Australia and other countries follow US in imposing near-total travel ban as foreign companies scale back activityThe growing coronavirus epidemic is isolating China, as other countries, trying to ward off infection or contain their own smaller outbreaks bar, entry to travellers from China, and companies including Apple scale down travel and business there.The UK announced on Saturday it had withdrawn all but essential staff from embassies and consulates in China, as authorities at home dealt with fallout from the first two cases confirmed in Britain – a student at the University of York and a visiting relative. Continue reading...

The Chinese authorities have released details of some of the victims, and not all are elderly with pre-existing health conditionsMost people who died from the new coronavirus appear to have been old, and many had pre-existing health problems, but Chinese government records list at least five victims under 60, with no prior medical issues detailed.These potential “outliers” – aged 36, 50, 53, 55 and 58 – are a reminder that scientists are still racing to understand the nature and impact of the new disease as it spreads in China and around the world. Continue reading...

Death toll rises, with almost 12,000 confirmed cases of infection in China. Follow the latest developments

Professor responsible for ‘reckless’ failure to properly oversee researchersA row over scientific fraud at the highest level of British academia has led to calls for one of the country’s leading geneticists and highest-paid university chiefs to leave his posts.David Latchman, professor of genetics at University College London and master of Birkbeck, University of London – a post that earns him £380,000 a year – has angered senior academics by presiding over a laboratory that published fraudulent research, mostly on genetics and heart disease, for more than a decade. The number of fabricated results and the length of time over which the deception took place made the case one of the worst instances of research fraud uncovered in a British university. Continue reading...

International teams accelerate efforts to find effective immunisation method

Some forced to leave behind loved ones due to short notice after China lifted restrictionsBritons who were on board the evacuation flight from Wuhan have spoken of the confusion surrounding their departure, with some still having to leave loved ones behind.The flight, carrying 87 Britons and 27 foreign nationals from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city, touched down at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at about 1.30pm and passengers were transferred by coach to Arrowe Park hospital in Wirral, where they will be quarantined for two weeks. Continue reading...

Huge numbers of people are wearing face masks – in Japan and South Korea there have been reports of stores selling out. But experts are divided on how effective they areAs the death toll from coronavirus steadily rises, east Asian countries such as Taiwan have stepped up production of surgical face masks to meet demand. In the Chinese city of Wuhan, at the centre of the outbreak, it is mandatory to wear one in public places, and there have been reports of stores in Japan and South Korea selling out.The hope is that wearing masks in high-risk areas will at least slow the spread of the disease, but just how helpful they are is moot. Raina MacIntyre, a professor of global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales, has been reviewing the literature on protocol for dealing with infectious diseases and finds it wanting. Continue reading...

University of California, Berkeley said on Instagram that spread of the illness may lead to ‘fears about interacting with those who might be from Asia’

What are the symptoms caused by the virus from Wuhan in China, how is it transmitted from one person to another, and at what point should you see a doctor?

The virus can be spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Hand-washing is a first line of defenceThe Wuhan coronavirus outbreak is a new illness and scientists are still assessing how it spreads from person to person, but similar viruses tend to spread via cough and sneeze droplets. Continue reading...

Flight carrying 83 British people and 27 foreign nationals will land in the UK on Friday as US tells citizens ‘don’t go to China’

Sixty years ago, explorers first descended the 11,000 metres to the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench, the deepest known point in the ocean. In the intervening decades we have discovered more about this mysterious and peculiar environment and its inhabitants. Nicola Davis speaks to Dr Jon Copley about the race to the ocean floor and what is lurking down there in the deep. Continue reading...

‘These days, many have died,’ says bystander as image shows workers in protective suits and masks taking body away

More than 9,320 people infected globally, as WHO director says decision comes amid concern for countries with weaker health systems. This blog is closed

Pacific nations, still reeling from a devastating measles outbreak, have watched news out of Wuhan in panicAs Pacific Islanders watched updates about the coronavirus outbreak over the past few weeks, unease soon gave way to panic.Still reeling in shock from a measles outbreak in Samoa, Pacific Islanders’ fears were stoked as it became apparent that even large, well-developed countries were struggling to contain the outbreak. Low-resourced settings always suffer the greatest losses in global medical crises and people living in these island nations are not blind to that detail. Continue reading...

