New world news from Time: Atlanta Couple Caught Up in New Zealand Volcano Eruption Have Both Died From Their Injuries

An American couple have now both died from injuries sustained last month in a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, according to authorities.

New Zealand police said Thursday that Pratap Singh, 49, died at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland from the burns he suffered in the volcanic eruption on New Zealand’s White Island on Dec. 9, 2019. He becomes the twenty-first person to have died due to the eruption, police said. Singh’s wife, Mayuari, who was also injured in the eruption, died at the same hospital on Dec. 22.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately return requests from TIME to confirm that another American citizen had died in the eruption. Police said in December that about 47 people were on the island at the time of the eruption. Of the 47 people, nine were American. At least two other Americans — Berend Hollander, 16, and Matthew Hollander, 13 — died in the eruption, along with their parents.

The couple, who were from Atlanta, are survived by three children, including an 11-year-old son and 6-year-old twin daughters, according to a statement from their nephew, Vick Singh, released on behalf of the family. Pratap Singh suffered 55% body burns in the eruption, Singh said in his statement. Mayuari Singh, 42, who was admitted to the hospital with 72% body burns, died after a 13-day battle.

Courtesy of New Zealand Police

Vick Singh remembered Pratap, who was nicknamed “Paul,” as a “dynamic leader, genuinely kind-hearted, very spiritual individual with a charismatic personality known in the metro-Atlanta community for his philanthropic and social service activities.”

“My uncle Paul will be remembered as an invincible businessman, a passionate social worker/educator, a transparent decision maker, an event liaison and a celebrated member of the Indian-American community,” he wrote. “He was the best father, best guardian, best brother, best uncle, best volunteer and the best friend anyone could wish. The entire family grew and thrived under his leadership.”

Singh said Mayuari Singh was also a beloved member of the American-Indian community in Atlanta and a great cook.

“I’m sure that anyone who enjoyed any of her meticulously prepared handmade meals (Indian, American, Italian or Mexican) can certainly vouch for her. She was one of a kind — we love her, we miss her so much,” he wrote.

Singh also criticized White Island tour operators for not providing proper safety equipment, which he believes could have saved his relatives’ lives had it been available.

“I seriously request and encourage volcano tourism in NZ and around the world to charter proper safety equipment including appropriate heat resistant gear/clothing, safety glasses, helmets and face masks,” he wrote. “Tours should not be operated without comprehensive disclosure of risks associated, and a complete assessment of geothermal and seismic activity.”

 

 

New world news from Time: As Wuhan Coronavirus Drags on Chinese Markets, the World Economy Braces for a Slowdown

China’s economy is grinding to a halt as the government scrambles to stop the spread of the deadly Wuhan coronavirus, fueling fears that efforts to contain the outbreak will have worldwide economic consequences.

Sixteen cities in China, with a combined population of more than 50 million people, are on lockdown. Airlines around the world are canceling flights to China and countries including the United States are urging residents not to travel to the country at all. Chinese companies began to shut down last week for the annual Lunar New Year holiday, but at a time when they would normally be preparing to get back to work, 14 provinces and cities, which account for more than two-thirds of China’s economic output, announced that businesses may not resume operations for another week—at least.

China was already under economic pressure before authorities first reported cases of an unknown pneumonia to the World Health Organization in late December. Facing tensions from the trade war and sluggish demand at home, its official GDP growth in 2019 was the slowest since 1990. Now China, and the rest of the world, is preparing for the economic pain that seems likely to come with the epidemic.

“China’s economy is very important in the global economy now, and when China’s economy slows down we do feel that,” said U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell earlier this week. “Not as much though as countries that are near China, or that trade more actively with China, like some of the Western European countries.”

The world’s most populous nation has become integral to nearly every sector of the global economy. It is the world’s largest manufacturer and imports more crude oil than any other country. Chinese travelers are the top spenders in international tourism, making 150 million overseas trips worth $277 billion in 2018. And the country’s 1.3 billion population provides the largest market in the world for several categories of consumer goods—automobiles, spirits, luxury goods—according to the McKinsey Global Institute.

China’s influence on the global economy is apparent in the brand names that are responding to the outbreak. General Motors and Honda, which manufacture vehicles in Wuhan, announced that they are trying to determine when to reopen. Apple is restricting employee travel and on Jan. 28 set an unusually wide range for its expected 2020 first-quarter earnings, citing “uncertainty” around the virus’ impact. The CEO of Royal Dutch Shell called the outbreak a “concerning development” and said the oil giant is preparing for a “tough and uncertain” economic environment. The co-working company WeWork has temporarily shut more than 50 offices across China, and Facebook has stopped non-essential travel to the country. IKEA has shuttered all of its mainland China stores and KFC and Pizza Hut have closed thousands of branches. Starbucks has closed about half of its 4,100 shops in the mainland and McDonald’s has temporarily shuttered stores across five cities in Hubei province, where Wuhan is located. Disney has closed its theme parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Much bigger than SARS

The outbreak of the virus, which has sickened nearly 10,000, killed more than 200 in China, and spread to at least 20 countries, has evoked memories of another epidemic: severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which started in China in 2002 and killed almost 800 people across the world. The economic impact of SARS was felt mostly in China. One study estimates that the SARS crisis cut the gross domestic product of mainland China by 1.1% and that of Hong Kong, where the services sector is a pillar of the economy, by 2.6%.

But since 2003, China has climbed from the world’s sixth largest economy—just bigger than Italy—to the second largest, worth nearly $14.55 trillion in 2019, almost as large as the entire European Union. China is also an integral trading partner for the biggest economies the world. The U.S., Japan and India import more goods from China than anywhere else and the E.U. and Brazil sell more to China than to any other country. Experts say that’s likely to mean any fallout from the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak will hit the global economy a lot harder than SARS did.

“The spillover will be much bigger, because China has a much bigger role in the world economy,” Warwick McKibbin, an economist at Australian National University, and one of the authors on the study of the economic impact of SARS, tells TIME. “The incomes of a lot of Chinese have risen, there’s a very large middle class and so the expenditure on travel and consumption of luxury type goods—that’ll potentially be impacted in a totally differently than it was in 2003.”

Financial markets have whipsawed this week as traders struggle to price in the risk of the outbreak. Investors have moved their money to safe havens like the U.S. dollar, the Japanese yen and gold. The prices of some commodities, including oil, have declined sharply over concerns that the virus and measures to contain it will lead to lower demand from China, according to Rabobank, a Dutch bank and financial services firm.

Industries bracing for hit as virus spreads

The Wuhan coronavirus appears less deadly than SARS, which killed almost 10% of those it infected, but infection numbers continue to surge. The fear of contagion could dampen consumer demand and impact everything from tourism to travel to trade and services in affected countries, according to Moody’s Investor Services.

Fear is spreading fast. In Hong Kong, 900 miles from Wuhan, some of the only spots where large crowds could be seen gathering this week were outside of the city’s pharmacies, where residents stood in line for hours or even camped out overnight to get their hands on new supplies of protective face masks when they hit the shelves. More than 700 miles from Wuhan in northwest Gansu province’s capital city Lanzhou, normally bustling restaurants and bars in sit vacant. Streets in megacities like Beijing and Shanghai are nearly empty. In southwestern Yunnan province, almost every shop in the tourist destination of Lijiang was closed on Thursday—including four out of five pharmacies and a local clinic.

“Everyone here is terrified, the old city is in lockdown, nobody is leaving their houses,” one restaurant owner in Lijiang tells TIME, asking to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the situation.

