BEIJING (AFP) - The death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak soared to 803 in China on Sunday, according to official figures, overtaking the global toll for SARS. With 81 more people dying in Hubei -- the province at the centre of the outbreak -- the toll is now higher than the 774 killed worldwide by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2002-2003, according to figures released Sunday. The latest data came after the World Health Organisation said numbers were "stabilising"

BEIJING (AFP) -- The endangered pangolin may be the link that facilitated the spread of the novel coronavirus across China, Chinese scientists said Friday. Researchers have long suspected that the virus, which has now killed more than 630 people and infected some 31,000, was passed from an animal to a human at a market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. Researchers at the South China Agricultural University have identified the scaly mammal as a “potential intermediate

  GENEVA (AFP) -- The world is running out of masks and other protective equipment against the novel coronavirus, the World Health Organization chief warned on Friday. “The world is facing a chronic shortage of personal protective equipment,”  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the WHO‘s executive board in Geneva. He said he would be speaking to members of the supply chain network for protective gear to try and resolve “bottlenecks” in the production. WH

BEIJING (AFP) -- The death of a whistleblowing doctor whose early warnings about China‘s new coronavirus outbreak were suppressed by the police has unleashed a wave of anger at the government’s handling of the crisis -- and bold demands for more freedom. Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang was among a group of people who sounded the alarm about the virus in late December, only to be reprimanded and censored by the authorities in central Hubei province. After Li‘s death was confirmed

GAPYEONG (AFP) -- Thousands of couples -- some in facemasks -- tied the knot in a mass Unification Church wedding Friday, despite concerns in South Korea over the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. The church founded by Sun Myung Moon -- revered as a messiah by his followers -- distributed face coverings to the 30,000 crowd, but only some donned them. "I am overwhelmed that I am getting married today," said Choi Ji-young, who met her husband -- matched by the church -- only two mon

BEIJING (AFP) -- The official Chinese death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose on Friday to 636, with the government saying total infections had climbed past 30,000. The toll was raised by 73 new deaths from the epidemic, the National Health Commission said in its daily update. Another 3,143 new cases of infection were confirmed, bringing total infections in the country thus far to 31,161, it said. The central province of Hubei where the virus originated continued to be hardest-hit, acc

BEIJING (AFP) -- A Chinese doctor, among the first to raise the alert about China's new coronavirus, himself died from the pathogen on Friday,  emphasizing the depth of a worsening crisis that has killed at least 630 people. Global panic also spread, with thousands trapped on quarantined cruise ships. Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang died at 2:58 am, Wuhan Central Hospital said in a post on its verified account on Chinese social media platform Weibo. The 34-year-old sent out a message about

Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused China of suppressing criticism of its response to the deadly novel coronavirus and said it had made the outbreak worse. HRW chief Kenneth Roth also criticised the Chinese government's lockdown on various cities in an attempt to contain the virus as a "sledgehammer" approach. "There have been big problems in China's response to the coronavirus that have worsened the outbreak," Roth told reporters in Geneva, although he also said China d

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump drew on staunch Republican support to defeat the gravest threat yet to his three-year-old presidency on Wednesday, winning acquittal in the Senate on impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Only the third US leader ever placed on trial, Trump readily defeated the Democratic-led effort to expel him from office for having illicitly sought help from Ukraine to bolster his 2020 re-election effort. Trump immediately claimed &

LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- US silver screen legend Kirk Douglas, the son of Jewish Russian immigrants who rose through the ranks to become one of Hollywood's biggest-ever stars, has died, his family said Wednesday. He was 103. One of the last survivors of the golden age of cinema and the father of Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker Michael Douglas, the "Spartacus" actor was renowned for the macho tough guy roles he took on in around 90 movies over a six-decade career. "It is with trem

BEIJING (AFP) -- The number of confirmed infections in China's coronavirus outbreak has reached 24,324 nationwide with 3,887 new cases reported, the National Health Commission said Wednesday. In its daily update, the commission said there had been 65 new deaths from the virus -- all in hardest-hit Hubei province, bringing the national toll to 490. (AFP)

MANCHESTER (AFP) -- Democratic White House candidate Pete Buttigieg seized a shock lead in the chaotic Iowa caucuses, closely trailed by leftist senator Bernie Sanders, according to partial returns released on Tuesday after an embarrassing delay in reporting the results. Progressive standard-bearer Elizabeth Warren was in third place followed by Joe Biden, a disappointing showing for the former vice president who has claimed he is best positioned to defeat Donald Trump in November. Buttigieg,

BEIJING (AFP) -- The number of confirmed deaths from China's coronavirus outbreak spiked to 425, after authorities in Hubei province reported 64 new fatalities Tuesday. In its daily update, figures from the health commission in Hubei, which has been hit hardest by the virus, also showed a sharp increase in confirmed infections with 2,345 new cases. That puts the national total at 19,550, based on numbers previously issued by the central government. The epidemic, which has spiralled into a gl

BEIJING (AFP) -- China's death toll from the coronavirus epidemic soared past 360 on Monday, with deepening global concern about the outbreak and governments closing their borders to people from China. The fresh toll came a day after China imposed a lockdown on a major city far from the epicentre and the first fatality outside the country was reported in the Philippines. Authorities in Hubei, the province at the epicentre of the outbreak, reported 56 new fatalities, with one reported in the

LONDON (AFP) -- Steven Bergwijn's debut goal helped Tottenham to a remarkable 2-0 win over 10-man Manchester City on Sunday to breathe new life into their challenge for a top-four finish in the Premier League. Jose Mourinho's men had been completely outplayed for the first hour, but were kept in the game by City's profligacy and Hugo Lloris's first-half penalty save from Ilkay Gundogan. However, Oleksandr Zinchenko's sending off changed the course of the game as Spurs scored with their first