While bats may be the original hosts of the novel Chinese coronavirus, an animal sold at a seafood market in Wuhan may be spreading the deadly virus to humans, a study published in The Lancet journal suggests.

Asian markets fell on Thursday with investors concerned about the economic impact from the spread of the new coronavirus as China reported more than 1,700 new infections.

The nationwide death toll from China's novel coronavirus epidemic has jumped to 170 with 38 more fatalities reported mainly from the worst-affected central Hubei province, the government said on Thursday, while confirming more than 1,700 new infections.

London: The European Parliament on Wednesday postponed voting on a joint motion tabled by its members against India's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), in a boost to the Indian government's efforts against such a move.

Ankara: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lambasted a Middle East plan unveiled by US counterpart Donald Trump as "absolutely unacceptable" in comments published Wednesday.

The United Arab Emirates announced on Wednesday its first case of the new coronavirus, in a family from Wuhan, in what is thought to be the first confirmed case in the Middle East.

A major 7.7 magnitude quake has struck in the Caribbean northwest of Jamaica, the US Geological Survey reported, raising the risk of tsunami waves in the region.

The deadly coronavirus continues to wreak havoc in China with 25 new fatalities reported from central Hubei province taking the death toll to 132 and the confirmed infection cases to nearly 6,000, as health experts warned that the epidemic may reach its climax in the next 10 days resulting in large-scale casualties.