The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has grown by 662 to 8,165, the Civil Protection Agency says.

At least 21,867 deaths have been recorded since the virus first emerged in December, according to an AFP tally compiled at 1200 GMT Thursday based on official sources. More than 481,230 declared cases have been registered in 182 countries and territories.

An Australian far-right extremist charged with murdering 51 Muslim worshippers in last year’s mass shooting at two New Zealand mosques unexpectedly flipped his plea to guilty yesterday.

India yesterday announced a 1.7-trillion-rupee ($22.6-billion) economic stimulus plan providing direct cash transfers and food security measures to give relief to millions of poor people hit by a nationwide lockdown over a coronavirus pandemic.

Nine doctors have died in the Philippines from the coronavirus, the country’s top medical association said yesterday, as hospitals were overwhelmed and medics complained about a lack of protection on the front lines.

Germany has boosted its coronavirus test rate to 500,000 a week, a virologist said yesterday, adding that early detection has been key in keeping the country’s death rate relatively low.

Malawian Vice President Saulos Chilima has filed a lawsuit against President Peter Mutharika after he refused to fire the electoral commissioners who oversaw last year’s failed election, his lawyer said yesterday.

Sri Lanka’s president yesterday pardoned and released an army officer on death row for slitting the throats of Tamil civilians, including four children, during the island’s bloody civil war.

All sides in Yemen’s long conflict yesterday offered support for the United Nations’ call for a ceasefire to protect civilians from the coronavirus pandemic.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has suffered “very widespread” damage after rising sea temperatures caused the third mass coral bleaching events in five years, authorities said yesterday.

Two rockets slammed into the Iraqi capital’s high-security Green Zone early yesterday, hours before US-led forces were set to pull out of a second base in the country.

There is a strong chance the new coronavirus could return in seasonal cycles, a senior US scientist said Wednesday, underscoring the urgent need to find a vaccine and effective treatments.

Hospitals in the British capital are being overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients, the head of an organisation representing bosses in the state-run National Health Service said yesterday.

A citizen of Belarus working at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna has been sent to Dhaka for tests on suspicion of coronavirus infection.

More than three billion people around the world are living under lockdown as governments stepped up their efforts against the coronavirus pandemic which has left more than 21,000 people dead.

An Australian far-right extremist charged with murdering 51 Muslim worshippers in last year's mass shooting at two New Zealand mosques unexpectedly flips his plea to guilty.

Because of lack of proven treatment, the Covid-19 patients are largely receiving only supportive care such as breathing assistance.

Turkey has charged 20 suspects including two former aides to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the 2018 murder of Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi, prosecutors said yesterday.

The afternoon sun is blazing in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow. The city police have enforced a strict lockdown and only essential services are allowed. The police made announcements all night after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last evening ordered citizens to stay at home for 21 days, in a special televised address to the nation.

The coronavirus pandemic is threatening the entire human race, the United Nations warned yesterday as it launched a humanitarian response plan featuring a $2 billon appeal for the world’s poorest people.