus as China, S. Korea Report More Cases VOA 25 Feb 2020 -- China and South Korea reported more cases of a new coronavirus Tuesday, as stock markets in Japan had a second consecutive rough session following a day of global losses and U.S. President Donald Trump sought $2.5 billion from Congress to fight the outbreak.
• US Health Agency Warns of Imminent Coronavirus Outbreak in US Communities VOA 25 Feb 2020 -- U.S. citizens should expect coronavirus outbreaks in their communities, warns the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• US Military Reports First Coronavirus Infection in S. Korea VOA 25 Feb 2020 -- A U.S. soldier has tested positive for the coronavirus, U.S. military officials in South Korea said Wednesday - the first confirmed infection of a U.S. service member.
• Cities tighten measures against import virus spread Global Times 25 Feb 2020 -- Several Chinese cities raised their alert and implemented strict entry measures on Tuesday by asking all foreign visitors to undergo quarantine amid rising fears of the fast-spreading outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Japan and South Korea, aiming to prevent overseas cases of infection.
• Wuhan remains locked up amid 'strictest-ever' measures Global Times 25 Feb 2020 -- Despite positive signs, China's health authorities announced Tuesday that epidemic prevention and control of COVID-19 in the epicenter Wuhan will continue the "strictest-ever" measures, while top officials of Hubei Province warned that the complex epidemic situation required that related authorities should be cautious rather than trust in luck.
• Hong Kong schools not to resume classes before April 20 due to COVID-19 outbreak People's Daily 25 Feb 2020 -- Schools in Hong Kong will remain closed until April 20 at the earliest due to the ongoing outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the education secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said on Tuesday.
• Officials in China's Wuhan Deny Reports of Elderly Care Home Fever Deaths Radio Free Asia 25 Feb 2020 -- The coronavirus has claimed the lives of elderly care home residents in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, with outbreaks likely in other similar facilities, local media reported, amid strenuous denials from local government officials.
• Taiwan raises travel alert for Italy due to coronavirus outbreak CNA 25 Feb 2020 -- The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday raised its travel alert for Italy to Level 2, citing a surge in the number of novel coronavirus cases there over the past week to more than 200.
• Eleven-year-old boy confirmed as Taiwan's 31st COVID-19 case: CECC CNA 25 Feb 2020 -- An 11-year-old boy has been confirmed as Taiwan's 31st case of the COVID-19 coronavirus, part of a family cluster also responsible for cases 27-30, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Tuesday.
• Law passes to disclose personal information of quarantine offenders CNA 25 Feb 2020 -- Taiwan's Legislative Yuan passed an article Tuesday to allow the government to disclose the personal information of offenders who flout COVID-19 coronavirus quarantine rules.
• Another relative confirmed in Taiwan's latest familial cluster of COVID-19 infection People's Daily 25 Feb 2020 -- Another relative of the 27th COVID-19 patient in Taiwan was confirmed to be infected Tuesday, raising the total number of COVID-19 cases to 31 on the island, according to the island's epidemic monitoring agency.
• Iran's Deputy Health Minister, Tehran Lawmaker Hit By Coronavirus RFE/RL 25 Feb 2020 -- Iran's deputy health minister and a reformist politician have reported they have tested positive for the new coronavirus as the crisis over the outbreak continued to mount in the country.
• Pompeo Demands 'Truth About Coronavirus' As Iran Reports More Deaths RFE/RL 25 Feb 2020 -- The new coronavirus has killed an additional three people in Iran, bringing the total to 16 - the highest death toll outside the disease's focal point in China - as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on February 25 demanded that Tehran "tell the truth" about the outbreak, voicing alarm at allegations of a cover-up.
• Zarif calls for regional cooperation to fight coronavirus IRNA 25 Feb 2020 -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a message said coronavirus has no border and called for more regional cooperation to fight the epidemic.
• Minister issues directive for mass production of antiseptic, sanitary masks IRNA 25 Feb 2020 -- Iran's Minister of Defense Brigadier-General Ali Hatami in a decree on Tuesday assigned different industries affiliated to Defense Ministry to mass produce hygienic gels and standard sanitary masks to help prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country.
• Coronavirus death toll mounts to 15 in Iran IRNA 25 Feb 2020 -- Coronavirus death toll mounted to 15 in Iran, Iranian Health Ministry for public relations director said on Tuesday, adding that a total of 95 people have been affected by coronavirus in Iran.
• Iran deputy health minister contracts coronavirus, vows decisive fight Press TV 25 Feb 2020 -- Speaking from the quarantine, Iran's vice health minister announces that he has tested positive for the new coronavirus, but expresses certitude that the country will overpower the epidemic over the upcoming weeks.
• Medics: Iran will soon contain spread of coronavirus, many patients recovering Press TV 25 Feb 2020 -- Medical officials have assured that Iran will, in the near future, rein in the spread of a flu-like virus originating from China, and that conditions of most of the patients diagnosed with the new coronavirus have improved.
• Former WHO Official: 'Temporary' Sanctions Relief Needed to Help North Korea VOA 25 Feb 2020 -- A former World Health Organization official with extensive experience in Pyongyang is calling for the international community to grant "temporary" sanctions relief to North Korea to help the country fight the coronavirus that has triggered health emergencies in neighboring China and South Korea.
