U.S. AND CHINA EXCHANGE BARBS OVER COVID-19A spat between the U.S. and China over COVID-19 escalated on Tuesday asPresident Donald Trump angered Beijing by referring to the pathogen as the"Chinese Virus."The two countries have sparred over the origin of the virus for days, with aChinese official promoting conspiracy theories claiming it was brought toChina by the U.S. Army and American officials using terms seen asstigmatising a nation."The U.S. will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines andothers, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus," Mr. Trumptweeted on Monday night.He doubled down on the comment on Tuesday while Tweeting about how U.S.States were being affected, saying: "Some are being hit hard by the ChineseVirus, some are being hit practically not at all."Mr. Trump's allies had previously referred to the pandemic as "Chinesecoronavirus", but Beijing said on Tuesday it was "strongly indignant" overthe phrase, which it called "a kind of stigmatisation".The U.S. should "immediately stop its unjustified accusations againstChina," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.A commentary by the official Xinhua news agency said using "racist andxenophobic names to cast blame on other countries can only revealpoliticians' irresponsibility and incompetence ".New York Mayor Bill de Blasio slammed Mr. Trump, saying his comments couldincite a backlash against the Asian-American community.CORONAVIRUS | FRANCE LOCKS DOWN OVER PANDEMIC FEARSFrance moved into a near-total lockdown on Tuesday over fears of COVID-19spread, the latest country to impose draconian restrictions affecting thelives of millions of people.European leaders also plan to ban all non-essential travel into thecontinent on Tuesday in a bid to stem a pandemic that has killed thousands,upended society and battered economies.With French President Emmanuel Macron describing the battle against COVID-19as a "war", governments around the world are scrambling to keep the publicsafe with measures rarely seen in peacetime, slamming borders shut andforcing citizens to stay home.The crisis is infecting every sector of the economy, and global stocks havebeen on a rollercoaster ride, with Wall Street on Monday sinking more than12% in the worst session since the crash of 1987.CORONAVIRUS | JUST ONE FRESH CASE IN WUHAN, SAYS CHINAChina on Tuesday reported 21 new cases of the virus, 20 of them imported.Just one new case was confirmed in Wuhan, the Hubei provincial capital,where the illness was first detected in late December.The update raised China's totals to 80,881 cases and 3,226 deaths.China this week relaxed travel restrictions in Hubei, sending thousands ofworkers back to long-shuttered factories.Most of the world's 78,000 recovered patients are in China. The virus causesonly mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but severe illness is morelikely in the elderly and people with existing health problems.CORONAVIRUS HITS ALL 50 US STATES AS DEATH TOLL RISESThe deadly coronavirus has now hit all 50 states in the US as West Virginiareported its first case of the infection on Tuesday.Announcing its first Covid-19 patient, West Virginia Governor Jim Justicesaid: "We knew this was coming."New York City said it is considering a lockdown similar to one in the SanFrancisco Bay area.There have so far been 108 deaths in the US from coronavirus and more than6,300 confirmed cases nationwide.Globally there are about 200,000 cases and nearly 8,000 people have died.CORONAVIRUS: EUROPEAN UNION SEALS BORDERS TO MOST OUTSIDERSThe European Union will ban travellers from outside the bloc for 30 days inan unprecedented move to seal its borders amid the coronavirus crisis.The measure is expected to apply to 26 EU states as well as Iceland,Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. UK citizens will be unaffected.The ban came as deaths continued to soar in Italy and Spain, and Francebegan a strict lockdown.Europe has been badly hit by the virus, which has killed 7,500 globally.Meanwhile, the Euro 2020 football competition has been postponed by a year.IRAN TEMPORARILY FREES 85,000 PRISONERS, INCLUDING POLITICAL ONES, AMID CORONAVIRUSIran has temporarily freed about 85,000 prisoners, including politicalprisoners, in response to the coronavirus epidemic, a judiciary spokesmansaid on Tuesday.The death toll in Iran from coronavirus has risen to 988 and a total of16,169 people have been confirmed infected across the country, one of theworst national outbreaks outside China, where the pandemic originated."So far, some 85,000 prisoners have been released . Also in the jails wehave taken precautionary measures to confront the outbreak," judiciaryspokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said."Yes, about 50% of them were security-related prisoners," he said when askedat a briefing aired by state TV whether political prisoners were among thosefreed. He did not elaborate on when those released would have to return tojail.Iran announced the release of 70,000 prisoners on March 9 in response to thevirus, but none were political detainees. The UN Special Rapporteur on humanrights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, said then that he had asked Tehran to freeall political prisoners temporarily from its overcrowded and disease-riddenjails to help contain the spread of coronavirus.Rehman said only those serving sentences of less than five years had beenfreed, while prisoners charged with heavier sentences and those linked totheir participation in anti-government protests remained in jail.LAS VEGAS STRIP TO SHUT DOWNAll non-essential businesses are affected by the