Live updates: Coronavirus deaths soar as U.S. warns on China travel - The Washington Post

Glenn Hunt

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Flight attendants in protective face masks at Brisbane airport in Australia on Friday. The number of confirmed cases soared to almost 10,000, with more than 213 deaths recorded in China.

As the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak passed 200 on Friday, all of the fatalities in China, the State Department told Americans not to travel to the country and advised those in China to consider departing. Here is what we know:

●The United States has issued a “Level 4” travel advisory for China, its highest level of caution over the rapidly spreading outbreak. Japan followed suit, urging citizens to avoid non-urgent trips, while Singapore banned Chinese nationals from entering or transiting through the city.

●Two cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Britain. South Korea reported an 11th case.

●China, anxious to shield Communist Party leaders from blame, dismissed a public health official over her handling of the crisis.

●The World Health Organization has declared the virus a global public health emergency, requiring states to ramp up responses.

●In Hong Kong, officials closed schools until March as the number of confirmed cases rose to 12 and residents faced supply shortages.

WHO declares global emergency | U.S. reports first person-to-person transmission | Trump under growing pressure | U.S. airports screen travelers | Mapping the spread

8:41 AM: Italian government sets six-month state of emergency

ROME — The Italian government said it will impose a six-month state of emergency, as the country confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus.

The declaration — set to be officially announced later Friday — will free up funding and resources aimed at preventing the virus from spreading.

The Italian move came in response to WHO’s declaration of a “public health emergency of international concern,” which requires countries to ramp up their crisis response.

“In light of WHO’s international emergency we have activated all of the precautionary legal tools allowed by our country in such cases, just like in 2003 with the SARS outbreak,” Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said in a statement.

Italy also suspended “all plane connections between Italy and China, until further notice,” according to a statement by the Italian Civil Aviation Authority.

States of emergency are declared relatively frequently in Italy, compared to other major European nations. A similar emergency was declared in Venice in November, when floods engulfed the city.

Even though both France and Germany have reported more coronavirus cases than Italy, neither have taken steps comparable to the Italian declaration.

By: Stefano Pitrelli and Rick Noack

8:10 AM: First coronavirus cases confirmed in Russia

MOSCOW – The first two coronavirus cases in Russia have been recorded, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told reporters Friday. Both are Chinese citizens, she said.

One case is in Russia’s Far East Transbaikal Territory, a region that borders China, while the other is in the Tyumen Region, about 1,300 miles east of Moscow.

Golikova also announced that most flights to and from China have been suspended. The exceptions are Aeroflot’s regular routes to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou and Chinese Airlines’ flight to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. Other preventative measures include imposing stricter border-crossing restrictions for those traveling from Mongolia.

Russia has already closed its entire 2,600-mile border with China over concerns of a coronavirus outbreak, and the country put out an advisory Friday for citizens to avoid hugging, kissing and literally letting their hair down to prevent the spread of the disease.

Along with a suggestion to cut down on the displays of affection, including handshakes, and securing hair back to limit contact with the face, Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s consumer health regulator, said not to touch railings or doorknobs with bare hands.

Golikova said a decision on if to postpone an investment forum in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi amid concerns of a coronavirus outbreak will be made on Monday. The Russian Investment Forum is scheduled for Feb. 12, and one argument for pushing it is the large Chinese delegation that was due to attend. Russia and China did $110 billion in trade last year.

By:Isabelle Khurshudyan

8:09 AM: Japan to tighten restricitions on Chinese nationals, Abe says

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday his government would bar any foreigner from entering the country if they had been in the virus-hit Chinese city in the previous two weeks, and also exclude any Chinese national whose passport was issued by the provincial government of Hubei, media reports said.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the plan to tighten immigration controls would be officially announced at midnight Japan time. In a statement it said Abe had told a specially constituted task force to deal with the crisis to implement measures so that “people infected with the virus will be denied entry into Japan.” Abe added that immigration controls must be strengthened even when the presence of the infection can’t be confirmed. Nikkei and NHK both reported the details of the new plan.

