Top Asian News 8:36 p.m. GMT

US advises no travel to China, where virus deaths top 200

BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. advised against all travel to China as the number of cases of a worrying new virus spiked more than tenfold in a week, including the highest death toll in a 24-hour period on Friday. The virus has infected almost 10,000 people globally in just two months, a troublesome sign of its spread that prompted the World Health Organization to declare the outbreak a global emergency. The death toll stood at 213, including 43 new fatalities, all in China. The State Department's level 4 “Do Not Travel" advisory, the highest grade of warning, told Americans in China to consider departing using commercial means.

The shunned: People from virus-hit city tracked, quarantined

BEIJING (AP) — Meron Mei, a sophomore at Wuhan University in the Chinese city at the heart of a viral outbreak, went back to his home village and started to cough. So he went to the hospital and got checked. Doctors determined it was a common cold, not the new coronavirus, he says, and he returned home. Then a week ago, he says, five officers showed up at his house in Xishui County, a two hour drive from Wuhan. They wore masks and wielded blue, gun-shaped thermometers. Now Mei finds himself under constant surveillance by plainclothes police. His doorstep has been posted with a red warning: “Do not approach – patient with suspected pneumonia." Doctors in gowns, goggles and masks check his temperature three times a day, and the government calls him constantly to monitor his condition — despite tests that he says show his body is free of the coronavirus.

Thai holiday over, Chinese visitors fly home to Wuhan

BANGKOK (AP) — The holiday was over for almost 80 Chinese visitors to Thailand. They were lining up at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport to catch a flight home -- to Wuhan, their hometown and the epicenter of a viral outbreak that has sickened thousands and has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization. Wuhan has been under tight lockdown as Chinese authorities seek to contain further spread of the virus. Reports from the city paint a grim picture of empty streets as residents try to keep out of harm's way and medical services are strained almost to the breaking point.

China locked down 50 million people and has to keep them fed

BEIJING (AP) — Carrying permits demanding “fast passage,” truck drivers rushed a 560-ton shipment of disinfectant from eastern China to Wuhan, the locked-down city of 11 million people at the center of a vast effort to contain a new viral disease. Outside the metropolis in central China, the cargo was shifted to local trucks with drivers in masks and protective suits, part of a tightly controlled flow of food and other supplies through checkpoints that have blocked most access to Wuhan since Jan. 23. As global anxiety about the new virus rises, authorities have blocked 50 million people from leaving Wuhan and nearby cities at the center of the outbreak.

Wildfire creates state of emergency in Australian capital

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian capital region declared a state of emergency on Friday because of an out-of-control forest fire burning erratically to its south. It's the first fire emergency for the Australian Capital Territory area since 2003 when wildfires killed four people and destroyed almost 500 homes in a single day. The threat is posed by a blaze on Canberra’s southern fringe that has razed more than 21,500 hectares (53,000 acres) since it was sparked by heat from a military helicopter landing light on Monday, the Emergency Services Agency said. “The state of emergency sets a clear expectation for our community that we need you to be vigilant,” Emergency Services Minister Mick Gentleman told reporters.

As forests burn around the world, drinking water is at risk

Fabric curtains stretch across the huge Warragamba Dam to trap ash and sediment expected to wash off wildfire-scorched slopes and into the reservoir that holds 80% of untreated drinking water for the Greater Sydney area. In Australia's national capital of Canberra, where a state of emergency was declared on Friday because of an out-of-control forest fire to its south, authorities are hoping a new water treatment plant and other measures will prevent a repeat of water quality problems and disruption that followed deadly wildfires 17 years ago. There have not yet been major impacts on drinking water systems in southeast Australia from the intense fires that have burned more than 40,000 square miles (104,000 square kilometers) since September.

The Latest: Canada virus patient released from hospital

The man who contracted Canada's first case of the new virus from China has been discharged from a Toronto hospital. Sunnybrook hospital said in a release Friday that his condition improved to the point where he no longer required in-patient care. The man in his 50's had recently traveled to Wuhan, China, with his wife. She became Canada's second case. She stayed at home and was never hospitalized. The man was hospitalized a day after returning from China. The couple flew from Wuhan to Guangzhou, China and then on to Toronto. Canada has three confirmed cases. At least two Central American countries say they will turn back visitors who have recently been in China.

Top commander sees increased Iran threat in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — There has been an increase in Iranian activity in Afghanistan that poses a risk to American and coalition troops there, a senior U..S. commander said, as the threat from Tehran continues to churn across the Middle East. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan this week. He told reporters traveling with him that he is seeing a “worrisome trend,” of Iranian malign interference. “Iran has always sort of dabbled a little bit in Afghanistan, but they see perhaps an opportunity to get after us and the coalition here through their proxies,” McKenzie said.

Trump curbs immigration for 6 nations in election-year push

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced Friday that it was curbing legal immigration from six additional countries that officials said did not meet security standards, as part of an election-year push to further restrict immigration. Officials said immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania will face new restrictions in obtaining certain visas to come to the United States. But it is not a total travel ban, unlike President Donald Trump’s earlier effort that generated outrage around the world for unfairly targeting Muslims. Trump was expected to sign a proclamation on the restrictions as early as Friday. The announcement comes as Trump tries to promote his administration's crackdown on immigration, highlighting a signature issue that motivated his supporters in 2016 and hoping it has the same affect this November.

Afghan official says explosion in capital Kabul kills 2

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials say two militants pushing a handcart were killed Friday in western Kabul when explosives in the cart detonated accidentally. A civilian was wounded. Ministry of Interior spokesman Nasrat Rahimi says investigators have not been able to link the bombers to any active militant group in the Afghan capital. Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz said immediately after the explosion that the explosives were hidden in a handcart. Faramarz says police are not speculating on who was responsible. They had no additional details.