Australia police to probe cruise ship virus deaths

Christian Querouix, a 69-year-old pensioner, who shares his time between France and Russia, had a difficult choice to make.

Australia insisted Friday it would not let the crew of multiple virus-stricken cruise ships into the country, slapping aside suggestions it was falling short on legal and moral obligations.

Chinese students flying home from overseas to escape the coronavirus pandemic face a frosty reception from sections of the public who view them as wealthy, spoiled -- and potentially contaminated.

Australian health officials set up a coronavirus testing clinic on Sydney's Bondi Beach Wednesday, as concern grew that COVID-19 was spreading among backpackers in the popular tourist destination.

Underfed and chained up for endless hours, many elephants working in Thailand's tourism sector may starve, be sold to zoos or be shifted into the illegal logging trade, campaigners warn, as the coronavirus decimates visitor numbers.

A coronavirus-free tropical island nestled in the northern Pacific may seem the perfect place to ride out a pandemic -- but residents on Palau say life right now is far from idyllic.

Airbnb on Monday said it is devoting $250 million to help would-be hosts survive financial losses from refunds given to guests who cancelled travel plans due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Florida's governor said Monday that he does not want passengers suspected of suffering from coronavirus on the cruise ship Zaandam to be "dumped" in his southern US state.

Passengers on a virus-stricken cruise liner stranded off Central America were transferred to another ship Saturday, after the US-bound vessel was given permission to pass through the Panama Canal.

Hundreds of cruise ship passengers were due to board flights for Germany on Sunday, after spending days stranded at sea off the West Australian coast in a stand-off with authorities.

The shock postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has dealt a savage blow to Japan's hotels and tourism industry, already reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Four passengers have died aboard a cruise ship carrying scores of people with flu-like symptoms that has been stranded off the Pacific coast of South America for several days, the liner company said Friday.

Foreign governments on Friday stepped up operations to evacuate tens of thousands of tourists stranded by the coronavirus pandemic in remote locations across South Asia, from Everest base camp to beach hotels in Sri Lanka.

China reported more than 50 imported cases of the coronavirus on Friday, hours after announcing a ban on foreigners entering the country.

Russia will halt all international flights from midnight on Friday under a government decree listing new measures against the coronavirus outbreak.

A cruise ship carrying hundreds of quarantined international holidaymakers docked in virus-hit Italy Wednesday, after a woman who tested positive disembarked in Greece, sparking fears among those on board.

For the past six days, Ayomuddin Kamolov has slept on the tiled floor of a Moscow airport, hoping to get a flight to his native Tajikistan.

Bali's "Day of Silence" was even quieter than usual this year as coronavirus fears prompted authorities to scale back an annual celebration that sees the Hindu-majority island in Indonesia come to a near standstill.

More than 1,800 people stuck onboard a cruise ship off the Pacific coast of South America, with 42 complaining of flu-like symptoms, are desperately hoping to be allowed to dock -- somewhere.

Nesmi Orslom relished his Cuba vacation to the very end: "In every city that we went, to every bar to have a drink, we always ordered a pina colada or a mojito!

Thirty-one French nationals from the same tour group in Cambodia tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend and have been put under quarantine in a hotel.

India will ground all domestic passenger flights from Wednesday to combat the spread of the coronavirus, the government said, as more states ordered lockdowns in the world's second most populous nation.

Italy reported a second successive drop in daily deaths and infections from a coronavirus that has nevertheless claimed more than 6,000 lives in a month.

From Australia's Bondi Beach to the streets of New Delhi, authorities across Asia ramped up efforts this weekend to stem the coronavirus amid fears of a second wave of infections in places where outbreaks had appeared under control.

Sunbathers, surfers and tourists were banned from Bondi Beach on Saturday in efforts to contain the coronavirus, which has now infected more than 1,000 people in Australia.

Under pressure from anxious parents, Chinese citizens living in virus-hit Europe are flocking back home, with some even flying on private jets to escape the spiralling number of infections overseas.

Australia issued an urgent call for 2,700 cruise ship passengers who disembarked in central Sydney to isolate themselves and contact authorities Friday, after four travellers tested positive for COVID-19.

The United States on Thursday warned against any international travel due to the coronavirus pandemic and advised citizens to come home if possible.

Travel chaos continued Thursday at Hungary's borders which were suddenly closed Monday in response to the coronavirus pandemic, with diplomats urging Budapest to let trapped citizens enter the country.

With commercial airlines engulfed by the maelstrom of the coronavirus pandemic one sector of the industry favoured by the wealthy is thriving: private jets.

Australia's biggest airline Qantas said it would halt all international flights and suspend 20,000 staff in response to the coronavirus pandemic Wednesday, days after the island nation's other main carrier Virgin shut its overseas routes.

The city of Venice is enjoying crystal clear waters in its world-famous canals due to a lack of debris from tourists and near-zero boat traffic under Italy's ongoing coronavirus lockdown.

With blank stares or catching a few winks of sleep curled up on uncomfortable chairs, dozens of people have been stranded for four days on a bus locked in gigantic tailbacks at the Polish-German border due to virus restrictions.

A British cruise ship that was turned away from Barbados and the Bahamas over coronavirus infections docked in Cuba on Wednesday.

A ban on Malaysians leaving the country, imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus, will deal a heavy blow to neighbouring Singapore, which relies on huge numbers of workers who commute from next door.

Slot machines switched off, blackjack tables deserted... several of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas will shut their doors Tuesday to tackle the spread of the new coronavirus.

A project to set up "quarantine motels" in the US coronavirus epicenter of Washington state has infuriated local residents who fear they will be exposed to a high risk of infection.

Australian airline Qantas announced Tuesday it was slashing its international capacity by 90 percent and domestic flights by 60 percent in a further coronavirus blow to the beleaguered travel industry.

Chile announced a total closure of its borders on Monday while Latin America's largest airline said it was reducing operations by 70 percent as the region scrambled to stem the rapidly-spreading coronavirus pandemic.