Eighteen firefighters and one forestry guide died while fighting a huge forest fire in southwestern China, the local government said yesterday.

A Myanmar journalist faces up to life in prison for publishing an interview with a rebel group operating in the country’s restive Rakhine state a week after the insurgents were classified as a terrorist organisation.

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.

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.”

Uzbekistan locks down more cities and districts, and announces large bonus payments for medical workers, in its effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, as it reports the country's first death and the number of cases climbed to 83.

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.

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.

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.

The Thai government banned entry for all non-resident foreigners yesterday but held off on restricting people’s movement inside the country as the government prepared to roll out emergency measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday described doctors and other health staff at the frontlines of the fight against coronavirus as “incarnations of God” and said those harassing them would face police action.

Pakistan has suspended six civil servants after they posed for a selfie with a coronavirus patient in a quarantine centre, an official said yesterday.

‘FRIEND OF CORONAVIRUS’

Mosques in Sri Lanka were shut indefinitely from yesterday, and the island imposed a countrywide curfew over the weekend, as South Asian countries step up efforts to check the spread of Covid-19 cases.

China’s imported coronavirus cases have risen to a record 228, data showed yesterday, as infected travellers spread to ever more provinces, adding pressure on authorities to toughen entry rules and health protocols.

Malaysia will mobilise the army to help enforce curbs on movement aimed at reining in the coronavirus, the government said yesterday, as it grapples with the highest number of infections in Southeast Asia.

With millions of face masks, low interest loans and teams of medical experts, China is trying to paint itself as a Good Samaritan while deflecting criticism over its initial missteps in handling the coronavirus.

People suspected of having the coronavirus in India have received hand stamps and are being tracked using their mobile phones and personal data to help enforce quarantines, raising concerns about privacy and mass surveillance.

Nepal has closed all of its Himalayan peaks including Mount Everest this climbing season because of fears of the coronavirus outbreak, says a government minister.

At least 10 people are killed following the collapse of a hotel used as a coronavirus quarantine facility in eastern China, authorities say.