Hong Kong's leader on Tuesday brushed off a warning by major tech companies including Google, Facebook and Twitter that they may quit the financial hub if authorities push ahead with a new privacy law.City authorities have unveiled plans to pass a new law targeting "doxxing" – the act of publishing someone's private details online so they can be harassed by others.But the broad wording of the proposed legislation has spooked major tech companies who fear they could be held

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:England Full Easing Plan All legal requirements for wearing facemasks and social distancing are likely to end in England on 19 July, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, when unveiling a five-point plan for the final step of easing curbs.Record Africa CasesAfrica has suffered a record number of coronavirus cases over the past week, registering over 36,000 new infections per day, according to an AFP count based on offici

Indonesia's government has ordered producers to prioritise medical oxygen amid a COVID surge and a shortage of oxygen in a number of cities.Hospitals say they have almost exhausted supplies, with one reporting that 63 patients died as a result of oxygen shortages.Indonesia is recording more than 25,000 new cases every day.Increased travel and the highly contagious Delta variant have exacerbated the crisis.Indonesia has had the worst COVID outbreak in Southeast Asia, with about 2.3 millio

President Joe Biden celebrated United States (US) Independence Day on Sunday with an upbeat assessment of a country he said is roaring back to post-pandemic life, even if COVID-19 has yet to be fully "vanquished."Speaking before a festive crowd of 1,000 guests on the White House South Lawn, Biden drew a comparison between the declaration of independence from the British Empire in 1776 and today's rapid recovery from the coronavirus."Two hundred and forty-five years ago, we

At least 45 people were killed and dozens injured Sunday when a Philippine military aircraft carrying troops crashed and burst into flames after missing the runway in the country's south, officials said.Nearly a hundred people, most of them recent army graduates, were on the C-130 Hercules transport plane which was trying to land on Jolo island in Sulu province around midday.Some of the soldiers were seen jumping out of the plane before it hit the ground and exploded into flames, said Ma

Two astronauts conducted China's first tandem spacewalk on Sunday, working on the outside of their nation's new Tiangong station in orbit around Earth.Three Chinese astronauts blasted off in June, docking at the space station where they are to remain for three months in China's longest crewed mission to date.On Sunday morning, two of them exited the core module, said the China Manned Space Agency.The first, Liu Boming, was transported with help from a mechanical arm to a work s

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:New Record Death Toll In Russia Russia reports 697 COVID-19 deaths in the previous 24 hours, the fifth straight day the country has set a new record as it battles the surging Delta variant.It also recorded 24,439 new coronavirus infections, the highest figure since the middle of January when Russia was emerging from its second wave of the pandemic.Tougher Curbs In Indonesia More than 50,000 police and troops hit the

India may now be past the peak of its latest coronavirus surge, but some other countries in Asia are experiencing rising infections.Meanwhile, vaccination rates across the region remain (with some exceptions) generally low, amidst concerns that the Delta variant is spreading.Where Has Happened To Case Numbers?The World Health Organization (WHO) recently deemed the Delta variant, which originated in India, the "most transmissible of the variants identified so far".

Indonesia imposed a partial lockdown Saturday in the capital Jakarta, across the main island of Java and on Bali as the Southeast Asian nation grapples with an unprecedented wave of coronavirus infections.Mosques, restaurants and shopping malls were shuttered in virus hotspots around the Muslim-majority country, which recorded more than 25,000 new cases and 539 deaths on Friday, both new daily records.Indonesia's daily caseload has more than quadrupled in less than a month.

Myanmar authorities have imposed stay-at-home-measures on the country's second largest city Friday as coronavirus cases in the coup-wracked country surge, with many health workers striking to protest against the junta.Inhabitants of Mandalay, as well as two townships in the southern Bago region woke up to new restrictions banning more than one person leaving home for non-medical reasons.There was no timeframe given for the new rules, announced by the health and sports ministry of the Sta