China drew Western condemnation on Friday over plans for a national security law to quash Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement as it opened an annual congress that also laid bare the "immense" economic challenges caused by the coronavirus.The 3,000-member National People's Congress (NPC) began with a minute of silence for China's victims of the coronavirus before Premier Li Keqiang delivered his annual version of the United States (US) president's "state of th

Global infections from the novel coronavirus passed five million on Thursday as the pandemic played out unevenly across the planet, with China eager to declare a victory, Europe tentatively emerging from its shell and deaths still rising in hotspots in Latin America. The grim milestone comes after known cases of COVID-19 doubled in just one month, according to data collected from official sources, with the death toll now topping 328,000 worldwide.

Other than preying on humans, the deadly COVID-19 virus has severely affected livelihoods, local businesses and the economy in general. Major industries such as tourism and aviation have been hit hard by the pandemic.

America, Dr Trump will see you now.While United States (US) President Donald Trump admits he's not actually a doctor, he's long been convinced of his scientific talents - and the coronavirus pandemic has given him the ultimate stage to test his theories.The Republican leader's announcement on Monday that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine for almost two weeks as a preventative measure against COVID-19 was a shock.While Trump claimed to have "heard a lot of good stories,

Gravedigger Junaidi Hakim shouts "hurry up" as he summons his weary colleagues in a never-ending race to bury novel coronavirus victims at a Jakarta cemetery.The team switches quickly from digging fresh graves to burying the bodies - aiming to get the task done in under 10 minutes to lessen the chance of getting infected themselves."The most worrying part is when we're unloading a coffin because we have to touch it," said 42-year-old Hakim, a father of four."We f

A deal to drop money-laundering charges linked to the 1MDB scandal against a producer of Hollywood hit "Wolf of Wall Street" is terrible for Malaysia, the country's former attorney-general said Monday.Riza Aziz, who is also the stepson of the country's disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak, was charged last year for allegedly receiving nearly US$250 million from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.Billions of dollars were looted from the fund and spent on everything from a yach

Tests on hamsters reveal the widespread use of facemasks reduces transmission of the deadly coronavirus, a team of leading experts in Hong Kong said Sunday.The research by the University of Hong Kong is some of the first to specifically investigate whether masks can stop symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers from infecting others.Led by Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, one of the world's top coronavirus experts, the team placed hamsters that were artificially infected with the disease

Shoppers flocked to Thailand's top-end malls on Sunday, eager for retail therapy as shopping centres reopened in a gradual easing of restrictions to revive the virus-ravaged economy.Hundreds of masked customers passed through temperature checks, disinfection stations, and had their photos taken before they were allowed into plush malls in Bangkok.In the main downtown shopping district, Central World touted a "new normal" of doing business on posters, while screens on the mall&#

Here are the latest developments from Asia related to the novel coronavirus pandemic: Japan Lifts Emergency For Most RegionsJapan's prime minister lifted a state of emergency imposed due to the coronavirus for the majority of the country but kept it in place for top cities Tokyo and Osaka.

Manila's malls set air conditioners to warm and switched off free Wi-Fi to stop people lingering as many of them cautiously reopened on Saturday, after a two-month lockdown that brought the sprawling hubs of community life to a halt.Just a trickle of customers showed up at the huge commercial centres in the Philippine capital, which usually attract millions of people each day and often contain churches, restaurants, gyms and event spaces."This is good for me, this is good for our ec