content_text:
In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping talks by video with patients and medical workers at the Huoshenshan...
 In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping talks by video with patients and medical workers at the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. China's president visited the center of the global virus outbreak Tuesday as Italy began a sweeping nationwide travel ban and people worldwide braced for the possibility of recession. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via AP)

 A member of the medical staff measures the temperature of a traveller at a autobahn park place near Gries am Brenner, Austrian province of Tyrol, at b...
 A member of the medical staff measures the temperature of a traveller at a autobahn park place near Gries am Brenner, Austrian province of Tyrol, at border crossing with Italy on Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Austria authorities started on random checks of arriving vehicles at the border crossings with Italy in reaction to the outbreak of the new coronavirus in Europe, particularly in Italy. As part of the move, officials measure the temperatures of some passengers in cars, trucks and buses. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson )

 A masked woman wearing a hand glove takes a selfie at the Wangfujing shopping district in Beijing, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. For most people, the new c...
 A masked woman wearing a hand glove takes a selfie at the Wangfujing shopping district in Beijing, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

 A man wears a mask as he carries his groceries at Campo dei Fiori open-air market, in Rome, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. The Italian government is assurin...
 A man wears a mask as he carries his groceries at Campo dei Fiori open-air market, in Rome, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. The Italian government is assuring its citizens that supermarkets will remain open and stocked after panic buying erupted after broad anti-virus measures were announced nationwide, sparking overnight runs on 24-hour markets. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

 A member of the medical staff measures the temperature of a traveller at a autobahn park place near Gries am Brenner, Austrian province of Tyrol, at b...
 A member of the medical staff measures the temperature of a traveller at a autobahn park place near Gries am Brenner, Austrian province of Tyrol, at border crossing with Italy on Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Austria authorities started on random checks of arriving vehicles at the border crossings with Italy in reaction to the outbreak of the new coronavirus in Europe, particularly in Italy. As part of the move, officials measure the temperatures of some passengers in cars, trucks and buses. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson )

 A member of the medical staff measures the temperature of a traveller at a autobahn park place near Gries am Brenner, Austrian province of Tyrol, at b...
 A member of the medical staff measures the temperature of a traveller at a autobahn park place near Gries am Brenner, Austrian province of Tyrol, at border crossing with Italy on Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Austria authorities started on random checks of arriving vehicles at the border crossings with Italy in reaction to the outbreak of the new coronavirus in Europe, particularly in Italy. As part of the move, officials measure the temperatures of some passengers in cars, trucks and buses. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson )

 A man wearing a protective face mask sits on a bench with a disinfectant notice at the Wangfujing shopping district in Beijing, Tuesday, March 10, 202...
 A man wearing a protective face mask sits on a bench with a disinfectant notice at the Wangfujing shopping district in Beijing, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

 ROME (AP) — Italy enters its first day under a nationwide lockdown after a government decree extended restrictions on movement from the hard-hit north to the rest of the country. As Italy struggled with rising cases, there were more signs of normality returning to China, where President Xi Jinping’ made his first trip to the virus’ epicenter of Wuhan.
 These are some of the latest developments on Tuesday:
 ITALY BEGINS LIFE UNDER NATIONWIDE LOCKDOWN
 Italy enters its first day under a nationwide lockdown after a decree signed late Monday by Premier Giuseppe Conte extended restrictions on movement from hard-hit northern regions to the rest of the country. Panic buying erupted, prompting the government to assure citizens that supermarkets will remain open and stocked. Conte's office said runs on supermarkets went counter to the intent of the new decree, which aims to prevent Italians from congregating. The ban on travel is being enforced by soldiers and police.
 CHINA'S PRESIDENT VISITS VIRUS EPICENTER
 China’s President Xi Jinping’ made his first visit to the coronavirus’ epicenter of Wuhan — his first since the start of the outbreak — as parts of the nation appeared to be returning to normal. It was one of several recent signs of the diminishing threat the illness presents in China as the illness spreads west. In mainland China, where the outbreak emerged in December, almost three-quarters of the more than 80,000 patients who contracted the virus have recovered. Employees have been returning to work, but with new routines that include workers wearing protective face masks and not facing each other while eating.
 STOCKS STEADY AFTER PLUNGE
 Global stock markets rebounded and oil prices recovered some after a torrid day on Monday. Markets in Europe and Asia were higher ahead of an expected solid opening on Wall Street. Monday’s global selloff reflected alarm over the potential economic pain in the wake of factory closures and strict controls on travel. Israel, for example, has decided to quarantine all visitors the country, while Austria says it will be barring most travelers from Italy from entering the country.
 ITALY'S PATIENT NO. 1 GETTING BETTER
 Italian doctors celebrated one small victory in their battle against the coronavirus after a 38-year-old man was moved out of intensive care for the first time since he tested positive Feb. 21. He is considered to be the first Italian to have contracted the coronavirus — Patient No. 1. But in the rest of northern Italy, the virus’ spread was growing so exponentially that doctors were having to make the most difficult decisions of who gets priority in care and access to intensive care unit beds. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and the vast majority of people recover from the new virus. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
 ___
 The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
 ___
 Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

title: What's Happening: Italy under lockdown, stocks rebound


content_text:
In this Sept. 23, 2018 file photo, men deliver aid donations from donors, in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the Uni...
 In this Sept. 23, 2018 file photo, men deliver aid donations from donors, in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hammadi Issa, File)

 FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2019 file photo, a Houthi fighter fires in the air during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters for the Houthi movement...
 FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2019 file photo, a Houthi fighter fires in the air during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters for the Houthi movement, in Sanaa, Yemen. Houthi rebels have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

 In this Oct. 1, 2018 file photo, a malnourished boy sits on a hospital bed at the Aslam Health Center, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have bloc...
 In this Oct. 1, 2018 file photo, a malnourished boy sits on a hospital bed at the Aslam Health Center, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

 FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2018 file photo, a severely malnourished infant is bathed in a bucket in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blo...
 FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2018 file photo, a severely malnourished infant is bathed in a bucket in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hammadi Issa, File)

 FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2018 file photo, men deliver U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) aid in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked...
 FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2018 file photo, men deliver U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) aid in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hammadi Issa, File)

 FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2018 file photo, women wait with their children in front of the Aslam Health Center, in Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen ...
 FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2018 file photo, women wait with their children in front of the Aslam Health Center, in Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hammadi Issa, File)

 FILE - This Aug. 30, 2010 file photo, shows Lise Grande, then head of United Nation humanitarian assistance in Southern Sudan, who is now the the U.N....
 FILE - This Aug. 30, 2010 file photo, shows Lise Grande, then head of United Nation humanitarian assistance in Southern Sudan, who is now the the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, in Juba. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. Over the past year, 2019, U.N. agencies, lead by Grande, began pushing back against Houthi demands. (AP Photo/Maggie Fick, File)

 FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2019 file photo, a Houthi fighter holds a weapon during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters for the Houthi movement, ...
 FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2019 file photo, a Houthi fighter holds a weapon during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters for the Houthi movement, in Sanaa, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

 FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2018, file photo, a severely malnourished boy rests on a hospital bed at the Aslam Health Center, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels ...
 FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2018, file photo, a severely malnourished boy rests on a hospital bed at the Aslam Health Center, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

 FILE - In this April 20, 2015 file photo, Saudi soldiers work at the border with Yemen in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked hal...
 FILE - In this April 20, 2015 file photo, Saudi soldiers work at the border with Yemen in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File)

 Yemen’s Houthi rebels have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press.
 The rebel group has made granting access to areas under their control contingent on a flurry of conditions that aid agencies reject, in part because it would give the Houthis greater sway over who receives aid, documents and interviews show.
 The Houthis' obstruction has hindered several programs that feed the near-starving population and help those displaced by the nearly 6-year civil war, a senior U.N. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the situation.
 “Over 2 million beneficiaries ... are directly affected,” the official said.
 The Houthis have been pushing back against U.N. efforts to tighten monitoring of some $370 million a year that its agencies already give to government institutions controlled mostly by the rebel group, documents show. That money is supposed to pay salaries and other administration costs, but more than a third of the money spent last year wasn’t audited, according to an internal document leaked to the AP.
 The U.N. has largely kept quiet in public about the pressure, but behind the scenes the agency and international donors are digging in against the Houthi demands. The AP spoke to seven workers and officials from U.N. and independent agencies about the situation. All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. The AP also saw dozens of documents, including emails of aid officials.
 In October, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, sent a letter to the Houthi-appointed prime minister complaining about a long list of demands.
 The “overwhelming majority” of them impede or delay delivery of aid and many violate humanitarian principles, she said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the AP.
 For months, the Houthis demanded a 2% cut from the entire aid budget be given to them, a condition the U.N. and donors rejected. In an email to the AP, a spokesperson for the U.S. Agency for International Development said Houthi attempts “to implement a tax on humanitarian assistance are unacceptable and directly contradict international humanitarian principles.” The United States donated $686 million to Yemen in 2019, according to USAID.
 Last week, the Houthis appeared to back off the 2% demand, but continue to press for other concessions, according to aid officials.
 During a meeting in Brussels last Thursday, aid agencies and international donors threatened to reduce aid if Houthis continue to impose restrictions on U.N. operations in Yemen.
 The situation “has reached a breaking point,” they said in a statement.
 At least one agency, the World Food Program, is currently considering cutting back the monthly food aid it delivers to 12 million Yemenis every other month, a U.N. official said. ”It’s unfortunate that people will suffer but this is on the Houthis,” the official said. “They can’t use people as hostages for too long.”
 The Houthis’ demands have stoked longtime concerns among aid agencies over the rebels’ diverting of humanitarian funds and supplies into their own or their supporters’ pockets or toward their war effort.
 Delivering aid ina war zone has always poseda problem for U.N agencies. But officials said the situation in Yemen has been especially challenging.
 The Houthi have withheld visas and permissions for equipment and supplies and refused to grant clearances for U.N. missions to move through rebel-controlled areas. Aid workers said agency leaders’ past willingness to concede to some of the rebels' demands has emboldened the Houthi leaders to push for more.
 Nearly 300,000 pregnant and nursing mothers and children under age 5 haven’t received nutrition supplements for more than six months because the Houthis “held beneficiaries hostage to the 2%” demand, another U.N. official said.
 In another example, Houthi authorities for months delayed permission to distribute 2,000 tons of food — enough to feed 160,000 people — in the district of Aslam, where the AP previously found starving villagers reduced to eating boiled leaves. When approval came in November, the food had spoiled "beyond the point of salvage," another aid official said.
 Houthi leaders have remained defiant in the face of U.N. pushback.
 "Yemen will survive" if agencies suspend aid, Abdul-Mohsen Tawoos, secretary-general of the Houthi agency coordinating international aid, told European donors during aJan. 20 Skype call. Minutes of the call were obtained by the AP.
 He said the Houthis wanted to reach an agreement with the U.N. and its donors, but “won’t be bullied.”
 Tawoos accused Grande, the top U.N. official in Yemen, of sending false reports aboutHouthis restricting the movement of U.N. humanitarian operations. Houthi leaders have threatened to expel her from the country.
 The U.N.’s massive aid program, totaling $8.35 billion dollars since 2015, is vital to keeping many Yemenis alive. The U.N. calls the situation in Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
 Ten million people in the country are on the brink of famine and80% of the population of 29 million in need of aid, according to the U.N.
 More than 3 million people have been displaced, cholera epidemics have killed hundreds, and at least 2.2 million children under 5 suffer from severe malnutrition, the agency said.
 The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels control the capital, Sanaa,and much of the country’s north, where most of the population lives and the need for aid is greatest. They are at war with a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition fighting on behalf of the internationally recognized government.
 With the economy in freefall, the U.N. aid effort is a major source of foreign currency into the country.
 Despite the disputes between the Houthis and theU.N., aid officials continue to appeal to international donors for money to address the crisis in Yemen.
 Over the summer, Grande pleaded to donor countries for more funds to meet the $4.2 billion goal.
 “When money doesn’t come, people die,” she said.
 But one international aid official said more money isn’t the issue.
 “I don’t want more funds. I want the space to spend what I have,” he said.
 ___
 Follow Associated Press investigative reporter Maggie Michael at https://twitter.com/mokhbersahafi
 Contact AP's Global Investigations team at Investigative@ap.org

