REUTERS NEWS SCHEDULE AT 11 a.m. GMT/6 a.m. ET

Asia reported hundreds of new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, including the first U.S. soldier to be infected, as the United States warned of an inevitable pandemic, and outbreaks in Italy and Iran spread to more countries.

MALAYSIA-POLITICS/ Malaysia's Mahathir and Anwar in new showdown amid turmoil

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia’s decades-old political rivals Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim set out claims to lead the Southeast Asian country on Wednesday after Mahathir’s shock resignation as prime minister sparked turmoil. U.S.

CHINA-HEALTH-USA/ U.S. health officials urge Americans to prepare for spread of coronavirus

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday alerted Americans to begin preparing for the spread of coronavirus in the United States after infections surfaced in several more countries. CHINA-HEALTH-USA-SAN-FRANCISCO/

San Francisco declares emergency over coronavirus San Francisco declared a local emergency over the coronavirus on Tuesday, despite having no cases, as U.S. officials urged Americans to prepare for the spread of infections within their communities.

BUSINESS STARBUCKS-BEYOND-MEAT/

Starbucks to launch Beyond Meat plant-based breakfast sandwich in Canada NEW YORK (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp said on Wednesday its Canadian stores will start selling a Beyond Meat Inc plant-based breakfast sandwich next week, the first time the world’s biggest coffee chain will offer an imitation meat product.

BAYER-CHAIRMAN/ Bayer chairman quits after making progress to settle litigation

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Bayer, which is fighting claims its weedkiller Roundup causes cancer, said its Chairman Werner Wenning was stepping down because the drugs and crop protection company was making good progress in settlement talks. ENTERTAINMENT

FILMFESTIVAL-BERLIN-SCHWESTERLEIN/ Berlinale film shows sister exploring the limits of grief

BERLIN (Reuters) - Swiss directors Stephanie Chuat and Veronique Reymond were guided by their experience of losing their own mothers in creating a “My Little Sister”, the tale of a woman’s struggle to support her twin brother through his terminal illness. BRITAIN-ROYALS-HARRY/

Prince Harry in Edinburgh as countdown on his final royal duties begins LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s Prince Harry was in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Wednesday to take part in a conference about sustainable travel, one of his final engagements as a senior member of the royal family before retiring at the end of March.

SPORTS BOXING-HEAVYWEIGHT/

Fury promoter wants Joshua next instead of Wilder rematch Tyson Fury’s promoter Frank Warren wants the new WBC heavyweight champion to fight fellow Brit Anthony Joshua next in a world title unification bout but says Deontay Wilder will first have to be persuaded to forgo an immediate rematch.

OLYMPICS-2020-REFUGEE-BOXING/ Afghan refugee pursues his dream of boxing in Tokyo

LISBON (Reuters) - A young Afghan refugee living in Portugal is attempting to achieve in 10 months what normally takes years of preparation - qualifying to box in the Olympics. UPCOMING

POLITICS / INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS USA-ELECTION/SANDERS-ELECTABILITY

Can Sanders beat Trump? A growing number of Democratic voters say yes Bernie Sanders' Democratic presidential rivals warn that nominating the self-described democratic socialist will ensure President Donald Trump's re-election, but a growing number of the party's voters see the senator as their best chance of winning in November.

26 Feb 06:00 ET / 11:00 GMT EU-COMMISSION/REFORMS (PIX) (TV)

European Commission publishes economic and reform recommendations for EU countries The European Commission publishes its annual recommendations for all EU countries on what reforms they should implement

26 Feb 06:00 ET / 11:00 GMT BRITAIN-EU/BARNIER (PIX) (TV)

EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier delivers speech before trade talks with Britain start EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier speaks at panel titled "Dealing with the European Green deal & negotiating the climate law" before EU-UK talks on a new relationship start.

26 Feb 09:00 ET / 14:00 GMT MALAYSIA-POLITICS/ (TV)

Outwatching upheaval in Malaysian politics after Mahathir resigns Malaysia politics are in political turmoil as factions vie for power after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad stepped down on Monday. Mahathir was also immediately named as interim prime minister by Malaysia's king - a role that carries all the authority of a permanent premier.

