Israel on Wednesday became the first country to officially warn its citizens to avoid any international travel amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak.

Several airlines have canceled flights to China, where the respiratory virus originated, and governments have issued warnings about travel to certain countries, but no country has actively urged their citizens avoid traveling abroad at large until now. "If you don't genuinely have to fly — don't do so," Israel's health ministry said in a statement.

Although the majority of cases remain in China, the virus has spread to several other countries. In response to criticism that the country was stoking panic and could cause both economic and diplomatic damage, the health ministry said they'd rather deal with the inconveniences now than be sorry later, The Times of Israel reports.

The only confirmed Israeli cases so far involve people who were on a cruise ship that was quarantined in Japan, although South Korea — which is experiencing one of the larger outbreaks beyond China — reportedly informed Israel over the weekend that a members from a group of pilgrims returned to South Korea from Israel and tested positive for the disease. Read more at The Times of Israel. Tim O'Donnell

Andrew Yang's $1,000 promise may be coming to a town near you.

The entrepreneur is following his failed 2020 bid with a nonprofit dedicated to bringing his signature campaign promise to life, Yang announced Thursday. Humanity First will turn one New York town into a testing ground for the universal basic income Yang constantly promised during his run, along with other initiatives that make the nonprofit basically an extension of Yang's campaign.

In a beta version of Yang's so-called "freedom dividend," Humanity First — a name borrowed from one of Yang's campaign slogans — will give $500,000 to a to-be-determined town in the form of $1,000-per-month checks for each resident. Also on Humanity First's list is a "data dividend" program that will use its funds to protect people's data privacy rights.

The funding for the UBI initiative comes from venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and even a professional poker player, as well as some anonymous donors, The New York Times reports. So far, Humanity First has received $3 million in pledges to make the UBI pilots work. "My hands were tied as a political candidate to some extent," Yang told the Times, so now he has a chance to "get to work" and actually give his policies a whirl. Kathryn Krawczyk

Hachette Book Group employees are standing up in support of Ronan and Dylan Farrow as the company prepares to release a new memoir by Woody Allen.

Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette, recently announced it would publish Allen's memoir Apropos of Nothing next month. The book had reportedly been turned down by other publishers in light of the allegation from Allen's adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, that he molested her when she was seven years old. Allen has denied the allegation. Allen's son, journalist Ronan Farrow, blasted Hachette earlier this week, saying it failed to fact check Allen's book or inform him about its publication. Farrow, who has said he believes his sister's allegation, released his recent book Catch and Kill with Little, Brown and Company, a different division of Hachette.

Now, The Daily Beast reports Hachette employees walked out of the company's U.S. offices on Thursday in protest of the Allen memoir, with Little, Brown and Company staffers reportedly circulating a memo saying that employees "stand with Ronan and Dylan Farrow and survivors of sexual assault." Employees from multiple Hachette imprints participated in the walkout, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In his statement calling out Hachette and saying he would no longer work with them, Ronan Farrow called the publisher "wildly unprofessional" and accused of it demonstrating a "lack of ethics and compassion for victims of sexual abuse." Dylan Farrow also called out Hachette in a statement, saying its "complicity in this should be called out for what it is and they should have to answer for it." Brendan Morrow

Mounting concern over the new coronavirus outbreak has caused school closures and movie premiere pushbacks, and now the crisis' effect on the aviation industry is drawing comparisons to 9/11.

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told CNBC on Thursday that the company has lost several hundred million dollars in a week's time thanks to a decline in bookings amid increasing fears over COVID-19. Kelly added that the drop-off was "noticeable" and "precipitous" and has continued declining on a daily basis.

When prompted by CNBC's Phil LeBeau over whether the drop was reminiscent of former dips in demand spurred by the 2003 SARS outbreak or the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Kelly said the new coronavirus outbreak was more like the latter.

"It has a 9/11-like feel," Kelly said.

He explained that post-9/11 travel fallout was motivated by "fear" rather than being economically driven, saying fear is "really what's manifested this time" with the new coronavirus outbreak.

Kelly told LeBeau he thought the dip in bookings was an "overreaction" but that Southwest is financially prepared to handle the fallout.

The outbreak's effect has been felt heavily in the U.S. stock market, which has rotated between sinking and soaring over the last week, and it has caused at least 11 U.S. deaths and four states to declare emergencies. Marianne Dodson

The Senate has passed a bipartisan $8.3 billion emergency spending package to combat the new COVID-19 coronavirus, sending it to President Trump's desk for his signature.

The coronavirus funding package was easily passed on Thursday in a 96-1 vote, The Associated Press reports. The only no vote came from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who had been trying to get a foreign aid cut added to the package.

“I support our government's efforts to fight the coronavirus," Paul said after voting no, per NBC News' Kelly O'Donnell. "We also owe it to the American people to do it in a way that avoids piling billions more in debt on their backs."

This vote comes after the coronavirus death toll in the United States rose to 11, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency as the state reported its first death from the virus. The House of Representatives easily passed the coronavirus spending package on Wednesday with just two no votes.

Initially, the White House had proposed $2.5 billion to fight the new coronavirus, but on Wednesday, President Trump called the House's passage of the $8 billion spending bill "great news for our health, our economy, and our nation!" Brendan Morrow

More than a week after he was convicted of rape, Harvey Weinstein is on his way to jail.

Weinstein last week was found guilty of sexual assault and rape in his New York trial, and a judge ordered him to be jailed while awaiting his sentencing. But Weinstein was instead taken in an ambulance to Bellevue Hospital Center after he complained of chest pains, The New York Times reports.

Since then, Weinstein has remained at Bellevue Hospital, and there was some question as to whether he would continue to stay there up to the sentencing. A spokesperson for Weinstein recently told Variety he "likely" would remain at Bellevue until then.

But on Thursday, Weinstein was transferred from Bellevue Hospital to the North Infirmary Command medical unit at New York's Rikers Island jail, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Weinstein's spokesperson said he underwent a heart procedure and after being deemed fit for a transfer is "being moved to Rikers as we speak."

Weinstein, who is also facing charges in Los Angeles, is due to be sentenced on March 11. He could receive up to 29 years in prison. Brendan Morrow

Former Vice President Joe Biden may have just secured his nomination.

When several more states vote and provide clarity in the 2020 Democratic primary race on March 17, Florida, the home of the fourth biggest chunk of delegates in the 2020 Democratic primary race, will be among them. And according to a St. Pete Polls survey of likely Florida Democratic primary voters out Thursday, Biden will likely dominate the state with 61 percent support to Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 13.

Biden's backing is a dramatic increase from the 34 percent he received in late February, and seems to draw directly from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other moderate candidates' supporters. Sanders' support in Florida has meanwhile remained relatively flat throughout the race, the poll shows.

Biden will likely only build on this lead seeing as Bloomberg, who got 14 percent of the vote , dropped out Wednesday and endorsed the former vice president. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) got a small five percent support before dropping out Thursday, leaving only a tiny improvement for Sanders even if all of her voters went to him.

It all prompted Dave Wasserman, the U.S. House editor at Cook Political Report, to tweet that this means "barring a seismic event, this race is pretty much over" and presumably going in Biden's favor.

St. Pete Polls surveyed 1,882 likely Florida Democratic primary voters on March 4 via phone, with a 2.3 percent margin of error. Kathryn Krawczyk