BRIEF – ME! – DAILY NEWS BRIEFING

In today’s briefing update, The headlines are – Coronavirus, President Trump has banned flights from Europe to the US in a bid to stop the spreading of the virus. The new travel restrictions do not include the UK. In the UK, two more people have died after testing positive for the virus.

2 Americans and 1 Brit have been killed after more than 18 rockets hit an Iraqi base housing American troops. In the US, Chelsea Manning is recovering in hospital after a reported suicide attempt. 

Entertainment, actor Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson have tested positive for COVID-19 in Australia.  

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Trump halts flights from Europe to US

BBC News says US President Donald Trump has announced sweeping new travel restrictions on Europe in a bid to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

In a televised address, he said travel from 26 European countries would be suspended for the next 30 days.

But he said the “strong but necessary” restrictions would not apply to the UK, where 460 cases of the virus have been confirmed. 

There are 1,135 confirmed cases of the virus across the US, with 38 deaths. 

“To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe,” Mr Trump said from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening.

Read the full story on BBC News

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Two Americans, 1 Brit dead after 18 rockets hit a base in Iraq housing US troops

Fox News says two Americans and one Brit were killed as around 18 Katyusha rockets hit an Iraqi base housing US troops Wednesday, the US military said in a statement.

“The coalition @CJTFOIR confirms more than 15 small rockets impacted Iraq’s Camp Taji base hosting Coalition troops, March 11 at 7:35 pm (Iraq Time)” Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) spokesperson Col Myles Caggins said on Twitter. 

A rocket truck was found a few miles from Camp Taji, which hosts coalition personnel for training and advising missions, according to a statement from US Central Command. 

Read the full story on FOX News

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Chelsea Manning attempted suicide while in jail for refusing to testify against WikiLeaks

RT News says former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, jailed a year ago for refusing to testify before a federal jury investigating WikiLeaks, has attempted suicide ahead of a court hearing, her lawyers said.

It has been reported that Manning is in the hospital and recovering. 

Manning has been locked up since March 2019, when a judge found her in contempt of court and ordered her jailed, later adding a steep fine of $1,000 a day for non-compliance. The fines are now over $250,000 which Manning has no way of paying. 

It is reportedly the third time Manning has tried to take her own life while in prison. The previous two attempts happened in 2016, as Manning served a 35-year federal sentence for handing WikiLeaks a trove of Pentagon and State Department documents related to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Read the full story on RT News

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Two more people in the UK have died after testing positive for COVID-19

Sky News says two more people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total to eight.

A patient in their 70s, who had underlying health conditions, died in Dudley in the West Midlands after contracting COVID-19, the prevalent strain of coronavirus. 

And an elderly patient from Nuneaton, who was being treated for a number of serious underlying health conditions, died at the George Eliot Hospital in Warwickshire. 

It comes as the number of people with coronavirus in the UK has risen to 460 after 87 more people tested positive for the disease in the last 24 hours.

Read the full story on SKY News

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Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson test positive for coronavirus

France24 says Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, have both tested positive for coronavirus in Australia, the actor said on Twitter. 

Hanks said he and Wilson, both aged 63, were tested in Australia, where he is working on a film after they felt tired and achy with slight fevers. 

“To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus and were found to be positive,” Hanks said in the tweet.

The film star said that he and Wilson would be “tested, observed and isolated” for as long as required.

“Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no? We’ll keep the world posted and updated,” Hanks tweeted.

Read the full story on France24

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