More than 238,810 people have died worldwide since the epidemic surfaced in China in December, according to an AFP tally at 1100 GMT yesterday

Rarely have two words ignited such a firestorm of controversy.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance in nearly three weeks, state media reported yesterday, following intense speculation that the leader of the nuclear-armed nation was seriously ill or possibly dead.

Boris Johnson and his fiancée Carrie Symonds name their newborn son partly as a tribute to two of the intensive care doctors who they say have saved the British premier’s life as he battled Covid-19 complications.

Inmates at a prison in Manaus, a Brazilian city deep in the Amazon that has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, have taken seven prison guards hostage, the local prison authority tells Reuters, underlining the endemic violence that has plagued the region’s jails in recent years.

At least five Bangladeshis died of coronavirus infection in the state of New York in the last 24 hours.

North Korea's Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance in nearly three weeks, state media reports, following intense speculation that the leader of the nuclear-armed nation was seriously ill or possibly dead.

The experimental drug remdesivir has been authorized by US regulators for emergency use against COVID-19, President Donald Trump announced Friday.

A manufacturer of a possible Covid-19 vaccine being developed by British scientists says it may know by the end of May if it can make a million doses a month with a view to building stocks for commercial supply when the vaccine is approved.

Canada is banning the sale of military-grade assault weapons in the aftermath of the country's deadliest mass shooting recently, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.

Malaysia has detained hundreds of refugees and migrant workers for illegally living in the country, rights groups say, at a time of movement and travel restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

The pandemic of Covid-19 is clearly still a global health emergency and is of particular concern as it spreads more widely in countries with weak health systems, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

India announces an extension to the ongoing 40-day nationwide lockdown for two more weeks from May 4 onwards due to the coronavirus outbreak.

As a gesture of goodwill and fraternity, Bangladesh sends fine quality Banglamati rice, seasonal fruits and fresh vegetables as gifts to the United Arab Emirates.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday his hard-fought trade deal with China was now of secondary importance to the coronavirus pandemic and he threatened new tariffs on Beijing, as his administration crafted retaliatory measures over the outbreak.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin tells President Vladimir Putin that he has been diagnosed with the new coronavirus and is temporarily stepping down to recover.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britain is now past the peak of its coronavirus outbreak and promises to set out a lockdown exit strategy next week, despite rising deaths and criticism of his government’s response.

Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden said Wednesday that he would keep the US embassy in Israel in Jerusalem if elected -- even though he disagrees with Donald Trump’s controversial 2017 decision to move it out of Tel Aviv.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he believes China’s handling of the coronavirus is proof that Beijing “will do anything they can” to make him lose his re-election bid in November.

As the United States pressed Saudi Arabia to end its oil price war with Russia, President Donald Trump gave Saudi leaders an ultimatum.