More than 790,640 cases of infection have been recorded in 185 countries and territories since the epidemic started in China in December, according to an AFP tally compiled at 1000 GMT Tuesday based on official sources.

Shortages ofw protective health gear in India are forcing some doctors to use raincoats and motorbike helmets while fighting the coronavirus, exposing the weak state of the public health system ahead of an anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases.

The coronavirus pandemic is expected to sharply slow growth in developing economies in East Asia and the Pacific as well as China, the World Bank says in an economic update.

As humans retreat into their homes as more and more countries go under coronavirus lockdown, wild animals are slipping cover to explore the empty streets of some of our biggest cities.

In the race against the coronavirus, Germany is betting on widespread testing and quarantining to break the infection chain, a strategy borrowed from South Korea whose success in slowing the outbreak has become the envy of the world.

The Taliban have killed about two dozen Afghan police and pro-government fighters, officials said yesterday, in two attacks that come as the foes are supposed to be preparing for peace talks.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States would not pay security costs for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, appearing to confirm that the royal couple have moved to live in California.

Nuclear-armed North Korea successfully tested “super-large multiple rocket launchers”, state media said yesterday, but leader Kim Jong Un was not described as commanding the drill as analysts say Pyongyang seeks to normalise its launches.

From the stage of an evangelical superchurch, the leader of the gospel choir kicked off an evening of prayer and preaching: “We’re going to celebrate the Lord! Are you feeling the joy tonight?”

India is still in the local transmission stage of the coronavirus pandemic, the government said yesterday, responding to questions about a health ministry document that said the country was currently in “local transmission and limited community transmission phase.”

The coronavirus epidemic in the United Kingdom is showing signs of slowing and antibody tests could be ready in days, Neil Ferguson, a professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College London, said yesterday.

New York food banks have become inundated with newcomers deprived of income since the near-total halt of business in the United States’ economic capital.

A limited emergency-use authorisation for two antimalarial drugs touted as game-changers by President Donald Trump has been issued by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat coronavirus patients.

Bob Dylan releases a 17-minute song inspired by the assassination more than five decades ago of US President John F Kennedy - the influential singer's first original music since 2012.

Thieves have stolen a painting by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh overnight from the Netherlands' Singer Laren Museum, currently closed to the public because of the coronavirus, its director says.

A total of 269 US citizens leaves Dhaka on a special flight arranged by the US government for those who opted to return home on their personal choice amid the outbreak of COVID-19.

The UK High Commission in Dhaka advises British citizens currently living in Bangladesh to be prepared to stay in the country until commercial flights resume.

Police in western India fire tear gas to disperse a stone-pelting crowd of migrant workers defying a three-week lockdown against the coronavirus that has left hundreds of thousands of poor without jobs and hungry.

Bracing the nation for a death toll that could exceed 100,000 people, President Donald Trump extends restrictive social distancing guidelines through April, bowing to public-health experts who presented him with even more dire projections for the expanding coronavirus pandemic.

Mainland China reports 31 new coronavirus cases, including one locally transmitted infection, the country’s National Health Commission said, dropping from 45 cases a day earlier.