The designation is not a reflection of its severity, but rather that the Covid-19 outbreak is spreading across the globe.

Global oil demand was already in the doldrums in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Then Russia and Saudi Arabia had a falling-out.

The country of 83 million people has become an epicentre of the global coronavirus epidemic in the Middle East.

From reheated fried rice and delivery burgers on military bases to volleyball games at seaside resorts, a look at how hundreds in Singapore, the US, France and Australia are passing two weeks in quarantine.

With thousands of people sharing the same confined airspace on board, cruise ships where ‘air circulation is worse than on an aeroplane’ would allow an epidemic to spread.

The Diamond Princess disaster raises questions not only about a quarantine procedure seen by some as a ‘cruel human experiment’, but also about the future of a multibillion-dollar industry.

Operator Holland America said no one on the ship was ill when it docked in Cambodia after being rejected by other countries.

Experts say it will have an impact on calculations by Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea dispute and be a ‘huge win for China’

Some experts think trying to isolate every case of the virus is futile and that people with mild symptoms should recover at home. Others say that is tantamount to giving in.

Holland America cruise ship the MS Westerdam has now been turned away from five ports after setting sail from Hong Kong on February 1. It will now be allowed to dock in Cambodia.

Malaysia says it is not yet time to consider deporting Chinese tourists, as the Philippines has done, while some Pacific nations have banned all travellers from or transiting through China

Rights groups and media organisations have condemned the case amid concerns the arrest had more to do with his reporting on environmental and corruption issues than alleged visa violations.

A surge in the number of people infected on the mainland from 41 to 291 this week amid confirmed cases in Japan, South Korea and Thailand has raised concerns over Beijing’s transparency.

Indonesia’s deployment of warships to the Natunas this week has fuelled speculation that the regional bloc could finally act as one against China’s maritime assertiveness.

The outbreak of the new strain of coronavirus comes just weeks before tens of millions of Chinese travellers take part in the ‘world’s largest human migration’.

David Kabua, a son of its founding leader, is likely to maintain the Pacific island’s relations with Taiwan, observers say.

With continuing disputes in the South China Sea, a leadership transition on the cards in Malaysia and no end in sight for the Hong Kong protests, there’s plenty to watch out for.

The US is interested in funding infrastructure in the pro-Taipei province of Malaita, complicating existing political divisions in the Pacific nation

Singapore’s fake news law, denuclearisation in North Korea, South China Sea friction: here are the stories that shook the continent this year, with aftershocks that will be felt long into 2020.

US financial support expires in 2023 and Beijing has sought to ‘loosen the screws’ on regional alliance with lucrative development deals.

Washington’s decision to block the nomination of new judges to the court sees the organisation facing its biggest ever crisis, experts say.

Proponents of new monitoring technology being developed by an international team of scientists say it will provide data on tsunami threats. Sceptics say it could be used for espionage.

A push to connect Pacific nations highlights a submarine struggle for dominance over the world’s technology infrastructure.

Public health experts warn the outbreak is a cautionary tale for nations with vaccination rates below 90 per cent – such as the Philippines, which reported more than 42,000 cases this year.

The election raises the possibility the island nation – one of Taiwan’s four remaining Pacific allies – will pick a pro-Beijing leader, which could also jeopardise the Marshall Islands’ relationship with the US.

Once torn apart by civil war, the autonomous region in Papua New Guinea kicks off a two-week independence vote amid rivalry between the US and China.

Tensions in the US-Korea relationship have flared over rumours of a troop drawdown and mixed messages from Washington, causing concerns that Seoul could look to others, including Beijing, for security and defence support.

International students are being called home or face the agonising decision of whether to wait out the unrest.

Highest-ranking officer Admiral Karl Schultz says American assistance at sea is an ‘alternative to chequebook diplomacy’.

The Pakistani designer has made clothes for some of the world’s wealthiest celebrities and royalty, including Princess Diana. But he is also behind a project to revive disappearing craft traditions like needle and threadwork.