journalist: By MAGGIE MICHAEL , Associated Press, Associated Press

title: UN: Houthi rebels impeding aid flow in Yemen


content_text:
Airport employees wear masks as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 as they work at the Sao Paulo International Airport in...
 Airport employees wear masks as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 as they work at the Sao Paulo International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

 Passengers wearing masks as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 arrive to the Sao Paulo International Airport in Sao Paulo...
 Passengers wearing masks as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 arrive to the Sao Paulo International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

 A passenger wearing a mask as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 arrives to the Sao Paulo International Airport in Sao Pa...
 A passenger wearing a mask as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 arrives to the Sao Paulo International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

 Passengers wearing masks as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 arrive to the Sao Paulo International Airport in Sao Paulo...
 Passengers wearing masks as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 arrive to the Sao Paulo International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

 A medical supply store worker organizes masks that customers are buying as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19, in Sao Pau...
 A medical supply store worker organizes masks that customers are buying as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. Brazil's government confirmed on Wednesday that a Brazilian man who traveled to Italy this month has Latin America's first confirmed case of the contagious new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

 Customers buy masks at a medical supply store, to wear as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wedne...
 Customers buy masks at a medical supply store, to wear as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. Brazil's government confirmed on Wednesday that a Brazilian man who traveled to Italy this month has Latin America's first confirmed case of the contagious new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

 RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil's government confirmed on Wednesday that a 61-year-old Brazilian man who traveled to Italy this month has Latin America's first confirmed case of the new coronavirus spreading worldwide.
 “We will now see how this virus behaves in a tropical country in the middle of summer, how its behavior pattern will be,” Brazil's Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said in a press conference.
 The Brazilian man spent two weeks in northern Italy's Lombardy region on a work trip, where he contracted the contagious virus, the Health Ministry said.
 Authorities had already said Tuesday evening that a first laboratory test for the COVID-19 virus had a positive result, and were waiting for a second test to confirm it.
 Since the virus began to spread throughout the world from China, Brazil and other countries in the region have registered dozens of suspected cases, all of which previously had been discarded following tests.
 According to the Health Ministry, the man began to show symptoms compatible with the illness, such as a dry cough, throat pain and flu symptoms. Lombardy is the epicenter of the outbreak in Italy, and there have been hundreds of confirmed cases there as well as several deaths.
 Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein Institute, where the man received medical attention, carried out respiratory tests, and the Adolfo Lutz Institute in the same city carried out the subsequent test confirming the virus The man was in stable condition and in isolation at home in Sao Paulo.
 Brazil's national health agency Anvisa has been working to map all contact the man had with others, and on Tuesday requested the manifest of the flight he took to investigate other possible cases.
 The Health Ministry said that the man received some 30 family members at his home after returning to Sao Paulo on Feb. 21. Those people are under observation, as are with passengers from the plane.
 “Our healthcare system has already undergone grave respiratory epidemics before,” Mandetta said. “We will get through this situation, investing in science, research and clear information.”
 Residents of the biggest city in Latin America were beginning to acknowledging the risks of an epidemic Thiago Alves, the manager of drugstore in central Sao Paulo, said he had sold more than 3,000 masks on Wednesday.
 “We are already short and it isn't even the beginning of the afternoon,” he said.
 Attendance was light at many schools in downtown Sao Paulo and there were few customers in Chinese shops and restaurants.
 Sao Paulo's stock exchange, which had been closed since Friday due to the Carnival holiday, was down 5% shortly after 2 p.m., which economist André Perfeito attributed to “the global outbreak of coronavirus, not necessarily its arrival here.” Global stock markets had dipped sharply while the Brazilian exchange was closed.
 Four years ago, Latin America's largest country found itself under the microscope as the spreading Zika virus was linked to cases of microcephaly in babies just ahead of the summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
 Brazil’s response was deemed adequate by international organizations and its public health care system handled most cases, though medicine was in short supply in many isolated areas of the Northeast region. Some foreign sports fans and competitors still canceled their plans to attend South America’s first Olympics.
 As of Wednesday, there were 20 suspected cases of the new coronavirus in Brazil, 12 of which in people who returned from Italy. Authorities have so far ruled out 59 cases that were suspected since the outbreak began.
 Due to the spread of the new virus worldwide, Brazil on Monday broadened its critieria for analysis of suspected cases. The Health Ministry determined that people with fever and flu symptoms returning from Italy and six other countries should be considered suspected cases. Those countries are Germany, France, Australia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines.
 The news of the virus reaching Brazilian soil comes as the nation emerges from its annual Carnival revelry. Amanda Pereira, who joined a street party on Wednesday with her young daughter, said, “I worry a lot because my daughters have breathing problems, so we will stay alert.”
 Asked whether Brazilians should cancel plans to visit Europe, Mandetta said this is “just another reason for domestic tourism” and said that people should use “good sense”
 “If it's not necessary, why are you going to book? Wait for us to see if this starts to behave better,” he said. “Now, we also can't stop our lives because there is a respiratory syndrome.”
 The countries already on Brazil's watch list were China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, North Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.
 —
 AP videojournalist Diarlei Rodrigues and writer Mauricio Savarese contributed to this story.

journalist: By MARCELO DE SOUSA and MAURICIO SAVARESE , Associated Press, Associated Press

title: Brazil confirms first coronavirus case in Latin America


content_text:
Chairs are empty at a cafe in Largo Argentina square amid growing concern about the spread of a new coronavirus in Rome Saturday, March 7, 2020. Italy...
 Chairs are empty at a cafe in Largo Argentina square amid growing concern about the spread of a new coronavirus in Rome Saturday, March 7, 2020. Italy is taking an almighty hit to its already weak economy from being the focal point of the coronavirus emergency in Europe. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP)

 Tourists visit the Colosseum, in Rome, Saturday, March 7, 2020. With the coronavirus emergency deepening in Europe, Italy, a focal point in the contag...
 Tourists visit the Colosseum, in Rome, Saturday, March 7, 2020. With the coronavirus emergency deepening in Europe, Italy, a focal point in the contagion, risks falling back into recession as foreign tourists are spooked from visiting its cultural treasures and the global market shrinks for prized artisanal products, from fashion to design. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

 A man sits at a table as others are empty at a cafe in Largo Argentina square amid growing concern about the spread of a new coronavirus in Rome Satur...
 A man sits at a table as others are empty at a cafe in Largo Argentina square amid growing concern about the spread of a new coronavirus in Rome Saturday, March 7, 2020. Italy is taking an almighty hit to its already weak economy from being the focal point of the coronavirus emergency in Europe. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP)

 A man wearing a face mask stands calling for a ban on Chinese people entering South Korea near the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Marc...
 A man wearing a face mask stands calling for a ban on Chinese people entering South Korea near the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 8, 2020. The number of infections of the COVID-19 disease spread around the globe. The sign reads: "No Chinese Entry." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

 A man wearing a face mask waits for the bus at a stop in Goyang, South Korea, Sunday, March 8, 2020. The number of infections of the COVID-19 disease ...
 A man wearing a face mask waits for the bus at a stop in Goyang, South Korea, Sunday, March 8, 2020. The number of infections of the COVID-19 disease spread around the globe. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

 An employee wearing a face mask cleans the widows of his shoe store at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 8, 2020. The number of i...
 An employee wearing a face mask cleans the widows of his shoe store at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 8, 2020. The number of infections of the COVID-19 disease spread around the globe. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

 Women wearing face masks walk down a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 8, 2020. The number of infections of the COVID-19 disease sp...
 Women wearing face masks walk down a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 8, 2020. The number of infections of the COVID-19 disease spread around the globe. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

 District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks at a news conference to announce the first presumptive positive case of the coronavirus, technically k...
 District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks at a news conference to announce the first presumptive positive case of the coronavirus, technically known as COVID-19, in Washington, Saturday, March 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

 Vice President Mike Pence, center, along with Florida Sen. Rick Scott, far left, and Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, and CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, ri...
 Vice President Mike Pence, center, along with Florida Sen. Rick Scott, far left, and Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, and CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, right, speaks to the media after a meeting with cruise line company leaders to discuss the efforts to fight the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at Port Everglades, Saturday March 7, 2020, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Gaston De Cardenas)

 In this Friday, March 6, 2020, image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, Air Station crew members load personal protective equipment into a helicopter i...
 In this Friday, March 6, 2020, image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, Air Station crew members load personal protective equipment into a helicopter in San Francisco. Thousands of anxious people were confined Saturday to a cruise ship circling in international waters off the San Francisco Bay Area, after 21 passengers and crew members tested positive for the new coronavirus. The Grand Princess was forbidden to dock in San Francisco amid evidence that the vessel had been the breeding ground for a cluster of nearly 20 cases that resulted in at least one death after its previous voyage. (Petty Officer 3rd Class Taylor Bacon/U.S. Coast Guard District 11 via AP)

