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Xavier Bettel, the prime minister, said on 12 March 2020 that Luxembourg schools would be closed for two weeks starting on Monday to combat coronavirus transmission. He urged parents not to ask grandparents to take over childcare duties, as they may be most vulnerable to covid-19. Library picture: Xavier Bettel is seen speaking with press in Brussels, 20 February 2020. Photo credit: SIP/Thierry Monasse 

Coronavirus: New measures in Luxembourg

Luxembourg’s government (press release) ordered creches, schools and universities closed starting Monday 16 March; at the moment they are planned to reopen on Monday 30 March. Other new measures included limiting public gatherings to 100 people indoors or 500 people outdoors, barring visits to care and retirement homes, and encouraging businesses to have staff telecommute. Separately, several EU institutions in Luxembourg introduced telecommuting plans (Delano). More covid-19 updates on Delano’s rolling coverage page.

Coronavirus: New measures around the world

Europe: Schools were also closed in Belgium (The Telegraph), France (France 24) and elsewhere in Europe (The Guardian). Australia: Canberra introduced a stimulus programme that includes cash payments to people on government benefits and businesses (Radio New Zealand and Sydney Morning Herald). Canada: Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of the Canadian prime minister, tested positive for covid-19 (CBC and Deutsche Welle). America: The US state of Washington banned gatherings of 250 or more people; the city of San Francisco prohibited private and public events with 1,000 or more participants (CNBC). Travel: Disney shut down its theme parks through the end of the month (Marketwatch and Reuters).

Coronavirus: Markets drop

Wall Street: US stocks fell 10% in the worst trading day since 1987, despite the US Federal Reserve Bank’s $1.5trn of liquidity injection plan (CNBC, Financial Times, NPR and South China Morning Post). Europe: The FTSE 100 also dropped 10% (CityAM and The Guardian). European bond spreads widened after Christine Lagarde, the European Central Bank chief, said it was not the ECB’s job to prevent European bond yields from spreading (CNBC, Financial Times and Marketwatch). The ECB did not cut interest rates on Thursday, but did boost liquidity measures for banks (AFP and BBC). Asia: Shares across Asia plunged when the markets opened on Friday (Associated Press, BBC, Financial Times, Seeking Alpha and South China Morning Post).

Amazon blocks certain covid-19 listings

The e-commerce giant Amazon said it would stop taking new seller listings for face masks, sanitizers and other coronavirus-related items, in order to prevent price gouging (CNBC).

Electric automaker shifts into lower gear

Tesla sales are expected to take a 10% hit this year due to the coronavirus outbreak, forecast the investment bank Morgan Stanley (Bloomberg, Marketwatch and Seeking Alpha).

Airbnb IPO under threat

Bookings at the accommodation rental platform Airbnb are down by 40% or more due to the coronavirus outbreak, but the company still plans to proceed with its stock market floatation this year (Financial Times, Reuters, Telegraph and Wall Street Journal).

Pentagon wants 120 days to review “Jedi” contract

The US defence department asked a US court if it could “reconsider” the award of a $10bn cloud computing contract to Microsoft, which Amazon is challenging (CNN, Washington Business Journal, Washington Post).

Manning ordered freed

A US court ordered the immediate release of Chelsea Manning, the former intelligence analyst who had been jailed for failing to cooperate with the Wikileaks inquiry (Associated Press, BBC, Deutsche Welle, the Guardian and Reuters).

Note to our readers

The Delano Live event on online privacy, which had been scheduled for Tuesday 17 March, has been postponed in line with the government’s covid-19 policy.

Here are 10 science & technology stories you may have missed

Online policy: The UK introduced a 2% digital turnover tax (similar to France’s) that will apply to US tech giants including Amazon, Facebook and Google, per Marketwatch and Protocol. Consumer policy: The European Commission proposed a ‘right to repair’ electronic devices and a crackdown on planned obsolescence in a bid to reduce e-waste, per TechcrunchCyber market: Thanks to the coronavirus pushing more remote working, VPN tools, whose sales had been slagging, are suddenly picking up, per Protocol. IT security: The rise in remote working, due to coronavirus measures, could lead to an increased risk of cybercrime, per the Independent and the South China Morning Post. IT security: Poor computer hygiene means roughly 100,000 internet-connected devices have been infected with the 12 year old Conficker computer virus since 2015, per ZDnetIT security: GCHQ, a British intelligence agency, reminded owners of internet-connected devices to change the default password, keep software updated and disable internet access if they don’t actually want to use online features, per The RegisterData privacy: A Chinese company introduced facial recognition technology that it claimed works on people wearing protective masks, per Reuters. Coronavirus: “The Covid-19 epidemic caused by the coronavirus will not end this year as the contagion has spread worldwide, a leading microbiologist from Hong Kong has said,” per the South China Morning Post. Public health: China showed that covid-19 can be contained, wrote The Economist. Biology: Recent research suggested that certain canine anxieties--such as sensitivity to noise, nervousness around strangers or compulsive behaviour--as genetically linked, per Science magazine.

South Africa’s ‘upside down’ house

The latest tourist attraction in Hartebeestpoort, about 75km north of Johannesburg, is a house whose exterior and interior are vertically inverted, per the Associated Press and Travel+Leisure.

€2.7m Luxembourg home listing catches NYT’s eye 

A recently renovated semidetached 18th century house in Hautcharage, in Käerjeng commune, and the grand duchy’s property market were profiled this week by the New York Times

Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald