Wuhan coronavirus whistleblower doctor dies as confirmed cases top 30,000 - CNN

As of Friday morning, number of confirmed cases globally stood at 31,420, with more than 31,000 of those in mainland China. The number of cases in China grew by 3,143, or around 11%, on the previous day. That is a drop in the percentage increase, which had been around 15% every other day this week.

In total there have been 638 deaths, all but two of which were in mainland China, with one in the Philippines and one in Hong Kong.

Li Wenliang, 34, was a Wuhan doctor who was widely hailed as a hero after it emerged he was targeted by police for spreading "rumors" about the virus, when he was in fact sharing accurate information to try and raise the alarm.

Speaking to CNN this week from his hospital bed, Li said that "I only wanted to remind my university classmates to be careful." At the time he was warning about a SARS-like virus spreading in the city, officials were still downplaying the outbreak and its danger.

Wuhan Central Hospital, where Li worked as an ophthalmologist, announced his death in the early hours of Friday morning local time, leading to an outpouring of grief and anger online. This was made worse by initial confusion as state media first published then retracted reports of his death, leading to allegations they were trying to cover it up or control the story.

"I knew you would post this in the middle of the night," read one popular post on Weibo, one of China's largest social media platforms. "You think we've all gone to sleep? No. We haven't."

Another said that "countless young people will mature overnight after today: the world is not as beautiful as we imagined. Are you angry? If any of us here is fortunate enough to speak up for the public in the future, please make sure you remember tonight's anger."

'No deserters'

The anger over Li's death comes as the Chinese authorities signaled an escalation in how they control the virus, after an initial lockdown of Wuhan and neighboring cities failed to contain the outbreak within Hubei province.

Speaking in Wuhan on Thursday, Sun Chunlan, one of China's vice premiers and member of the Politburo, said that every household must be checked and anyone with symptoms sent to one of dozens of newly designated quarantine centers.

"There can be no deserters in a time of war," she said. "They will be nailed to the pillar of historical shame forever."

As of Thursday, 132 quarantine centers have been established across the city, Hu Lishan, Wuhan deputy Party secretary, told reporters. They include a converted conference and exhibition center, and a building complex with the awkward name "Wuhan Living Room."

There are around 12,500 beds in the quarantine centers, Hu said, though he warned the city was running short of space in hospitals, with only 400 or so of the 8,500 beds across 28 coronavirus-designated hospitals available.

"To be honest, we did not do well enough in some areas and we need to do better," Hu said.

Several purpose-built hospitals have gone into action in Wuhan, built in less than a week by teams working around the clock, but they have not been enough to alleviate demand. Thousands of medical personnel have also been sent to the city to help with relief efforts.

Economic fears

"For a nation, the greatest glory consists not in never falling, but rising when it falls," Chinese state news agency Xinhua said in a commentary Thursday.

"While the virus battle continues, normal social and economic operations are being restored. People are on their way back to work after the Spring Festival holiday. Some are wearing masks, and some are working at home to prevent infections. Many years later, it will become an unforgettable memory for the Chinese."

The country's Ministry of Commerce encouraged supermarkets and grocery stores to resume operations Thursday, as the economic and societal toll of having much of the country on voluntary or mandatory quarantine began to take its toll. Businesses have also been asked to "resume operation in an orderly manner while continuing to fight the novel coronavirus outbreak."

The economic shocks from the virus -- and the prolonged shutdown of many factories and businesses across China -- are being felt worldwide, with ramifications for the global oil industry and automakers.

Hong Kong in particular is feeling the pain from the virus outbreak. The semi-autonomous Chinese city was already in a technical recession due to the US-China trade war and over six months of protests, and a massive drop in tourists and business due to the outbreak has further pushed down the economy.

Cruise ships quarantined

With more than two dozen countries reporting cases of the virus, there is an ongoing global race to contain it.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday it was convening a global research and innovation forum to mobilize international action in response to the outbreak.

"Harnessing the power of science is critical for bringing this outbreak under control," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "There are questions we need answers to, and tools we need developed as quickly as possible. WHO is playing an important coordinating role by bringing the scientific community together to identify research priorities and accelerate progress."

Some people at the frontline of the outbreak are the thousands currently holed up on two cruise ships in Japan and Hong Kong, on which all passengers and crew are being tested for the virus.

As of Friday morning, there were an additional 41 cases confirmed on the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship currently docked in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. That brings the total number of cases to 61, from 273 passengers and crew tested, or 22%, raising concerns of a major outbreak on board.