 ROME (AP) — Italy's prime minister announced a sweeping coronavirus quarantine early Sunday, restricting the movements of about a quarter of the country's population in a bid to limit contagions at the epicenter of Europe's outbreak.
 Shortly after midnight, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree affecting about 16 million people in the country's prosperous north, including the Lombardy region and at least 15 provinces in neighboring regions. The extraordinary measures will be in place until April 3.
 “For Lombardy and for the other northern provinces that I have listed there will be a ban for everybody to move in and out of these territories and also within the same territory," Conte said. "Exceptions will be allowed only for proven professional needs, exceptional cases and health issues.”
 Around the world, more and more countries were bracing for a surge in virus cases. Western countries have been increasingly imitating China – where the virus first emerged late last year, and which has suffered the vast majority of infections — by imposing travel controls and shutting down public events.
 Italy on Saturday saw its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the outbreak began in the north of the country on Feb. 21.
 In its daily update, Italy's civil protection agency said the number of people with the coronavirus rose by 1,247 in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 5,883. Another 36 people also died as a result of the virus, taking the total to 233.
 There was chaos and confusion in the northern Italian city of Padua in the Veneto region as word spread late Saturday evening that the government was planning to announce the quarantine.
 Packed bars and restaurants quickly emptied out as many people rushed to the train station in Padua. Travelers with suitcases, wearing face masks, gloves and carrying bottles of sanitizing gel shoved their way on to trains.
 Before Conte signed the quarantine decree, Stefano Bonaccini, president of the Emilia Romagna region, said parts of the decree were confusing, and he asked the premier for more time to come up with solutions that were more “coherent.”
 Around the world, events and festivals have been called off. Travel restrictions and warnings have been issued. A nose-dive in tourist traffic and possible disruptions to supply chains have set off fears of a worldwide economic slowdown. Benchmarks in global markets have gyrated in recent weeks, as hopes for stimulus measures mixed with widespread pessimism on the virus news.
 Saudi Arabia has banned spectators at any sports competitions starting Saturday. The NBA, as well as British and Japanese sports teams are considering the same, as baseball and soccer seasons are starting.
 The spread of the virus has also taken a psychological toll. Authorities and manufacturers have been trying to assure panicking consumers they don’t need to hoard toilet paper, which have vanished from store shelves in various nations.
 A particular point of concern are passenger-packed cruise ships, many of which are confronting their own virus problems.
 Officials in California were deciding Saturday where to dock the Grand Princess cruise ship, after 21 tested positive for the virus. There is evidence the ship now idling off San Francisco was the breeding ground for a deadly cluster of almost 20 cases during an earlier voyage.
 “Those that will need to be quarantined will be quarantined," U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said. "Those who will require medical help will receive it.” President Donald Trump said he would have preferred not to let the passengers disembark onto American soil, but would defer to medical experts.
 In Egypt, a cruise ship on the Nile with more than 150 aboard was under quarantine in the southern city of Luxor after 12 positive tests.
 Also Saturday, the port of Penang in Malaysia turned away the cruise ship Costa Fortuna because 64 of the 2,000 aboard are from Italy. The ship had already been rejected by Thailand, and is now heading to Singapore.
 And in Malta, which reported its first case of the virus Saturday, the MSC Opera ship agreed not to enter the Mediterranean country’s port amid local worries — even though there are no infections suspected on board. The ship continued to Messina, Sicily, where passengers were allowed to disembark after officials reviewed medical records.
 Transmission of the virus is now going in every direction.
 While the global death toll has risen past 3,400, more people have now recovered from the virus than are sickened by it. As of Saturday, nearly 90,000 cases have been reported in Asia; more than 8,000 in Europe; 6,000 in the Mideast; about 450 in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, and fewer than 50 cases reported so far in Africa.
 While many scientists say the world is clearly in the grips of a pandemic — a serious global outbreak – the World Health Organization isn’t calling it that yet, saying the word might spook the world further.
 The virus is still much less widespread than annual flu epidemics, which cause up to 5 million severe cases around the world and up to 650,000 deaths annually, according to the WHO.
 In Iran, fears over the virus and the government's waning credibility has become a major challenge to leaders already reeling from American sanctions. More than 1,000 infections were confirmed overnight, bringing the country's total to 5,823 cases, including 145 deaths.
 The government declared a “sacred jihad” against the virus: Wearing gas masks and waterproof fatigues, members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard sprayed down streets and hospitals with disinfectants.
 South Korea, the hardest-hit country outside China, reported 93 new cases on Sunday morning, taking the total to 7,134, with 50 deaths overall.
 China on Sunday morning reported 44 new cases over the past 24 hours, the lowest level since it began publishing nationwide figures on Jan 20, and 27 new fatalities.
 But while infections were increasing more slowly, the country was struck anew by tragedy: A hotel used for medical observation of people who had contact with coronavirus patients collapsed on Saturday, killing at least four people.
 In the United States, fears of a larger outbreak continued to spread and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged older adults and people with severe medical conditions to "stay home as much as possible" and avoid crowds.
 The number of deaths linked to coronavirus in Washington state reached 16, although that figure could be higher, based on figures released by the nursing home at the center of the outbreak. The Life Care Center of Kirkland said Saturday that, since Feb. 19, 26 of its residents have died. Typically, about three to seven residents die at the facility each month.
 Even islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean have not been spared, with the tiny archipelago nation of the Maldives reporting its first cases. Health authorities there locked down two of its tourist resorts after two expatriate workers tested positive for the coronavirus.
 ___
 Kageyama reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writers Chris Blake in Bangkok, Maria Sanminiatelli in New York, Joe McDonald in Beijing, Angela Charlton in Paris, Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, Ashok Sharma in New Delhi, Anna Johnson in London, Jonathan Poet in Philadelphia and Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report.
 ___
 The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

journalist: By PAOLO SANTALUCIA and YURI KAGEYAMA , Associated Press, Associated Press

title: Italy announces virus quarantine affecting 16 million people


content_text:
U.S. regulators warned seven companies to stop selling soaps, sprays and other concoctions with false claims that they can treat the new coronavirus or keep people from catching it.
 The warnings were emailed Friday to companies based in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. and were announced Monday. Nearly all the targeted companies had complied by Monday morning, with mentions of the virus or products to treat it taken off their websites.
 The letters, sent jointly by the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, warned the companies their products for treating COVID-19 were fraudulent, “pose significant risks to patient health and violate federal law.”
 There are no approved treatments for the new virus. Potential treatments and vaccines now in testing won't be ready for many months or more than a year, but fake ones keep popping up.
 The two agencies sent letters to these companies: Vital Silver, Quinessence Aromatherapy Ltd., N-Energetics, GuruNanda LLC, Vivify Holistic Clinic, Herbal Amy LLC and The Jim Bakker Show.
 Last month, Bakker's streaming program aired an episode in which a guest of the disgraced televangelist promoted colloidal silver — silver particles in liquid — claiming it had been tested on previous coronavirus strains and eliminated them in hours.
 Such scams typically flourish during epidemics of new diseases, including after the 2015-16 Zika virus outbreak. The scams often prominently include glowing testimonials from supposedly cured people, but in fine print state the products aren’t intended to treat or cure any medical condition.
 The seven companies’ products ranged from inexpensive items to pricey ones, such as Herbal Amy’s $155 Corona Protocol — four bottles of tinctures and tea.
 In an email, proprietor Amy Weidner said Herbal Amy isn’t selling treatments, just herbs.
 “Within the herbal product description I simply quoted an herbalist. That quote has been removed to adhere to the FDA requirements,” Weidner wrote. The product was still on her site Monday.
 GuruNanda and N-Energetics issued statements that they had removed the claims cited by the FDA.
 On Monday morning, Vital Silver’s website was offering products ranging from a fine mist spray for $7.99 to a monthly subscription for soap, gel and “structured silver minerals” for $46.90. By Monday afternoon, the website was inaccessible. Jennifer Hickman, identifying herself as the business owner, wrote in an email that she was unaware her company was violating FDA standards and had removed all statements concerning COVID-19 from the website and social media.
 The FDA also said is was working with online marketplaces such as Amazon and had gotten them to remove more than three dozen fake coronavirus products.
 ___
 Follow Linda A. Johnson at https://twitter.com/LindaJ_onPharma
 ___
 The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

journalist: By LINDA A. JOHNSON , AP Medical Writer, Associated Press

title: US warns 7 companies over fraudulent coronavirus claims


content_text:
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the co...
 Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the coronavirus on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

 Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the co...
 Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the coronavirus on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat, center, accompanied by National Institute for Allergy and Infectio...
 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat, center, accompanied by National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, right, testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the coronavirus on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

 Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dr. Robert Kadlec testifies before a Senate Education, Labor and Pensions ...
 Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dr. Robert Kadlec testifies before a Senate Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the coronavirus on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

 National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Comm...
 National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the coronavirus on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

 National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, second from left, accompanied by Centers for Disease Control and Pr...
 National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, second from left, accompanied by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat, left, Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dr. Robert Kadlec, second from right, and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, right, testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Hearing on the coronavirus on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

 From left, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases ...
 From left, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dr. Robert Kadlec, and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn testify before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Hearing on the coronavirus on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

 WASHINGTON (AP) — Frustration over lack of access to coronavirus testing boiled over Tuesday as Trump administration officials sought to reassure skeptical lawmakers the nation will have the capacity for 1 million tests within days.
 “I'm hearing from people who are sick, who want to get tested, and don't know where to go,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., told senior administration officials at a hearing. Her state has seen a cluster of deaths among patients in a nursing home, and Murray called the situation “unacceptable,” adding that “families deserve to know when testing is going to scale up.”
 Delays and missteps have put the U.S. behind other nations conducting thousands of tests.
 The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Stephen Hahn, responded that the FDA has been working with a private company to get as many as 2,500 test kits out to labs by the end of the week. Each kit should allow a lab to run about 500 tests, he said. That would work out to 1.25 million tests.
 But when senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee pressed on whether the government will meet its self-imposed deadline, health officials avoided making hard promises.
 “I am optimistic but I want to remain humble,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 Independent experts said they can't assess whether the Trump administration will meet its goal, but they commended health agencies for the effort.
 “The U.S. public and private sectors have the capacity to produce and distribute a large volume of tests, and I hope they meet the goal,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, the former CDC chief and current president of Resolve to Save Lives, a nonprofit that works to prevent epidemics.
 The CDC is clearly moving in the right direction, said John Auerbach, president of the Trust for America's Health, calling the goal “admirable and ambitious.”
 Nancy Foster, of the American Hospital Association, said the group recommends that people who have possible symptoms of the virus contact their doctor or hospital before visiting a clinic. That will enable staff to meet the person outside and take steps to prevent exposure to other patients.
 The virus has infected more than 90,000 people worldwide and killed more than 3,100. But the U.S. has trailed other countries in rolling out tests, because of problems with its test kits and because the CDC initially limited the number of eligible people.
 In January, the CDC said it had developed a test kit and sent it to state and big city public health labs, so they could test more people. But most of the kits proved to be faulty, providing inconclusive results to test samples that should have tested positive.
 The problem was blamed on one of three chemical reagents used in the testing, and the CDC moved to fix it.
 In a call with reporters on Tuesday, one CDC official acknowledged contamination was one possible explanation, but not the only one. Dr. Nancy Messonnier refused to say more, except that the agency was ensuring test kits being sent out now “meet the high quality standards that we and FDA hold ourselves to.”
 Whatever the reason for the earlier problem, only about a half dozen state and local public health labs had fully functional kits as of early last week. Late last week, the CDC said labs could go ahead and do testing with just two of the reagents. As of Tuesday, 54 state and local labs were able to do tests, according to the Association of Public Health Laboratories.
 That will be a small part of the total testing that should be coming online, officials said.
 The CDC only recently broadened testing criteria. It initially had advised testing people who had traveled to China and had fever and certain other symptoms, or their close contacts. It now says testing is appropriate if such symptoms exist and other respiratory illnesses have been ruled out, even if no source of possible exposure has been identified.
 The count in the U.S. has begun to grow rapidly in the last several days, after more labs started testing and the eligibility grew. More than 100 U.S. cases have been reported, and at least nine deaths.
 The new virus is a member of the coronavirus family that can cause colds or more serious illnesses such as SARS and MERS.
 The virus can cause fever, coughing, wheezing and pneumonia. Health officials think it spreads mainly from droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how the flu spreads.
 Officials are advising people to take steps to avoid infection with coronavirus or other respiratory infections like colds or the flu, including washing hands with soap and water and avoiding close contact with people who are sick.
 Most people get only mild illnesses and many have recovered.
 Meanwhile, acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told lawmakers Tuesday that the agency closed a facility in King County, Washington, because an employee became ill after visiting a family member at a Kirkland nursing home where five of the U.S. deaths occurred.
 He did not specify the type of facility or say how many employees work there. The employees were told to work from home for 14 days, and all were told to “self-quarantine” during that time.
 ___
 Stobbe reported from New York.
 ___
 The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

