The index of Britain's biggest firms dropped by nine points to 5,763, with further losses in the eurozone markets which were 3.5 per cent lower at close today.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, panned the conspiracy theory that the coronavirus was accidentally leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology on Monday.

Multiple activists, journalists and ordinary internet users have already vanished after criticising Beijing's approach to the crisis as the country tries to control the COVID-19 narrative.

Mahan Air, a private company linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is accused of lying about these flights after Tehran barred all flights to China on January 31.

A middle-aged woman has been filmed telling a Chinese cafe worker to 'go back to China and keep your disease over there', in a vile racist attack in Melbourne.

An Australian film about a man with coronavirus in home quarantine predicted the COVID-19 pandemic more than three years before the outbreak. 

Preparations for the opening are underway as the theme park in China is set to welcome visitors again in mid-to-late May, a source revealed to the Chinese media on Monday.

Local authorities from the north-eastern Chinese province Heilongjiang has issued a new set of guidelines as precautions against the spread of the killer bug in lifts and escalators.

With a hardhat, a harness and a rope, these so-called 'spider-man cleaners' need to collect garbage left by visitors on dangerous cliff faces in Zhangjiajie, south-western China.

Elodie Clouvel, a world champion modern pentathlete, said she believed she and her partner - another athlete - caught the virus while at the competition in Wuhan from October 18 to 27.

SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: David Beckham likes to think he is a man of the people. However, the Communist state of China takes a rather different view of his body art.

Tracy Grimshaw has taken aim at Australians refusing to download the COVIDSafe app over privacy concerns despite continuing to share videos on TikTok.

City Football Group, who are majority owned by Abu Dhabi United and have involvement from China Media Capital, CITIC Capital and Silver Lake, will wipe out Lommel's debts of £1.75million.

President Donald Trump turned down suggestions by aides who encouraged him to press Chinese President Xi Jinping on transparency.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says China is holding back essential information about the coronavirus, although a whistleblower says a top U.S. official failed to ask for it in January.

China is honing in on claims made by New Jersey mayor Michael Melham that he contracted COVID-19 as early as November, suggesting the virus could have emerged from the US.

Rose heads into the final round just a shot behind American Gary Woodland and knows the pressure will be on the world No 25 as he seeks a first major title on the Monterey Peninsula.

DEREK LAWRENSON - WORLD OF GOLF: The Open will not be staged this year for the first time since 1945, after the R&A took the momentous decision to cancel the championship set for July.

Nick Kyrgios claimed video games were ruining him and demanded a linesman be removed during a typically dramatic exit from the US Open in New York.

MIKE DICKSON IN NEW YORK: If Dan Evans thought he had it hard against the suddenly revitalised Roger Federer then it was even worse for unfortunate Belgian No 1 David Goffin.

The actor, 38, looked enthralled as he watched Johanna Konta of Great Britain play against Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic on Sunday.

He's been taking advantage of his temporary American residency by enjoying the US Open. 

Gigi Hadid got giddy with excitement a number of times as she cheered on gal pal Serena Williams at the US Open Finals match in New York on Saturday.

Fund manager Terry Smith is the Cristiano Ronaldo of the investment world. He is right at the top of his profession and, like the footballing maestro, he is handsomely rewarded for his particular 'craft'.

Sections of the investment community have been campaigning for years for companies to incorporate environmental, social and governance criteria into the way they do business.

The oil giant faces mounting pressure to sell its stake in Russian energy giant Rosneft as it embarks on a major strategy overhaul to prop up its dividend payouts.

Although the powder-puff City regulator the FCA has launched an investigation into the demise of Woodford Investment Management, this probe seems to be progressing at a snail's pace.

Nero fiddled, while Rome burned. Or to put the expression in a modern day investment context, Christopher Hill (chief executive of Hargreaves Lansdown) fiddles while investors get burnt.

Inspiration Healthcare has helped hundreds, if not thousands of new-born babies avoid debilitating, life-changing conditions.

Under the deal, The Share Centre investors will receive 41p in a combination of cash and shares, which is a 40 per cent premium to its closing price of 29p on Friday.

Royal Mail is facing a pivotal year. Boss Rico Back is trying to roll out modern technology and shift its business model towards parcels, as the number of letters being sent continues to decline.

Chris Fraser, the chief executive of Sirius, has recommended a 5.5p-a-share offer from mining giant Anglo American and shareholders have just a few days left to back it or reject it.

As founder of website Boring Money, Holly Mackay has been testing the best online investment Isas for many years. Here's who she thinks is best, depending on how much you have to invest.

These are difficult days. At times, it feels like the world is shuddering to a halt. There are fewer people as I wind my way to and from work every day and night on public transport.

Lifetime Isas allow under-40s to save for a home and retirement at once, and the Government is offering free top-ups worth up to £32,000 if you max out your fund.

If ever there was a time when investors needed a hero, it's now. And among the stock market capitulation, a ray of light has arrived with the latest list of Dividend Heroes.

A number of asset managers have suspended trading on their open-ended property funds as markets continue to be rocked by the coronavirus panic.

History, we are told, provides lessons. But a study of the scary details of past stock market crashes is of little help in showing us precisely how we should react to the current slump.

Dividend cuts are an inevitable consequence of the economy - both here and worldwide - sliding into recession in the coming months.

Following the closure of millions of businesses due to the coronavirus, many firms are looking to do all they can to hang on to cash reserves to help them through the difficult time ahead.

It arises from the fact that many of the country's leading income-orientated trusts have sufficient income buffers (reserves) in place to withstand a hostile dividend environment.

The much-publicised move by the big banks to cancel their dividends has left investors with mixed emotions and many questions. But the loss of this income will still come as a blow.

Markets which bet on the future value of dividends paid by FTSE 100 companies indicate that two-thirds of the missing payouts could be lost forever.

It is one of the most viewed shares on online trading platforms and its price has rocketed from 13 per cent at the start of the year to a peak of 491p on Tuesday.

Some dividends will survive and Simon McGarry, senior equity analyst at Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management, narrows down the field.

Anglo Pacific Group PLC (LON:APF) has access to a huge amount of financial firepower, both from its own balance sheet and in the form of various borrowing facilities that are in place.

The oil producer's share price has almost halved in the past year and now the company has taken a knife to the dividend too. Investors have every right to be both aggrieved and concerned.

In the 1936, the War Office turned a disused mine into an underground weapons store. In 2008 it was acquired by Restore, which is now the second largest data storage firm in Britain.

Of 176 dividend announcements made by companies between mid-March and mid-April, only 14 confirmed the continued payment of a dividend. But there is the odd 'sweet spot'.

Britain's world class big pharma companies were always going to be a huge asset in the fight against Covid-19 and in finding solutions, not just to this pandemic, but to future similar events.