It is already apparent that the Wuhan coronavirus will hit tourism hard. Chinese authorities have announced a temporary ban on outbound group travel. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and the Philippines have stopped accepting visitors from China’s Hubei province, and Russia and Mongolia have closed their borders with China. Airlines across the world, from United Airlines to British Airways have cut flights to and from China or suspended them altogether.

Thailand—a popular destination for Chinese tourists—expects to see two million fewer visitors from China over the next three months. In Japan, some tour companies have already had tens of thousands of cancellations. The chief economist at SMBC Nikko Securities estimates that if the Chinese government banned travel overseas for six months—an extreme scenario—spending by Chinese group tourists would decline $83.1 billion and take 0.1 percentage point off global economic growth.

“Key sectors, such as tourism, have become increasingly reliant on business from China,” Mark Humphery-Jenner, an associate professor of finance at the University of New South Wales, tells TIME. “Coronavirus and its impact show that China is an important part of the world economy.”

Production for sectors from automobiles to technology is also likely to take a hit. Several automakers have assembly plants in Wuhan, including General Motors and Honda. Toyota Motor Corp. has halted its China production until Feb. 9 and Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, said the company is taking steps to “make up any expected production loss.”

McKibbin says that a lot has changed since 2003 and that today many companies are dependent on Chinese production. “It’s actually hurting production chains.”

Eswar Prasad, an economics professor at Cornell University, tells TIME that the outbreak may cause multinational companies that were already reassessing their supply chains, due to rising wages in China and trade war tensions, to reduce their production footprints in the country. He also sounds a stark warning.

“China’s economy is now a global behemoth compared to its more modest size at the time of the SARS epidemic,” he says, “so a shock to China’s growth will have major reverberations across the world.”

—With reporting by Charlie Campbell in Shanghai

New world news from Time: Britain Is Finally Leaving the European Union Today. Here’s What Will Change

When the clock strikes 11 p.m. local time on Friday, Britain will officially leave the European Union, after three and a half years largely marked by arguments, negotiations and divisions.

The moment will herald the start of a new, uncertain phase in the U.K.’s national life. Britain’s lawmakers will give up their seats in the European Parliament, its trade officials will be free to start negotiating with other countries, and pockets across the nation will begin to jangle with three million commemorative coins, minted to mark the occasion.

But as the sun rises on Feb. 1, Brits would be forgiven for not noticing much of a change. That’s because, thanks to the divorce deal agreed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and E.U. leaders, the U.K. is now entering a “transition period” until the end of December 2020. That means most E.U. laws will continue to apply in Britain, including the rights of E.U. citizens to live and work in the country.

So Britain will immediately recoup neither the sovereignty nor the control of its borders that voters were promised by the “Leave” side during the 2016 referendum. Officially, however, it will be one step closer to doing so. Here’s what to know about the months to come.

What will happen to travel after Jan. 31?

During the transition period, travel between the U.K. and the E.U. will continue as normal. That means travelers who are U.K. or E.U. citizens will not need visas. It also means U.K. citizens can continue to work in E.U. countries — though they have long been advised to apply for residency to make sure they can continue to do so after the transition period ends. (The same applies for E.U. citizens living in the U.K.)

The EHIC health insurance card, which ensures holders’ access to foreign medical services during time abroad, will continue to work as normal until December.

Cellphone roaming fees — nonexistent for E.U. citizens in other member states under an agreement that came into force in 2017 — will also continue to be free for Brits in the E.U. and vice versa, until December. After the transition period ends they could increase, depending on the deal the U.K. reaches with the bloc.

After the transition period ends, tourists from the U.K. will not need visas for trips of less than 90 days to the E.U., Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. But people wanting to work, study, or travel for business may need more documentation.

What will happen to the economy?

The stock markets will likely treat Feb. 1 like a normal day, given Brexit has been all but inevitable since Johnson’s victory in Britain’s Dec. 2019 general election.

But there’s still significant uncertainty on the horizon. Britain will begin trade talks with the E.U. in March, a high priority for Johnson who is keen to retain as many privileges of Britain’s membership of the E.U. as possible. But Johnson would also like to jettison some of the E.U. regulations currently complied with by the U.K. “The E.U. is making it very clear that there will inevitably be a trade off between the U.K.’s desire to deregulate and its demand for access to the E.U. market,” says Tim Bale, the deputy director of U.K. in a Changing Europe, a non-partisan academic research institute. “The U.K., as always, wants to have its cake and eat it.”

Britain will also be free to begin trade talks with the U.S., a country with which the E.U. does not have an existing free trade agreement. Trump has talked up the possibility of a “tremendous” deal with the U.K. that has the potential to be “far bigger and more lucrative” than any agreement with the E.U.

But such a deal, if agreed, will come at a price. Kim Darroch, the U.K.’s former Ambassador to the U.S., stole headlines on Friday when he said, in an interview with the Guardian, that President Trump would pressure the U.K. to accept higher prices for American pharmaceutical drugs and lower standards for agricultural goods in any trade deal. “Do they want us to pay more for their pharmaceuticals? Do the pharmaceutical companies want to use this leverage? Of course they do,” Darroch said.

Any deals agreed would not come into force until after the transition period ends in December.

Could there be another Brexit delay?

Johnson has repeatedly promised that there will be no further delay to Brexit, and that the transition period will therefore end on Dec. 31, 2020.

That leaves just 10 months for the E.U. and U.K. to strike an agreement on their future relationship, since talks are set to start on Mar. 3.

If they fail to reach an agreement, then it could put a “no deal” Brexit back on the horizon. In other words, Britain could end up abruptly leaving the E.U.’s single market and customs union with no deals to smooth its passage. That could mean lines at ports thanks to new customs checks, a sharp drop in cross-border trade as tariffs come into force, and new restrictions on U.K. businesses operating in the E.U.

With such a large majority in Parliament, Johnson could perhaps afford to renege on his pledge not to extend the transition period, especially if a deal were in sight.

“He will almost certainly have to extend. No-one in modern times, after all, has managed to do a comprehensive trade deal in only a matter of months,” Bale says. “He just won’t call it an extension. Instead, it’ll be labeled ‘Phase One’ or somesuch. And he’ll probably get away with it too.”

New world news from Time: Indian Police Rescue 23 Children From Hostage Situation, Killing Alleged Captor

(LUCKNOW, India) — Authorities rescued 23 children and killed the man who allegedly held them hostage for nearly 11 hours after inviting them to his home for his daughter’s birthday party in northern India, police said Friday.

Officer Mohit Agarwal said two police officers were injured after the man, identified as Subhash Batham, fired at them on Thursday night as they tried to enter his home in Kasaria village in Uttar Pradesh state. The exchange of gunfire occurred after efforts to negotiate Batham’s surrender over the phone had failed, police said.

Agarwal said Batham was a suspect in a murder case who was out on bail.

The incident occurred in Farrukhabad, a small town 300 kilometers (200 miles) southwest of Lucknow, the state capital.

Batham’s motive for taking the children hostage was not immediately known. He kept them in the basement of his home, police said, and was drunk when the police encounter occurred.

At one stage during the hostage crisis, Batham handed a six-month-old girl over to a neighbor from his balcony. But he later fired his weapon when anyone tried to speak to him, according to the Press Trust of India news agency, citing Home Secretary Awanish Awasthi.

Batham demanded to speak to a state lawmaker representing his area, but refused to communicate with the man when he arrived at the scene.

Bantham’s wife was also killed. Awasthi said she died in the exchange of gunfire, but PTI reported that angry villagers beat her to death when she tried to escape.