journalist: By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR and MIKE STOBBE , Associated Press, Associated Press

title: Frustration rising over lack of access to coronavirus tests


content_text:
Passengers wearing masks as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 use their phones at the Sao Paulo International Airport in...
 Passengers wearing masks as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 use their phones at the Sao Paulo International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

 Customers buy masks at a medical supply store, to wear as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wedne...
 Customers buy masks at a medical supply store, to wear as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. Brazil's government confirmed on Wednesday that a Brazilian man who traveled to Italy this month has Latin America's first confirmed case of the contagious new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

 RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Latin America saw its first confirmed case of the new coronavirus spreading worldwide when Brazil's government announced that a 61-year-old man who traveled to Italy this month had the virus.
 The Brazilian man had spent two weeks in northern Italy's Lombardy region on a work trip, where he contracted the contagious virus, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.
 “Our healthcare system has already undergone grave respiratory epidemics before,” Brazil's Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said in a press conference. “We will get through this situation, investing in science, research and clear information.”
 Since the COVID-19 virus began to spread throughout the world from China, Brazil and other countries in the region have registered dozens of suspected cases, all of which previously had been discarded following tests.
 According to Brazil's Health Ministry, the man began to show symptoms compatible with the illness, such as a dry cough, throat pain and flu symptoms. Lombardy is the epicenter of the outbreak in Italy, and there have been hundreds of confirmed cases there as well as several deaths.
 Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein Institute, where the man received medical attention, carried out respiratory tests, and the Adolfo Lutz Institute in the same city carried out the subsequent test confirming the virus The man was in stable condition and in isolation at home in Sao Paulo.
 Brazil's national health agency Anvisa has been working to map all contact the man had with others, and on Tuesday requested the manifest of the flight he took to investigate other possible cases.
 The Health Ministry said that the man received some 30 family members at his home after returning to Sao Paulo on Feb. 21. Those people are under observation, as are with passengers from the plane.
 “We will now see how this virus behaves in a tropical country in the middle of summer, how its behavior pattern will be,” Mandetta said.
 Residents of the biggest city in Latin America were beginning to acknowledging the risks of an epidemic. Thiago Alves, the manager of drugstore in central Sao Paulo, said he had sold more than 3,000 masks on Wednesday.
 “We are already short and it isn't even the beginning of the afternoon,” he said.
 Sao Paulo's stock exchange, which had been closed since Friday due to the Carnival holiday, was down 5% shortly after 2 p.m., which economist André Perfeito attributed to “the global outbreak of coronavirus, not necessarily its arrival here.” Global stock markets had dipped sharply while the Brazilian exchange was closed.
 Four years ago, Latin America's largest country found itself under the microscope as the spreading Zika virus was linked to cases of microcephaly in babies just ahead of the summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
 Brazil’s response was deemed adequate by international organizations and its public health care system handled most cases, though medicine was in short supply in many isolated areas of the Northeast region. Some foreign sports fans and competitors still canceled their plans to attend South America’s first Olympics.
 As of Wednesday, there were 20 suspected cases of the new coronavirus in Brazil, 12 of which in people who returned from Italy. Authorities have so far ruled out 59 cases that were suspected since the outbreak began.
 Due to the spread of the new virus worldwide, Brazil on Monday broadened its critieria for analysis of suspected cases. The Health Ministry determined that people with fever and flu symptoms returning from Italy and six other countries should be considered suspected cases. Those countries are Germany, France, Australia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines.
 The news of the virus reaching Brazilian soil comes as the nation emerges from its annual Carnival revelry. Amanda Pereira, who joined a street party on Wednesday with her young daughter, said, “I worry a lot because my daughters have breathing problems, so we will stay alert.”
 Asked whether Brazilians should cancel plans to visit Europe, Mandetta said this is “just another reason for domestic tourism” and said that people should use “good sense”
 —
 AP videojournalist Diarlei Rodrigues and writer Mauricio Savarese contributed to this story.

title: New coronavirus reaches Latin America, first case in Brazil


content_text:
FILE - This Aug. 2, 2018, file photo shows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration building behind FDA logos at a bus stop on the agency's campus in Sil...
 FILE - This Aug. 2, 2018, file photo shows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration building behind FDA logos at a bus stop on the agency's campus in Silver Spring, Md. Health officials reported the first U.S. drug shortage tied to the viral outbreak that is disrupting production in China, but they declined to identify the manufacturer or the product. The Food and Drug Administration said late Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, that the drug's maker contacted health officials recently about the shortage, which it blamed on a manufacturing issue with the medicine's key ingredient. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

 FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, file photo, a worker in overalls screen for fever at the entrance to a supermarket in Beijing. Health official...
 FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, file photo, a worker in overalls screen for fever at the entrance to a supermarket in Beijing. Health officials reported the first U.S. drug shortage tied to the viral outbreak that is disrupting production in China, but they declined to identify the manufacturer or the product. The Food and Drug Administration said late Thursday, that the drug's maker contacted health officials recently about the shortage, which it blamed on a manufacturing issue with the medicine's key ingredient. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

 WASHINGTON (AP) — Health officials reported the first U.S. drug shortage tied to the viral outbreak that is disrupting production in China, but they declined to identify the manufacturer or the product.
 The Food and Drug Administration said late Thursday that the drug's maker recently contacted officials about the shortage, which it blamed on a manufacturing issue with the medicine's key ingredient. Regulators stressed that alternative medicines are available to treat patients.
 The FDA previously said it had reached out to 180 drug manufacturers and asked them to check their supply chain and report any potential disruptions. The agency also said it had identified 20 drugs produced or sourced exclusively from China, but it declined to name them.
 The FDA has good reason to not release the names of drugs facing potential shortages, said Rosemary Gibson, who wrote the book "China Rx" on that nation's role in American health care.
 "People might rush to buy it and that would create a worse situation," said Gibson, a senior adviser at bioethics research group The Hastings Center. “In the context of shortages globally, you have to be very, very careful.”
 More than 83,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, nearly 79,000 of them in mainland China. Government officials there have severely restricted travel and imposed strict quarantine measures to try and stop the virus from spreading.
 Restrictions on movements of people and goods have been imposed by at least 90 countries, and that's disrupting flow of drugs and raw materials, said Nicolette Louissaint, executive director of Healthcare Ready, a nonprofit group funded by drug distributors, government and foundations that tracks the impact of epidemics and natural disasters.
 For decades, the pharmaceutical industry has shifted manufacturing to China, India and other countries to take advantage of cheaper labor and materials. Today, roughly 80 percent of the ingredients used in U.S. medicines are made abroad, according to federal figures. India and other Asian nations rely on Chinese drug ingredients to make finished generic pills.
 China ranks second among countries that send drugs and biotech medicines to the U.S., according to the FDA. It is also the top exporter of medical devices and equipment to the U.S.
 The country is a major producer of antibiotics for the U.S. market, as well ingredients and medicines for common chronic conditions such as heart disease, said Louissaint.
 The virus, which led to strict travel restrictions in Chinese cities home to more than 60 million people, has affected a range of industries. Some factories have tried to restart and run into problems getting the raw materials and components they need.
 Chinese factories making pharmaceutical ingredients and drugs are still operating, with some trying to produce far more than usual and others still trying to get workers back, Louissaint said Friday. Cargo carriers are still transporting those products from China to other countries, she said.
 “It is challenging,” but fortunately Chinese ports have remained open, Louissaint said.
 She added that the FDA's announcement of the shortage indicates the FDA's tracking efforts are working and drugmakers are communicating with the agency.
 The FDA said Thursday there are no reported medical device shortages related to the coronavirus. However, the agency said several Chinese device manufacturing facilities are being “adversely affected” by the outbreak due to staffing problems, including workers who have been quarantined.
 The FDA said it is in touch with 63 device manufacturers with Chinese facilities that produce “essential" medical devices. While noting increased orders for masks, respirators, gloves and other protective gear, regulators said there are no reported shortages of those items in the U.S.
 Under a 2012 law, drugmakers are required to notify the FDA of production or sourcing issues that could create medication shortages. The agency noted this week that medical device manufacturers are not bound by that law and “are not required to respond when the FDA requests information about potential supply chain disruptions."
 ___
 Johnson reported from Trenton, New Jersey. AP Writer Bernard Condon contributed from New York.
 ___
 The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

journalist: By MATTHEW PERRONE and LINDA A. JOHNSON , Associated Press, Associated Press

title: US reports first drug shortage tied to virus outbreak


content_text:
CAIRO (AP) — USAID said late Monday that it will suspend aid to Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, where most of the country's people live, if the rebels don’t remove impediments obstructing aid operations.
 A spokesperson said that the agency said it informed partners including U.N. agencies about the plan last week. The official said the suspension will start in late March if Houthis take no action.
 “We continue to do everything we can to avoid a reduction in aid in northern Yemen,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with agency regulations.
 The U.S. provided about $700 million in aid to Yemen last year. It is among the largest donors to Yemen, where a U.N. aid program totaling $8.35 billion since 2015 is vital to keeping many Yemenis alive. The U.N. calls the situation in Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
 As the war in Yemen enters its sixth year, 10 million people in the country are on the brink of famine and 80% of the population of 29 million need of aid, according to the U.N. More than 3 million people have been displaced, cholera epidemics have killed hundreds, and at least 2.2 million children under 5 suffer from severe malnutrition, the agency said.
 Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who control most of northern Yemen, have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic aimed at forcing the agencies to give them greater control over the humanitarian campaign.
 ___
 This story was first published on Feb. 25, 2020. It was updated on Feb. 26, 2020 to correct the source of comments from USAID on possibly suspending humanitarian help to rebel-held parts of Yemen. The comments were made by a USAID spokesperson, not taken from a statement.

