The Taliban on Wednesday rejected Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's offer to release 1,500 insurgent prisoners ahead of peace talks, saying it wanted 5,000 captives freed before opening negotiations.

China has reported 22 new coronavirus deaths, taking the death toll to 3,158, health officials said on Wednesday, as Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first visit to the worst-hit Wuhan city and lauded the authorities and medical staff for "turning the tide" against the deadly epidemic, saying that the initial success has been made in stabilising the situation.

 Sudan's state media says the prime minister has survived an assassination attempt after a blast in the capital Khartoum.

Oil plunged over 20 per cent Monday after top exporter Saudi Arabia launched a price war in response to a failure by leading producers to strike a deal to support energy markets.

Iran's health ministry on Sunday reported 49 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, the highest toll within 24 hours since the start of the outbreak in the country.

A US cruise ship hit by coronavirus was given permission late Saturday to dock, while New York announced a state of emergency as confirmed cases across the country surged past 400.

Italy has closed museums, theatres, cinemas and other entertainment venues nationwide to fight the spread of the coronavirus, said a decree signed Sunday by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

China on Sunday reported 27 new deaths from coronavirus, the lowest number of fatalities in more than a month, taking the death toll to 3,097, while the COVID-19 infections for the first time fell below 50 since the disease surfaced in Hubei province in January.