shutdown. Restaurants areonly allowed to provide takeout or delivery.Even slot machines in convenience stores will no longer be permitted."America's playground", as Las Vegas is known, is usually open 24-hours aday. The last time the casinos had to lock their doors was on the day ofJohn F. Kennedy's funeral in 1963.Nevada's month-long freeze on gambling will hit Las Vegas hard. The citydepends on the glitz of the Vegas strip for its tourism andhospitality-based economy.The closure - which goes into effect Wednesday at noon - will be part offederal guidelines recommending social distancing.TRAVEL CONFUSION IN THE PHILIPPINESIn the Philippines the government has reversed its decision to impose atravel ban on international flights scheduled to begin on Friday.Now all foreign nationals may fly out of the country at any time accordingto the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Inboundinternational passengers are also allowed entry, subject to strictimmigration and quarantine protocols.The now overturned ban on international flights had left many foreigntourists, dispersed across the country's more than 7,000 islands, puzzled asto how they could leave the country.With domestic flights in and out of the Philippine capital suspended whilethe main Luzon region is under lockdown, the British embassy in Manila isreporting a "small number" of Britons affected by the travel restrictions.The government says their "enhanced community quarantine" will stay in placeuntil 12 April.The government says the country currently has a total of 187 confirmedCovid-19 cases with 14 deaths, but experts are warning that with limitedpre-emptive testing the number is likely to be higher.AUSTRALIA TO KEEP SCHOOLS RUNNINGAustralian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's press conference this morning washis most frank statement yet about how Australia was in this for thelong-haul - of at least six months or more.He said all decisions they announced needed to be sustainable for thatperiod.One of the key announcements was the ban on gatherings of more than 100people - that includes places of worship but not schools and universities or"essential" locations which range from hospitals and airports to shoppingcentres and workplaces."They are essential places of where there are essential gatherings.Non-essential is everything else," said Mr Morrison.The school policy has been controversial - as calls grow for them to beclosed and several independent schools shut of their own accord.However, Mr Morrison said the health advice remained the same - and citedSingapore where schools have remained open and "they have been effective inmanaging and limiting the transmission of this virus".He has warned closing schools could cost tens of thousands of jobs and couldtake 30% of health workers out of the health system.PLEA AGAINST PAK SCRIBE'S ARRESTThree Pakistani opposition parties have jointly filed a petition in theIslamabad High Court against the arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, theeditor-in-chief of the Jang Geo Media Group.The parties have alleged that the arrest on March 12 for illegal possessionof a piece of land, was in violation of constitutional rights. They allegedthat Rehman faced action as he had been critical of the government.CANADA'S JUSTIN TRUDEAU WARNS VIRUS RESTRICTIONS COULD LAST WEEKS, MONTHSPrime Minister Justin Trudeau has urged Canadians to hunker down forpossibly weeks or months of business closures and home-stay to prevent thespread of new coronavirus.He said his government was preparing to roll out a new package of financialsupports -- worth Can $ 25 billion (US $18 billion), according to publicbroadcaster CBC -- to ease the burden on Canadians and their businesses.His government is also considering using the Emergency Measures Act, anextremely rare measure."We don't know exactly how long this is going to take," Trudeau said of thehealth crisis on Tuesday."It could be weeks. It could be months," he told a news conference outsidehis residence where he and his family are self-isolating after his wifeSophie tested positive for the COVID-19 illness."But we will be there, standing together to support Canadians in order toget through this extremely difficult time."According to public health officials, the number of cases in Canada hasrisen to nearly 600, including eight deaths. The latest fatalities, one inOntario province and three in British Columbia, were recorded on Tuesday.LITTLE-KNOWN EX-GOVERNOR ZURFI NAMED NEW IRAQI PMIraq's President designated Adnan al-Zurfi, a former regional Governor withlittle national political profile, as Prime Minister, tasked with forming agovernment within 30 days in a bid to overcome months of unrest andpolitical deadlock.Mr. Zurfi, who served as Governor of the predominantly Shi'ite Najafprovince during the U.S. occupation after the fall of Saddam Hussein, ishead of the small Nasr parliamentary group of former Prime Minister Haideral-Abadi, a U.S. ally.Lawmakers told Reuters that President Barham Salih had named Mr. Zurfi onlyafter larger rival Shi'ite political parties failed to decide on a successorto Adel Abdul Mahdi, who resigned in November during mass unrest, in whichhundreds of people died.Mr. Zurfi, who lived in the U.S. as a refugee in the 1990s after fleeingSaddam, is seen as a comparatively secular figure in a country longdominated by sectarian parties.He now has to win the confidence of Parliament for his new Cabinet, adifficult task as major Iranian-backed groups objected to his nomination.If Mr. Zurfi can secure parliamentary approval for his Cabinet, he would runthe country until early elections can be held.