title: US to stop aid in Yemen's Houthi areas if rebels don't budge


content_text:
In this Oct. 1, 2018 file photo, a malnourished boy sits on a hospital bed at the Aslam Health Center, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have bloc...
 In this Oct. 1, 2018 file photo, a malnourished boy sits on a hospital bed at the Aslam Health Center, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

 In this Sept. 23, 2018 file photo, men deliver aid donations from donors, in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the Uni...
 In this Sept. 23, 2018 file photo, men deliver aid donations from donors, in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hammadi Issa, File)

 FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2018 file photo, a severely malnourished infant is bathed in a bucket in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blo...
 FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2018 file photo, a severely malnourished infant is bathed in a bucket in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hammadi Issa, File)

 FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2018 file photo, men deliver U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) aid in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked...
 FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2018 file photo, men deliver U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) aid in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hammadi Issa, File)

 FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2018 file photo, women wait with their children in front of the Aslam Health Center, in Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen ...
 FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2018 file photo, women wait with their children in front of the Aslam Health Center, in Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hammadi Issa, File)

 FILE - This Aug. 30, 2010 file photo, shows Lise Grande, then head of United Nation humanitarian assistance in Southern Sudan, who is now the the U.N....
 FILE - This Aug. 30, 2010 file photo, shows Lise Grande, then head of United Nation humanitarian assistance in Southern Sudan, who is now the the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, in Juba. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. Over the past year, 2019, U.N. agencies, lead by Grande, began pushing back against Houthi demands. (AP Photo/Maggie Fick, File)

 FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2019 file photo, a Houthi fighter holds a weapon during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters for the Houthi movement, ...
 FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2019 file photo, a Houthi fighter holds a weapon during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters for the Houthi movement, in Sanaa, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

 FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2018, file photo, a severely malnourished boy rests on a hospital bed at the Aslam Health Center, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels ...
 FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2018, file photo, a severely malnourished boy rests on a hospital bed at the Aslam Health Center, Hajjah, Yemen. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

 FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2019 file photo, a Houthi fighter fires in the air during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters for the Houthi movement...
 FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2019 file photo, a Houthi fighter fires in the air during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters for the Houthi movement, in Sanaa, Yemen. Houthi rebels have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

 FILE - In this April 20, 2015 file photo, Saudi soldiers work at the border with Yemen in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked hal...
 FILE - In this April 20, 2015 file photo, Saudi soldiers work at the border with Yemen in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. Houthi rebels in Yemen have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File)

 Yemen’s Houthi rebels have blocked half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs in the war-torn country — a strong-arm tactic to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to aid officials and internal documents obtained by The Associated Press.
 The rebel group has made granting access to areas under their control contingent on a flurry of conditions that aid agencies reject, in part because it would give the Houthis greater sway over who receives aid, documents and interviews show.
 The Houthis' obstruction has hindered several programs that feed the near-starving population and help those displaced by the nearly 6-year civil war, a senior U.N. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the situation.
 “Over 2 million beneficiaries ... are directly affected,” the official said.
 The Houthis have been pushing back against U.N. efforts to tighten monitoring of some $370 million a year that its agencies already give to government institutions controlled mostly by the rebel group, documents show. That money is supposed to pay salaries and other administration costs, but more than a third of the money spent last year wasn’t audited, according to an internal document leaked to the AP.
 The U.N. has largely kept quiet in public about the pressure, but behind the scenes the agency and international donors are digging in against the Houthi demands. The AP spoke to seven workers and officials from U.N. and independent agencies about the situation. All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. The AP also saw dozens of documents, including emails of aid officials.
 In October, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, sent a letter to the Houthi-appointed prime minister complaining about a long list of demands.
 The “overwhelming majority” of them impede or delay delivery of aid and many violate humanitarian principles, she said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the AP.
 For months, the Houthis demanded a 2% cut from the entire aid budget be given to them, a condition the U.N. and donors rejected. In an email to the AP, a spokesperson for the U.S. Agency for International Development said Houthi attempts “to implement a tax on humanitarian assistance are unacceptable and directly contradict international humanitarian principles.” The United States donated $686 million to Yemen in 2019, according to USAID.
 Last week, the Houthis appeared to back off the 2% demand, but continue to press for other concessions, according to aid officials.
 During a meeting in Brussels last Thursday, aid agencies and international donors threatened to reduce aid if Houthis continue to impose restrictions on U.N. operations in Yemen.
 The situation “has reached a breaking point,” they said in a statement.
 At least one agency, the World Food Program, is currently considering cutting back the monthly food aid it delivers to 12 million Yemenis every other month, a U.N. official said. ”It’s unfortunate that people will suffer but this is on the Houthis,” the official said. “They can’t use people as hostages for too long.”
 On Thursday, both U.N. and American officials said they are continuing their efforts to deliver aid to Yemenis despite the Houthi roadblocks.
 “We want to help the long-suffering people of Yemen,” said USAID Administrator Mark Green, when asked about the AP investigation during a stop in Munich. “The Houthis are putting up restrictions that make it difficult to do that, and that's something that we refuse to stand still for.”
 U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq added: “We’ve made clear to all parties the need to make sure that our aid can proceed, and we have regularly reiterated the importance of sustaining the humanitarian operation, which is being implemented in challenging conditions and is providing life-saving assistance to millions of Yemenis."
 The Houthis’ demands have stoked longtime concerns among aid agencies over the rebels’ diverting of humanitarian funds and supplies into their own or their supporters’ pockets or toward their war effort.
 Delivering aid in a war zone has always poseda problem for U.N agencies. But officials said the situation in Yemen has been especially challenging.
 The Houthishave withheld visas and permissions for equipment and supplies and refused to grant clearances for U.N. missions to move through rebel-controlled areas. Aid workers said agency leaders’ past willingness to concede to some of therebels'demands has emboldened the Houthi leaders to push for more.
 Nearly 300,000 pregnant and nursing mothers and children under age 5 haven’t received nutrition supplements for more than six months because the Houthis “held beneficiaries hostage to the 2%” demand, another U.N. official said.
 In another example, Houthi authorities for months delayed permission to distribute 2,000 tons of food — enough to feed 160,000 people — in the district of Aslam, where the AP previously found starving villagers reduced to eating boiled leaves. When approval came in November, the food had spoiled "beyond the point of salvage," another aid official said.
 Houthi leaders have remained defiant in the face of U.N. pushback.
 "Yemen will survive" if agencies suspend aid, Abdul-Mohsen Tawoos, secretary-general of the Houthi agency coordinating international aid, told European donors during a Jan.20 Skype call. Minutes of the call were obtained by the AP.
 He said the Houthis wanted to reach an agreement with the U.N. and its donors, but “won’t be bullied.”
 Tawoos accused Grande, the top U.N. official in Yemen, of sending false reports aboutHouthis restricting the movement of U.N. humanitarian operations. Houthi leaders have threatened to expel her from the country.
 The U.N.’s massive aid program, totaling $8.35 billion since 2015, is vital to keeping many Yemenis alive. The U.N. calls the situation in Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
 Ten million people in the country are on the brink of famine and80% of the population of 29 million in need of aid, according to the U.N.
 More than 3 million people have been displaced, cholera epidemics have killed hundreds, and at least 2.2 million children under 5 suffer from severe malnutrition, the agency said.
 The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels control the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north, where most of the population lives and the need for aid is greatest. They are at war with a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition fighting on behalf of the internationally recognized government.
 With the economy in freefall, the U.N. aid effort is a major source of foreign currency into the country.
 The U.N received around $3 billion in 2019 in international donations for its campaign, short of its $4.2 billion goal.
 The Houthi demand for 2% of that budget would funnel $60-$80 million into the coffers of their aid-coordination agency, the Supreme Council for Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and International Cooperation, known as SCMCHA.
 Qassim Hussein al-Houthi, the head of the international agencies department in theHouthi presidency, said the money was necessary forSCMCHA's operating expenses.
 “It carries heavy financial burden. It’s in charge of facilitating, distributing, security, and organizing the work of the agencies,” he said.
 Al-Houthi argued that it’s the U.N. agenciesthat spend a much larger percentage of their budgets on administration without “real oversight.” He said the U.N. aid delivery programs blocked by the Houthis “are not a priority for the Yemen people.”
 Harassment, intimidation and suspected embezzling of funds by Houthis have been going on for years, aid workers said, and have gotten worse since the rebels created their aid coordination agency in early 2018. Since then, Houthi-led security agencies have arrested local workers, blocked aid missions or held up supplies, according to internal emails and documents seen by the AP.
 “Not even a simple project can be carried out in northern Yemen without the consent and supervision of this body,” said a Yemeni chief of a local aid organization.
 The U.N. rarely pushed back, calculating that aid had to be delivered at any cost.
 U.N. agencies continued to put hundreds of millions of dollars into Houthi accounts for “capacity building,” a common practice in humanitarian programs to ensure government bodies function.
 Some of the money went to salaries for doctors, teachers and other vital employees who have otherwise gone without pay amid the war. Millions more went to the Houthi aid agency for administrative costs and salaries.
 Aid workers privately expressed concerns about the funds from U.N. aid agencies being diverted into the coffers of Houthi leaders or their supporters.
 UNICEF told the AP in a statement that its funds were strictly monitored and no instances of diversions were found. The World Health Organization said all its spending was “subject to internal and external audit,” as well as frequent internal reviews on multiple levels. WHO also said it found no evidence that its funds have been diverted.
 Still, last summer, the U.N. requested all agencies report how much they were giving in direct cash transfers. In 2019, the total reached $370 million, around10% of the entire international aid budget for Yemen, according to a U.N. spreadsheet obtained by the AP. Around $133 million was marked in the spreadsheet as “not audited.”
 Some officials in the Houthi aid body, SCMCHA, appear to be receiving multiple salaries, the data shows. For a time, three U.N. agencies were each giving salaries to the body’s president, his deputy and general managers. Each of the officials received a total of $10,000 a month from the agencies, the spreadsheet shows.
 The U.N. refugee agency also gave SCMCHA $1 million every three months for office rental and administrative costs, while the U.N. migration agency gave the office another $200,000 for furniture and fiber optics.
 U.N. officials said Grande was “genuinely shocked when she learned about the arrangements.”
 “She had no idea about the scale of it,” said one senior U.N. official. “Her reaction after that was, we have to fix the situation.”
 Over the past year, U.N. agencies, lead by Grande, began pushing back against Houthi demands.
 First, the World Food Program suspended aid for a couple of months in some areas around Sanaa and demanded biometric registering of beneficiaries to ensure deliveries go to those truly in need. The Houthis initially agreed but later refused to follow through with the biometric registering.
 The U.N. then moved to prevent double-paying of salaries, and its agencies tightened auditing of the funds it provided.
 UNICEF, for example, said it decided in November to re-assess all 243 partners it works with, including government ones, and cut down dramatically on funds put into Houthi coffers. The agency said it would start paying suppliers and contractors directly.
 The moves by the U.N. have prompted the Houthis to launch a media campaign denouncing the humanitarian agency as corrupt and wasteful.
 Further escalation came after the Houthi aid body in November was put under the leadership of the Houthi president’s chief of staff, making it more powerful, several aid officials said.
 An already difficult environment to work in “became extremely suffocating with threats (and) directives,” one of the officials said.
 SCMCHA’s new leadership imposed more than 200 new directives on humanitarian agencies, six aid officials told the AP.
 Some directives — such as requiring agencies to disclose the identities of aid recipients and involving Houthi authorities in assessments of need — would give the rebels even greater power to steer aid to their supporters, aid workers fear.
 Other demands seemed aimed at monitoring and intimidating, such as ordering local Yemeni staffers to get Houthi permission to take U.N. training courses abroad and then to report back the content of those workshops. Houthis officials also require the segregation of women and men in U.N.-run programs in some areas.
 The Houthis also demanded a new agreement giving them a hand in assigning U.N. contracts with suppliers and picking local partners to implement programs, according to a draft of their proposal seen by the AP. It also gives them the right to screen U.N. hires in Yemen and take over the budget of monitoring programs.
 Aid agencies have refused to sign the agreement.
 Several humanitarian workers said the Houthis are also trying to force the U.N. to work with NGOs they favor, particularly an organization known as Bonyan, which is filled with Houthi affiliates. The brother of Houthi leader Abdel Malekal-Houthi, Ibrahim al-Houthi, was a board member until his death last summer. Houthi leaders stopped the U.N. agencies from delivering food in Yemen’s Hodeida province, unless they used Bonyan for the distribution.
 Despite the disputes between the Houthis and the U.N, aid officials continue to appeal to international donors for money to address the crisis in Yemen.
 Over the summer, Grande pleaded to donor countries for more funds to meet the $4.2 billion goal.
 “When money doesn’t come, people die,” she said.
 But one international aid official said more money isn’t the issue.
 “I don’t want more funds. I want the space to spend what I have,” he said.
 ___
 Follow Associated Press investigative reporter Maggie Michael at https://twitter.com/mokhbersahafi
 Contact AP's Global Investigations team at Investigative@ap.org

