The Thai soldier who killed at least 20 people and holed up in a mall overnight was shot dead on Sunday morning by commandos, ending a near-17-hour ordeal which left dozens wounded and stunned the country.

Bangkok: Dozens of terrified shoppers were evacuated from a Thai mall early Sunday as armed police said they had "taken control" of the ground floor of the complex from a gunman who killed at least 20 people.

A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 34,800 people globally. 

President Donald Trump has confirmed that in a major counterterrorism operation in Yemen the US forces have killed Qasim al-Rimi, a founder and leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terrorist group that claimed responsibility for a mass shooting at an American naval base.

Beijing: Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, one of the eight whistle-blowers who warned other medics of the coronavirus outbreak but were reprimanded by the police, died of the epidemic on Thursday, official media reported.

Beijing: China on Thursday denounced as "rumours and lies" the reports of a much higher death toll and infected cases in the coronavirus outbreak that it said has killed 564 people as the authorities finished work on a second hospital to treat thousands of patients suffering from the disease.

The United States Senate Wednesday acquitted President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment -- abuse of power and obstruction to Congress -- giving him a major political and moral victory in an election year.

The death toll in China's novel coronavirus outbreak went up to 563 as 73 people died on Wednesday, the highest one-day fatalities so far, while total confirmed cases rose sharply to 28,018, Chinese health officials said on Thursday.