BA.2, a sub-variant of the Omicron coronavirus variant, has now become dominant globally, representing nearly 86 percent of all sequenced cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).First detected in the early days of January, the sub-variant is even more transmissible than its highly contagious Omicron siblings, BA.1 and BA.1.1.

Shanghai, China’s biggest city and financial capital, will be locked down in two phases over nine days, as authorities seek to lessen the economic disruption of its zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19. The city’s Pudong financial district and nearby areas – the section east of the Huangpu River that runs through Shanghai – will be locked down until Friday as residents are confined to their homes for mass testing.

Indonesia has suggested crowdfunding the relocation of the country’s capital after a major investor declined to back the US$32 billion project, prompting ridicule from critics and questions about ownership of the planned city.The unorthodox proposal came to light on Monday when the head of the government agency behind the plan told local media the option is being explored after Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp opted not to invest in the project.

Millions of people in China's financial hub were confined to their homes on Monday as the eastern half of Shanghai went into lockdown to curb the nation's biggest COVID outbreak.Authorities announced late on Sunday that it would carry out a two-phased lockdown of the city of around 25 million people to carry out mass testing.The government had sought to avoid the kind of hard lockdowns regularly deployed in other Chinese cities, opting instead for rolling localised lockdowns, in an

The Philippines and the United States (US) launched the largest-ever joint military drills in the archipelago nation on Monday, signalling deepening defence ties as fresh tensions surface in the disputed South China Sea (SCS).The war games are the last under outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, who previously threatened to cancel exercises and axe a key military deal with long-time ally the US as he pivoted towards China.Nearly 9,000 Filipino and American soldiers will take part in the 12-day

China's zero-COVID policy has been among the strictest approaches to tackling the pandemic anywhere in the world.But a recent surge in infections is forcing it to reconsider how it deals with the pandemic.How Serious Is The Current Wave?The latest jump in daily cases, widely spread across the country, has been driven largely by the Omicron variant.Millions of people in China, including the entire north-eastern province of Jilin, and the tech-hub city Shenzhen in the south, have been orde

Globalisation, which has both fans and detractors alike, is being tested like never before after the one-two punch of COVID and war.The pandemic had already raised questions about the world's reliance on an economic model that has broken trade barriers, but made countries heavily reliant on each other as production was delocalised over the decades.Companies have been struggling to cope with major bottlenecks in the global supply chain.Russia's war in Ukraine has raised fears about f

Myanmar's junta will "annihilate" coup opponents, army chief Min Aung Hlaing said Sunday as the military staged a show of force on the anniversary of its bloodiest crackdown so far on democracy protests.The Southeast Asian country has been in chaos since a putsch in February 2021, with more than 1,700 people killed in crackdowns on dissent, according to a local monitoring group.Across Myanmar "People's Defence Force" fighters – often armed with homemade or rudime

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has accused its Chinese counterpart of steering one of its ships within metres of a Filipino patrol vessel in the disputed South China Sea (SCS), breaking international rules and risking a collision.The incident happened on 2 March near the contested Scarborough Shoal – one of the region's richest fishing grounds and a flashpoint between the two countries – but was only made public Sunday.It was the fourth time in the past year that a Chinese coastguard v

Shanghai on Saturday recorded a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, but a member of the city's pandemic task force said officials were determined to avoid a full lockdown over the damage it would do to the economy.Millions of Chinese in affected areas have been subjected to city-wide lockdowns by an Omicron-led outbreak that has sent daily case counts creeping ever-higher, though they remain insignificant compared to other countries.Shanghai, however, has aimed to ease disruption with a more t