title: Yemen's Houthi rebels impeding UN aid flow, demand a cut


content_text:
（中央社台北11日電）新疆維吾爾自治區防疫指揮部今天通知，新疆全面恢復正常生產生活秩序，堅持全面完成今年經濟社會發展目標、決勝全面小康社會、全面打贏脫貧攻堅戰、保持社會大局和諧穩定等任務不動搖。

武漢肺炎疫情仍未平息，但在中共要求下，中國部份縣級、地級行政區日前陸續宣布「全面恢復正常生產生活秩序」。新疆則是第一個作此宣布的省級行政區。

新疆官媒天山網報導，新疆防疫指揮部強調，上述任務是建立在「要求認真貫徹落實習近平總書記關於『統籌推進疫情防控和經濟社會發展的重要講話』重要指示精神，貫徹落實習近平總書記在『決戰決勝脫貧攻堅座談會』上的重要講話精神，鞏固成果、細化措施」的基礎上。

通知聲稱，新疆全區「疫情防控形勢持續向好，經濟社會發展加快全面步入正常軌道」。要認真貫徹中共中央決策部署，在前期工作基礎上進一步把各項工作抓實、抓細、抓落地，全面恢復正常生產生活秩序。且要實施精準防控，落實好「外防輸入」的各項防控措施。

通知要求，新疆已全面恢復營運的市內公共交通和疆內客運班車、旅客列車、民航飛機，要確實做好及時消毒、通風等防護措施；酒店、商場、超市、商店、餐飲店、理髮店、農貿市場等各類商業門點要合理安排營業時間，嚴格落實場所消毒、人員佩戴口罩等措施。

同時，各地、各部門要繼續下大力氣推動人流、物流、資金流有序轉動，深入做好企業復工復產的指導服務工作，採取「點對點」運輸等多種方式幫助疆外員工盡快返崗，確保企業全面達產。

這項通知強調，新疆各級、各部門要「堅定信心不動搖，咬定目標不放鬆，只爭朝夕、搶抓機遇、頑強奮鬥，全力以赴把疫情造成的損失補回來、把疫情耽誤的時間搶回來」。

通知最後說，新疆要確保圓滿完成全年經濟社會發展目標任務，確保高品質完成脫貧攻堅任務，確保如期全面建成小康社會，確保全區「社會大局和諧穩定，向黨和人民交出合格答卷」。（編輯：邱國強/張淑伶）1090311

journalist: 編輯：邱國強/張淑伶

things: 防疫 經濟

title: 新疆搶中國第一  宣布全面恢復正常生產生活秩序 | 兩岸


content_text:
（中央社記者趙麗妍台中18日電）27歲萩原駿介感念台灣人在日本311震災的捐款幫助，4月來台環島旅遊，他拍攝環台旅遊影片，幫忙宣傳台灣的觀光。看過台灣美景，吃遍道地美食，他說，「台灣最美的美景是人」。

來自日本群馬縣的萩原駿介看到台灣人在日本311震災時的幫助，備受感動，4年前，他曾手拿海報，身穿「謝謝台灣」T恤，尋訪10個台灣城市，定點拍照感謝台灣。

為讓更多日本人知道台灣之美，今年4月他毅然辭去工作，帶著工作3年存的旅費，再次踏上環台之旅，86天內走訪全台多個縣市，不同於一般自由行多依循部落客、網紅行程，萩原駿介詢問當地民眾建議，以台灣人視角，探訪在地人推薦的景點，進行台灣深度旅遊。

27歲萩原駿介來自日本群馬縣，因感念台灣人在日本三一一震災時捐款幫助，4月來台旅遊並拍攝環台旅遊影片，幫忙宣傳台灣觀光。中央社記者趙麗妍攝 107年7月18日
他騎著腳踏車感受新竹的風，到花蓮和原住民一起跳舞，更前進傳統市場體驗當地民情，品嘗各式台灣味，米粉湯、貢丸、肉圓無一不嚐，許多外國人卻步的臭豆腐，他大口吃下肚後直呼「聞起來很臭，吃起來很香」。

全台走透透，台灣許多美景震撼了萩原駿介，但他印象最深刻的是台中高美濕地的美景，他說，「從未在日本看過這樣的美景」。萩原駿介準備新台幣18萬的旅費，環台3月只花了3萬，因為一路上許多熱情台灣人的招待，讓他省了不少旅費。

明天即將離台，萩原駿介今天回到台中豐原，台中市議員謝志忠帶著他到東豐鐵馬道騎自行車，到廟東夜市吃小吃，還到寶泉甘味手造所品嘗百年糕點。

寶泉甘味手造所老闆陳孟君向他介紹，當年爺爺遠赴日本拜師學藝，返台後開店創業的「感恩麻糬」，萩原駿介品嘗後，直呼「歐伊西」（日文好好吃）。

離別前夕，萩原駿介以在旅遊中學習到的台語感謝一路上幫助過他的台灣人，他說：「此次受到很多台灣人幫助，我發現很多台灣美麗的地方，好吃的美食，好看的風景，但最美的是台灣的人情味。」

萩原駿介將環台體驗拍攝成「發現台灣之美」影片，並製作成中、日文版本，放上網路和許多人分享，藉此宣傳台灣觀光。（編輯：翁翠萍）1070718

journalist: 中央社記者趙麗妍台中18日電

countries: 台灣 日本

taiwan-subdivisions: 花蓮 新竹 豐原

title: 感恩台灣人311幫助 日本青年環台拍片宣傳觀光[影] | 地方 | 重點新聞


content_text: 成千上萬難民聚集土耳其、希臘邊境試圖攻入歐洲，希臘警方實彈、催淚彈、水砲齊發。迎風飄蕩的希臘國旗那麼近，卻如此遙遠。一波又一波攻防已辜負了和煦的春風。

countries: 希臘 土耳其

title: 土國開邊界 大量難民湧往希臘|中央社全球視野


content_text:
去年3月民進黨總統初選，陳建仁發表公開聲明退讓不再連任，希望促成黨內團結，他接受本刊專訪時指出，當時有人勸阻他，該聲明會讓總統蔡英文覺得他要「跳船」，但他直言：「我自己覺得說我時間到了。」衡量整個局勢，這樣最好，他才主動告訴總統，自己不是要跳船，而是階段性任務已結束，「回到學術研究才是我生命的主軸。」

陳建仁是虔誠天主教徒，把出任公職視為「天主召叫」，隨扈還打趣跟他說：「如果做副總統是天主召叫，祂絕對要讓你忙到5月19日。」他很珍惜這4年能為台灣這塊他最愛的土地奉獻，原以為輔選目標達成，沒想到竟然來了武漢肺炎，蔡總統告訴他：「這是你的專長，2003年故事（SARS）重演，你必須扮演一定角色。」他也允諾擔任行政團隊的幕後顧問。

journalist: 黃驛淵

people: 陳建仁 蔡英文

title: 【陳建仁專訪8】史上最忙的副總統　陳建仁自謙「無用的僕人」


content_text:
陳建仁在專訪中透露，尋找義大利確診第14例一家的感染源時，陳時中與他討論很久，當時他建議，須蒐集14例一家出發前10天有無中國旅遊史，並釐清機上有無陸客。

之後，在判讀第19例中部白牌車司機一案時，指揮中心從接觸史鎖定一名浙江台商可能是感染源，但採檢時卻發現該台商喉嚨沒有病毒，陳建仁也建議指揮中心，可以抽血檢驗抗體，才讓這名感染源得以確認。

countries: 義大利 中國

people: 陳時中 陳建仁

title: 【陳建仁專訪4】陳時中深夜急詢求援　大仁哥一招揪出感染源


content_text: 陳建仁口中讓他「驚嚇到無與倫比」的報告，指的就是世界頂尖醫學雜誌《新英格蘭醫學期刊》（New England Journal of Medicine），在2月12日所刊登的〈台灣新型冠狀病毒本地傳播感染案例〉一文，該報告由台灣彰化基督教醫院急診醫學部團隊發表。

title: 【陳建仁專訪5】「我驚嚇到無與倫比」　一份報告讓他直呼比SARS更難纏


content_text:
以身作則，直球對決。守護星正式轉進事業宮且全速正行的這段日子，總算完全脫離「水逆」悶傷期，等在面前的是3大吉星齊聚事業宮的年度生涯關鍵之戰，功過成敗訂於此役，若干險峻的人生功課將在此役後劃下句點。危機正是轉機。事業臨危受命、冒險犯難，有專責督軍或親上火線等事，英雄感強。手氣轉旺。愛情是顆狂飆的心。

