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| - More deaths outside China. A surge of new infections in Iran, Japan and South Korea raise pandemic fears. Major events cancelled worldwide. Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis. Mainland China reports 71 new deaths, the lowest rise in almost three weeks, taking the nationwide death toll to 2,663. More than 77,000 people are now reported infected, with 508 new cases. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tells countries to do everything they can to "prepare for a potential pandemic" across numerous communities. South Korea remains the most affected country outside mainland China. Some 144 new cases are reported, raising the number of infections to 977 with 10 deaths. Scores of events are cancelled or postponed across the country including K-pop concerts, the start of the K-league football season, parliamentary sessions and the World Team Table Tennis championships. President Moon Jae-in warns the "situation is very grave". In Iran, three more deaths and 34 new infections are confirmed, taking its death toll to 15 and infection tally to 95. It is the country with the highest number of fatalities outside China. Iraq confirms four new cases in a family returning from Iran, bringing its total number of diagnosed infections to five. The United Arab Emirates suspends all passenger and cargo flights to Iran. Italy, which has the most confirmed cases in Europe, reports 283 people have tested positive for the virus and seven people have so far died. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte blames poor management in a hospital in the north for the outbreak. Production in Venice of the latest film in the "Mission: Impossible" blockbuster series starring Tom Cruise is halted before shooting begins. Hundreds of people are confined to their rooms at a Tenerife hotel on the Canary Islands after an Italian tourist is hospitalised with a suspected case. A fourth person dies after becoming ill on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, quarantined off Japan. The Japanese man in his 80s died in a hospital after he had been removed from the ship. Nearly 700 onboard the Diamond Princess have so far tested positive for the virus. Japan suspends all matches in its football J-League and cup until mid-March, joining China and South Korea in putting their domestic football on hold. ngz/ber/eab/br
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