LIVE: Lack of information on China's Covid outbreak stirs global concerns

Live news updates: With the next month expected to be crucial for India’s Coronavirus (Covid-19) situation, passengers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore would have to carry a negative RT-PCR report from next week onwards, official sources have said.  The Covid-19 spike in these countries has sent alarm bells ringing in India as well, with states gearing up to prepare for any emergencies and taking stock of health infrastructure. 

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials on Thursday carried out raids at multiple locations including residences of second-rung leaders across of the banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India in Kerala. The raids, which started late last night are still underway, sources in the Kerala police said. Multi-agency teams spearheaded by the NIA had arrested several functionaries including top leaders of the radical Islamic outfit in September in near simultaneous raids at multiple locations in 15 states for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country.

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said late Wednesday that Serbs will start removing their barricades in Kosovo on Thursday in a move that could deescalate tensions that triggered fears of new clashes in the Balkans. The agreement was reached at a late-night crisis meeting with the leaders of Kosovo Serbs, Vucic said.

The US and Italy joined an increasing number of nations requiring Covid tests for travellers from China, with concerns mounting over the risk of any new variants emerging from the surge in infections in the country of 1.4 billion. Japan and Taiwan unveiled similar measures this week, while South Korea and other countries are considering following suit.