Pfizer lifted its annual revenue and profit projections Wednesday on surging demand for COVID-19 vaccine doses as executives amplified their case for booster shots amid the latest wave of infections.The two-shot inoculation accounted for more than 40 percent of Pfizer's sales in the second quarter, boosting revenues sharply compared with the same three months of 2020. Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said more than a billion doses of the vaccine have been delivered so far.Th

Junta authorities in Myanmar are seeking help from the international community to tackle the coronavirus, state media said Wednesday, as the impoverished country looks beyond ally China in its struggle to beat back a new wave.The nation has been in turmoil since the military took power in February, with many hospitals ill-equipped to cope with a surging caseload after many medical staff walked out in protest at the coup.Stay-at-home orders affecting millions have failed to halt the surge, wit

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that Beijing's expansive claims in the South China Sea have "no basis in international law", taking aim at China's growing assertiveness in the hotly contested waters.Austin's broadside came at the start of his first trip to Southeast Asia as United States (US) defence secretary, as he seeks to rally allies in the region as a bulwark to China.President Joe Biden's administration wants to reset relations with Asian countrie

Indonesia reported a record 2,069 coronavirus deaths in 24 hours Tuesday as it faces its deadliest COVID-19 surge since the pandemic began.The grim tally was nearly 600 deaths higher than the previous day and topped last week's daily record of 1,566 deaths, the health ministry said.New infections also shot up to just over 45,000, from about 28,000 on Monday.The eye-watering data comes after the Southeast Asian nation this week loosened virus curbs by allowing small shops, streetside rest

In a white, airy laboratory in Medicon Village, one of southern Sweden's largest science parks, chemist Ingemo Andersson holds up a thin, plastic inhaler, half the size of a matchbox.Her team is hoping this tiny product could play a big role in the global fight against coronavirus allowing people to take powdered versions of future vaccines at home."It's easy and it's really cheap to produce," says Johan Waborg, CEO of the firm, which usually makes inhalers for patien

A Hong Kong court convicted a former waiter of terrorism and inciting secession on Tuesday in the first trial conducted under a national security law that was imposed by China to stamp out dissent.The watershed ruling lays down a new marker in the city's changing legal landscape and confirms that certain political slogans are now outlawed in the international finance hub. Tong Ying-kit, 24, was charged with secession and terrorism after he drove a motorbike into three police off

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte hailed his signature drug war policy Monday, but lamented there was a "long way" to go in the controversial crackdown that has killed thousands of people.In his last State of the Nation address before stepping down next year, Duterte frequently went off script and struggled to follow the autocue as he railed for nearly three hours against communists, child abusers and corrupt officials.As expected, Duterte used the annual speech to boast about th

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:Iran Daily Cases RecordFor the first time Iran's daily caseload crosses the 30,000 mark in a new daily record for the country hit by the Middle East's deadliest outbreak.China CasesChina reports 76 new cases, the highest daily rise since January, including 40 domestic transmissions prompting authorities to test millions in eastern Jiangsu province. Australia Cities Hope Lockdowns are likely to be lifted in

Experts warn country faces rise in infectious disease even as it struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Before the pandemic, Mamik Nariati’s five grandchildren were given free immunisations for diseases like polio, mumps and Hepatitis B at their school in the city of Surabaya in East Java.“But since the online school started last year, there is no more immunisation programme,” she said.

China reported 76 new coronavirus cases on Monday, the highest daily rise since January, including 40 domestic transmissions prompting authorities to test millions in eastern Jiangsu province. Beijing has a zero-risk approach to the virus, which emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.