World leaders past and present insisted on Thursday that any eventual COVID-19 vaccines and treatments should be made available to everyone, free of charge.

The French government warned Thursday that it would be "unacceptable" for pharmaceutical giant Sanofi to reserve any COVID-19 vaccine for the United States first, after the firm's chief said he would give preference to the American market.

"For us, it would be unacceptable for there to be privileged access to such and such a country for financial reasons," deputy finance minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told Sud Radio.

The CEO of the world's busiest airport for international travel wants to get the globe flying again, but even he acknowledges everything remains up in the air during the coronavirus pandemic.

Paul Griffiths oversees what now is a much quieter Dubai International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates and crucial to East-West travel. The millions that once poured through the airport's concourses are no longer flying as countries around the world enforce lockdowns and travel bans to fight the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes.

The United States recorded 1,813 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 84,059, according to the latest real-time tally Wednesday reported by Johns Hopkins University.

The coronavirus outbreak risks sparking a major global mental health crisis, the United Nations warned Thursday, calling for urgent action to address the psychological suffering brought on by the pandemic.

Bangladesh has prepared a huge field hospital in three weeks to treat coronavirus patients in an attempt to fight the intensifying outbreak in the country.

The next pandemic could come from the Amazon rainforest, warns Brazilian ecologist David Lapola, who says human encroachment on animals' habitats -- a likely culprit in the coronavirus outbreak -- is soaring there because of rampant deforestation.

Here are the latest developments in Asia related to the novel coronavirus pandemic:

U.S. authorities warned Wednesday that Chinese hackers were attempting to steal coronavirus data on treatments and vaccines, adding fuel to Washington's war with Beijing over the pandemic.

In spite of their fears over the coronavirus, hundreds of pious Iranians took advantage of the temporary opening of mosques Wednesday to pray at one of the holiest times of year.