US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has relaunched his attack on China, claiming there's "significant evidence" to show their role in the coronavirus outbreak.
"There is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan," he told ABC's This Week.
Pompeo, however, did not dispute US intelligence agencies' conclusion that it was not manmade.
Meanwhile, China's state run newspaper dismissed the allegations, adding that the US official was "bluffing".
"The Trump administration continues to engage in unprecedented propaganda warfare while trying to impede global efforts in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic," the editorial said.
So far, more than 3,568,217 people around the world have been infected, with 248,347 deaths.
Slovak doctors will meet on Monday to assess Prime Minister Robert Fico's health and discuss the possibility of transporting him from Banska Bystrica to the capital Bratislava.
Donald Trump's lawyer accused star witness Michael Cohen of lying at the former US president's trial about a phone conversation he claimed to have had with Trump about a hush money payment to an adult star shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
Israel's tanks pushed into the heart of Jabalia in northern Gaza on Thursday, facing anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs from militants concentrated there, while in the south, its forces pounded Rafah without advancing.
The United States anchored a temporary floating pier to a beach in Gaza on Thursday to boost aid deliveries, but it was still unclear how it would be distributed given the challenges that have beset the United Nations and relief groups for months.