The Chinese army deploys medical specialists to the epicentre of a spiralling viral outbreak that has killed 41 people and spread around the world, as millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown.

The official death toll from the coronavirus in China jumps on Saturday to 41 from 26 a day earlier, as local media reported a doctor on the frontline of the battle to contain the virus in Wuhan city had died.

Schools in Singapore ask parents to declare overseas holiday plans as authorities screened travellers at air, land and sea checkpoints, to combat the spread of a deadly flu virus that has revived memories of the SARS pandemic in 2003.

Myanmar rejected accusations of “genocide” in a statement by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding yesterday’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, the Mizzima reports.

China seals off millions more people near the epicentre of a virus outbreak, shutting down public transport in an eighth city in an unprecedented quarantine effort as the death toll climbed to 26.

One of India’s most famous universities is half-empty and some students who are on campus track each other on mobile devices to ensure people are safe, as violent clashes spill on to campuses that are seen as a hotbed of anti-government protests.

In one of the biggest surrenders by militants in Assam, altogether 644 cadres of eight insurgent outfits formally laid down their arms yesterday.

Nearly 100 Indian women politicians faced abuse, including rape and death threats, on social media during elections last year, with researchers yesterday raising concerns over rising online violence against women globally.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan called on Wednesday for the United Nations to help mediate between nuclear armed India and Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

It’s entirely new: The pathogen appears to be a never-before-seen strain of coronavirus -- a family of viruses that can cause diseases ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed 349 people in mainland China and another 299 in Hong Kong between 2002 and 2003.

China is putting on lockdown a city of 11 million people considered the epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak that has killed 17 and infected nearly 600 people, as health authorities around the world work to prevent a global pandemic.

A Pakistani journalist critical of the government and the army has been detained for five days for having published “anti-state” comments online, his lawyer told AFP yesterday, in a new illustration of shrinking freedoms in Pakistan.

South Korea will send a naval destroyer and 300 troops to the Strait of Hormuz, its defence ministry said yesterday, after pressure from its ally the US in the face of tensions between Washington and Tehran.

“Neighbourhood first” is the main policy of Modi government and improving cross-border connectivity is an important aspect of it, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.

Asian countries ramps d up measures to block the spread of a new virus as the death toll from it in China rose to six and the number of cases jumped to almost 300, raising concerns in the middle of a major holiday travel rush.

The Chinese official investigating a pneumonia outbreak stemming from a new coronavirus says the disease can spread from person to person but can be halted with increased vigilance, as authorities on Tuesday confirmed a fourth death.

A mysterious SARS-like virus has killed a third person and spread around China -- including to Beijing -- authorities say, fuelling fears of a major outbreak as millions begin travelling for the Lunar New Year in humanity's biggest migration.

Seven people drowned and three others are missing after a bridge collapsed on Indonesia's Sumatra island, the disaster agency says.

Facebook Inc blames a technical error for Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s name appearing as “Mr Shithole” in posts on its platform when translated into English from Burmese, apologising for any offence caused.

China reports 17 new cases of the mysterious SARS-like virus, including three in a severe condition, heightening fears ahead of China's Lunar New Year holiday when hundreds of millions of people move around the country.