An autopsy will determine the cause of death, Agarwal said.

New world news from Time: American Environmental Journalist Deported From Indonesia After Prolonged Detention

An American environmental journalist was deported from Indonesia Friday, after being detained for more than six weeks on suspicions he violated the conditions of his visa.

Philip Jacobson, 31, an editor for the U.S.-based environmental science website Mongabay was traveling in Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo, when he was detained by Indonesian immigration authorities on Dec. 17. He faced up to five years in prison on charges of violating the 2011 immigration law.

The case appeared to center on Jacobson’s use of a business visa rather than a tourist visa, according to his lawyer, Aryo Nugroho, the head of Indonesian Legal Aid. But his detention prompted an outpouring of criticism from rights activists, who saw it as indicative of a broader clampdown on Indonesia’s press freedom.

Upon his release, Jacobson told Mongabay he was both relieved and saddened.

“It’s good to be out of prison and I’m relieved the prospect of a five-year jail sentence is no longer something I have to contemplate,” he said.

“At the same time, I am deeply saddened to be deported from the country. Indonesia is a magnificent country with a big heart, full of some of the funniest and most generous people on Earth. I am fortunate to have made some of my dearest friendships with people from around the archipelago.”

He vowed to return, after applying for a journalist visa.

“I look forward to returning to Indonesia at the earliest opportunity,” he said.

Prior to the Friday night deportation, Jacobson’s father told TIME of his son’s love for Southeast Asia. “He has traveled the entire region, and deeply integrated himself in Indonesia,” says Randy Jacobson, who lives in Chicago. “He speaks fluent Bahasa Indonesia, has many Indonesian friends, and has a true affinity for Indonesian culture.”

Jacobson’s prolonged detention sparked calls for Indonesia to improve its press freedom. While the government had pledged to ease its opaque visa restrictions for foreign journalists after President Joko Widodo (commonly known as “Jokowi”) took office in 2014, critics say he has failed to keep his promise. Instead, his presidency has been marked by serious press freedom violations, especially restrictions on media access to West Papua, which was gripped by unrest in 2019.

Last year, Indonesia ranked 124 out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders’ annual World Press Freedom Index.

“[Reporters Without Borders] is deeply relieved to learn that Phil Jacobson is not behind bars anymore, but it is unacceptable that he is forced into deportation while possessing a proper visa,” Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk, tells TIME.

“At this time, it is crucial that president Jokowi’s government show more commitment towards press freedom, especially in letting Indonesian and foreign journalists report freely and without fear of reprisal,” Bastard says.

He added that the process of obtaining a journalist visa “must not be arbitrary as it is now.”

Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch, tells TIME that applications for journalist visas can get mired in red tape, sometimes without ever obtaining approval.

“Some sensitive subjects include Papua, religious freedom, environment sustainability and LGBT rights,” Harsono says.

Jacobson’s arrest came after he attended a public meeting between lawmakers and a local chapter of Indonesia’s largest indigenous rights group in December. While he had covered corporate malfeasance, deforestation and scrutinized Jokowi’s track record on environmental issues for Mongabay, his lawyer said the case did not appear to be motivated by any particular article. While some activists speculated that his detainment may have been related to his environmental work, Jacobson’s colleagues said he was in the country at the time for meetings, not reporting.

While Jacobson was in jail, he and a colleague were awarded second prize for excellence in environmental journalism at Switzerland’s Fetisov Journalism Awards for an investigation into a paper producer’s ties to deforestation in Borneo (a claim the company denied).

“We’re very proud of him for doing work that helps to shine a light on some of the planet’s most pressing environmental issues,” Randy Jacobson told TIME.

Jacobson is not the first foreign journalist to have been recently jailed over administrative issues in Indonesia. In 2014, two French journalists spent two and a half months in jail for filming a documentary in West Papua while on tourist visas. The following year, two British journalists were handed a similar sentence for making a film while on tourist visas. Others have been deported for allegedly failing to obtain journalist visas.

New world news from Time: 10 Men Jailed in Mauritania Over ‘Gay Marriage’ Video, and Could Face Death Sentences

(NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania) — Authorities in Mauritania have arrested 10 men after a video appeared on social media of a gay couple appearing to take part in a traditional wedding ceremony, human rights groups said.

Police later determined the gathering was a birthday party but the men remain in custody with no trial date set yet.

Mauritania practices strict Islamic law known as Shariah and homosexuality is criminalized. If convicted, the men could face the death penalty though executions have not been carried out in more than a decade, according to Amnesty International.

“It is a serious attack on the individual and collective freedom of these young people who have the right to display their difference and intimate preferences,” said Brahim Bilal, the president of a human rights organization in Mauritania.

Video of the festive ceremony prompted an outcry to what was suspected of being the first gay marriage in Mauritania.

The Nouakchott public prosecutor’s office then opened an investigation, and the police arrested the 10 young men. The case marks a rare enforcement of Islamic law: In 2018 Human Rights Watch said there were no known cases of people being jailed or sentenced to death for homosexual acts in Mauritania.

Same-sex acts are illegal in more than 33 African countries and can lead to death sentences in parts of at least four, including Mauritania, Sudan, northern Nigeria and southern Somalia, according to Amnesty International.

New world news from Time: Zimbabwe Quietly Lifts Ban on Genetically Modified Corn Imports in Bid to Avert Famine

Zimbabwe has quietly lifted a ban on imports of genetically modified corn for the first time in 12 years as the southern African nation begins to take action to avert what could be its worst famine.

While genetically modified corn imports from South Africa are being allowed, the grain is carefully quarantined and is milled into a corn meal, a national staple, three officials with knowledge of the situation said, asking not to be identified as an announcement has not been made. Currently corn meal, used to make the staple food known locally as sadza, is in short supply across the nation.

Zimbabwe is battling its worst drought in 40 years and is in the midst of an economic collapse. That’s left about 8 million people, or more than half the population, in need of food aid.

Aside from in South Africa, genetically modified corn is shunned across sub-Saharan Africa and in Zimbabwe steps are being taken to ensure the grain doesn’t enter national seed stocks. A logistics team has been sent to South Africa to have oversight of the grain-import exercise, one of the people said. Plans are also under way to provide special clearance for trucks bringing in grain to avoid delays at southern Africa’s busiest border, Beitbridge between South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Agriculture Minister Perence Shiri and the permanent secretary in the ministry, John Basera, didn’t immediately respond to messages and phone calls seeking comment. Tafadzwa Musarara, chairman of the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe, also didn’t respond to messages and calls.

“Government weighs its position on genetically modified corn against the nutritional needs of the nation and proceeds guided by that assessment,” said Nick Mangwana, the government’s main spokesman, without saying whether the ban has been lifted.

The country’s corn harvest is expected to plunge by more than half this season and there is a likely supply deficit of between 800,000 tons and 1 million tons.

Weekly imports of white corn, the variety used mainly for human consumption in the country, reached their highest in almost seven years, with 13,688 tons imported in week ending Jan. 24.

The millers association on Jan. 22 said it had signed up for a monthly supply of 100,000 tons of corn from South Africa. Until now there has been little evidence of sufficient corn imports coming into the country.

Jannie de Villiers, chief executive officer at Grain SA, said it was possible for genetic corn to be separated and sent straight for processing and Zimbabwe had done this previously.

“Historically, Zimbabwe only imports genetically modified-free corn, not because of food safety concerns, but seed safety concerns. Strategically, they do not want to be dependent on seed from multinational companies,” de Villiers said in an emailed response to questions.

