Apple advises 12K workers to stay home as coronavirus ‘precaution’

Apple is encouraging all employees at its headquarters to work from home to combat the spread of the coronavirus — joining other tech giants like Microsoft and Google.

The company issued a memo Friday advising its 12,000-person staff at Apple Park in Cupertino to stay remote as a “precaution” while the virus begins to spread more rapidly across the country.

The advisory came amid 20 confirmed cases of the disease in Santa Clara County. Officials there had previously asked large companies to consider letting employees to telecommute to limit close contact.

Apple has issued a similar memo for its workers in the Seattle area to work from home. It was not immediately clear how many employees have complied with the requests.

The company said last month that the virus’s spread in China could lead to iPhone shortages and missed revenue targets.

With Post wires

Kuwait suspends flights to and from seven countries over coronavirus: tweet

CAIRO (Reuters) – Kuwait suspended on Saturday all flights to and from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Bangladesh, Philippines, India, and Sri-Lanka for a week starting on Saturday, Kuwait’s civil aviation directorate said in a tweet.

Kuwait also banned entry of anyone who has been in the seven countries in the last two weeks except for Kuwaitis coming from the seven countries, who will be allowed entry but will have to submit to quarantine procedures, the civil aviation directorate added.

Saudi Arabia detains at least two senior princes, including king's brother: sources

DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has detained two senior members of the Saudi royal family including Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, a younger full brother of King Salman and uncle of the crown prince, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Prince Ahmed was one of only three people on the Allegiance Council, made up of the ruling family’s senior members, who opposed Mohammed bin Salman becoming crown prince in 2017, sources have earlier said.

McCoy Tyner Dies: Jazz Piano Giant With Resume In Soundtracks, Film, TV Was 81

McCoy Tyner, one of the most influential pianists in jazz history, died Friday at his home in northern New Jersey. He was 81 and his death was confirmed by a nephew. No cause was given.

Tyner was a part of John Coltrane’s seminal 1960s quartet, and his distinctive, clean and percussive sound on acoustic piano was an influence on everyone who followed him. Even Coltrane acknowledged his force when he said, “He’s sort of the one who gives me wings and lets me take off from the ground from time to time.”

Born in Philadelphia in 1938 as Alfred McCoy Tyner, he began taking piano lessons at 13. His mother bought him his first piano, setting it up in her beauty shop.  Tyner later studied at the Granoff School of Music, and began playing professional at age 16 with a rhythm & blues band. In 1957, he met saxophone legend John Coltrane at a Philadelphia nightclub, and the two became fast friends.

Tyner worked with various jazz acts until Coltrane called on him to join forces in 1960. They recorded their first music that fall, creating cuts later found on the albums My Favorite Things, Coltrane Jazz, Coltrane’s Sound and Coltrane Plays the Blues. Through that work and more, he became one of the most known and imitated pianists in jazz.

Dow ends tough week down 250 points amid talk of White House stimulus

US stocks ended a rocky week on a down note as the coronavirus continues to strike fear on Wall Street.

After plunging more than 800 points on the open, the Dow Jones industrial average pared back losses somewhat when White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the Trump administration is considering a “targeted” stimulus program for businesses hit hardest by the outbreak.

“We’re looking at things like people who may be stranded at home and will lose pay — we want to help them,” Kudlow told Fox Business Network. “Small businesses in certain areas, the geographical areas or certain sectors, we may wish to help them with some cash flow.”

It wasn’t enough to push stocks in to the green, however, as investors fret over the economic impact of the virus, which has reduced air travel and severely crimped manufacturing in China.

The Dow ended the day down 250 points, or 0.9 percent, to 25,864.78. The S&P 500 fell 1.7 percent to 2,972.37, while the Nasdaq index dropped 1.8 percent to 8,575.62.

Investors instead flooded the bond market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note dropped below 0.786 percent Friday, continuing a record-breaking decline this week. Yields move inversely to prices for bonds, which are considered safe-haven assets.

Saudi Arabia limits arrivals from UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain to airports over coronavirus: SPA

CAIRO (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia limited on Saturday land crossings with the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain to commercial trucks only, with arrivals from the three countries temporarily limited to three airports as a precaution taken over the spread of the coronavirus, Saudi news agency SPA reported.

The three airports are King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, SPA added.

Bernie Sanders Calls Swastika Flag Displayed At His Rally ‘Horrific’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) denounced the man who unfurled a swastika flag at his campaign rally Thursday night, calling it “unspeakable” during a press conference on Friday.

“I speak not only as a Jewish American; I think I can speak for the families of some 400,000 American troops who died fighting Nazism, fighting fascism, that it is horrific,” said Sanders, who would be the first Jewish president if elected.

“It is beyond disgusting to see that in the United States of America there are people who would show the emblem of Hitler and Nazism, and I was shocked to learn about that later,” he continued, calling it a display of “the most detestable symbol in modern history.”

Sanders was speaking at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday when the man unfurled the flag with the swastika, sparking boos from the crowd.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, whom Sanders is running against for the Democratic nomination, also denounced the incident.

“I don’t care who you’re supporting, attacks like this against a man who could be the first Jewish President are disgusting and beyond the pale,” Biden tweeted. “Hatred and bigotry have no place in America — and it’s up to all of us to root out these evils wherever they’re found.”