Feb 27 EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GREECE-FAMILY (PIX) (TV)

WIDER IMAGE - In the migrant camp of Moria, a family living in limbo Back in Afghanistan,Taleb Shah Husseini,35, was an action movie actor. Now, almost two months since he crossed the sea borders of Greece with Turkey with his wife Yasamin, 25, and their three daughters to the island of Lesbos, he is playing the hardest role of his life as they have to wait for a year and a half for the asylum interview. Living in a makeshift shelter in the migrant camp of Moria, the Husseini family tries to maintain a daily routine as they have to fight their fears, weather conditions, poor quality of food, lack of safety, diseases and violence in the camp.

Feb 27 EDF-NUCLEARPOWER/FESSENHEIM-SENATE (PIX) (TV)

Senators assess impact of closure of Fessenheim nuclear power plant French senators and parliament members hear experts on the possible impact of the closure of Fessenheim 1 nuclear power reactor, the first reactor to be shut down in nuclear-dependent France as part of a planned reduction of atomic power in its energy mix.

Feb 27 BISSAU-ELECTION/INAUGURATION

New Guinea-Bissau President Embalo to be sworn in Guinea-Bissau’s newly elected President Umaro Cissoko Embalo will be sworn in on Thursday after the Supreme Court rejected a challenge from the losing candidate in a December run-off who complained of fraud.

Feb 27 IRAN-NUCLEAR/IAEA

Quarterly IAEA report on Iran The U.N. nuclear watchdog issues a quarterly report etailing Iran's atomic activities, as required by Tehran's deal with major powers, which it is policing. The date is not set but the report must be issued by Friday.

Feb 27 BRITAIN-EU/TRADE

UK government to publish its mandate for trade talks with EU The British government will publish its mandate for the negotiations with the EU over its future relationship.

Feb 27 BRITAIN-ASSANGE/ (PIX)

Hearings in extradition case of Wikileaks' Julian Assange Full extradition hearings of Wikileaks' Julian Assange starts at Woolwich Crown Court. Starts Monday and lasts until Friday.

Feb 27 BUSINESS / ECONOMICS

SAFRICA-ECONOMY/WAGES (PIX) South African unions threaten protests over public sector wages

South African trade unions on Wednesday threatened protests, after they said the government wanted to renege on the terms of a public sector wage deal struck in 2018. 26 Feb 06:00 ET / 11:00 GMT

JULIUS-BAER/FINMA (PIX) Swiss watchdog to probe Julius Baer employees on money-laundering oversight

Switzerland's financial watchdog will probe the actions of individuals at Julius Baer after it reprimanded the bank for ignoring money-laundering risks in payments linked to corruption in Venezuela and world soccer body FIFA. 26 Feb 06:00 ET / 11:00 GMT

SAFRICA-ECONOMY/ (PIX) (TV) South Africa's finance minister unveils 2020 budget

South Africa's finance minister Tito Mboweni will present the 2020 budget to parliament as the economy struggles to regain momentum amid power supply constraints and weak business confidence. In a medium-term budget policy statement in October, the National Treasury predicted that the budget deficit would rise to a nearly two-decade high and gross debt would soar as a weak economy leads to revenue shortfalls, and bailouts for state-owned companies strain public finances. 26 Feb 07:00 ET / 12:00 GMT

WIKIPEDIA-BLOCKCHAIN/ (PIX) Interview with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on online information and cryptocurrencies

Interview with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on the potential - or lack of - for blockchain tech to counter online misinformation. With proponents of the technology highlighting blockchain's data-confirming qualities as a way to stamp out fraudulent entries to Wikipedia, yet Wales sceptical, what steps can be taken to ensure truth on the crowd-sourced internet encyclopaedia? 26 Feb 07:30 ET / 12:30 GMT

USA-FED/KAPLAN Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Kaplan speaks before teacher retirement conference

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan speaks before the Teacher Retirement System and Employees Retirement System of Texas Emerging Manager Conference, in Austin, Texas. 26 Feb 09:35 ET / 14:35 GMT

MEXICO-ECONOMY/MINUTES Mexico central bank issues minutes of monetary policy meeting

The central bank will publish minutes from its last monetary policy decision. We will be on the lookout for comments on the future trajectory of interest rates and risks to inflation and economic growth. Feb 27

