By MarketsFarm

WINNIPEG, Jan. 23 (MarketsFarm) – The following is a glance at the news moving markets in Canada and globally.

– China closed off the major cities of Wuhan and Huanggang on Thursday in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which has now killed 17 people and with more than 500 reported cases throughout the country. As celebrations for the Lunar New Year approach officials are concerned with the coronavirus getting out of control. The coronavirus has produced an illness that’s similar to SARS, and cases have been reported in Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. Wearing a surgical mask over one’s mouth is said to be the best way for a person to prevent spreading it to others.

– Aid agencies throughout southern Africa have been trying to find ways to curtail hunger, according to Reuters. Measures include drone-mapping, community radio weather programs, improving storage facilities and switching to more drought-resistant crops. More than 45 million people in the region are facing food shortages due to severe droughts, widespread flooding, poor harvests and economic turmoil, said the World Food Programme.

– At the Meng Wanzhou extradition hearing in Vancouver, the prosecution argued on Wednesday that fraud, not violating U.S. sanctions, is at the heart of the case. The early stages of the hearing are dealing with double criminality, which is the all-important principle in extraditions – that the crime a person is alleged to have committed in the country seeking extradition must also be a crime in the country holding a person. Prosecutors accused Meng of lying to banking officials about Huawei’s business in Iran. Meng’s hearing continues Thursday.