臨危不亂，軍心大定。遊走於起落臨界點的這段日子，面對的是很多零和遊戲的嚴峻測試。零與一的距離有天壤之別，切莫等閒。所幸靠著良好習慣建立的專業直覺，在亂象迭起的環境提供冷靜而理性的導引，得以讓工作減少犯錯與適應，進一步幫助事業搭上領先列車。理財審慎精算、少輸為贏。撙節用度、開源有成。愛情是幸福恆溫。

journalist: 瑪法達

title: 【瑪法達談星】03.11~03.17　風象星座


content_text:
分秒必爭，順利達陣。時間管理、精準操作成為生存要件的這段期間，效率勝過一切。最忌掛一漏萬、因小失大。所幸身邊貴人頗多，總能在危急時刻現身馳援。事業雖不見豐功偉業，但準時上工上線、大小計劃認真執行、截止時效如期交差已頗值肯定。職場規則改寫，不適合閉門造車。財運回暖，遲來的應得回饋。愛情是幸福自然而然。

與人為善，投桃報李。守護星轉進夥伴宮，且完全恢復正行的這段日子，正式脫離上半年的人生梅雨季，轉入順風期。互惠互利、豐富彼此的一對一關係成為情感與事業的幸運劑。信賴升級、依存度大增，彼此可望建立長期的親密盟友關係。簽約、定情可期。工作以實力見真章，實質績效換來等值回饋，無僥倖之財。愛情是幸福綻放的季節。

title: 【瑪法達談星】03.11~03.17　土象星座


content_text:
據《三立新聞網》報導，該名台商2月12日回台，14天隔離期滿後，2月29日赴北市某牙醫診所諮詢植牙，並於本月2日進行手術，也向診所透露預計「3月15日返回中國工作」，沒想到台商卻在手術中，突然呼吸不順、且開始咳嗽，最後倒在診所廁所裡。

台商緊急送醫，仍回天乏術，到院前已無呼吸心跳。對此，牙醫診所表示，手術都是正常程序，目前診所以全面消毒。而台商也於死後一週安排解剖，待釐清真正死因。

journalist: 謝文哲

title: 台商返台植牙暴斃　「死前狂咳、呼吸不順」檢驗不敢大意


content_text: 就有一位網友在迪卡論壇爆料，「其實還是很多公眾人物沒有自主管理啦！」直言陳天仁之前還在南韓，回台灣卻未自主管理，竟還 「全程無罩」 四處趴趴走，甚至在2月23日當天，發IG現實動態賣口罩，表示：「口罩庫存剩下30個而已，一個150。」

title: 網紅「象迷娘」遭爆賺國難財　「口罩1個150元」網酸：原味的？


content_text:
根據《ETtoday》報導，游否希談到近期不斷被前團員爆料時憤怒指出，自己握有相關證據，但強調沒有指名道姓，不希望有人對號入座。他表示：「潛規則我有一堆證據，絕對百口莫辯；刷粉絲信用卡，如果沒錢可以跟我說，刷粉絲信用卡幹嘛？還有想暗殺其他團員，為了想上位做好多佈局，有些人想靠跟誰睡上位，我不想讓這種人留在我團隊。」

游否希還指出，如果他看不下去，講出來的可能是社會議題，「目前是非都對我沒殺傷力，社會案件的東西不說只是不害前團員。」至於是否想跟前團員和解？他也回絕，認為贊助或幫助可以，但和解不用說，「因為一直消費我們，其實可以做一些有意義的事，人家可能會覺得我這樣說很偽善，有種一起捐錢。」他認為雙方應該好聚好散，不要再用爆料來炒話題。

journalist: 數位內容組

title: 「在不瘋狂」遭前團員爆料　游否希嗆「別當我塑膠」：握有暗黑證據


content_text: 外型帥氣的王又正因為大選前貼身採訪韓國瑜一夕爆紅，接替平秀琳主持中天政論節目《新聞深喉嚨》，今電視圈傳出他在節目上對導播發飆的影片，該段影片長約48秒，他在影片中大吼「我剛剛怎麼說的？帶院長就好，帶我幹什麼？聽不懂嗎？」之後更飆罵「有什麼問題那麼多？你好好講嘛，就是凶你怎麼樣，會怕就好，閉嘴！」

journalist: 娛樂組

title: 節目遭檢舉散布假消息　主播王又正惹人怨「飆罵畫面流出」


content_text: 2020總統大選及立委選舉已進入倒數階段，藍綠陣營選舉攻防戰也日趨激烈，但身為台北市議員的鍾小平卻不受影響，私下過得相當愜意，不僅相約麻吉、中天主播王又正上酒吧紓壓；11月底本刊又拍到兩人跟漂亮美眉半夜從KTV走出來，這次多了同為北市議員的戴錫欽，三男外加兩妹踏足歡樂場所。

people: 鍾小平 戴錫欽

title: 【獨家】【深夜尋粉味】王又正、鍾小平深夜尋歡　粉味妹作陪


content_text: 黃安2016年因為心肌梗塞，還搭乘醫療專機，返台進行手術，不僅全程有黑衣人保鑣替他護駕，還被爆動用關係插隊、喬病房。只是為黃安做手術的振興醫院否認如此傳言。

title: 【劉真加油7】女星看診想插隊　報上名號被路人嗆爆


content_text: 趙小僑求學期間就是學校風雲人物，卻因合作舞台劇《婚外信行為》後與相差直逼12歲、光頭還有兒子的劉亮佐結緣；更妙的的是，趙小僑的恩師孫德榮更曾嫌劉亮佐「又醜又窮」。

title: 【劉真加油8】女偶像嫁大12歲離婚男星　恩師嫌他「又醜又窮」


content_text: 1個月來，關於劉真的手術狀況眾說紛紜，本刊除了深入榮總，另也透過各界管道，拼湊所有可靠但零碎的院內、外消息，還原她與死神拔河35天的全部樣貌。目前仍在榮總病床上的她，體重僅剩30幾公斤。

title: 【劉真加油1】院方一度拒收！劉真送醫已無意識　辛龍用盡人脈讓愛妻動刀


content_text:
政府先前推出口罩實名制，為反映上班族抱怨買不到口罩，中央疫情指揮中心9日指出12日2.0版本將上路，民眾可透過網路預購、超商取貨方式取得口罩。李來希昨（10日）深夜在臉書撰文，酸台灣動用全國菁英和國家資源，「就只是為了解決一個口罩問題？」他舉澳門僅憑身分證件限購政策，就安定民心而無口罩之亂，其實關鍵就在供需問題，台灣產能不足，民眾死命排隊都不見得買得到，而且價格還是原來的5倍，結果卻還吹噓口罩政策的成果。

李來希接著稱口罩品質越來越差、價格越來越高，供應方式五花八門，然後政策宣稱叫做2.0，是騙死人不償命，「人民要的真的很簡單，就是原來的品質，原來的價格，隨時買得到，有那麼難嗎？」最後還提及網購要加7元運費，「難道過去超商販賣口罩的時候，價格不含運輸費用嗎？是把人民當腦殘嗎？」

journalist: 黃雅琪

countries: 台灣 澳門

title: 網購口罩加7元嫌貴又麻煩　李來希爆粗口譙「實名制」


content_text:
行政院9日決定口罩實名制2.0，透過網路預購、超商取貨方式，讓過去無法排隊的上班族也可以買到口罩。中央疫情指揮中心昨日公布運費為7元，讓陳玉珍受訪時相當不以為然，稱「收這個運費是小錢，沒有這個必要。」此番言論引發網友批評。

事隔一日，陳玉珍今日上午在臉書發文堅持先前立場，稱網路預訂可達到減少群聚感染機會和排隊的時間成本，是一件好事，陳玉珍指出口罩5元「本來就含物流費」，為鼓勵民眾多用網路預購，「更不應該收這個七塊錢」，她認為藉由原有的購買成本來引導民眾網購方向走去，政策訂定的目的應該朝這個方向努力，「這個也是我說七塊錢沒有必要收的深層道理」。

references: 臉書 網友

title: 陳玉珍挨轟仍稱口罩7元運費不合理　宅神：這些立委地獄18層都不夠深


content_text: 中壢農友王派鳳自2012年開始種植番茄，經中興大學教授蔡東篡指導後，2014年改用溫室、滴灌、籃耕等技術，且不噴灑農藥，採有機種植。夫妻兩人細心照料，果實飽滿...

title: 有機 Archives


content_text: 白色情人節將至，許多人會挑選玫瑰花送給另一半，但市面上的玫瑰花可能殘留過量的農藥，成為健康安全的漏洞。嘉義縣阿里山腳下的曙光玫瑰有機農場，農場主人鄭宇超以無毒...

taiwan-subdivisions: 阿里山 嘉義縣

title: 樹玫瑰 Archives


taiwan-subdivisions: 嘉義縣 阿里山

title: 玫瑰花 Archives


content_text:
2020-03-11 21:38
 美國總統川普的振興政策未如預期發布，令盼望政策救市的市場大為失望，美股週三開盤再度重挫，道瓊工業指數大跌超過700點。（美聯社）

〔財經頻道／綜合報導〕武漢肺炎疫情席捲全球，雖然美國總統川普宣布減稅政策，但其餘經濟振興方案未如預期發布，令盼望政策救市的市場大為失望，美股週三開盤再度重挫，道瓊工業指數大跌超過700點。

道瓊工業指數報24280.18點，下跌737.98點或2.95%；標普500指數報2801.15點，下跌81.08點或2.81%；那斯達克指數報8132.07點，下跌212.18點或2.54%。

雖然川普宣布將薪資所得稅降至0％，美股週二受此激勵大漲千點，但卻傳出相關經濟振興政策未獲得同黨議員支持，川普不僅未現身記者會，具體細節也將延後發布，令市場大失所望。

全球各國為了抵抗武漢肺炎疫情的衝擊，也相繼祭出刺激方案，英國央行跟隨上週聯準會降息，今天也宣布緊急降息2碼至0.25%。市場也在等待明天召開決策會議歐洲央行是否跟進降息。

國際油價週三也續挫，西德州原油期貨下跌超過3％。

countries: 英國 美國

things: 油價 經濟

title: 川普救市方案卡關！ 美股道瓊開盤大跌逾700點


taiwan-subdivisions: 新北 新北市

title: 清明節宣導線上追思祭拜　新北防疫多項措施報你知

content_text:
▲ 清明節宣導線上追思祭拜，新北防疫多項措施報你知。（圖／新北市民政局提供，下同）

記者郭世賢／新北報導

清明節即將到來，因應大批掃墓祭祖人潮，新北市推出多項防疫措施，除宣導線上祭拜，進出公立納骨塔也將採人流管制，及要求民眾戴口罩、量額溫，並於戶外搭棚設桌供民眾祭拜等方式，加強防疫準備，清明節當日會由區長主祭，替代民眾向先人表達敬意與追思。

