Singapore has admitted data collected for contact-tracing can be accessed by police despite earlier assurances it would only be used to fight the coronavirus, sparking privacy concerns Tuesday about the scheme. The city-state has a programme called "TraceTogether" for tracking close contacts of COVID-19 patients, that works via both a phone app and a dongle.

The emergence in Britain and South Africa of two new variants of Sars-CoV-2, which are potentially far more infectious versions of the virus, has prompted widespread concern.

A French-Irish teenager with learning difficulties died by misadventure after disappearing in the Malaysian jungle on a family holiday and no one else was involved, a coroner ruled Monday. The family of Nora Quoirin said they were "utterly disappointed" by the verdict, which also saw the coroner rule there was no sign the 15-year-old was murdered or sexually assaulted.The teen's body was discovered after a massive hunt through the rainforest following her disappearance

President Donald Trump pressured Georgia's top election official, a fellow Republican, in an extraordinary phone conversation to "find" enough votes to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the Southern state, United States (US) media reported Sunday.In the conversation with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday, a recording of which was first obtained by The Washington Post, Trump warns Raffensperger that he and his general counsel could face "a big risk"

Countries across the world tightened restrictions on their populations on Saturday to fight a resurgence in the coronavirus, as the European Union (EU) offered to help drug companies expand vaccine production to improve distribution "bottlenecks".From local curfews to alcohol bans and complete lockdowns, governments are trying to tackle a surge in cases.The coronavirus has killed more than 1.8 million people globally since emerging in China in December 2019, according to a tally fro

Tokyo's governor on Saturday asked Japan's central government to declare a new state of emergency as the country battles a third wave of the coronavirus, with record numbers of new cases.Yuriko Koike, joined by the governors of three neighbouring regions, called for the measure to be imposed in their areas during a meeting with Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of the coronavirus response.Japanese officials have in recent weeks asked restaurants and businesses to close ear

Bangkok's nightlife will go quiet as a ban on bars, nightclubs and restaurant alcohol sales went into effect Saturday, among a raft of restrictions aimed at curbing the kingdom's rising coronavirus toll.Thailand initially appeared to have escaped the worst of the virus, registering just under 4,000 total cases in November, despite becoming the second country to detect an infection, early last year.But an outbreak last month at a massive seafood market has spiralled into a resurgence

Britain on Friday began a new year and life outside the European Union's (EU) single market, with the first trucks crossing the Channel by ferry and rail largely reporting few difficulties despite new customs rules.Brexit, an all-consuming issue in Britain since it voted in 2016 to quit the bloc, became reality an hour before midnight after nearly five decades of integration with Europe.Prime Minister Boris Johnson was bullishly optimistic, writing in the Daily Telegraph that Brexit pres

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:Muted New Year CelebrationsFireworks burst above eerily quiet landmarks from Sydney Harbour Bridge to Copacabana beach, as the world ushered in the New Year with muted celebrations.In New York's famous Times Square, the public were blocked from entry and the usual overflowing crowd replaced with a group of specially invited frontline workers, separated by barricades to enforce social distancing.Illegal RaveSome 2,500 partygoers a

Around 50 countries around the world have already started vaccinating their people against COVID-19, barely a year after the first alert by China signalled the start of the epidemic.A snapshot:China Leads The Way China, where the pandemic first emerged, was also the first to start vaccinations over the summer, without waiting for a vaccine to be formally authorised but targeting the most vulnerable.To date nearly five million Chinese people have been vaccinated.