Amy Held

Updated at 6:06 p.m. ET

As the novel coronavirus reached a global milestone, topping 100,000 cases across more than 100 countries over the weekend, Italy has imposed extraordinary restrictions on about a quarter of its population and limited public activities throughout the entire country.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced Monday he is committing $10 billion to fight climate change, which he calls "the biggest threat to our planet."

Bezos says the funds will go toward the creation of the Bezos Earth Fund.

Maybe symmetry is inherently pleasing. Perhaps it is the whiff of cosmic clout. Or it could be that in our divided times, uniting over something as indisputable as the date is just the divertissement we crave.

But in China, where officials are trying to get ahead of the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak, the date saw a surge of couples registering to wed, spurring the government to advise couples to postpone their weddings.

Ending two months of political deadlock, Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi was named Iraq's prime minister-designate on Saturday.

But even as Allawi pledged to crack down on corruption and reform the government he is set to lead, demonstrators took to the streets in opposition to him.

Updated at 1:15 a.m. ET Monday

Health officials confirmed two new cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. Sunday evening in San Benito County, Calif., south of San Jose. The two are husband and wife, both 57.

Marium, an orphaned dugong cared for by biologists in southern Thailand, had what it takes to win over the Internet. Few could resist pictures and videos of the button-eyed mammal being fed sea grass and bottled milk and even being cuddled by her caregivers, all while seeming to wear a satisfied smile.

Earlier this month, Margie Reckard, 63, was gunned down along with 21 others in the El Paso, Texas, massacre that authorities believe was driven by racial hatred. Two weeks later, strangers amassed by the hundreds to honor Reckard and surround her widower, Antonio Basco.

It's the Cubs, Bulls and Bears that usually get Chicagoans talking, but this week the animal that has residents snapping to attention is a real live alligator cruising through a lagoon in the city.

The alligator, estimated to be between 4 and 5 feet long, was spotted Tuesday in the unlikely locale of Humboldt Park on the city's West Side.

Surprised parkgoers called 911, and responding officers brought in animal control.

Tensions are once again rising in the Strait of Hormuz, after the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense said three Iranian ships tried to block the passage of a British oil tanker and a British naval vessel had to intervene.

Iranian officials, however, denied that any such incident occurred.

The U.K. ministry said in a statement that on Wednesday, "HMS Montrose was forced to position herself between the Iranian vessels and British Heritage and issue verbal warnings to the Iranian vessels, which then turned away."

Facing a backlash, Home Depot sought to distance itself from billionaire co-founder Bernie Marcus after he pledged to back President Trump's bid for re-election in 2020.

Calls to boycott the retailer took off this week on social media as news spread that Marcus told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution late last month that he plans to support Trump's bid for another term.