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Factory

Seoul, March 6,2020 (Reuters/NAN) Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) suspended operations at its smartphone factory in South Korea’s southeastern city of Gumi again on Friday after another worker tested positive for coronavirus, a spokeswoman said.

The plant will resume production on Saturday, she said.

So far, six people who work at the factory complex in Gumi, which makes Samsung’s premium G20 smartphones and Z Flip foldable phones, have contracted the disease, leading to temporary shutdowns.

It temporarily closed the factory in February due to the virus.(Reuter/NAN)

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Edited by Halima Sheji/Isaac Aregbesola

Death

Paris, Feb. 26, 2020 (dpa/NAN) France said it  has recorded the first death of a French citizen from the new coronavirus, the country’s general director of health Jerome Salomon said on Wednesday.

The victim was a 60-year-old Frenchman who was tested for the disease on Tuesday night at a Paris hospital in a very serious condition and died overnight, Salomon added.

Including the dead man, three new cases were identified overnight, bringing the total number of diagnosed infections in France to 17, Salomon says.

One of the other two was coming back from the northern Italian region of Lombardy, Salomon said further information would be available in the evening.

Italy is currently battling an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, with 11 towns in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto on lockdown, affecting about 50,000 people.

An 80-year old Chinese tourist died from Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, in France earlier this month, the first fatality on European soil.

Croatia meanwhile confirmed a second case on Wednesday, a day after its first one.

The new patient is the brother of the first, Health Minister Vili Beros told the state broadcaster HRT. “It was expected,’’ Beros said, adding that the man’s symptoms are mild.

The first patient caught the infection on a trip to Italy, where he attended a Champions League football match.

Earlier in the day, Beros urged the population not to panic.

“It needs to be said that this disease is not a major threat, it is a disease on par with the common flu.

“More than 80 per cent of the patients show only mild symptoms,’’ he told a news conference.  (dpa/ NAN)

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Edited by Halima Sheji/Emmanuel Yashim

Coronavirus

Mexico City, Feb. 26, 2020 (dpa/NAN)  A Sao Paulo resident who recently travelled to Italy has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Brazil’s Health Ministry said, in the first confirmed case in South America on Wednesday.

“The case of coronavirus has been confirmed.

“The test carried out by the Instituto Adolfo Lutz came back with a positive result

“ Thus, Brazil has its first confirmed case of the disease,’’ Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said at a news conference.

The 61-year-old coronavirus patient is currently under quarantine in his home and 30 of his family members have been placed under observation, the ministry said.

In addition to the confirmed case, there are 20 other suspected cases under investigation.

Fifty-nine suspected cases have already been ruled out. (dpa/NAN)

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Edited by Halima Sheji/Emmanuel Yashim

Moon to meet with political leaders at parliament on COVID-19 response

Parliament
SEOUL, Feb. 26, 2020 (Yonhap/NAN) President Moon Jae-in will visit the National Assembly this week for discussions with the leaders of ruling and opposition parties on the COVID-19 epidemic.

A Cheong Wa Dae official said on Wednesday.

Moon plans to meet with the heads of South Korea’s four major parties at the parliamentary compound in western Seoul on Friday, according to the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The parties are the ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition United Future Party, as well as two minor opposition parties, the Justice Party and the Party for People’s Livelihoods.

It will be the first time for Moon to visit the National Assembly for such a group meeting with political party leaders since his inauguration in May 2017.

He usually invites them to Cheong Wa Dae for consultations over a meal,the previous session took place in November 2019.

The planned session is meant to pool wisdom on ways to halt the spread of the virus and counteract its economic fallout.

Moon is also likely to request bipartisan support for the government’s all-out efforts to ride out the incident.

The president earlier stated the need for an emergency supplementary budget.

Hwang Kyo-ahn, chief of the United Future Party, said he’s accepting Moon’s meeting offer, adding that it’s urgent to make joint efforts to cope with the virus and revive the people’s livelihoods. (Yonhap/NAN)
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Edited by Halima sheji/Ekemini Ladejobi

Surrogacy

Bangkok, Feb. 14, 2020 (dpa/NAN) Thai police said on Friday that they planned to arrest further suspected members of a Chinese led international syndicate that uses surrogate mothers hired in Thailand to produce babies.

Police Maj.-Gen. Worawat Watnakornbancha, head of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division, said that the police would ask a court to issue eight arrest warrants for the additional suspects – six Thais and two Chinese nationals – after having questioned other members of the group.

On Thursday, Thai police raided several locations and arrested nine people they suspect are part of a syndicate that offers Thai women the equivalent 14,500 dollars to carry a surrogate child before giving birth in China to give the baby Chinese citizenship.

Worawat said the syndicate has been running since 2012 when its operations were based in Thailand.

He said the group changed its activities when Thailand introduced new laws around surrogacy.

The hired women are now artificially inseminated in neighbouring countries, but the group still uses agents in Thailand to find new surrogate mothers.

Police Maj- Gen.l Torsak Sukvimol, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, said at least 100 women were hired by the group to become surrogate mothers, and at least 50 babies have been taken out of the country.

Torsak said that the police discovered assets worth around 100 million baht belonging to the syndicate in Thursday’s raids. (dpa/NAN)

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Edited by Halima Sheji/Emmanuel Yashim