The industry and commerce ministry has 65 registered millers that have signed up for its corn-subsidy program, which the government rolled out in December last year and is meant to provide affordable corn-meal.

New world news from Time: You Can Fly From Hong Kong to New York for Just $193 — If You’re Willing to Make a 6-Hour Stopover in Wuhan

Bargain flights between Hong Kong and New York have emerged in the wake of the new coronavirus, as long as travelers are willing to stop in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, in just a few months.

Flying with China Southern Airlines Co. to John F. Kennedy International on May 20 costs only $193, according to travel booking site kayak.com. The trip includes 6 hours and 35 minutes in Wuhan. The next-cheapest ticket, with China Eastern Airlines Co. via Shanghai, is $487. Direct American Airlines Inc. flights are on offer for $2,688.

Wuhan and the surrounding region are currently in lockdown, effectively quarantining some 50 million people. A raft of international airlines, from British Airways to Singapore Airlines, are chopping flights to mainland China.

It’s not clear how long the crisis will last: Infections are soaring and the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public health emergency. The SARS virus in 2003 was contained in about six months.

New world news from Time: 3 Belgian Doctors Acquitted of Manslaughter for Involvement in Euthanasia of Mentally Ill Man, 38

(BRUSSELS) — A Belgian court on Friday acquitted three doctors of charges of manslaughter by poisoning in a case that has been seen as a key test of Belgium’s euthanasia laws.

The three doctors were involved in the euthanasia of a 38-year-old patient, Tine Nys, who suffered with mental problems and died in 2010.

Her family took the case to court, arguing that the euthanasia should never have happened, claiming her mental state was not hopeless and treatment was still possible. Nys had struggled with psychiatric problems for years and had attempted suicide several times.

“This is such a relief. This has been with us for 10 years,” psychiatrist Lieve Thienpont, one of the acquitted doctors, told VRT network. The 12 jurors took eight hours to weigh the question of guilt and when they came to their verdict early Friday, over 100 remaining attendees in the court room broke out in wild applause.

Belgium is among a few countries that allow doctors to kill patients at their request, and one of two that allow it for people with a mental illness.

Out of about 2,000 euthanasia cases a year in Belgium, very few are permitted for psychological issues. The criminal complaint by the family was only granted on appeal after it was first rejected by a lower court.

It was something that riled the defense lawyers, some of whom thought there were conservative political forces at work to bring the case to the court where a citizens’ jury would rule on the case.

“This is relief for all doctors who have to carry out such tough tasks,” said defense lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge. “If this would have gone the other way, so many doctors would have been in real deep trouble,” he said, implying few would want to risk assisting in euthanasia if it meant that they could face manslaughter charges.

Even if the two-week court case laid bare sloppy procedures by some doctors and imperfections in the law, it did in the end protect the principles of the practice.

“People will continue to hold on to the right of a dignified death when death is inescapable,” Thienpont said.

New world news from Time: Secretary of State Pompeo Touches Down in Ukraine as Impeachment Trial Hangs in the Balance

(KYIV, Ukraine) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo opened a visit to Ukraine on Friday facing a delicate balancing act as he tries to boost ties with a critical ally at the heart of the impeachment trial while not providing fodder for Democrats seeking to oust President Donald Trump.

The highest-ranking American official to visit Ukraine since the impeachment process began last year, Pompeo’s was meeting with Ukraine’s president and other top officials. Trump is alleged to have pressed them to open a corruption probe into former Vice President Joe Biden’s family in return for vital military aid and a White House visit.

That process began last year with revelations about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Pompeo’s meetings in Kyiv come as the Senate prepared to vote on whether to hear witnesses who could shed further light on Trump’s actions toward Ukraine.

In addition to Zelenskiy, Pompeo is meeting Ukraine’s prime, foreign and defense ministers as well as civic leaders, and touring several churches.

Trump is accused of obstructing Congress and abuse of office for withholding critical military aid to the country in exchange for an investigation into Biden, a political rival, and his son, Hunter.

Ukraine has been an unwilling star in the impeachment proceedings, eager for good relations with Trump as it depends heavily on U.S. support to defend itself from Russian-backed separatists. Trump, who has still not granted Zelenskiy the White House meeting he craves, has offered that support to some degree. Although the military assistance was put on hold, it was eventually released after a whistleblower complaint brought the July 25 call to light. The Trump administration has also supplied Ukraine with lethal defense equipment, including Javelin anti-tank weapons.

Pompeo plans to stress the importance of the U.S.-Ukraine relationship, a sentiment long shared by Republicans and Democrats who see the former Soviet republic as a bulwark against Russian ambitions. But it’s a view that now has partisan overtones, with Democrats arguing that withholding aid from such a critical ally for political purposes is an impeachable offense.

The Senate is expected to vote on hearing impeachment witnesses on Friday. Democrats want to hear from former national security adviser John Bolton, whose forthcoming book reportedly says that Trump withheld the aid in exchange for a public pledge of a probe into the Bidens. That would back witnesses who testified before the House impeachment inquiry.

Ukraine has been a delicate subject for Pompeo, who last weekend lashed out at a National Public Radio reporter for asking why he has not publicly defended the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch. She was removed from her post after unsubstantiated allegations were made against her by Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph Giuliani.

Pompeo has been criticized for not publicly supporting Yovanovitch, her now-departed successor as chief of the Kyiv embassy, William Taylor, and other diplomats who testified before House impeachment investigators. Yovanovitch and Taylor have been attacked by Trump supporters and, in some cases, have been accused of disloyalty.

In the NPR interview, Pompeo took umbrage when asked if he owed Yovanovitch an apology, and maintained that he had defended all of his employees. In an angry encounter after the interview, he also questioned if Americans actually cared about Ukraine, according to NPR.

That comment prompted Taylor and Pompeo’s former special envoy for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, who also testified to the impeachment panel, to write opinion pieces discussing the importance of the country to U.S. national security and why Pompeo should be explaining its role to Americans as their top diplomat.

Pompeo brushed aside his reported comment, telling reporters aboard his plane that “of course, the American people care about the people of Ukraine” and said his message to American diplomats in Ukraine would be the same he gives to those at other embassies.

“The message is very similar to every embassy that I get a chance to talk to when I travel,” he said. “I almost always meet with the team and tell them how much we love them, appreciate them, appreciate their family members and their sacrifice.”

He said he would “talk about the important work that the United States and Ukraine will continue to do together to fight corruption inside of that country and to ensure that America provides the support that the Ukrainian people need to ensure that they have a free and independent nation.”

Pompeo twice postponed earlier planned trips to Ukraine, most recently in early January when developments with Iran forced him to cancel. Pompeo said he plans to discuss the issue of corruption but demurred when asked if he would specifically raise the Bidens or the energy company Burisma, for which Hunter Biden worked.

“I don’t want to talk about particular individuals. It’s not worth it,” he told reporters. “It’s a long list in Ukraine of corrupt individuals and a long history there. And President Zelenskiy has told us he’s committed to it. The actions he’s taken so far demonstrate that, and I look forward to having a conversation about that with him as well.”

Pompeo traveled to Kyiv from London, which was the first stop on a trip to Europe and Central Asia that will also take him to Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

New world news from Time: ‘We Can’t Deal With This Tsunami.’ As the Coronavirus Spreads, Hong Kong Medical Workers Feel the Pressure

Benjamin So was mid-way through a 36-hour shift at a Hong Kong hospital when an elderly couple from Wuhan, China was wheeled into the isolation ward at 3 a.m. After the nurse took their vitals and nasal samples to test for the novel coronavirus, he got to work.