Another cruise ship in Hong Kong is awaiting test results with 1,800 passengers stuck after it was revealed that passengers from the previous voyage became infected.

Cruise ships can become hotbeds for viral infections, typically norovirus and other gastrointestinal bugs -- this time last year, a cruise in the Caribbean had to return to port early after more than 400 passengers got sick.

"Commercial maritime travel is characterized by the movement of large numbers of people in closed and semi-closed settings," according to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). "Like other close-contact environments, these settings can facilitate the transmission of influenza viruses and other respiratory viruses from person to person through droplet spread or potentially through contact with contaminated surfaces."

CNN's Steven Jiang and Yong Xiong in Beijing; Kocha Alorn in Bangkok; Junko Ogura in Tokyo; and Carly Walsh, Laura He, Isaac Yee and Nectar Gan in Hong Kong; and Lindsay Isaac, Zahid Mahmood and Meera Senthilingam in London contributed reporting.

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2020-02-07 07:14:00Z
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White House says U.S. killed Qassim al-Rimi, leader of al-Qaeda in Yemen - NBC News

The White House said Thursday that the U.S. has killed Qassim al-Rimi, the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

A White House statement said al-Rimi was killed in Yemen but did not say when. The counterterrorism operation was conducted at the direction of President Donald Trump, it said.

Tribal leaders in Yemen said Saturday that a suspected U.S. drone strike destroyed a building housing al Qaeda militants the previous week, and Trump retweeted several tweets and media reports that seemed to offer confirmation that the Jan. 25 strike killed al-Rimi, The Associated Press reported at the time. The Arabian Peninsula branch is often referred to as AQAP.

"Under Rimi, AQAP committed unconscionable violence against civilians in Yemen and sought to conduct and inspire numerous attacks against the United States and our forces," the White House said.

Qassim al-Rimi, suspected to be the military chief of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, pictured on a Yemeni Interior Ministry document.Yemeni Interior Ministry / AFP - Getty Images

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Al-Rimi was placed on the United States' most-wanted terrorist list after taking over al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate in 2015.

A 2017 Navy SEAL raid in Yemen also had a secret objective to capture or kill al-Rimi, but he survived, military and intelligence officials told NBC News at the time. Chief Petty Officer William "Ryan" Owens of SEAL Team 6, 14 al Qaeda fighters and some civilians were killed in a firefight, officials have said.

A Defense Department spokesman at the time denied that al-Rimi was a target and said the military "never had any hope, intention or plan" of killing or capturing him in the operation.

Al-Rimi was also the deputy to Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is said to have succeeded Osama bin Laden as the leader of al Qaeda, the White House statement said.

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Al-Zawahiri is on the U.S. most wanted terrorists list, and a reward of up to $25 million has been offered for information leading to his apprehension or conviction.

He has been indicted in the U.S. for his alleged role in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. Those bombings killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, according to the FBI. Suicide bombers drove pickup trucks to the gates of the two embassies and detonated thousands of pounds of TNT.

Related

The White House statement said al-Rimi's death "further degrades" AQAP and al Qaeda, "and it brings us closer to eliminating the threats these groups pose to our national security."

"The United States, our interests, and our allies are safer as a result of his death. We will continue to protect the American people by tracking down and eliminating terrorists who seek to do us harm," the statement said.

Al-Rimi took over AQAP in 2015 after its former leader, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2015. Al Qaeda at that time named al-Rimi as his successor. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been considered the most violent branch of al Qaeda, and al-Rimi had been said to be a key recruiter.

Phil Helsel

Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.

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2020-02-07 02:05:00Z
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White House announces death of terror leader Qassim al-Rimi - CNN

CNN reported last week that the US conducted a strike targeting Rimi, who led the terror group's franchise based in Yemen that has repeatedly expressed interest in conducting attacks targeting the United States, a US official said. The Pentagon did not comment when asked at the time about the report.

The US government had offered a $10 million reward for information on Rimi.

The news comes following several other successful US military efforts to remove high profile Middle Eastern leaders. President Donald Trump ordered a US airstrike in January that killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, and in October, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died in a nighttime raid conducted by US forces on his compound in northern Syria.

While not on the same level as Baghdadi and Soleimani, the death of the leader of AQAP is still a significant moment. Rimi had been a US target since early in Trump's tenure. Rimi was a target of a January 2017 raid on an al Qaeda compound in Yemen that led to the first US military combat death under the President, a senior US military official told CNN at the time.