• North Korea Quarantines 1,300 Suspected Coronavirus Patients in Large Pyongyang Hotel Radio Free Asia 25 Feb 2020 -- Authorities in North Korea have isolated about 1,300 residents in a makeshift quarantine station at a hotel in the capital Pyongyang, as worries about the possible spread of the novel coronavirus intensify in the isolated country.
• As Italy Battles Coronavirus, Neighbors Mull Border Controls VOA 25 Feb 2020 -- Italian officials are scrambling to contain an outbreak of coronavirus, or COVID-19, after separate cases were confirmed Tuesday in Tuscany and Sicily, which is hundreds of kilometers away from the north of the country, where nearly a dozen towns are on lockdown following 10 virus-related deaths.
• Countries stepping up efforts to fight new coronavirus Press TV 25 Feb 2020 -- Countries throughout the globe are escalating efforts to contain an outbreak of the new coronavirus that has so far infected over 77,650 people, mainly in China.
• Austria, Switzerland, other European states confirm first coronavirus cases Press TV 25 Feb 2020 -- Several European countries, including Austria and Switzerland, have confirmed their first cases of the new coronavirus.
• Pakistan taking effective measures to deal with coronavirus challenge: Health advisor IRNA 25 Feb 2020 -- Pakistan's Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services has claimed the government is taking every possible measure to deal with a possible outbreak of coronavirus in the country.
• S.Korea confirms 144 more cases of COVID-19, 977 in total People's Daily 25 Feb 2020 -- South Korea confirmed 144 more cases of the COVID-19 on Tuesday, raising the total number of infections to 977, and the death toll rose to 10.
• Armenia To Repatriate Citizens From Iran Amid Coronavirus Outbreak RFE/RL 25 Feb 2020 -- Armenia will repatriate dozens of its citizens from Iran, one of the countries hardest hit by the new coronavirus outbreak outside China.
• Remote Part of Myanmar Faces Food Shortages After China Border Closed Over Coronavirus Radio Free Asia 25 Feb 2020 -- Two townships in northern Myanmar's Kachin state face shortages of food staples, including rice, and rising prices, after China shut down border checkpoints in an effort to contain its coronavirus outbreak, a local lawmaker said Tuesday.
• WHO calls China's antivirus effort 'aggressive, agile' People's Daily 25 Feb 2020 -- While the substantial recent slowdown in the spread of novel coronavirus in China is real, and it is now reasonable to restore work activities step by step, health experts warned that risks abound of the virus flaring up again and they cautioned against complacency, the WHO-China Joint Mission on COVID-19 said at a news conference after its one-week field investigations in China.
• COVID-19 has pandemic potential, but "not yet" there: WHO chief People's Daily 25 Feb 2020 -- The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that although COVID-19 has the potential to become a global pandemic, it has yet to be there based upon WHO assessment.
• China reports 508 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, 71 new deaths People's Daily 25 Feb 2020 -- Chinese health authority said Tuesday it received reports of 508 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 71 deaths on Monday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
• Chinese hospitals discharge 27,323 recovered patients of coronavirus infection People's Daily 25 Feb 2020 -- A total of 27,323 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Monday, Chinese health authority said Tuesday.
• New COVID-19 cases drop to 9 outside Hubei People's Daily 25 Feb 2020 -- China's daily new confirmed cases of COVID-19 outside Hubei Province, epicenter of the outbreak, dropped to nine on Monday, according to the National Health Commission.
• China's newly recovered coronavirus patients outnumber new infections for 7th consecutive day People's Daily 25 Feb 2020 -- China's daily number of newly cured and discharged novel coronavirus patients has surpassed that of new infections for the seventh consecutive day, according to the National Health Commission Tuesday.
• 64 people affected by COVID-19 in Iran People's Daily 25 Feb 2020 -- The outbreak of novel coronavirus disease in Iran has affected 64 people, and 12 of them have died, Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of Ministry of Health and Medical Education, announced on Monday.
• Iraqi nationals banned from traveling to Iran IRNA 25 Feb 2020 -- Iran's Embassy in Baghdad in a statement on Monday announced that Iraqis' visit to Iran is forbidden until March 6.
• France sees no need to close borders near Italy, but raises vigilance over coronavirus People's Daily 25 Feb 2020 -- Despite the spread of the novel coronavirus in Italy, the worst-hit in Europe, French officials do not envisage to close the country's border nor impose control at the frontiers, but pledge to reinforce precaution measures to contain an eventual virus outbreak.
• Coronavirus-related death toll rises to seven in Italy People's Daily 25 Feb 2020 -- The number of coronavirus-related fatalities in Italy rose to seven as regional authorities in the northern Lombardy region announced another death on Monday evening.
• Oman announces first two cases of COVID-19 People's Daily 25 Feb 2020 -- The Omani Ministry of Health announced the country's first two cases of COVID-19 on Monday.
• Anti-COVID-19 Fight Gains Momentum in DPRK Uriminzokkiri 25 Feb 2020 -- Anti-epidemic information campaign is growing more intense in different parts of the DPRK to prevent COVID-19 from entering the country.