Inside the negative pressure chamber, So, a resident in internal medicine, asked the male patient about his symptoms, listened to his chest and reviewed an x-ray scan of his lungs. Then, he did the same with the female.

Around nine hours later, both tests came back positive. The 72-year-old man and 73-year-old woman became the ninth and tenth confirmed coronavirus cases in Hong Kong.

“I was a little shaken when I found out,” So told TIME.

After he came off shift, he sought answers from the hospital on how he should protect himself, having been in close contact with the two infected patients. The authorities said they would not provide quarantine facilities for him since he was wearing full gear during the interactions. He was even told he could come into work as normal the next day.

Frustrated, So booked himself a hotel room and decided he would isolate himself for the time being.

He may seem overcautious to some. But the 2003 SARS outbreak killed 360 hospital workers around the world and medical staff accounted for about a fifth of the 299 SARS-related deaths in Hong Kong. The coronavirus has proven to be more infectious than previously thought, and carriers of it may not show symptoms. A hospital outbreak is the biggest fear of many healthcare workers, who are not leaving anything up to chance.

Read more: A Timeline of How the Wuhan Coronavirus Has Spread—And How the World Has Reacted

There are hundreds of medical workers on the front lines of the fight against the coronavirus in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous southern enclave separated by a border from mainland China, where the virus has killed at least 210 people and infected more than 9,700.

The virus, known as 2019-nCoV, has also spread to at least a dozen countries, but Hong Kong’s 12 confirmed cases are one of the highest outside of mainland China and the local situation threatens to worsen. As many as 95 suspected cases have been reported every day for the past week and more are expected as Hongkongers begin returning home after spending the Lunar New Year up north.

The Hong Kong government says the territory is well equipped to deal with an epidemic and that 1,400 isolation beds can be made available when necessary—a number many medical workers say is greatly exaggerated. But the public is skeptical and are calling for a full closure of the border with mainland China (the government has shut some entry points but kept others open) to reduce the chances of confirmed cases being brought into the city. In recent days, medical workers have threatened to strike until the government responds.

Many are also under intense pressure from their families to resign. “[My colleagues and I] talk about how ridiculous everything is,” So says, “about whether our life insurance will be valid if we die due to negligence on the part of the hospital.”

Cracks in the system

Joe, a resident specialist in his 30s at another medical facility, has so far only dealt with suspected coronavirus cases. (He asked to go by a pseudonym to protect his identity.) But he’s volunteered to join the so-called “dirty team,” assigned to working with confirmed cases, should they come through to his hospital, next month.

“I don’t have kids,” Joe says. “But my colleagues, a good friend of mine, has two kids. Another colleague who is also going to join the ‘dirty team’ next week, his wife is going to deliver soon.”

At a recent meeting, Joe’s boss told him: “We must not let the things that happened 17 years ago [during the SARS outbreak] happen again. No matter what, we must protect ourselves and our colleagues.”

In some ways, the coronavirus epidemic has exposed cracks in an healthcare system that many say has long been overburdened. By one estimate, Hong Kong needs thousands more doctors to bring its health services up to international standards. During flu season, bed occupancy rate at public hospitals can exceed 120%, according to a report by the city’s Hospital Authority. Patients wait on average more than three years for specialist care. The rapidly ageing population further compounds the problem—the medical needs of the elderly are at least 5.5 times that of the rest of the population.

Joe complains that the government has overlooked the “collateral damage” that’s resulted from his under-resourced department redirecting efforts to deal with suspected coronavirus cases, most of whom are from the mainland. He says emergency operations have been canceled, and certain procedures have to be put off because they can only be done in isolation wards, which are full.

“We don’t have the capacity,” he says. “We can’t deal with this tsunami.”

Read more: How Long Will the Coronavirus Outbreak Last? Experts Are Scrambling to Find Out

At another hospital, a doctor who asked to be identified as S., agreed that the lack of resources could put lives at risk.

“We don’t have enough isolation wards,” he says. “What happens is that we have to put about two or three suspected cases in one isolated cubicle. The problem is that one of them could come back testing positive.”

Experts estimate that the outbreak could reach its peak around April or May. As the figures continues to rise, being at the front lines of the outbreak has forced S. to ponder life’s toughest questions.

“Whenever I get called to see a patient [suspected to have the virus], I start thinking about life,” he says. “Should I be here? Should I be writing a will? Last night, I even left a message for my ex. I told her no matter what, I’ll always look after her, that my feelings for her have never changed.”

He adds: “We’ve been trained to deal with other people’s deaths, but we haven’t really been trained to face our own.”

New world news from Time: Scotland Keeps E.U. Flag Flying as U.K. Prepares to Brexit Friday

As jubilant Brexit supporters gather to celebrate the U.K.’s departure from the European Union, Scotland is digging in to its position as the last bastion of political resistance.

The EU’s royal blue flag with yellow stars will continue flying at the entrance of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. The legislature, dominated by the pro-independence Scottish National Party, voted again this week to try and force another referendum on breaking away from the rest of the U.K. and ultimately rejoining the continent’s single market.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon calls Brexit an “affront to democracy” because Scotland voted overwhelmingly to stay in the EU in 2016. As the country officially leaves at 11 p.m. U.K. time on Friday, Sturgeon is repeating her vow to give Scots the chance to choose their own future. Her problem is that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is refusing to grant the power she requires to hold a legal vote on independence.

“Brexit and everything that will flow from it is happening despite the will of the majority of the Scottish people,” Sturgeon told the parliament in Edinburgh earlier this week. “It is beyond doubt now that the only realistic way for Scotland to return to Europe is to become an independent country.”

One of the underlying themes of Brexit has been the rumbling standoff between the two largest constituent parts of the three-centuries-old United Kingdom. After Scots voted to remain in the U.K. in 2014, less than two years later the U.K. as a whole decided to leave the EU. Since then, the political division has become even more entrenched.

Lighting Candles

In Edinburgh, which voted to remain in the EU more than any other British city, demonstrators are due to gather outside the parliament later today to lament the end of the U.K. 47 years of EU membership. The event, called “Missing EU Already,” will culminate with a candle-lit vigil.

The Scottish Government said two of its main buildings, St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh and Victoria Quay in Glasgow, will be lit in the blue and yellow colors of the European flag on Friday.

Scots voted 55% to 45% to stay in the union with England and Wales in part because the U.K. was an EU member. Polls suggest the country is still split and the result of any new vote would be too close to call. A Yougov Plc survey of 1,039 voters age 16 or over published on Thursday found 51% to 49% in favor of independence.

Sturgeon says Brexit means Scotland should be allowed to vote again. At last month’s election that handed Johnson the power to push through Brexit, the SNP won 48 of Scotland’s 59 districts on a platform of demanding a fresh decision on independence.

But it took less than an hour after Wednesday’s vote in the Scottish Parliament for another referendum for the result to be rejected by Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack. He repeated the U.K. government’s argument that the 2014 vote was a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity. The ruling Conservatives also said it was a “day of embarrassment” for the Scottish Parliament to debate whether to keep the EU flag flying.

That leaves Sturgeon and Johnson at loggerheads, and tensions between Scotland and England, which came together to form Great Britain in 1707, are likely to multiply. Johnson is seeking a quick trade deal with the EU and Sturgeon is headed toward a Scottish Parliament election next year determined to put the issue of full autonomy back to the people.