Singapore on Friday banned all Chinese nationals from entering or transiting through the city-state, as well as any travelers who have been in mainland China in the past two weeks.

By: Simon Denyer

7:45 AM: China dismisses public health official

HONG KONG — Mindful of the political danger, China dismissed a public health official — her departure publicized by state mouthpieces in a rare, officially sanctioned show of accountability. Tang Zhihong, the health commission head of Huanggang, a city in Hubei province with the second-largest number of cases after Wuhan, was interviewed by a state broadcaster and fumbled her answers on the city’s response to the crisis. She could not state the number of available hotel beds in her city, nor its capacity to test for the virus.

After the clip was viewed some 40 million times, Tang was dismissed on Thursday night, becoming the first Chinese official to lose her job over the crisis. Her removal was carried in English by the Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper, which described her as “bumbling.”

By: Shibani Mahtani

7:30AM: First cases confirmed in Britain add to global spread

HONG KONG: The outbreak, meanwhile, continues to spread. Britain on Friday confirmed the first two cases of coronavirus in England. “We have been preparing for U.K. cases of novel coronavirus and we have robust infection control measures in place to respond immediately,” chief medical officer Chris Whitty said.

In South Korea, health officials reported an 11th case. Earlier Friday, 368 South Korean evacuees from Wuhan arrived home on a government-chartered flight. They were screened for symptoms, with 18 taken to the hospital and the remainder placed in quarantine.

Germany and India, which have each confirmed cases of coronavirus, were preparing to evacuate their citizens in Wuhan by plane. More than 350 names were featured on a list drawn up by Indian officials, while Germany was planning to retrieve about 100 people.

Elsewhere, Mongolia extended the closure of its border crossings with China until March 2 and said it would not allow Chinese citizens to enter the country. Pakistan said it was halting flights to and from China with immediate effect.

By: Shibani Mahtani

7:15 AM: Significant fallout for Chinese travelers globally

HONG KONG — The fallout has been significant for Chinese travelers globally. Dozens of airlines have suspended flights to the country and many companies have urged their staff to stay away. From Italy to the Philippines, hotels and ports have been turning away Chinese citizens over fears that they may be infected.

The response at times has morphed into outright racism. In France, the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus — “I am not a virus” — began trending, with those of Asian descent sharing their experiences of racism after a newspaper used the headline “Yellow Alert” to describe the outbreak.

Restaurants in South Korea have put up signs turning away Chinese clients. A student in Britain wrote in the Guardian that commuters have avoided sitting next to him because of his ethnicity. And after 7,000 people were held on a cruise ship in an Italian port over unfounded fears that two of its Chinese passengers were infected with the virus, officials have warned of latent and widespread racism against the Chinese community.

By: Shibani Mahtani

5:00 AM: State Department travel advisory an ‘extreme’ step, expert warns

HONG KONG — The State Department issued a travel advisory urging Americans not to visit China, the highest level of caution that is in place against only a handful of countries including Iraq and Afghanistan, as the numbers of those infected by the deadly coronavirus continued to soar.

The U.S. travel advisory, analysts say, represents a strong reaction from Washington amid rivalry with Beijing and pressure from the Trump administration for American businesses to shift production back home. The step is likely to have substantial implications for the Chinese economy, even though the warning is not mandatory for U.S. travelers to observe.

But James Zimmerman, partner in the Beijing office of law firm Perkins Coie LLP and former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said in light of the departure arrangement, the State Department’s travel warning appeared “extreme.”

It is “premature and suspect, and overreacting at best,” he said Friday. “The advisory is a clear reflection of how fear and a lack of trustworthy information can be an insidious combination.”

By: Shibani Mahtani

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2020-01-31 14:03:00Z
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Coronavirus outbreak declared a global emergency as virus spreads from one person to another for first time in U.S. - CBS News

An American citizen stuck in Wuhan says panic is rising in the quarantined city of 11 million as the U.S. government works to get about 1,000 Americans reportedly stuck in the locked down metropolis out.