Rimi taunted Trump and condemned the operation in an 11-minute recording days after the raid, saying that "the new fool of the White House received a painful slap across his face."

Rimi's "death further degrades AQAP and the global al-Qa'ida movement, and it brings us closer to eliminating the threats these groups pose to our national security," the White House said in a statement Thursday. "The United States, our interests, and our allies are safer as a result of his death. We will continue to protect the American people by tracking down and eliminating terrorists who seek to do us harm."

Rimi, formerly AQAP's military chief, reportedly became the group's leader following a 2015 drone strike that killed Nasir al-Wuhayshi. Rimi issued a video soon afterward calling supporters to attack the United States, urging that "all of you must direct and gather your arrows and swords against it."

Many observers have considered AQAP among the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous, branch of al Qaeda since its formation in 2009. The group claimed responsibility for the 2015 attack on the offices of French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris that killed 12 people, though experts could not confirm the group was behind the attack.

The US has sought to prevent al Qaeda from exploiting the chaos of Yemen's civil war to establish a haven, but the number of US military strikes has declined sharply over the last few years.

The US military carried out 131 airstrikes in Yemen in 2017 and conducted 36 strikes in 2018, nearly all of them targeting al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Last April, the US military carried out a series of six airstrikes in Yemen targeting the al Qaeda affiliate there.

UPDATE: This story has been updated with additional information about Rimi.

CNN's Jim Sciutto, Barbara Starr, Zachary Cohen, Euan McKirdy, Eli Watkins and Ryan Browne contributed to this report.

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2020-02-07 00:48:00Z
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Cruise ship that visited Hong Kong searches for a port after Philippines, Japan deny entry - USA TODAY

Jayme Deerwester USA TODAY

Published 4:13 PM EST Feb 6, 2020

As the coronavirus epidemic rages, Holland America's MS Westerdam cruise ship, which made a stop in Hong Kong last week, is once again looking for a port after being turned away by the Philippines and now Japan over concerns about the illness.

Holland America said there are no known cases of coronavirus onboard despite reports to the contrary, and the MS Westerdam is not in quarantine. 

"Holland America Line has been notified that the Japanese Government will not permit Westerdam to call in Japanese ports," the cruise line stated in a press release provided by Public Relations Director Erik Elvejord. "The ship had been scheduled to call to Ishigaki Island, Naha, Okinawa, Nagasaki and Fukuoka (Hakata), before its scheduled turn in Yokohama on Feb. 15, where the next cruise was scheduled to embark."

The cruise line is working quickly to develop alternate plans for the remainder of the 14-day East Asia cruise, which had already moved disembarkation point from Shanghai, China, to Yokohama. 

Holland America also said that it has canceled the next cruise that was scheduled to embark in Yokohama on Feb. 15 and that it will notify guests and travel agents. 

Earlier in the cruise, the ship was forced to skip a port call in Manila after the Philippines wouldn't allow any foreigners aboard the Westerdam to disembark there. The move was due to the country's temporary ban on non-citizens or permanent residents entering directly from China, Hong Kong or Macau, Holland America confirmed to Australia's News.com.au.

As of Feb. 6, Japan has reported 45 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The Philippines has had two, including the only death from the virus outside of China and Hong Kong. 

Mainland China has had over 28,000 cases and 563 deaths, while Hong Kong has had 24 cases and one death.

According to the ship-tracking website Vesselfinder.com, MS Westerdam, which can accommodate more than 1,900 passengers and 800 crew, has been in transit for three days since leaving the port of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Monday, Prior to that, it made port calls in Hong Kong (Jan. 31); Cai Mep, Vietnam (Jan. 22); Kampong Saom, Cambodia (Jan. 21); and Laem Chabang, Thailand (Jan. 18).

Each of the countries on the cruise's current itinerary has had confirmed cases: Hong Kong has had 24 cases and one death. Thailand has 25; Taiwan has 16 while Vietnam has 10. South Korea, which the ship is yet to visit, has 23.  Cambodia is the least impacted with just one case reported so far.

In the three previous cases in which cruise ships were quarantined over coronavirus concerns, local health authorities boarded each vessel to test passengers and crew for the virus. One ship, Princess Cruises' Diamond Princess, was found to have positive cases and was placed under an additional 14-day quarantine. A second, Dream Cruises' World Dream, is still conducting tests on those currently aboard after three people from a previous cruise tested positive. Passengers on the third, Costa Cruises' Costa Smeralda, were permitted to disembark in Italy on Jan. 30 after everyone aboard tested negative.