Keep Coming

There’s also a growing dispute over immigration and the future of foreign nationals living in the U.K. The Edinburgh-based government earlier this week put forward plans for a special Scottish visa designed to encourage people to move to the country, which is at risk of a labor shortage.

Sturgeon’s semi-autonomous administration, though, isn’t responsible for Scotland’s immigration policy and the proposal was rejected outright by the U.K. government.

“This is the human element of Brexit,” SNP lawmaker Fiona Hyslop said, citing the contribution to Scotland’s economy by the 300,000 or so EU nationals living there. Leaving the EU flag outside parliament is an important signal to them that they’re welcome and valued in Scotland, she said.

New world news from Time: American Evacuated from Wuhan Ordered Into Quarantine After Trying to Leave California Military Base

(RIVERSIDE, Calif.) — Jarred Evans, a professional football player in China, is used to wearing a helmet and shoulder pads. But in the wake of a deadly viral outbreak, he’s switched to a mask and medical gloves.

“When you’re dealing with life and death, it’s a whole different ball game,” he said in a telephone interview Thursday.

Evans, 27, was one of 195 Americans evacuated from the city of Wuhan and flown to March Air Reserve Base in Southern California until authorities confirm they don’t have the coronavirus that has sickened thousands and killed more than 170 people.

Most cases are in China, but the outbreak has spread to more than a dozen countries, and the World Health Organization declared a global emergency Thursday.

The U.S. on Thursday confirmed the country’s first case of person-to-person spread of the virus, a man who is married to a Chicago woman in her 60s who got sick after she returned from a trip to Wuhan.

Evans and the other evacuees, including children ranging from around a year old to about 13, are staying at the sprawling base where they received a battery of blood tests and were given nose, throat and mouth swabs, Evans said. Some test results won’t be back for a week, he added.

While the surroundings are fairly comfortable, Evans said Thursday that he and others are still being cautious about mingling.

“I’m still wearing my mask and I’m still wearing my gloves,” he said in a telephone interview. “We’re still not knowing who has it. I’m still taking major precautions. You don’t know whether you’re in the clear.”

“Today a lot of kids were enjoying the weather,” he said, and the base provided scooters, bikes, footballs and soccer balls for them to play with.

But at dinnertime, Evans added, “everyone’s getting their food and going right back to their rooms.”

Those being held at the base 60 miles (96 kilometers) east of Los Angeles arrived Wednesday morning. They aren’t required to stay but had agreed to remain for at least 72 hours. Officials also can quarantine any of those evacuated on a case-by-case basis.

That happened to another American who tried to leave Wednesday night.

Officials in Riverside County ordered the person quarantined for two weeks unless medically cleared sooner, said Jose Arballo Jr., a spokesman for the county’s public health agency.

The order was issued “as a result of the unknown risk to the public” because the person had not undergone a complete health evaluation, the agency said.

It can take up to 14 days for someone who is infected to develop symptoms, health officials believe. None of the Americans housed at base have shown symptoms of the virus since their arrival, Arballo said.

Evans said he would remain until testing shows he is free of the virus.

He is a professional quarterback who moved to Wuhan several years ago to play in a Chinese football league.

The city of 11 million people felt joyful, he said, with residents getting ready for the Lunar New Year.

Then, in a matter of days, “it turned into chaos” as news broke of the rapidly expanding coronavirus outbreak. Suddenly, Evans said, people were swarming pharmacies and stores to get masks and disinfectant spray.

Friends translated the news for Evans, who speaks no Chinese.

“I stocked up on rice, noodles, water, anything that could help me survive for a week or two,” Evans said.

The Chinese government shut down the city. Buses, trains, taxis, and personal cars were banned. The military patrolled some streets.

“That’s when people, honestly, stayed locked in their homes,” Evans said.

He compared the deserted city to an Old West ghost town.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” he said. “Imagine new York city being shut down. I was completely scared at first, because I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen. I don’t speak the language, and my family is so far away.”

Evans holed up in his home for a week and a half until he received the news that the U.S. Embassy was evacuating its diplomats and their families and other U.S. citizens.

He was notified that a chartered flight was carrying some of the 1,000 or so Americans in Wuhan back to the United States. The flight was coming in the next day.

Evans said he was told, “If you can make it there, you’re on the flight.”

“It was a race against time,” he said.

Evans found an acquaintance who drove him to the airport. The embassy notified Chinese authorities of the license plate number so he could pass through the guarded streets.

Evans said he was No. 171 out of 195 people permitted on board.

On the plane were two men in full hazardous material suits, who warned them about the seriousness of the outbreak. Nobody appeared sick but all of the passengers decided to wear masks throughout the flight, Evans said.

The plane flew to Anchorage, where the passengers had health screenings, and then landed at March Reserve Air Base on Wednesday morning. The U.S. arrival was joyful, Evans said.

“We were clapping, smiling, laughing … there were cheers,” he said.

Once he is cleared, Evans intends to visit his family. Then it’s on to Switzerland, where is signed to play with the Bern Grizzlies this year. But he would like to return to Wuhan when the coronavirus outbreak recedes.

“The community is amazing, the people in Wuhan are amazing. China is a beautiful place,” he said.

But the threat of the deadly disease has left its mark.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” Evans said. “The weirdest thing is the threat of man. You can actually get this virus by shaking hands.”

“I’m a very hands-on person,” he said, “And for me to be quiet and not to interact with others has been one of the hurtful things that I have to do. But to protect myself, I have to do it.”

New world news from Time: Mexican Activist Who Devoted His Life to Protecting Monarch Butterflies Found Dead Near Forest Preserve

(OCAMPO, Mexico) — Relatives of an anti-logging activist who was found dead don’t know whether he was slain or died accidentally, but they said Thursday that they are sure of one thing: Something bad is happening to human rights and environmental activists in Mexico, and people are afraid.

The body of Homero Gómez González was discovered Wednesday in a holding pond near the mountain forest reserve that he long protected, where monarch butterflies spend the winter. Authorities in Michoacan state are conducting tests to determine the cause of death, though a prosecutor said there was no initial sign of trauma.

“Something strange is happening, because they’re finishing off all the activists, the people who are doing something for society,” said Amado Gomez, the dead man’s brother.

The threadbare clothes of the mourners and the few candles and simple floral arrangements at Gómez Gonzalez’ funeral underlined the tough background of the struggle being played out in the butterflies’ winter nesting grounds, where the creatures shelter in the tall pine and fir forests.

Grinding poverty and gang violence fuel twin threats to the butterfly reserve — illegal logging and encroaching plantations of avocados. The latter is the only legal crop that provides a decent income in this region.

For the last decade, Gomez Gonzàlez fought to keep loggers out of the reserve, leading marches, demonstrations and anti-logging patrols. He tried to persuade the government to increase the meager stipend that local farmers receive for preserving trees.

He also worked to convince about 260 fellow communal land owners that they should replant trees on land cleared for corn plots. By local accounts, he managed to reforest about 150 hectares (370 acres) of previously cleared land.

Like other places in the world, increasingly scarce water also plays a role in the conflict. Gomez Gonzàlez and other communal land owners had asked the nearby town of Angangueo for payments in return for water they receive from clear mountain streams that survive only because the forests are protected.

His death has sparked fears among fellow activists who didn’t have his education and public speaking skills.

“A lot of the communal land owners fear that with his death, the forests are finished,” said Amado Gómez.

“I would like to ask the authorities to do their job and do more to protect activists like my brother, because lately in Mexico a lot of activists have died,” he said. “With his death, not only my family lost a loved one; but the whole world, and the monarch butterfly and the forests lost, too.”