"I just wish I could get my family off," Justin Steece told CBS News on Monday.  "We need to go to America." 

He and his wife Ling have lived in Wuhan for about a year and a half. Just three weeks ago she gave birth to their baby boy, Colm.

"Ling can't move because she had a c-section, so she can only do so much at the moment while she recovers fully," he said. "I have to go out; I have to get food, I have to do stuff like that, and my biggest fear is that I would go out, get sick not knowing it, and then come home and spread it to Ling and the baby."

U.S. embassy evacuates American citizens from Wuhan amid coronavirus outbreak

His wife doesn't yet have a U.S. visa, and Steece can't leave Wuhan to finish her paperwork under the lockdown. "Otherwise I would have evacuated with the rest of the people and gotten my wife and kid outta here," he told CBS News.

As the Chinese government races to try and contain the deadly virus, Steece said the efforts aren't really making anyone feel any better. "What you see, what the Chinese government is saying; 'oh it's calm, resolute,' the citizens are actually freaking out a little bit more than that," he said.

The State Department has chartered a flight to evacuate Americans from Wuhan on Tuesday, but Steece and his family won't be on it. It will carry U.S. consulate staff from Wuhan and some other U.S. citizens. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said passengers on that flight to San Francisco should "anticipate" being screened when they land.

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2020-01-31 12:33:00Z
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Brexit Live Updates: U.K.’s Final Hours in the E.U. - The New York Times

Here’s what you need to know:

• Britain approaches a historic change.
• “Dawn of a new era”: Johnson’s planned speech on Britain’s next act.
• Front pages reveal a divided Britain.
• Christine Lagarde offers reassurances, even as the specter of recession looms.
• E.U. leaders lament the loss and look to the future.

Flags were hung along the Mall, the ceremonial avenue leading up to Buckingham Palace in London, as part of the government’s muted celebrations.Credit...Mary Turner for The New York Times

Britain approaches a historic change.

At 11 p.m. on Friday — midnight in Brussels, and 6 p.m. in New York — Britain will officially depart from the European Union, 1,317 days after voting in favor of leaving the bloc in a referendum that plunged the country into a three-year-long debate over its future.

While this will be the official end of 47 years of Britain’s membership in what became the European Union, very little is set to change immediately. It’s the beginning of a transition period, scheduled to end on Dec. 31, during which London and Brussels must hash out the details of Britain’s future relationship with its European neighbors. Still, the moment carries enormous legal and symbolic weight.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his cabinet were to begin their day with a meeting in Sunderland, the city in northern England that was the first to announce it had voted in favor of leaving the European Union on the night of the 2016 referendum.

It was the first of a handful of celebratory, but noticeably muted, official events to mark the day, suggesting that a pro-Brexit government is seeking to avoid the appearance of gloating. In the referendum, 48 percent of voters wanted to remain part of the European Union, and later polls suggest that number may have grown since.

Flags will line Parliament Square and The Mall, the ceremonial avenue leading to Buckingham Palace, and government buildings will be lit up in the red, white and blue of the Union Jack.

A countdown clock will be projected onto the front of 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s official residence, along with a commemorative light display to “symbolize the strength and unity” of the four nations of the United Kingdom, the government said.

But a campaign for a celebratory 11 p.m. chime from Big Ben — the great bell of Parliament’s clock tower, which is currently silenced for restoration work — did not succeed.

In Brussels, the three presidents of the European Union institutions will give a joint statement Friday morning, expected to reflect a jointly published article in which they detail a hopeful future for the union.

“Dawn of a new era”: Johnson’s planned speech on Britain’s next act.

In the years of debate over Britain’s exit from the European Union, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was never one for nuance, even declaring that he would “rather be dead in a ditch” than see Brexit delayed again.

But as the hour of reckoning approaches, Downing Street has been remarkably subdued, not wanting to rub salt in the still raw wounds of those who desperately wanted to remain — about half the country.

When he addresses the nation tonight at 10 p.m., Mr. Johnson will attempt to strike a hopeful and conciliatory note.