Organization’s head says move no reflection on China and warns against travel bans to country

Five previous emergencies declared since 2009 with some still activeThe Wuhan coronavirus is just the latest disease that the World Health Organization (WHO) has labelled as a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC). In the past 10 years there have been five other such announcements, covering four diseases.However, the Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers) coronavirus, first identified in 2012, and the yellow fever outbreak in Angola that emerged in late 2015 are not among them, despite emergency committees convening. Continue reading...

Scientists call on the public as they scramble to understand the impact of unprecedented fires across Australia

World Health Organization recommends people take simple precautions against virus to reduce exposure and transmission

Findings suggest human and Neanderthal lineages more closely intertwined that once thoughtAfrican populations have been revealed to share Neanderthal ancestry for the first time, in findings that add a new twist to the tale of ancient humans and our closest known relatives.Previously it was believed that only non-African populations carried Neanderthal genes due to interbreeding that took place after a major human migration out of Africa and across the globe about 60,000 years ago. Continue reading...

Giving up meat could reduce levels of certain E coli bacteria strains in bowel, say scientistsDitching meat may reduce the risk of urinary tract infections, at least in women, research suggests.Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, are common and painful, with more than 150m cases around the world every year. Continue reading...

Commerce secretary says ‘I think it will help accelerate the return of jobs to North America, some to the US’The US commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, said in an interview on Thursday that the coronavirus outbreak could bring back jobs to America.In controversial comments on morning TV, Ross remarked that the deadly illness that has broken out in China and is spreading internationally could lead to job growth for businesses in the US and Mexico. He was speaking during a segment on Fox Business Network. Continue reading...

Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 thriller about the spread of a deadly virus has been back in the iTunes Top 10 – so is this epidemic another thing we can blame on Gwyneth Paltrow?

What are the symptoms caused by the virus from Wuhan in China, how is it transmitted from one person to another, and at what point should you see a doctor?

Scientists at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne have grown the novel coronavirus from a patient sample, which they plan to share internationally under advice from the World Health Organization to provide data to fight the virus.The virus has also been grown in cell culture in China, but the breakthrough in Melbourne will allow accurate investigation and diagnosis of the virus globally. The project comes from a collaboration between the Royal Melbourne hospital and the University of Melbourne Continue reading...

New images taken by the Inouye solar telescope in Hawaii show the sun's surface in unprecedented detail thanks to its 30km resolution - more than twice that of other solar observatories

• World Athletics confirms event has been delayed for year

It’s right to scrutinise the official response to the outbreak, but that does not justify spreading wild rumours or discriminating against Chinese peopleThe coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan has shown how far and fast a disease can travel in our globalised age. It has also shown us how quickly fear, misinformation and blame can spread, only hindering the fight against the pneumonia-causing virus.The alarm is understandable. More than 6,000 cases have been confirmed, and more than 130 people have died: a public health expert at Imperial College has suggested that 100,000 may be infected already. World Health Organization officials think it is impossible to predict when the outbreak will peak. Though only a few score people outside China have been confirmed as infected, they are scattered from the US and Australia to Thailand and the UAE. In Japan and Germany, patients who have never been to China have been taken ill. Continue reading...

Fingers made of hydrogels layers have pores that ooze water to cool downNever mind their cold, hard logic and tireless dedication to the task at hand – the most unappealing aspect of robots to come may well be their personal hygiene.In a demonstration of how to build machines that do not overheat, researchers have created a robot hand that regulates its temperature naturally – by breaking into a sweat. Continue reading...

The British empire forced its colonies to abandon their own languages. Now they are making English their ownThere is one expression I have grown up hearing from relatives of a certain age, but never been able to accept. It’s the description of Twi – the Akan language spoken by my family – as “the vernacular”, a term which implicitly compares it with the colonial language, English, and somehow finds it wanting. The word itself is a revealing symptom of the colonial project. Just as nations like the Yoruba, with a population of more than 40 million, were patronisingly described as “tribes”, when in fact they were substantial nations, African languages were downgraded to “the vernacular”. It’s a term more befitting of a regional dialect than a nation’s language, with its own history, politics and literature.The attempt to discourage Africans from speaking our own languages not only failed, but has had the glorious result of backfiring, to the extent that now Britain’s own inhabitants are officially adopting African vocab. This month the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) added Nigeria’s first entries to already recognised gems like “howzit” from South Africa. Other Africans will recognise lots of the latest lingo to get the OED stamp – “chop”, to eat or to misappropriate funds; “next tomorrow”, the day after tomorrow; “sef”, a great Pidgin flourish for emphasis. Continue reading...

