Nation & World Glance
China counts sharp rise in coronavirus cases
BEIJING — China has reported a sharp rise in the number of people infected with a new coronavirus, including the first cases in the capital.
The outbreak of viral pneumonia started in the central city of Wuhan, where authorities said they had found 136 new cases, bringing the total in the city to 198.
The outbreak has put other countries on alert as millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year holidays. Authorities in Thailand and in Japan have already identified at least three cases, all involving recent travel from China.
2 more Puerto Rico officials fired after break-in
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Gov. Wanda Vázquez fired the heads of Puerto
Rico’s housing and family departments Sunday in the latest fallout over the discovery of a warehouse filled with emergency supplies dating from Hurricane Maria.
The removal of Housing Secretary Fernando Gil and Department of Family Secretary Glorimar Andújar came a day after the governor fired the director of Puerto Rico’s emergency management agency. Vázquez fired him hours after a Facebook video showed angry people breaking into the warehouse in an area where thousands have been in shelters since a recent earthquake.
Violence escalates in Beirut as protesters clash
BEIRUT — Security forces fired tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets in clashes Sunday with hundreds of anti-government protesters outside Lebanon’s Parliament, as violence continued to escalate in a week of rioting.
At least 114 people were injured in the protests, according to the Red Cross and the Lebanese Civil Defense teams, with 47 taken to hospitals for treatment. Most of the wounds were from rubber bullets, some in the face and upper body, an Associated Press reporter said. Among the injured from rubber bullets were at least two journalists, including one from the local TV station Al-Jadeed news who was struck in the hand.
Demonstrators threw rocks and other projectiles and even shot a stream of fire from ignited aerosol cans. Security forces responded with tear gas and water cannons before turning to rubber bullets to try to disperse the crowds.