Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin faced calls to resign on Monday as doubts swirled over the support that he commands, after the king rejected his request to declare a state of emergency to fight the coronavirus epidemic.

The coronavirus epidemic sent US jobless totals soaring to historic highs Friday, increasing pressure on authorities to follow Europe in phasing out lockdown measures despite still climbing American death tolls.

The coronavirus epidemic is "far from over" in the Asia-Pacific region, and current measures to curb the spread of the virus are buying time for countries to prepare for large-scale community transmissions

Chinese authorities on Tuesday asked overseas Chinese to reconsider or minimise their travel plans as the coronavirus epidemic spreads across the world