International organizations have drawn attention to attacks on environmental activists and conservationists in Mexico in recent years.

London-based Global Witness counted 15 killings of environmental activists in Mexico in 2017 and 14 in 2018. In an October 2019 report, Amnesty International said that 12 had been killed in the first nine months of that year.

On Thursday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador described Gomez Gonzàlez’s death as “regrettable” and “painful.”

“It’s part of what leads us to apply ourselves more every day to guarantee peace and tranquility in the country,” López Obrador said. There were 35,588 homicides in Mexico in 2019, a new record, but a total that rose at a lower annual rate than recent years.

The activist’s relatives had reported him missing Jan. 14, after not seeing him since the previous evening at a traditional celebration.

His body was found in a small agricultural reservoir in Ocampo, state prosecutor Adrián López Solís said. The pond is approximately 32 feet square and 20 feet deep, but only about half full of water, and is on land adjoining property where Gómez González attended the party.

An initial review of Gómez’s body showed no signs of trauma, López Solís said at a news conference Wednesday. An autopsy was being performed to determine the cause of death.

The prosecutor said Gómez’s relatives had received a ransom call demanding money, but an investigation determined it was not credible and just an attempt to extort money.

While the circumstances of the death remain unclear, Greenpeace Mexico issued a statement calling it a “murder.”

“We condemn the fact that defending the land, natural resources and biodiversity converts activists into targets for threats, persecution and the cowardly act of taking their lives,” the group said.

Activists in Mexico said the death could be related to disputes over illegal logging, water or income from visitors’ fees to the El Rosario butterfly reserve. Gómez González was the head of the reserve’s management council.

López Obrador raised criminality surrounding illegal logging. “It’s tied to criminal organizations and we’re working on this,” he said.

Millions of monarchs come to the forests of Michoacan and other nearby areas after making the 3,400-mile (5,500-kilometer) migration from the United States and Canada. They need healthy tree cover to protect them from rain and cold weather.

Mexico has clamped down on illegal logging, which was once a major threat to the reserves but which has fallen to about one-third last year’s level. But there have been reports of increased “salvage” logging of supposedly sick trees.

Orley Taylor, an ecology professor at the University of Kansas and director of Monarch Watch, said it wasn’t immediately clear what impact Gómez González’s death would have on conservation efforts in the reserve.

“There are increasing pressures on the forest from both the illegal loggers and the avocado growers and possibly the gangs that extort protection from various parties in the region,” Taylor said. “This dynamic is widely known, but how to deal with these threats to the forests, residents and monarchs will be a challenge for the (Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve), its residents and local and regional authorities.

New world news from Time: Coronavirus Grounds Flights to China From 3 Continents. How Scared Should Travelers Be?

Airlines in Europe, Asia and North America are cancelling flights to and from China as the novel coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected at least a few thousand people in China and dozens beyond its borders.

Although all 171 deaths from the disease have been limited to China, at least 82 people across 18 different countries have tested positive for the mysterious illness, prompting governments around the world to issue travel advisories and start evacuating their citizens from Wuhan. Chinese authorities have shut down travel in and out of Wuhan and enacted similar, strict transportation restrictions in a number of other cities.

The majority of cases outside China are associated with travel to China and of those, the vast majority involve travel to Wuhan, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Which airlines have cancelled flights?

British Airways cancelled all flights to and from Beijing and Shanghai until at least Friday following local authorities’ advice against “all but essential travel to mainland China.” Flights to and from Hong Kong will remain unaffected, the airline said.

KLM opted to suspend flights to Beijing and Shanghai after this weekend until Feb. 9. The airline had previously announced it would also cancel flights to Chengdu, Hangzhou and Xiamen.

American Airlines said Wednesday that it would suspend flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai and Beijing from Feb. 9 until Mar. 27, but noted that flights from Dallas-Fort Worth would continue, according to the Associated Press. On Thursday, a union representing American Airlines pilots sued the airline over continued flights between Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and airports in China. The group is “seeking a temporary restraining order to immediately halt the carrier’s U.S.-China Service.” The lawsuit takes issue with the “serious, and in many ways still unknown, health threats posed by the coronavirus, and concerns regarding its continued spread globally.”

Lufthansa Group said it would cancel all its flights to mainland China until Feb. 9. Austrian Airlines has said it will suspend flights to and from China until Feb. 9. The airline said Wednesday that it would be flying to destinations in China “for one last time today.”

Air Canada has suspended all direct flights to Beijing and Shanghai from Thursday until Feb. 29 following the Canadian government’s advisory to avoid non-essential travel to mainland China. “Affected customers will be notified and offered options, including travel on other carriers where available, or a full refund,” the airline said in a statement.

United Airlines has issued travel waivers for customers who intended to travel to Wuhan and other destinations in China. The airline said service to and from China would be affected between Feb. 1 to Feb. 8 because of a “significant decline in demand,” The Washington Post reported. The disruption would affect 24 round trips between the U.S. and Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Delta is issuing travel waivers for flights to, from and through Beijing and Shanghai from Jan. 24 until April 30.

Cathay Pacific said Tuesday that it will be “progressively reducing the capacity” of its flights to and from mainland China “by 50% or more” from Jan. 30 until the end of March. Rebooking, refunding and rerouting charges will be waived for any tickets issued on or before Tuesday involving trips arriving to or departing from mainland China between Jan. 28 and Mar. 31.

Air India has cancelled flights to Shanghai from Jan. 31 to Feb. 14. and said that a maximum of seven flights between New Delhi and Hong Kong will only occur on three days within the same time period. The airline said that cancellation charges for travel to and from Shanghai and Hong Kong on Air India Flights is “waived off with immediate effect till further notice.”

Finnair has suspended flights to and from Nanjing and Beijing. “Due to the recent suspension of all group travel from China, Finnair will cancel its three weekly flights between Helsinki and Beijing Daxing International Airport between Feb. 5 and Mar. 29, and its two weekly flights between Helsinki and Nanjing between Feb. 8 and Mar. 29,” the airline said in a statement, adding that it would offer the choice of a change in travel date or destination or a full ticket refund.

South Korean budget carrier Seoul Air has also halted all flights to China and Indonesia’s Lion Air has said it will do the same, according to the AP. Indonesia’s Lion Air said it canceled more than 50 flights to China into February.

The AP also reports that Hong Kong airlines is cutting the number of flights to the Chinese mainland by about half, Air Seoul is suspending its flights to mainland Chinese destinations and Singapore-based Jetstar Asia is cutting down on flights to and from China.

What are the new coronavirus travel restrictions and advisories?

Several Asian countries have tightened their borders to prevent disease spreading from China.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Thursday that Russia would be closing its land border with China from Friday until at least March 1, the Associated Press reported

Hong Kong announced Tuesday that it would deny entry to individual travelers from mainland China, dramatically expanding a ban that had previously applied only to visitors from Hubei province, which includes the city of Wuhan. The semi-autonomous city also stated that it would sharply reduce cross-border transit, shutting down rail and ferry service to China, halving flights and decreasing tour buses. Several border checkpoints will also close in what Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam termed a “partial shutdown” during a live streamed press conference. The measures went into effect Thursday.

Singapore banned the entry and transfer of travelers holding passports issued by China’s Hubei province from Wednesday onwards. Mongolia’s official news agency has said the country closed border crossings with China on Monday, according to the AP.