First observations from Inouye telescope bring previously hazy star into sharp focusThe sun’s turbulent surface has been revealed in unprecedented detail in the first observations by the Inouye solar telescope in Hawaii.The striking images reveal a surprising level of structure hidden within the churning plasma exterior, bringing a previously hazy impression of the sun’s patchwork surface sharply into focus for the first time. Continue reading...

Work of trainees in Iraq has enabled new understanding of objects going on show in UKFor decades they have been part of the collection of the British Museum, appreciated for their individual significance but in many cases shorn of much of their context owing to the circumstances of their discovery and retrieval during the buccaneering period of early archaeology.Now dozens of important artefacts that were removed from Iraq in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are being brought back into focus in an exhibition drawing on groundbreaking discoveries made by Iraqi archaeologists amid the turbulence of the country’s recent history. Continue reading...

What are the symptoms caused by the virus from Wuhan in China, how is it transmitted from one person to another, and at what point should you see a doctor?

People returning from China could be placed at a military base, says health departmentCoronavirus: BA suspends China flights – live updatesBritons returning from coronavirus-hit Wuhan will be placed in quarantine for 14 days.Officials are considering taking passengers to a military base once they arrive home, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said. Continue reading...

Sindy Siddle, who has a Chinese passport, told she cannot leave with her husband and child

Aurora enthusiasts discover new phenomenon in FinlandA new form of the northern lights has been captured by amateur enthusiasts, researchers have revealed.The phenomenon of glowing green lights rippling across the night sky, also known as the aurora borealis, have long captivated the public and experts alike. Continue reading...

US updates travel warning to highest level as mayor of Wuhan admits authorities were too slow in releasing information. This blog is closed

Fears grow over global economic fallout with airline shares hit and commodity prices tumbling

Regenerative agriculture can revolutionise the continent. That’s not a pie-in-the-sky utopia, but something we can all bring about

What are the symptoms, how is it transmitted from one person to another, and how is the virus from Wuhan in China related to Sars?

FCO urgently exploring options for British nationals to leave Hubei province, says No 10

Five people have been diagnosed with the new strain of the virus, and more cases are likely – but the risk to the public is lowFive cases of the novel coronavirus infection have now been confirmed in the US, while experts have warned about 100,000 people could already be infected globally.Related: Coronavirus: Britain under pressure to evacuate UK nationals Continue reading...

Shouts of 'jiāyóu' can be heard echoing between Wuhan's high-rise apartment blocks as people take to their balconies to shout what translates literally as "add oil", meaning 'keep up the fight', to their neighbours. It is day six of life under lockdown for the Chinese city's 11 million residents, who have found themselves at the centre of the outbreak of coronavirus. Continue reading...

Ardern government under pressure to repatriate citizens trapped in Chinese city stricken by coronavirus outbreakNew Zealand families trapped in Wuhan during China’s coronavirus outbreak have made public and emotional pleas for their evacuation.Opposition leader Simon Bridges has echoed their call, putting pressure on the New Zealand government to repatriate its citizens. Continue reading...

The answer to today’s puzzleEarlier today I set you the following puzzle:What is the highest value of UK coins you can have in your pocket without being able to exchange them exactly for a £10 note? Continue reading...

UK embassy in Beijing says it is working on option for British nationals to leave China

Zhou Xianwang says public information should have been released more quickly

Britain does not need more scientists. Yet the PM wants to poach them from poorer countries and turn away everyone elseNow we know. Boris Johnson’s exclusive “global talent visa”, to be launched in February, is aimed at “the world’s scientists and mathematicians”. It will prove, he says, that post-Brexit “the UK is open to the most talented minds in the world” – so long as they are scientists. As for entrepreneurs, economists, humanitarians, historians, artists, let alone mere caring human beings, they should stay put.Related: Fast-track 'global talent visa' to be launched days after Brexit Continue reading...

The mayor of Wuhan, the city where China's coronavirus outbreak originated, said on Monday the city's management of the virus wasn't good enough, adding that he felt the city's ability to deal with the crisis needed improvement. Zhou Xianwang admitted in the interview that the authorities were too slow in how they released information about the virus due to legal requirements, and said he would be willing to resign