Here’s a quick summary of what has happened around the world over the last 24 hours, brought to you exclusively by British Herald.
Britain’s top royals came together at Westminster Abbey in their last public family gathering before Prince Harry and his wife Meghan set off on a new career path devoid of official duties. The annual Commonwealth Service was also the first time Harry and Meghan had been seen with Queen Elizabeth, his elder brother William and wife Kate, and father Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, since the couple thrashed out an exit deal from their royal roles in January. The January agreement, which comes into force at the end of the month, will see the couple – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – seek to carve out “a progressive new role”, mainly in North America, that they aim to finance themselves.
Coronavirus fears pushed British stocks to an almost four-year low but the government said it was not yet time to close mass events and insisted food supplies would continue. As the worries about the economic impact of the outbreak battered global markets, Britain announced its fourth and fifth deaths from the virus and said that it now had 319 confirmed cases, up from 273 on Sunday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson held an emergency government meeting to discuss when to bring in more stringent measures, though the government said it was not yet advising the closure of large events. Food supplies, it said, would continue.
Britain’s Foreign Office advised Britons against all but essential travel to Italy after Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the whole country would be placed under lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. British nationals could still leave Italy, Europe’s worst-affected country, without any restriction but the Foreign Office cautioned travellers to check flight details as airline schedules were also affected by the outbreak.
India’s Hindu festival of Holi was subdued with fears of the coronavirus putting a damper on the usually boisterous celebration marked by the throwing of coloured powder and dousing with dyed water.
The two-day spring festival is a rowdy explosion of colour, with people smearing each other’s faces with green, yellow and red powder. But the coronavirus, which has infected nearly 40 people in India, looks set to spoil the fun this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he would not celebrate Holi this year. Shopkeepers said rumours that the coloured powders and dyes revellers use in the festival were imported from China had hurt their sales.
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Stay tuned for our daily roundup tomorrow!