World News Roundup: Trump stops Europe flights; UK to introduce more stringent measures to tackle coronavirus and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Germany designates radical wing of far-right AfD as 'extremist entity'

Germany will step up surveillance of a radical wing of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party after the domestic intelligence agency designated it as an extremist entity that threatens democracy. Thursday's decision by the BfV intelligence agency to increase monitoring of "Der Fluegel" - The Wing - deals a blow to Germany's biggest opposition party, undermining its efforts to fend off accusations that it harbors racist views.

Trump stops Europe flights, China says coronavirus could end by June

Travelers scrambled to rebook flights and markets reeled on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sweeping restrictions on travel from Europe, hitting battered airlines and heightening global alarm over the coronavirus. However, China, where the disease originated, said its epidemic had peaked and the global spread could be over by June if other nations applied similarly aggressive containment measures as Beijing's communist government.

A year documenting migration on the Rio Grande

A short stretch of the meandering Rio Grande - the river that marks the border between the United States and Mexico - has been for a long time a focal point for migrants looking to head north, seeking a better life. In the first half of 2019, it became a scene of chaos and misery as unprecedented numbers of asylum seekers arrived, mostly Central Americans. Families fleeing poverty and gang violence sought to cross at a record rate, overwhelming the border patrol agents on the U.S. side.

UK to introduce more stringent measures to tackle coronavirus outbreak

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair an emergency meeting on Thursday at which he is expected to approve moving to the "delay phase" of the coronavirus response that includes more stringent measures to counter the outbreak. U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sweeping restrictions on travel from Europe on Thursday after Britain and Italy unveiled tens of billions of dollars in stimulus in an attempt to stave off a recession.

Russian religious anti-coronavirus event called off due to containment measures

A Russian Orthodox Church procession intended to pray for those infected with the coronavirus has been called off because of a ban on large public gatherings to help curb the disease's spread, the event's organizer said on Thursday. Religious believers in the city of Lipetsk, where authorities have recorded three cases of the illness, had planned to carry out the procession through the city on Sunday.

'It caused a mass panic': travelers in Europe rush to get back to U.S. after Trump order

Bleary-eyed and stressed, travelers scrambled at European airports to board flights to the United States on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping travel restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus. The 30-day travel order will apply to citizens of 26 European countries but exclude Britain and Ireland as well as American citizens. They take effect from midnight on Friday.

Turkey says it has largely agreed Idlib ceasefire details with Russia

Turkish and Russian officials have largely agreed on details of a ceasefire deal in Syria's Idlib region, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday, the third day of discussions between the two countries. Last week Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in Syria's war, agreed on the ceasefire to halt an escalation of violence in Idlib that displaced nearly a million people and brought the two countries close to direct confrontation.

In migrant crisis, Greece caught between EU job descriptions

When the current European Commission took office in December, its president, Ursula von der Leyen, created the role of a commissioner for 'Promoting our European Way of Life' and handed the job to a Greek politician. The job title was originally 'Protecting our European Way of Life', but it was criticized for sounding xenophobic. Ironically, it is Greece that now finds itself caught between promoting and protecting what the EU stands for.

China senior medical adviser: coronavirus pandemic 'over by June' if countries act

The global coronavirus pandemic could be over by June if countries mobilize to fight it, a senior Chinese medical adviser said on Thursday, as China declared the peak had passed there and new cases in Hubei fell to single digits for the first time. Around two-thirds of global cases of the coronavirus have been recorded in China's central Hubei province, where the virus first emerged in December. But in recent weeks the vast majority of new cases have been outside China.

Postcards from Asian airports as coronavirus tightens its grip

From Beijing to Jakarta, many usually bustling Asian airports have become eerily empty and quiet as coronavirus tightens its grip over the region where the outbreak first began late last year. Airline staff looking more like surgeons in their face masks and other protective gear shepherd trickles of passengers toward sparsely populated, and well-disinfected, departure lounges. Many flights have been canceled.