“Our job as the government, my job, is to bring this country together and take us forward,” he will say, according to excerpts released by his office. “This is not an end but a beginning. This is the moment when the dawn breaks and the curtain goes up on a new act.”

Of course, the next year of negotiations over Britain’s future trade relationship with the European Union will play a large role in determining what that new act might look like.

But that concern was for another day. Mr. Johnson, instead, will use his remarks to convince the public that Brexit is “not an end but a beginning.”

“This is the dawn of a new era in which we no longer accept that your life chances — your family’s life chances — should depend on which part of the country you grow up in,” he will tell the nation. “This is the moment when we begin to unite and level up.”

Front pages reveal a divided Britain.

The front pages of the country’s main newspapers offered several interpretations of Britain’s final day in the European Union.

Some celebrated the coming of a new dawn while others offered a bleak picture of the twilight of an era of cooperation.

“Yes, We Did It!” declared the tabloid Daily Express, while The Daily Mail, another conservative, pro-Brexit paper, lauded “A New Dawn for Britain,” with a photograph of the sunbathed white cliffs of Dover, 62 miles from the French coast.

The liberal and pro-European Guardian offered the headline “Small island,” with a miniature union flag planted in a crumbling sand castle on a beach, the same white cliffs visible in the distance. What comes next is uncertain, the paper wrote, calling Brexit the biggest gamble in a generation.

The I, another paper with liberal leanings, had “U.K.’s leap into the unknown” overlaid on a satellite view of Western Europe at night, a perspective that emphasized Britain’s physical closeness to its European Union neighbors.

The headline on the Edinburgh-based The Scotsman was “Farewell, not goodbye,” with the British, Scottish and European flags — a nod to reinvigorated calls for Scottish independence from Britain. Scots voted against independence in a 2014 referendum, but then voted strongly to remain in European Union two years later.

That divergence from England has helped fuel calls for a second referendum on Scottish independence, with the suggestion that an independent Scotland could then rejoin the European Union.

For those Britons already missing Europe, The Times of London promoted a travel supplement full of European escapes and the “Best places to stay in touch with the Continent.” And, finally, The Daily Star saw a reason to celebrate, but not the one other tabloids were highlighting.

“Tonight is a TRULY HISTORIC moment for our great nation,” blared the cover of what it called a souvenir edition. “That’s right, it’s the end of dry January.”

Christine Lagarde offers reassurances, even as the specter of recession looms.

Christine Lagarde, Europe’s top central banker, said she was sorry that Britain was leaving the European Union, but offered assurances that the split could take place without disrupting the financial system.

“It is with great regret that we see our British friends leave the European Union,” Ms. Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, said in a statement. “We will work hard to ensure Brexit causes as little disruption as possible for the citizens, employers and financial markets in the euro area and the rest of the E.U.”

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England have already set up a system to swap pounds and euros to ensure that banks don’t run short of either currency. Bank regulators on both sides have agreed to continue sharing information. And the European Central Bank has already issued licenses for 25 banks relocating from Britain to the euro currency zone.

Britain was never a member of the eurozone. But as a member of the European Union it contributed about 58 million euros, or $64 million, to the European Central Bank’s capital. It will now get that money back.

But fears that Brexit could hurt the European economy may already be proving justified. The eurozone grew only 0.1 percent during the last three months of 2019 compared with the previous quarter, according to official statistics published on Friday.

That was a significant slowdown from previous quarters and meant that the 19 countries in the eurozone grew only 1.2 percent during last year, according to a preliminary estimate.

“The specter of recession is back,” Christoph Weil, an economist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, said in a note to investors on Friday.

Eurostat, the official statistics agency, didn’t give a reason for the slowdown. But one factor was probably the uncertainty caused by Brexit, which has made businesses hesitant to hire or to invest in expansion. Trade between the European Union and Britain has also shrunk since the country voted to leave.

E.U. leaders lament the loss and look to the future.

In an opinion article published across the European press, the presidents of the three main European Union institutions called Brexit Friday a “new dawn” for Europe.