民政局表示，為防範新冠肺炎疫情擴大，2020年新北市各公立納骨塔及新北市軍人忠靈祠清明法會將延後至秋祭期間，或新冠肺炎疫情結束後辦理。同時，依中央嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎因應指引標準，實施納骨塔人流管制，請民眾進入納骨塔時須佩戴口罩、配合工作人員量測體溫，並宣導進入納骨塔憑弔不久留、儘可能改在戶外棚架空間祭拜，每個戶外供桌都會拉開距離，避免祭拜民眾擁擠情形。

▲ 清明節即將到來，因應大批掃墓祭祖人潮，新北市推出多項防疫措施。

另外，也強化公立納骨塔環境管理，除保持空間空氣流通外，各區公所將持續加強消毒工作，針對經常接觸之表面，現場人員除定期清潔外，每天至少完整消毒一次以上，服務人員也定時量體溫。另公墓為戶外空間，不強制管制，惟掃墓人潮較多時仍建議配戴口罩，各區也將於3月21日前完成除草。

民政局表示，新北市電子追思系統建有19個公立納骨塔及植存者資料，電腦畫面都是現場拍攝，讓人身如其境，並包含「線上追思」及「線上祭拜」兩部分，民眾如忘記帳號及密碼，也設有簡易的查詢方式，只要知道姓名及性別即可使用，相關資訊可至新北市清明服務網查詢。新北市電子追思系統：https://worship-online.ntpc.gov.tw/線上遙祭先人。

「時間存在的意義就是襯托妳的美麗」


title: 桃園彩芋季停辦業者仍招募攤位？　農業局再度說明

taiwan-subdivisions: 桃園 大園

content_text:
▲桃園彩芋季停辦，因去年吸引百萬遊客前往賞花，而傳出業者私自招募攤位情事。（圖／市府資料照）

記者楊淑媛／桃園報導

全台唯一，只有桃園才有的彩色海季，今年受疫情影響10天前宣布停辦，然市府農業局獲悉，有部分業者對外宣稱為「2020桃園彩色海芋季」活動主辦單位，私自招募市集攤位，農業局11日再度公開宣布，今年5月份以前市府所有花卉活動，包括「坑子溪愛戀桃金孃」活動都停辦，期減少群聚活動，大家一起防疫。

桃園彩色海芋季的活動主要展場、大園溪海休閒農業區表示，田間共有5萬8000株彩色海芋，早在市府宣布停辦前，即已種下，目前正常養護，並陸續開花中，還有2萬株香水百合可以觀賞，即使今年彩芋不舉辦大型活動及市集，民眾仍然可以來參觀花田。

▲桃園彩芋季去年吸引百萬人前往花田賞花。（圖／市府資料照）

市府農業局指出，疫情延燒，該局針對3月間舉辦的「桃園彩色海芋季」，原擬延期，惟花區的花卉配合原訂活動期間種植，經評估活動延期花況也已不再，勢將影響遊客前往觀賞花卉興致及活動品質，因此停辦「桃園彩色海芋季」及「坑子溪愛戀桃金孃」活動，也不提供接駁車、停車場、市集、工作人員等動態服務，避免有群聚情事發生。

未料，現有部分業者宣稱為「2020桃園彩色海芋季」活動主辦單位，私自招募市集攤位，混淆民眾對於活動辦理動態認知，農業局再次說明已停辦今年5月份以前所有花卉活動，如有市集或其他活動皆非屬本局管理，亦無收取高額攤費租金一事。

►生火了！連我媽都用到發光


title: 快訊／台中驚傳送肉粽！路線跨「3區」23:00開始　議員證實：真的

taiwan-subdivisions: 烏日區 南區 烏日 中山 大肚區 鹿港 東區

references: 臉書社團 網友

content_text:
▲台中南區今晚將舉行送肉粽儀式。（圖／記者陳以昇攝）

記者鄒鎮宇／綜合報導

習俗「送肉粽」為送煞消災的祈福儀式，台中南區11日晚間11時傳出將舉辦送肉粽的儀式，有網友將路線及警告PO網，希望民眾可以提早回家，避免外出及迴避。此外，國民黨議員羅廷瑋也證實真有其事。

有網友在臉書社團「烏日大小事」PO文表示，南區大慶街11日晚間11時將舉行送肉粽法式，路線會從大慶街二段出發，沿路經過烏日區、大肚區（大慶街二段→中山路一、二、三段→王田交流道），路線皆為大馬路，儀式到12日凌晨1時結束，「請各位烏日區的朋友於晚間11點至凌晨1點避免外出及迴避。」

▲網友PO出路線，希望當地民眾迴避。（圖／翻攝烏日大小事）

▲大致路線圖。（圖／翻攝Google地圖）

網友看完紛紛留言，「大慶街一堆人跟一堆學生！中山路更多」、「今天有夜市…」「這也送太遠了吧」、「今天要早點回家」、「謝謝提醒，感恩」、「以為只有鹿港才有此習俗」。

對此，台中東區、南區議員羅廷瑋接受《ETtoday新聞雲》採訪表示，他向當地派出所求證後，確實得到有送肉粽的消息，但喪家非常低調，基於不能透露個資及詳細地點，希望民眾可以避免外出及迴避。

►酒精乾洗手下殺3折！～爆搶防疫神水來囉～

▼台中東南區議員羅廷瑋。（圖／翻攝羅廷瑋臉書）


title: 藍白拖翁迷失在濕冷萬里山區　金山暖警送上熱食助返仁愛之家

taiwan-subdivisions: 仁愛 金山 萬里 新北 新北市

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▲ 藍白拖翁迷失在濕冷萬里山區，金山暖警送上熱食助返仁愛之家。（圖／記者郭世賢翻攝，下同）

記者郭世賢／新北報導

新北市金山警分局崁腳派出所5日經民眾通報，濕冷萬里崁腳山區出現一名穿著藍白拖鞋的老翁，隻身在山區遊蕩迷路，不知該如何是好，員警迅速趕抵現場，先將老翁載至派出所查證確認身分後，並提供熱食讓老翁充飢，隨後駕駛巡邏車，將其載回仁愛之家。

崁腳派出所員警歐仁愛5日中午12時許獲報，在萬里山區內崁產業道路上，發現一名老翁獨自站在路旁，講話不甚清楚，言語表達有障礙。經歐員先將其載返所查證身分，值班副所長王坤亮見該老翁不斷顫抖，立即先以溫開水讓其暖身，並沖泡一碗方便麵讓其充飢，但該老人還是無法詳述其住居所。

▲ 值班副所長王坤亮見該老翁不斷顫抖，立即先以溫開水讓其暖身，並沖泡一碗方便麵讓其充飢。

經王員利用M-Police人臉辨識查詢後，得知是70多歲陳姓老翁，王員經電話查證戶籍地房屋已倒塌無親友，之後向當地里長探詢得知老翁平時居無定所，只知道有住過仁愛之家，王員再致電萬里仁愛之家，得知老翁自行離開仁愛之家很多日，平時寡言有點失智，歐員將其載回。

分局長陳永昌表示，同仁在第一線執行勤務，於能力範圍內持續幫助需要幫助的人，是值得讚許的。民眾若於馬路上遇到類以情形，除撥打110通知警方協助外，請民眾先行將迷失長輩，引導至路旁以策安全。

「時間存在的意義就是襯托妳的美麗」


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雙贏彩第109061期今晚開獎，中獎號碼為09、10、16、21、14、19、24、02、15、12、11、17。派彩結果，頭獎摃龜。

貳獎有3注中獎，各得獎金新台幣10萬元。

派彩結果及中獎獎號以台彩公布為準。

台彩
 雙贏彩

title: 雙贏彩第109061期頭獎摃龜


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今彩539第109061期開獎，中獎號碼09、16、12、07、14。派彩結果，頭獎2注中獎，每注獎金新台幣800萬元。

貳獎218注中獎，每注獎金2萬元。

3星彩中獎號碼712，正彩44注中獎，每注獎金1萬2500元。

title: 今彩539第109061期 頭獎2注中獎


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記者許皓婷／綜合報導

新冠肺炎（COVID-19）疫情肆虐全球，許多大型活動和演唱會連帶受到波及，饒舌歌手熱狗原定3月底在北美舉辦巡演，如今也因為疫情蔓延，決定取消舉辦。

▲熱狗原定北美巡演3／20～4／9。（圖／翻攝自Facebook／熱狗）

熱狗原定3／20～4／9在北美舉辦巡迴演唱會，他11日宣布取消：「想和大家報告一件事，因受疫情影響，這次我的北美巡演決定先取消了。已經收到太多歌迷朋友的關心和詢問，相信大家這幾天也有看到與美國疫情相關的消息和新聞，今天經過跟公司討論過後還是決定先把這次巡演取消，安全第一，不想讓大家承擔任何可能的風險。」

而熱狗表示等疫情結束過後，會再安排新的時間，巡演會再次啟動，他也不忘提醒粉絲：「這段期間也請大家務必保護好自己，我想沒什麼事比平安健康最重要啦，來日方長，我們之後見！」

▲熱狗北美巡演取消。（圖／翻攝自Facebook／熱狗）

title: 新冠肺炎美國確診破千！　熱狗宣布「北美巡演全數取消」


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記者阮巧雯／綜合報導

俗話說「害人之心不可有，防人之心不可無」，外在世界並非都像童話故事般單純美好，人與人相處之間保持適當距離，才能保護好自己。星座專家Amanda在《命運好好玩》列出，不懂得提防小人星座TOP3，供大家參考。

▲不懂提防小人星座TOP3。（圖／翻攝自YouTube／命運好好玩）

第三名 雙魚座

「非常容易認人不清」，雙魚座缺乏區分好人壞人的能力，常常莫名其妙背了黑鍋，自己都不知道。像是公司吃力不討好的事，只要同事告知「可以鍛鍊實力」，雙魚座就會二話不說接下，完全不會深思熟慮。

▲雙魚座認人不清，總是無冤無故背黑鍋。（圖／翻攝自YouTube／命運好好玩）

第二名 雙子座

「總把小人當作朋友」，Amanda表示，雙子座比雙魚座更慘，雙子座不但認人不清，還會把小人當真心好友，向對方吐露所有心事秘密。

▲雙子除了認人不清，還常常把小人當知心好友。（圖／翻攝自YouTube／命運好好玩）

第一名 獅子座

「被賣還會幫人數錢」，獅子座一旦認定對方是朋友後，就會有錢出錢、有力出力，完全把真心交付給對方。因為獅子座對自身能力頗有自信，不怕被他人輕易取代，所以都會無私付出幫忙，Amanda表示：「獅子座如果稍微懂得提防小人，未來的路一定會更順暢。」

title: 被賣還幫忙數錢！　不懂提防小人3星座…雙魚「常傻傻幫人背黑鍋」