The U.S. State Department escalated a travel advisory warning for Hubei province to level four on Friday, advising visitors not to travel to the province because of the coronavirus. On Monday, a level three advisory to “reconsider travel” was issued for any travel to China in general. “All options for dealing with infectious disease spread have to be on the table, including travel restrictions but diseases are not terribly good at respecting borders,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said at a press conference on Wednesday. Asked whether the U.S. State Department is considering banning travel to China, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters Wednesday that authorities are closely monitoring for changes that could warrant changing current travel advisories, “including banning travel,” the Washington Post reported.

Britain, Canada and New Zealand have advised against all travel to Hubei province and non-essential travel to the rest of mainland China. India issued an advisory to avoid any non-essential travel to China. Hong Kong urged residents not to travel to Hubei province and said, “If it is unavoidable to travel to Hubei, put on a surgical mask and continue to do so until 14 days after returning to Hong Kong.” France strongly recommended postponing all travel to Wuhan and Hubei province, as well as any non-essential travel to China. Finland recommended that citizens avoid non-essential travel to Hubei, according to local media. Australia advised residents not to travel to Hubei province and to “reconsider your need to travel” to China in general.

Some companies, including major tech corporations, have warned their employees to stay clear of China, too. Facebook said it had asked employees to stop any non-essential travel to mainland China and called for staff to work from home if they recently traveled to the country, according to Reuters. McDonald’s has suspended locations across five cities in Hubei province and Starbucks has also shut some cafes in the country, Bloomberg News reports.

How effective are travel advisories and restrictions?

It’s important to distinguish between travel advisories and bans in responding to the novel coronavirus, experts say.

Travel advisories to avoid outbreak zones and non-essential travel to at-risk areas “make a lot of sense,” says Amesh A. Adalja, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Adalja notes that a widespread outbreak in which people cannot freely move “crosses a threshold where you want to tell people that they need to know” if they’re considering travel to the region. “There may be difficulties getting back out of there, there may be issues with exposure to infection and then getting health care in that area,” Adalja says.

But travel bans can “make situations worse,” Adalja notes. “It’s going to isolate a population, it’s going to create public animosity, it’s going to create stigma and it’s going to make it much harder to get resources to an outbreak zone or to allow people to get to those zones as well as out of those zones.” Countries may initiate travel bans for political reasons as opposed to scientific ones, he says, adding that, “It is something that people often clamor for any time there’s any type of outbreak.”

Vincent Racaniello, a virologist and professor of microbiology & immunology at Columbia University, agrees that a “travel ban in this case is uncalled for” based on the severity of the virus.

Racaniello adds that travel restrictions “probably played a big role in eventually stopping” the SARS outbreak but is skeptical about how useful they can be in relation to this new coronavirus outbreak in which infected people with little to no symptoms appear to be passing on the disease. With SARS, most cases were more easily diagnosed as symptoms were more severe, he explains.

Racaniello is unsure about whether travel restrictions will have much of an effect on the new coronavirus as “people are still moving around.” The virus “may end up entrenched as another respiratory virus in the human population, kind of like influenza is,” Racaniello says. “If it gets in every country of the world in significant numbers then we might not be able to get rid of it like we did with SARs.”

As countries independently started issuing advisories and a range of travel restrictions, the World Health Organization has said international coordination may be necessary to contain the outbreak, while also minimizing the impact on international trade and travel. “194 countries implementing unilateral measures based on their own individual risk assessment is a potential recipe for disaster,” said Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, at a press conference on Wednesday. On Thursday, the WHO declared the outbreak a global public health emergency.

How to protect yourself while traveling

Although there is currently no vaccine to prevent infection from the coronavirus, individuals can take precautions to avoid exposure to the virus, according to the CDC. They include washing your hands thoroughly with soap and water, avoiding close contact with people who are sick, staying home when you are sick, avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and cleaning frequently touched objects and surfaces.

The CDC also lays out extra precautions for commercial airline crews, advising that they frequently wash their hands and treat all body fluids as if they are infectious when managing a sick traveler. The agency says that employees should minimize contact with any sick person and offer a face mask to the infected person, if possible.

The CDC recommends avoiding non-essential travel to China but for those who choose to go, the agency recommends avoiding contact with sick people, discussing the trip with their healthcare provider and avoiding animals, animal markets and raw meat.

Adalja says there is “nothing specific a person needs to do” when flying besides practicing the same hygiene they would to protect themselves from influenza and other respiratory viruses, which are more likely to be present than the new coronavirus. “I do not recommend people wear masks routinely,” he says, adding that it would be unnecessary and unproductive for people in countries not facing a significant risk of community spread, like the U.S., to do so.

New world news from Time: A Timeline of How the Wuhan Coronavirus Has Spread—And How the World Has Reacted

A new virus has emerged from central China, infecting thousands with severe respiratory illness and killing dozens. Health officials, doctors and researchers are scrambling to contain the outbreak.

As of publication, there are over 8,200 confirmed cases globally, and over 170 deaths attributed to the infection, the vast majority in China. Zoom into and hover over the maps below for details on those confirmed cases.

In just under a month, the coronavirus has triggered a series of events, from entry port screenings to complete lockdown of affected cities. Below is a timeline showing how the virus sprouted from one city to become a health crisis that is being addressed on a global scale.

Dec. 31, 2019: The animal-to-human jump

Several people in Wuhan, the capital and largest city in Hubei province, report symptoms caused by a virus that is later tied to the Huanan Seafood Market, which sells primarily fish and shellfish, but also wild game like beavers, porcupines and snakes. It’s still not clear in what animal 2019-nCoV originated.

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Jan. 7, 2020: Cause identified

Chinese health authorities announced they had isolated the pathogen. 2019-nCoV as it is called, belongs to the coronavirus family, which includes SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), and spreads via airborne droplets.

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Jan. 9, 2020: First fatality

Officials announce the first 2019-nCoV-related death, recorded in Wuhan. To date, there have been 171 deaths, all in China. While that makes for a relatively low mortality rate compared to SARS, for example, it’s still alarming.

A day later, the Chinese government posts the genetic blueprint for 2019-nCoV online. Meanwhile, as people travel around China, the virus spreads outside Hubei province.

 

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Jan. 13-15, 2020: International exposure

Health officials in Thailand and Japan announce that they have confirmed 2019-nCoV infections in travelers in their respective countries, the first outside of China. The two countries begin to screen anyone arriving from Wuhan.

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Jan. 17, 2020: Passenger screening

The U.S. begins airport health checks on all travelers from Wuhan and, later, all travelers from China. Four days later, on Jan. 21, officials confirmed that a man in Washington State, who had recently returned from a trip to the Wuhan area, was infected with the novel coronavirus.

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Jan. 23, 2020: City quarantined

Chinese officials suspend travel in and out of Wuhan, a city of over 10 million. Similar travel bans follow in other cities in Hubei province, affecting a total of about 50 million people.

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Jan. 24, 2020: Hospitals overwhelmed

In response to the increasing numbers of sick patients in Wuhan, which are straining hospital staff and depleting medical supplies, the Chinese government breaks ground on the Huoshenshan Hospital, one of two such 1,000-plus bed facilities planned to be operational sometime in the first week of February.

Meanwhile, public health experts scramble to figure out basic—and essential—facts about this never-before-seen virus, like whether or not someone who is infected but not yet showing symptoms can transmit the disease to others.

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Jan. 30: What comes next?

As the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms the first known person-to-person transmission of the virus in the country, and confirmed cases continue to rise rapidly, scientists all around the world are racing to develop treatments and a vaccine.