Since coronavirus broke out in a few cities in China and a couple of cases were spotted in India as well, rumours claimed for the first time that it was carried by birds.
Influential world leaders on Thursday braced for a showdown at the G20 summit over an imminent US-led action against Syria, as United States President Barack Obama's plan to launch military strikes cleared the first hurdle with a key Senate committee narrowly approving it.
Here's a presentation of some of the best photos from around the world in the month gone by.
'I was in China and when they learnt I had made Disco Dancer, they started singing Jimmy Jimmy, Aaja Aaja.'
After 24 months of slowdown beginning in January 2018 before the pandemic and then 18 months of collapse since January 2020, we have become the world's worst performing economy, observes Aakar Patel.
'It is a testing time for our foreign policy which may involve a certain element of taking risks, assessing costs, and expecting failures,' asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Yes Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack cracking 6.51 per cent, followed by SBI, Axis Bank, Vedanta, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, ITC, Infosys and Tech Mahindra, shedding up to 3.69 per cent.
How will the Modi Sarkar's likely return affect other nations?
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week.
Had it not been for the intellectual dominance and political legitimacy of the Leftist philosophy since 1970, would EPW have become what it did? After all, there were other more established journals around then, says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday strongly defended the three new agri laws saying their benefits have begun reaching 10 crore small farmers instantly, and condemned as 'very unfortunate' the Republic Day violence and 'dishonour' to the tricolour during the tractor parade by the protesting farm unions in New Delhi.
India is worried about Pakistan getting the Taliban to ignite trouble in Kashmir, observes Ramesh Menon.
'He was a man of immense conviction.' 'Whenever I'd question him, he would say, "Leave aside your logic-wogic. Just do what I tell you".' '"Just trust me. It will work".'
Continuing to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his second day of campaign in Tamil Nadu, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday alleged Chinese troops have occupied Indian territory and the man with '56 inch-chest' cannot even utter the name of the neighbouring country.
'The problem with such ill-considered remarks is that they give the BJP an opportunity to push ahead with its nationalist agenda which includes depicting its opponents as seditionists,' observes Amulya Ganguli.
A 19-year-old Indian was killed as Nepal police opened fire on people demonstrating against the new Constitution near the Indo-Nepal border, hours after security forces baton-charged Madhesi protesters and evicted them from a key bridge in the area in a pre-dawn swoop.
Rather than talking endlessly about lost and marginal opportunities, India's climate envoys need to start thinking bigger, says Mihir S Sharma.
"We want Mahatma Gandhi's India, return of our identity and honour which was given to us by the Indian Constitution and I am sure they have to return it with interest as well," PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said.
From Sri Lanka's most popular political family to its most despised -- going by the voices on the streets calling for the Rajapaksas' ouster -- what went wrong for the clan? Veteran Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy offers an insight.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday urged dialogue between the protesting farmers and the Centre while addressing a meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party office-bearers, during which he also invoked the border clashes with China and the construction of the Ram temple.
We bring you a collection of some of the best photographs taken this week by ace Reuters photographers.
Given Narendra Modi's trust in him, Praful Khoda Patel is unlikely to back down in Lakshadweep.
If the prime minister does not repeal these laws, the country will suffer, he said.
On the title page of the Top Secret Report, Henderson-Brooks quotes the Chinese tactician Sun Tzu: 'Know yourself, know your enemy: A hundred battles, a hundred victories', says Claude Arpi, highlighting where the Indian Army and government failed to counter the Chinese attack in 1962.
'An all-out war affects the whole nation.'
China may reacted angrily about his visit to Arunachal Pradesh, but the Tibetan spiritual leader has never been one to stand down. Despite Beijing's loud protests, backed by New Delhi, His Holiness has traveled to the border state seven times since he sought refuge from Chinese aggression in India in 1959.
Hurricane Florence reaches the Carolinas, America pays tribute to 9/11 victims, Russia's Putin meets China's Xi Jinping and much more...
Two top Army commanders on Saturday said the fresh ceasefire between India and Pakistan will have no bearing on the counter-terrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir and that the force will exercise 'maximum restraint' in the event of any violation by the neighbouring country.
Water shortage is likely to lead to political tensions and instability in the future, warns Simon George, President, Cargill India.
RIL has faced protests from local authorities, activists and residents across India campaigning against masts and roadworks.
Tomato farmers from Haryana to Tamil Nadu have been forced to abandon their crop in the field or dump the harvest.
The Indian rupee is down nearly 2 per cent against the US dollar since the beginning of January 2019. Experts attribute the Indian rupee's relatively poor performance to a sharper-than-expected fall in economic growth in India.
The choice of Beijing as host of the 2022 Winter Olympics over Kazakhstan's Almaty was a solid vote for the tried and tested, and the financial and organisational security of China.
'Is the application the Press Council's voice or the government's? 'It has been reported that other members of the PCI were taken aback at the Press Council's application. 'These members need to publicly question the chairman to redeem their own positions,' says Jyoti Punwani.
'Neither Modi nor the BJP have lost control over the minds and votes of their original supporters due to their tremendous political ability to play upon baser communal instincts.' 'But this buoyant support will melt away if the economic scenario remains depressing.' 'That makes 2020 an interesting year to watch out for,' notes Sheela Bhatt.
'Just as coronavirus has come to us from China, this disease is also coming from that country.' 'India is a strong democracy and you cannot compromise on labour laws in this manner.' 'These changes will be challenged in court.'
Unless the Taliban goofs up in a big way, which seems highly unlikely, we are looking at a regime that will be around for quite a long while and present a level of governance that the puppets of the richest and most advanced countries failed to provide, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Delhi Police on Thursday said the statements by Twitter on the ongoing enquiry in the 'toolkit' case was mendacious and designed to impede the lawful enquiry.
Italy's top-flight Serie A soccer league launched a new anti-racism campaign on Monday by presenting artwork featuring three side-by-side paintings of apes but the move has been described by campaign group Fare as a sick joke. News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