Diamond Princess passenger likens quarantine to 'floating prison'

On Wednesday, Princess Cruises confirmed that there are now 20 diagnosed cases of coronavirus on the Diamond Princess, which was already under a 14-day quarantine off the coast of Yokohama, Japan after the first 10 people tested positive.

The latest 10 people to test positive include "four Japanese guests, one guest from Taiwan, two Americans, two Canadians and one guest from New Zealand," according to Princess Cruises' Public Relations Director Negin Kamali Kamali.

Japanese health officials have reviewed 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew members onboard Diamond Princess for symptoms. Those with symptoms have disembarked and been transported to local hospitals, Kamali added.  

Diamond Princess:  Cruise ship to stay under quarantine after 10 more passengers test positive

The cruise line promised, "Guests will continue to be provided complimentary internet and telephone … the ship’s company is working to keep all guests comfortable."  

But David Abel, one of the 3,700 passengers aboard the ship, lamented on Facebook, “It’s not going to be a luxury cruise; it’s going to be like a floating prison."

Abel, who had booked the East Asian cruise to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary, told the Associated Press he anticipates the additional two weeks at sea is going to be "absolute boredom" for many passengers, adding, “the people I feel really sorry for are those with inside cabins who’ve got no natural light, no fresh air. It’s going to be pretty grim for them for two weeks.”

'A floating prison':  Diamond Princess cruise passengers on two-week coronavirus quarantine

World Dream: 33 crew members test negative, passenger tests underway

On Thursday, Genting Hong Kong Limited, the holding company that owns Dream Cruises, told USA TODAY that 33 World Dream crew members who had reported upper respiratory tract infections tested negative for coronavirus. An additional employee with a fever is still awaiting test results. 

"Dream Cruises is fully cooperating with The Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health to assist in expediting the health assessments for all passengers onboard World Dream," the company said in a statement provided by spokeswoman Edith Poon. The statement, which noted there are nine children under the age of 2 onboard. The passenger screenings are being "conducted in-cabin to avoid the congregating of guests as much as possible."

It continued, "However, due to this situation, no passengers or crew will be allowed to disembark from World Dream until the test results from the affected crew members have been confirmed."

The cruise line said it would continue to provide food and drink services to the 3,700 people aboard but that activities had been curtailed. 

"Currently, there are sufficient supplies for all passengers and crew members and complimentary Wi-Fi service is also available for all passengers onboard," the statement noted. "As well, protective facial masks have always been, and will continue to be, available for passengers who can register at the Front Desk for collection."

The statement said there are 1,871 passengers – "with 1,692 from Hong Kong and the remainder of various nationalities including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Taiwan and Macau" onboard, as well as 1,820 crew members.

The company said no one currently aboard had contact with the three people who were present from Jan. 19 to Jan. 24 cruise that tested positive for coronavirus.

Third ship quarantined:  3,700 on Dream Cruises ship undergoing testing after 3 confirmed coronavirus cases

Worried about getting sick on a cruise?  Here's how to sanitize your cabin in 12 steps

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2020-02-06 18:52:16Z
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Coronavirus kills Chinese whistleblower doctor - BBC News

A Chinese doctor who tried to issue the first warnings about the deadly coronavirus outbreak has died, the hospital treating him has said.

Li Wenliang contracted the virus while working at Wuhan Central Hospital.

He had sent out a warning to fellow medics on 30 December but police told him to stop "making false comments".

There had been contradictory reports about his death, but the People's Daily now says he died at 02:58 on Friday (18:58 GMT Thursday).

The virus has killed more than 560 people and infected 28,000 in China.

• Five need-to-know things about virus

It causes severe acute respiratory infection and symptoms usually start with a fever, followed by a dry cough. Most people infected are likely to fully recover - just as they would from a flu.

How was the death reported?

Global Times, People's Daily and other Chinese media had reported Dr Li's death earlier on Thursday.

Dr Li, 34, was initially declared dead at 21:30 local time and the news triggered a huge wave of popular reaction on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter.

The People's Daily sent out a tweet saying Dr Li's death had sparked "national grief".

However, Global Times then said he had been given a treatment known as ECMO (extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation) which keeps a person's heart pumping and keeps their blood oxygenated without it going through their lungs.

Global Times said he was in a critical condition.

