Europe became the first region in the world on Thursday to pass the milestone of 500,000 coronavirus deaths, according to an AFP tally based on official sources shortly before 1500 GMT.The 52 countries and territories of the European region counted at least 500,069 deaths - ahead of Latin America and the Caribbean on 477,404, the United States and Canada (321,287), Asia (208,149), the Middle East (85,895) and Africa (57,423). Europe has once again become the epicentre of the pandemic

China tech giant Alibaba offered face-recognition software that could enable users to identify Uighurs, a report said, making it the latest Chinese company embroiled in the country's controversial treatment of the Muslim minority.Alibaba's website for its cloud-computing business showed how clients could use the software to detect the facial features of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities within images and videos, according to The New York Times.The references, later removed by Alib

A strong response to the coronavirus pandemic, surging exports and healthy public spending have helped Vietnam buck a global recession in 2020 and fast-track its recovery, with analysts predicting it will likely enjoy one of the highest growth rates in the world.But the pain is not over for some sectors with containment measures and border disruptions hammering the country's tourism industry, and leaving the once-booming aviation sector limping.While many countries have suffered from hig

At least a fifth of the world's population may not have access to a COVID-19 vaccine until 2022, according to a study published Wednesday, with wealthier nations reserving more than half of next year's potential doses. With hopes that vaccines can bring an end to a pandemic that has killed some 1.6 million people, countries including the United States (US), Britain and the United Arab Emirates have already begun rolling out immunisation programmes.

When the world celebrated the dawn of a new decade with a blaze of firework parties and revelry on 1 January, few could have imagined what 2020 had in store.In the last 12 months, the novel coronavirus has paralysed economies, devastated communities and confined nearly four billion people to their homes. It has been a year that changed the world like no other for at least a generation, possibly since World War II.More than 1.6 million people died.

The first Christmas in a coronavirus world will be a season like no other, with governments urging people to rein themselves in to stop another deadly wave of the pandemic.Mutti Knows BestAngela Merkel - affectionately known as "Mutti" or "Mummy" - has warned Germans to limit socialising in case "it ends up being the last Christmas with the grandparents."But the sacrifices do not end there.

Singapore has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, and expects to receive the first shipments of the shots by the end of December, the prime minister said Monday.The city-state joins a handful of other countries around the world, including Britain and the United States (US), which have approved the jab.Singapore hopes to have enough vaccines for its 5.7 million population by the third quarter of 2021, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a televised address.Priority will be giv

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was to begin leaving the company's Michigan factory on Sunday, ready to be injected into the arms of millions of the most vulnerable Americans as the global death toll topped 1.6 million.Doses will be shipped out in boxes containing dry ice that are capable of staying at -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit), the frigid temperature needed to preserve the drug.General Gus Perna, who is overseeing the massive logistical operation as part of the g

Bangladeshi migrant worker Sheikh Kibria recalls with horror the filthy, overcrowded dormitory where he was housed by the world's biggest rubber glove manufacturer when a coronavirus outbreak erupted and infected thousands.Malaysia's Top Glove saw profits soar, and its stock price jump as much as 400 percent this year as countries worldwide rushed to buy protective gear as the pandemic intensified.But in interviews with AFP, the South Asian migrants working flat out to make the glov

The distribution of the first vaccines for the coronavirus has raised hopes that the end of the pandemic may be in sight, but it has also sparked some concern about side effects. Here's what we know so far. What Side Effects?Results from final-stage clinical trials of two of the frontrunner vaccines were published this week and both are considered safe. Data for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine – already authorised in several countries – was released in the peer-rev