On Saturday, North Korea's nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan said Pyongyang would not shut down its main nuclear reactor until all of the frozen funds were released.
It is a landmark in China's over two-month-long fight against the deadly virus as the country continued to report coronavirus deaths till Sunday, especially from the epicentre Hubei province.
The U.S. continues to grow thanks to innovations from recent arrivals.
All the 27 deaths occurred in the virus-hit central Hubei province, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said. The confirmed cases for the first time fell below 50 since COVID-19 surfaced in Hubei province in January.
The overall confirmed infection cases have climbed to 75,465, Chinese health officials said on Friday.
China's birth rate has been in decline since 2017, despite easing of the 'one-child policy' in order to avert an incoming demographic crisis.
The overall confirmed cases on the mainland have reached 81,518 as of Monday, which included 3,305 people who died of the of disease.
The Chinese foreign ministry said on Tuesday that majority of the imported cases are the Chinese nationals returning from abroad.
The overall confirmed cases on the mainland reached 80,735 by the end of Sunday which included 3,119 people who have died so far.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, known for fiery retorts against the US, welcomed Biden's first moves to join the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organisation (WHO) which was trashed by Trump as a puppet of China over its conduct to deal with the COVID-19.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said international experts were now on the ground in China to understand the outbreak and inform the next steps in the global response.
The coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, capital of China's Hubei province, in December and has now spread across the globe. The Chinese authorities are trying to contain the epidemic while other countries, including India, are working on plans to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.
'COVID-19 will not stop the expansion of China's 'infrastructure power'.'
The head of the World Health Organisation said on Saturday that the UN health agency would send an international mission to China as it received a response from Beijing.
Over 2.52 lakh who were in close contacts with patients had been traced with over 1.85 lakh others still under medical observation.
The overall confirmed cases on the mainland have reached 80,881 by the end of Monday.
As the virus continued to spread at an alarming rate, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday warned officials of punishment if they shirked responsibility in tackling the virus outbreak.
India's Parupalli Kashyap played one of the longest matches of his career as he roared into the prequarterfinals.
The NHC said, 78 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland on Monday, of which 74 were imported from abroad taking the number of overseas cases to 427.
It has triggered a cause of concern for India too as many of the 700 odd Indian students studying in universities of Wuhan and Hubei provinces are still stuck up there.
'India need to look beyond the economic prism.' 'China had no qualms in taking the Kashmir issue to the UN Security Council last year -- not once, but thrice -- thus violating Indian sensitivities,' observes China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
Making a statement on the situation after cases of coronavirus surfaced, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the government is taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
India ranks 83, among 166 countries, in spending on mobile rates
No one knows where billionaire Nirav Modi emerged from. What is known is that when he came (back) to India, he cut his teeth in the diamond business under the tutelage of his jeweller uncle. Then he began to build a glittering international brand. Soon even Hollywood stars like Kate Winslet and Dakota Johnson were walking the red carpet showing off Nirav Modi jewels.
World's 300 largest metropolitan economies account for nearly half of global economic output.
'They're trying to make out like Algieri is the next Rocky. But this isn't a movie.'
China on Sunday ruled out allowing open nominations in elections for the Hong Kong's next leader, in a move that could ignite tension in the Asian financial hub where the democracy advocates have threatened to shut down the main business district in protest.
Aseem Chhabra picks the finest Indian films in the 2010-2019 decade.
"Any attempt to endanger national sovereignty and security, challenge the power of the central government and the authority of the Basic Law of the HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administration Region) or use Hong Kong to carry out infiltration and sabotage activities against the mainland is an act that crosses the red line, and is absolutely impermissible," Xi said.
Rediff.com brings you a glance of all the action from the week gone by.
Economist Dr Subramanian Swamy, whose Janata Party merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party in August, has issued the following press statement on the Indian economy and demanded the implementation of a four-point agenda to save it.
On planes, on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Zee5, Hulu, MUBI, Kanopy, film festivals... Aseem Chhabra tell us how he watched 309 films in 365 days.
A summary of sports events and persons in the news over the weekend.
'All mothers are the same. Mine came out of the MAMI screening, crying.' 'Recently, a critic compared me to the best debut since Hrithik sir and she was so overwhelmed with that.' 'Someone said 'You are Bhagyashree's son and the innocence is the same.' 'Even if I can even touch the shadow of that in my entire career, I will be very happy.'
Gaganjeet Bhullar turned in yet another steady round of three-under 69 to overturn a six-shot deficit into a one-shot lead on a blustery day at the Fiji International.
Eighteen-year-old Aditi Ashok was the brightest star on the country's golfing circuit this year and was fittingly named the Ladies European Tour's Rookie of the Year for becoming the first Indian to win two back-to-back titles in her first year on the tour. Here is a look back at how India's golfers fared in 2016
'Islamabad is only as big as a Delhi suburb.' 'How can a city with just two five star hotels and only one departure gate at their international airport be compared to Delhi with its sprawling airport?' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan finds the pulse of Pakistan after visiting Islamabad for the first time.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
How many of the 354 films Aseem Chhabra watched in 2017 have you seen?
'The creation of Pakistan was integral to Britain's grand strategy.' 'If they were to ever leave India, Britain's military planners had made it clear that they needed to retain a foothold in the NWFP and Baluchistan because that would provide the means to retain control of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.'