Journalists and doctors at the scene, who do not want their names used, told the BBC and other media that government officials had intervened.

Official media outlets had been told to change their reports to say the doctor was still being treated.

The media outlets then later reported the new time of Dr Li's death:

What is Li Wenliang's story?

Dr Li, an ophthalmologist, posted his story on Weibo from a hospital bed a month after sending out his initial warning.

He had noticed seven cases of a virus that he thought looked like Sars - the virus that led to a global epidemic in 2003.

On 30 December he sent a message to fellow doctors in a chat group warning them to wear protective clothing to avoid infection.

Four days later he was summoned to the Public Security Bureau where he was told to sign a letter. In the letter he was accused of "making false comments" that had "severely disturbed the social order".

He was one of eight people who police said were being investigated for "spreading rumours" Local authorities later apologised to Dr Li.

In his Weibo post he describes how on 10 January he started coughing, the next day he had a fever and two days later he was in hospital. He was diagnosed with the coronavirus on 30 January.

What is the latest on the virus in China?

China is introducing more restrictive measures to try to control the outbreak.

Beijing has banned group dining for events such as birthdays and weddings while cities such as Hangzhou and Nanchang are limiting how many family members can leave home each day.

Hubei province, the worst hit by the virus, has switched off lifts in high-rise buildings to discourage residents from going outside.

Its capital, Wuhan, has a lack of beds and equipment, one senior city official said. Despite the rapid construction of two hospitals, the volume of patients is causing severe strain.

Reports on social media say the Wuhan government is to carry out door-to-door temperature checks on residents.

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The city of Dali in Yunnan province was accused of requisitioning a shipment of masks bound for Chongqing. Dali's government said it could not do anything as the boxes had already been distributed.

The cities of Qingdao and Shenyang also reportedly squabbled over a medical shipment.

There has been criticism of the crackdowns, with Human Rights Watch saying China was "treating public health with a sledgehammer".

Meanwhile, Hong Kong has seen panic buying of goods, including toilet rolls, and there have been huge queues for masks.

What's the latest on infections?

Although the virus has spread overseas, with confirmed infection in some 25 nations, there have so far been only two deaths outside mainland China - one in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines.

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The World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency, saying if funds are not allocated now to tackle the outbreak, nations would pay for it later.

• Coronavirus: What it does to the body

Although the official figures in China are of 28,000 infections, some scientists have estimated that the actual rate could be 10 times higher, with the majority of infected people only presenting mild symptoms, not receiving treatment, yet passing on the potentially deadly disease.

The UK on Thursday confirmed a third case of the virus.

Some 3,700 people on the Diamond Princess cruise vessel moored off Japan face testing and quarantine for at least two weeks. It has seen on 20 virus cases.

Another cruise ship with 3,600 passengers and crew is quarantined in Hong Kong with three cases on board.

Learn more about the new virus

Have you been affected by any of the issues raised? You can share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

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2020-02-06 20:46:40Z
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Three Palestinians killed, 12 Israeli soldiers hurt in 24 hours of violence - CNN

Early Thursday morning, a Palestinian assailant carried out a ramming attack against Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. The soldiers, who were new recruits in the Golani infantry unit, were at the First Station in Jerusalem when the incident happened, the IDF said. The First Station is a popular tourist site near the Old City that's built upon an old train station. One soldier was seriously injured, but his condition is not believed to be life-threatening, said Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus. The others sustained minor injuries.

"On behalf of all citizens of Israel, I send wishes for a quick recovery to the wounded soldiers," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement. "It is only a question of time -- and not much time -- until we apprehend the attacker. Terrorism will not defeat us; we will win!"

Israeli counter-terror police arrested the suspect in the southern West Bank on Thursday evening, police said in a statement.

Hamas praised the ramming attack, calling it a "heroic operation" and hailing it as a "new stage of revolution" against Israel.

In the Old City of Jerusalem Thursday afternoon, an attacker opened fire at police officers standing near Lion's Gate, one of the entrances for Muslim worshippers to the al-Aqsa mosque. One border police officer was injured and the attacker was shot and killed, Israeli police said. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said entrances to the Old City of Jerusalem and alleyways leading to the al-Aqsa mosque were closed for a short time after the attack.

The attacks come amid a series of violent incidents over the last 24 hours in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.

Palestinian factions, including Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank, had called for two days of protests following the release of the Trump administration's Middle East plan. The initial wave of protests last week dissipated, but they appear to have returned this week with an increased intensity throughout the West Bank, including Ramallah, Jenin, Hebron, and Qalqilya.