STANCHART-RESULTS/ Standard Chartered reports full year 2019 results

Standard Chartered reports its 2019 financial results Feb 27

AUTOS-AUTONOMOUS/CONFERENCE Autonomous Vehicle Summit in Silicon Valley

People attend the Autonomous Vehicle Summit, a three-day conference in Silicon Valley focused on the self-driving vehicle industry. Feb 27

ENGIE-RESULTS/ Engie's full year 2019 results

French energy group Engie reports its full-year 2019 results. The results come after the company's board decided on Feb. 6 not to renew the mandate of chief executive Isabelle Kocher and to put in place an interim management team as it hunts for a new boss. Feb 27

WPP-RESULTS/ WPP PLC Preliminary Statement for the year ended 31 December 2019

WPP PLC Preliminary Statement for the year ended 31 December 2019 Feb 27

ARTS / CULTURE / ENTERTAINMENT FILMFESTIVAL-BERLIN/THE ROADS NOT TAKEN (PIX) (TV)

British film The Roads Not Taken premieres at Berlinale Director Sally Potter presents "The Roads Not Taken" in Competition in the Berlinale film festival, starring Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek and Laura Linney in a film exploring a daughter's love for her ailing father.

26 Feb 07:40 ET / 12:40 GMT FILMFESTIVAL-BERLIN/DAU NATASHA (PIX) (TV)

Sprawling project DAU brings DAU.Natasha to Berlinale DAU.Natasha is the latest instalment in director Ilya Khrzhanovskiy’s massive multidisciplinary DAU project, filmed in a large-scale immersive installation. DAU.Natasha, about workers in the canteen of a Soviet research institute, is competing for the Golden Bear at the Berlinale film festival.

26 Feb 11:15 ET / 16:15 GMT FILMFESTIVAL-BERLIN/THE ROADS NOT TAKEN (PIX) (TV)

Screening of "The Roads Not Taken" at 70th Berlinale Director Sally Potter and actors Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek, Laura Linney arrive for the screening of the movie “The Roads Not Taken” during the 70th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany.

26 Feb 13:30 ET / 18:30 GMT FILMFESTIVAL-BERLIN/STATELESS (PIX) (TV)

Cate Blanchett's new series Stateless premieres at Berlinale Created by Cate Blanchett, the six-part Australian series "Stateless" focusing on stories of migration has its world premiere at the Berlinale film festival.

26 Feb 15:30 ET / 20:30 GMT SPORTS

SOUTHSUDAN-WRESTLING/ (PIX) (TV) South Sudan, ravaged by war, finds unity in wrestling

South Sudanese wrestler Kur Bol Jok strides confidently into the arena as his fans loudly cheer and blow trumpets. His chest - smeared with ashes and dust - puffs with confidence as he faces his opponent, bracing himself for the fight. Wrestling is a hugely popular sport in the world's youngest nation, devastated by five years of civil war. 26 Feb 08:00 ET / 13:00 GMT

SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY CLIMATE-CHANGE/MYANMAR-EROSION (PIX) (TV)

Myanmar's villages wash away as sea levels rise In the past four years, ten villages on the southern coastline of Myanmar have been washed away and more are under threat, as rising sea levels blamed on climate change speed up the area's already high rates of coastal erosion.

27 Feb 20:00 ET / 01:00 GMT AUSTRALIA-DROUGHT/FARMER (PIX) (TV)

Australian farmer upbeat after recent downpour after three-year drought Australian farmer near western New South Wales town of Tamworth upbeat after recent downpour following a devastating three-year drought.

27 Feb CRIME / LAW / JUSTICE

ITALY-SALVINI/MIGRANTS-TRIAL Italy Senate panel likely to decide if new probe against Salvini should go ahead

A special tribunal has recommended that far-right League leader Matteo Salvini should stand trial for holding scores of people on board a charity ship last August, in one of his last migrant standoffs as interior minister. A Senate panel will probably issue a first verdict on the request. Feb 27

DISASTERS / ACCIDENTS AFRICA-LOCUSTS/ (PIX) (TV) (GRAPHIC)

East Africa braces as next locust plague looms, supplies run out As a plague of locusts devastates crops around the Red Sea, countries on the frontline are running out of vital supplies. Kenya ran out of pesticides. Ethiopia needs more planes. Somalia and Yemen, wracked by civil war, can't offer security to exterminators. Governments across the region are scrambling to deal with the outbreak.

Feb 27