After offering kind words on Britain’s departure, Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission, Charles Michel of the European Council and David Sassoli of the European Parliament tried to strike an upbeat tone.

“We need to look to the future and build a new partnership between enduring friends,” they wrote. “Together, our three institutions will do everything in their power to make it a success. We are ready to be ambitious.”

The article was published alongside a cheery video touting the European Union’s economic and climate-friendly credentials and maintaining that its remaining 27 members were “#strongertogether.”

Brussels wants the message to be clear, because while Britain’s departure has yet to inspire strong withdrawal movements in other countries, as some expected immediately after the 2016 referendum, many Europeans are disillusioned with the project of ever closer union.

“We have a common vision of where we want to go and a commitment to be ambitious on the defining issues of our times,” the three presidents said. “That work continues as soon as the sun rises tomorrow.”

Megan Specia, Elian Peltier, Jack Ewing, Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Michael Wolgelenter contributed reporting.

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2020-01-31 11:56:00Z
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Coronavirus outbreak declared a global emergency as virus spreads from one person to another for first time in U.S. - CBS News

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1. Coronavirus outbreak declared a global emergency as virus spreads from one person to another for first time in U.S.  CBS News
2. W.H.O. Declares Global Emergency as Wuhan Coronavirus Spreads  The New York Times
3. UK confirms first coronavirus cases as outbreak spreads globally  CNN International
4. Coronavirus and the Panic Epidemic  The New York Times
5. WHO declares coronavirus a global health emergency  ABC News
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2020-01-31 11:56:00Z
52780579291157

Coronavirus outbreak declared a global emergency as virus spreads from one person to another for first time in U.S. - CBS News

An American citizen stuck in Wuhan says panic is rising in the quarantined city of 11 million as the U.S. government works to get about 1,000 Americans reportedly stuck in the locked down metropolis out.

"I just wish I could get my family off," Justin Steece told CBS News on Monday.  "We need to go to America." 

He and his wife Ling have lived in Wuhan for about a year and a half. Just three weeks ago she gave birth to their baby boy, Colm.

"Ling can't move because she had a c-section, so she can only do so much at the moment while she recovers fully," he said. "I have to go out; I have to get food, I have to do stuff like that, and my biggest fear is that I would go out, get sick not knowing it, and then come home and spread it to Ling and the baby."

U.S. embassy evacuates American citizens from Wuhan amid coronavirus outbreak

His wife doesn't yet have a U.S. visa, and Steece can't leave Wuhan to finish her paperwork under the lockdown. "Otherwise I would have evacuated with the rest of the people and gotten my wife and kid outta here," he told CBS News.

As the Chinese government races to try and contain the deadly virus, Steece said the efforts aren't really making anyone feel any better. "What you see, what the Chinese government is saying; 'oh it's calm, resolute,' the citizens are actually freaking out a little bit more than that," he said.

The State Department has chartered a flight to evacuate Americans from Wuhan on Tuesday, but Steece and his family won't be on it. It will carry U.S. consulate staff from Wuhan and some other U.S. citizens. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said passengers on that flight to San Francisco should "anticipate" being screened when they land.

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2020-01-31 10:59:00Z
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Britain is leaving the European Union today. The hard part comes next - CNN

Despite this cataclysmic event, almost all of the immediate changes will be invisible to the public. The United Kingdom will enter the transition period that was agreed between the British government and the EU. And the terms of that agreement mean that for the next 11 months, the UK remains an EU member state in all but name.

What actually happens tonight?

The UK formally leaves the EU. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will address the nation in what can be presumed to be an optimistic message. Other Brexiteers will be celebrating in grander style, as parties are being held across the country -- including one opposite the Houses of Parliament, the body that thwarted Brexit so many times in 2019.

Remain voters will be holding similar protest events all over Britain.

The mood in Brussels will be somber. The Union flag will be removed from all EU institutions (one of which will be placed in a museum in Brussels) and senior EU politicians will probably make statements expressing that this is a sad day for Europe and that they want to remain the closest of friends with Europe.

