Almost 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy, nearly half of the global workforce, face an immediate danger of losing their livelihoods due to the continued sharp decline in working hours because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the International Labour Organization has said.

 A US commission mandated to monitor religious freedom globally on Tuesday asked the State Department to designate 14 nations, including India, as "countries of particular concern", alleging that religious minorities are under increasing assault in these nations.

Men and women are at equal risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, but men are more likely to suffer severe effects of the virus and die, according to a study which suggests that older male patients with COVID-19 may need additional supportive care.

The number of people infected by the coronavirus in the United States crossed one million and the fatalities jumped to nearly 59,000, but several states initiated the process to reopen their economies amidst signs of decline in both new cases and deaths.

A few gutsy Indians who stayed put in Wuhan are back at work after a strict 76-day lockdown, but are still worried about the possibility of a second wave of attack by the vicious coronavirus, going by the growing number of asymptomatic cases in the country.

Washington: The US is carrying out a "very serious" investigation against China, President Donald Trump has said, indicating that his administration is looking at a bigger compensation from Beijing than the USD 140 billion being sought by Germany over the coronavirus pandemic.

A top South Korean official said his country remains confident there have been no unusual developments in North Korea, suggesting that rumors about the possible ill health of leader Kim Jong Un are untrue.

 The last COVID-19 patient in Wuhan has been discharged and the hospitals in the epicentre of the global coronavirus pandemic in the central Chinese city have no coronavirus cases for the first time after more than three months of arduous battle against the deadly virus that infected over 80,000 people on the mainland, health officials said.