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Six inmates were killed in a prison riot in Italy and guards were taken hostage at another jail, as unrest spread in prisons across the country over measures to contain the coronavirus, including restrictions on visits.
Italy's government has imposed a virtual lockdown across much of its wealthy northern regions at the epicentre of the contagion, in an effort to contain a virus which as of Sunday had killed 366 people.
In a TV interview, the head of Italy's prison administration, Francesco Basentini, said three inmates had died inside a jail in the northern town of Modena, and three others had died after being transferred away from the prison.
"There have been a series of rebellions across the country," Mr Basentini said.
Video on Italian television showed police and fire trucks outside the prison as black smoke swirled into the sky.
The justice ministry said fires had been set at a number of prisons causing severe damage.
Prison guards union Sappe said two guards had been taken hostage in the northern city of Pavia and were released after a police raid.
In an emergency decree on Sunday, the government imposed limits on direct contact between inmates and their families.
Prisoners will be allowed to contact visitors by phone or other remote methods under the measures, in place until March 22.
Modena and Pavia are within the red zone the government has established to limit the coronavirus contagion.
Justice ministry sources said two of the deaths in Modena were caused by an overdose from drugs found in the jail infirmaries, while a third prisoner was found blue in the face and the cause of the death was still unclear.
The prison unrest could add to political pressure on the government coalition of the centre-left and the anti-establishment 5-Star movement.
Far-right League leader Matteo Salvini said: "The gates of the prisons shouldn't be thrown open with the excuse of the revolts."
US markets halted after stunning fall
Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street on Monday, on a combination of coronavirus fears and plunging oil prices, triggering a brief, automatic halt in trading to let investors catch their breath.
The price of oil sank nearly 20 per cent after Russia refused to roll back production in response to falling prices and Saudi Arabia signalling it would ramp up output.
US stocks careened closer to a bear market, signified by a drop of 20 per cent from its record, while a measure of fear in the market touched its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis.
European stock markets fell even more sharply, and Treasury yields plunged to more record lows in the latest vicious swings for a market that has rocked investors the past couple of weeks.
The S&P 500 plunged as much as 7.4 per cent in the first few minutes of trading on Monday, and losses were so sharp that trading was temporarily halted.
Stocks trimmed their losses following the halt, and the index was down 4.8 per cent, as of 11:44am (local time).
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1,255 points, or 4.9 per cent, to 24,605 after briefly being down more than 2,000. The Nasdaq gave up 4.4 per cent.
The carnage in the energy sector was particularly arresting. Marathon Oil, Apache Corp and Diamondback Energy each sank more than 40 per cent. Exxon Mobil and Chevron were on track for their worst days since 2008.
"The path of least resistance is still down," said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab.
Treasury yields careened lower as investors dove into anything that seems safe, even if it pays closer to nothing each day.
Traders increased their bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates back to zero to do what it can to help the virus-weakened economy, perhaps as soon as next week.
Many analysts and professional investors say they expect big swings to continue to dominate the market as long as the number of new virus cases is accelerating.
Including Monday's drop, the S&P 500 has now lost 16.5 per cent since setting a record last month. If it hits a 20 per cent drop, it would mean the death of what's become the longest-running bull market for US stocks in history.
Monday also marked the 11th anniversary of the market hitting bottom after the 2008 financial crisis.
Aussies stuck on cruise ship
Four Australians on a cruise ship docking in California are awaiting news about where they'll be quarantined after a coronavirus outbreak onboard.
More than 3500 people are aboard the Grand Princess, which has been sailing in circles off California since last week.
Forty-six people have been tested for COVID-19 so far, with 21 confirmed as infected.
There are three Australian crew members and one passenger onboard — it's not known if they've been tested.
They'll be quarantined for two weeks, along with everyone else.
A decision is yet to be made as to whether they'll be quarantined in the US, flown home or take a chartered flight somewhere else — like Canada.
Luxury brands cease demand
Global luxury brands including Gucci and Louis Vuitton are scaling back orders with Italian suppliers, as the spread of the coronavirus from key market China to major manufacturing hub Italy hits business across the sector, industry sources said.
Italy, home to scores of specialist manufacturers of high-end goods from shoes and leather goods to menswear, has seen the biggest epidemic of the virus outside China, prompting Rome to impose a virtual lockdown over much of its wealthy north.
Reuters spoke to a dozen textile and leather goods suppliers in the region of Veneto, which is affected by the quarantine, and nearby Tuscany. Many said that even before the unprecedented restrictions were put in place on Sunday, brands had been cutting orders from late January, as demand plunged in China.
"We were producing 800-1,000 handbags a month for Gucci. In February we made 450 and we have no orders for March," said the owner of a small supplier for Kering's top brand, employing eight people in Scandicci, a district outside Florence that is the hub of leather goods production in Italy.
"We don't have orders for April or May either. The company has been brought to a standstill and we are having to put our workers on temporary redundancy schemes," he said.
Tokyo 2020 torch lighting to be staged without spectators
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch-lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia this week will be staged without spectators as organisers attempt to protect the event from the coronavirus, Greece's Olympic Committee said on Monday.
The Olympic torch will be lit in Olympia at a scaled-down ceremony on March 12 before a seven-day relay that will culminate with a handover ceremony in Greece on March 19.
The prefecture of Ilia, of which Olympia is part, is among the hardest hit by the coronavirus in Greece.
The Mayor of Olympia had written to International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, proposing the postponement of the ceremony until May.
"The danger of staging the torch lighting with only a handful of spectators, limited number of officials and delegations, and under a cloud of fear and concern will damage the greatness and prestige of this event," Olympia Mayor Giorgos Georgiopoulos said in his letter.
On Sunday, Greece announced a two-week ban on sporting events with spectators and on school field trips, as its number of coronavirus cases rose by seven to 73.
Australia's state-by-state breakdown
Here are the numbers of cases that have been recorded in each state and territory as of Tuesday morning:
- NSW: 46
- Queensland: 15
- Victoria: 15
- South Australia: 7
- Western Australia: 6
- Tasmania: 2
- Northern Territory: 1
- ACT: 0
Topics: health, diseases-and-disorders, infectious-diseases-other, government-and-politics, disease-control, australia, italy
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