What actually changes tonight?

In theory, quite a lot; in practice, very little. The UK might be leaving the EU, but as of 11:01 p.m., it will continue to obey all EU law and European courts. In the coming months, it will continue to pay into the EU budget and comply with any changes to EU law. That means that the only things that will change are largely symbolic. The UK will cease to have any meaningful representation in EU institutions and will no longer attend any meetings of EU leaders. So it will be obeying EU rules while having no say in EU policy.

What doesn't change?

Most things that actually affect you. Businesses will be able to operate as normal, meaning that you as a customer will not be affected. People traveling to Europe will not be affected during the transition period, and EU citizens will still be able to move freely around the bloc.

What comes next?

The end of phase one marks the start of phase two. And if the past three and a half years have been anything to go by, phase two is going to be far more of a nightmare than phase one.

The Brexit transition period is due to end on December 31 of this year. That means the UK has to negotiate its future relationship with Europe in just 11 months. Failure to reach an agreement would mean the hardest Brexit possible, causing economic damage for both sides and possibly the wider world. This is a scenario that both sides are eager to avoid -- even as they continue to engage in their game of high-stakes brinkmanship.

Formal negotiations will begin on March 3. In the meantime, both sides will outline their priorities and draw their red lines. If history tells us anything, the UK will be more likely to back down than Brussels.

Trade-off on trade

The bulk of these negotiations will focus on the UK and the EU's future trading relationship. Trade deals normally take years, if not decades, to negotiate. The EU's deal with Canada, for example, took seven years to hammer out. And the EU is famously difficult to negotiate with because of its complicated internal politics. The Canada deal, for example, almost fell at the last hurdle when Wallonia, a region of Belgium, refused to ratify the deal. However, it is worth pointing out that the UK-EU deal starts from a place of total alignment, meaning comparisons to other trade deals are not fair.

But that's just trade. There are still many unanswered questions about exactly how much money the UK would pay the EU in exchange for access to its market and what, if any agreement might be reached on intelligence sharing security, aviation and fishing. And the controversial issue of what will happen on the Irish border is likely to feature heavily in any final deal.

Johnson has not formally announced his red lines yet, but it's safe to say that his priority will be sealing a free trade agreement that makes both importing and exporting as straightforward as possible, while freeing the UK from strict EU rules. If this is achievable, it would mean the UK continuing to trade in the EU but being flexible on regulations -- a situation that could come in handy when striking trade deals with other nations like the US and China.

"With the EU, we need a close partnership based on zero tariffs and quotas as well as regulatory recognition, adequacy and equivalence in all areas including services and financial services," says Shanker Singham, a competition and trade lawyer. "We won't be immediately diverging all over the place, but we must reserve the right to do so."

This issue of divergence is alarming many in Brussels. In short, if the UK is willing to diverge from the EU in areas like tax, food standards and financial regulation, it risks undermining the EU's precious single market -- the EU's most valuable asset and top bargaining chip. And if Brussels thinks that Johnson has plans to undercut the EU, it won't hesitate to restrict access to the world's largest economic bloc.

"For the EU, the trade-off is simple: if the UK diverges and no longer meets EU standards, or British businesses gain an unfair competitive advantage over EU business, then it will have less access to the EU market," says Georgina Wright, an EU expert at the Institute for Government think tank.

This concern in Brussels is not unreasonable. When the UK points to trading relationships that the EU has with countries like Canada and Japan, it misses two crucial points. First, agreements reached with external countries were about increasing engagement. As the UK leaves, it is about reducing engagement. Second, the UK shares a common border with the EU. And as one EU diplomat points out, "There is a direct relationship between trade and distance: the further you are away the less trade you do. So when we talk trade with Canada, we know that their undercutting of standards will not have the same effect as the UK."

Notwithstanding this cold reality, it's clear that both sides desperately want to accommodate one another. The question is whether their competing aims are compatible. "Both sides want to maintain reasonably strong relations, but on the EU side this clearly has to be appropriate with existing structures and agreements," says David Henig, the UK director of the European Center For International Political Economy.

"On the UK side it will be about allowing regulatory flexibility while still facilitating trade. Defining that in great detail will be a challenge for both sides, though the EU is concerned that the UK doesn't understand this sufficiently."

Calm before -- and after the storm

The gloves are already off. France's Europe minister, Amelie de Montchalin, said in a news conference on Wednesday that "France is ready to sign a Brexit deal very quickly if the UK commits to full regulatory alignment that could guarantee no dumping."

That lack of understanding is the reason this could all get ugly. Regardless of what both sides might say about reaching a mutually beneficial agreement, in negotiations with the EU, there is always a winner and a loser.

The UK will see winning as having its cake and eating it: near-frictionless trade with the EU while enjoying the freedom to so as it pleases at home. It could use state aid to give British businesses a competitive edge or slash tax rates to attract foreign investment in ways that would flout EU rules on competition.

For the EU, hugging the UK tight and stopping it from drifting toward an economic rival, e.g. the US, would be a victory. Brexiteers have long talked up global trade deals as being the upside of Brexit, and no victory would be sweeter than a wide-ranging deal with the world's only hyperpower.

But for the UK, it will ultimately find that in trade deals with both the EU and the US, it is going to be the smaller partner and to some extent will be expected to sign on the dotted line.

Time is running out. Johnson has said that he has no intention of extending the transition period. If he is to extract concessions from the EU and get a deal that looks like Brexit was worth it, he's going to have to hope that European fears of divergence and the relatively short period to get a deal done will focus minds in Brussels.

For virtually all of 2019, the British establishment was tearing its hair out over whether or not it would avoid a no-deal Brexit. Getting a Brexit deal through Parliament sucked the life out of British politics. When Boris Johnson finally won his majority last December, a certain degree of calm fell as the key obstacle to getting Brexit done had been cleared.

Now, Johnson finds himself facing 11 months of hellish negotiations with another threat of no deal at the end of the tunnel.

He does have other bargaining chips at his disposal: the EU is very keen to reach agreement on areas other than trade, such as fishing rights, data sharing and security. Johnson could concede on these to get a more attractive trade deal.

But ultimately, Brexit is now weeks away from hurtling towards its next critical deadline. And for the UK more than anyone else, to get what it wants could require shutting its eyes and hoping for the best.

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2020-01-31 09:44:00Z
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Coronavirus outbreak declared a global emergency as virus spreads from one person to another for first time in U.S. - CBS News

An American citizen stuck in Wuhan says panic is rising in the quarantined city of 11 million as the U.S. government works to get about 1,000 Americans reportedly stuck in the locked down metropolis out.

"I just wish I could get my family off," Justin Steece told CBS News on Monday.  "We need to go to America." 

He and his wife Ling have lived in Wuhan for about a year and a half. Just three weeks ago she gave birth to their baby boy, Colm.

"Ling can't move because she had a c-section, so she can only do so much at the moment while she recovers fully," he said. "I have to go out; I have to get food, I have to do stuff like that, and my biggest fear is that I would go out, get sick not knowing it, and then come home and spread it to Ling and the baby."

U.S. embassy evacuates American citizens from Wuhan amid coronavirus outbreak

His wife doesn't yet have a U.S. visa, and Steece can't leave Wuhan to finish her paperwork under the lockdown. "Otherwise I would have evacuated with the rest of the people and gotten my wife and kid outta here," he told CBS News.

As the Chinese government races to try and contain the deadly virus, Steece said the efforts aren't really making anyone feel any better. "What you see, what the Chinese government is saying; 'oh it's calm, resolute,' the citizens are actually freaking out a little bit more than that," he said.

The State Department has chartered a flight to evacuate Americans from Wuhan on Tuesday, but Steece and his family won't be on it. It will carry U.S. consulate staff from Wuhan and some other U.S. citizens. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said passengers on that flight to San Francisco should "anticipate" being screened when they land.

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2020-01-31 10:38:00Z
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