ASIA

A laboratory in the Chinese city at ground zero of the global coronavirus outbreak has rejected as "impossible" US theories it is the cradle of the pandemic, as President Donald Trump warned Beijing of consequences if it was "knowingly responsible".

The denial came as the world's top musicians -- from the Rolling Stones to Taylor Swift, Stevie Wonder and teen superstar Billie Eilish -- joined forces for a virtual mega-concert, hoping to spread cheer to billions under lockdown.

The six-hour online event aimed to cultivate a sense of community during a pandemic that has ravaged the global economy and killed at least 157,000 people worldwide, with nearly 2.3 million confirmed infections.

"Was it a mistake that got out of control or was it done deliberately?" Trump said at a White House briefing Saturday, questioning the origins of the disease, which first emerged in the city of Wuhan in December.

One day Parvin was toiling to meet the fast-fashion demands of European capitals, the next she was among hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi clothes workers made instantly jobless as the coronavirus pandemic struck.

Big-name international brands have cancelled billions of dollars in orders because of the pandemic, decimating Bangladesh's most important export industry and hurting in particular rural woman who dominate the workforce.

Parvin, a 28-year-old seamstress, joined thousands of workers queueing to collect final wages from tables of banknotes set up at the Al Muslim factory, one of the biggest in the country that supplies some of the world's most famous labels.

China has approved early-stage human tests for two experimental coronavirus vaccines as it battles to contain imported cases and prevent a second wave of COVID-19.

The experimental vaccines are being developed by a Beijing-based unit of Sinovac Biotech and by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, an affiliate of state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group, state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

Al Jazeera's Sarah Clarke, reporting from Hong Kong, said China's National Health Commission also confirmed the trials will go ahead.

China urged the United States to abide by the UN Charter and basic norms governing international relations and stop interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said here Monday.

Hua made the remarks when responding to media reports that the U.S. Department of Justice on March 26 indicted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his aides on narco-terrorism charges, and that the U.S. State Department offered a reward of up to 15 million U.S. dollars for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro.

A nationwide lockdown in India - the world's largest - over the coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc on thousands of migrant workers in the capital, New Delhi.

With few transport options available, thousands of people, mostly young male day labourers but also families, have resorted to commuting on foot during the 21-day lockdown that started on Wednesday.

The workers started fleeing New Delhi after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown, which effectively put millions of Indians living off daily earnings out of work. Construction projects, taxi services, housekeeping and other informal sector employment came to a sudden halt.