"All options are open to our people to defend our rights, and to confront the deal of the century," a spokesman for Hamas said Thursday, referring to Trump's plan.

In the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, clashes broke out as the IDF demolished the home of Ahmad Qanba', who was convicted in the January 2018 killing of Rabbi Raziel Shevach.

During the unrest, Conricus said a Palestinian sniper had fired on Israeli troops "for the first time in a long time," and was shot dead. They were demolishing Qanba's house because he took part in the shooting and killing of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, IDF said.

"Our troops in Jenin were fired upon by what appears was sniper fire, retaliated, and reported that they were able to kill the sniper," Conricus said.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the deceased as 19-year-old Yazan Abu Tabikh. Fatah, the governing party in the Palestinian Authority, said he was an officer in the Palestinian security forces.

During the exchange of fire in Jenin, a Palestinian police officer was also shot and killed, according to Fatah. Twenty-four-year-old Tareq Badwan was shot in the stomach and died from his injuries Thursday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Health.

A video posted on social media by Fatah purports to show Badwan standing at the entrance to his work early Thursday morning when he is suddenly shot and collapses onto the ground. He is not seen taking part in any demonstrations or clashes with Israeli security forces in the video.

The deaths of Abu Tabikh and Badwan are likely to further strain the security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Last week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas threatened to suspend the coordination -- seen as important to both sides -- though it remains at the level of a threat.

On Wednesday afternoon, during clashes in Hebron in the southern West Bank, a Palestinian teenager was shot and killed after throwing a Molotov cocktail at Israeli soldiers. 17-year-old Mohammad Haddad was shot in the chest and killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

"During a violent riot which was instigated a short while ago in the city of Hebron, IDF troops identified a Palestinian who hurled a Molotov cocktail at them. The troops responded with fire in order to remove the threat," the IDF said in a statement.

The last week has also seen increased rocket and mortar fire from Gaza, as well as a sharp increase in the launching of balloons carrying explosive devices.

Late Wednesday night, three mortars were fired from Gaza into southern Israel, the IDF said, hitting open areas. In response, the IDF struck Hamas military infrastructure in central and southern Gaza, including an underground complex.

The IDF holds Hamas responsible for the ongoing fire. Conricus said it is "very clear that they are involved in and facilitating" the rocket and mortar fire.

The European Union Ambassador to Israel, Emanuele Giaufret, warned of the dangers of escalation, saying on Twitter, "Following with concern the rise of tensions and spike of violence. My thoughts are with the families of victims and I wish a speedy recovery to those who were injured. Violence is never justified."

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2020-02-06 18:19:00Z
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China slashes tariffs on $75 billion worth of US goods including soybeans and cars - Business Insider

Foto: Feng Li/Getty Images

• China on Thursday announced it would reduce tariffs on thousands of American products.
• The move signaled intentions to implement an interim trade agreement with the US as a costly virus epidemic escalated.
• Retaliatory tariffs will be reduced on $75 billion worth of US products including soybeans, oil and automobiles beginning February 14.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

China on Thursday announced it would reduce tariffs on thousands of American products, signaling intentions to implement an interim trade agreement with the US as a costly virus epidemic escalated.

Retaliatory tariffs will be reduced on $75 billion worth of US products including soybeans, oil and automobiles beginning February 14, China’s finance ministry said. Some of those imports will face tariffs of between 2.5% and 5% under the change, as opposed to the 5% to 10% rates that were imposed in September and December.

„The next steps depend on the development of the Chinese-US economic and trade situation,“ tbe finance ministry said in a statement. „We hope to work with the United States toward the final elimination of all tariff increases.“

China was widely expected to reciprocate after the Trump administration agreed in January to reduce tariffs on $120 billion worth of its imports as part of a truce in a nearly two-year-long trade dispute.

The move came as officials grappled with the outbreak of a novel coronavirus that has killed at least 563 in China and sickened thousands more globally. The rapid spread has brought the second-largest economy to a near-standstill, casting doubts on its ability to meet US demands.

China agreed to tighten its intellectual property rules and purchase $200 billion worth of US products over two years under the phase-one trade agreement, ambitious stipulations that had already been questioned by experts.

Tariffs remain on thousands of other products from the US and China, which plan to continue negotiations toward a broader economic agreement in the coming months.

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2020-02-06 15:31:42Z
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