Indonesia has announced a lockdown on its main island Java, as well as the tourism destination of Bali.The announcement by President Joko Widodo comes as the country battles multiple outbreaks and an alarming spike in COVID cases.Indonesia recently recorded two million COVID cases, attributed to increased holiday travel and the Delta variant.The lockdown will last two weeks and aims to reduce the number of cases to below 10,000 a day.The country is currently recording more than 20,000 new cas

President Xi Jinping has hailed China's "irreversible" course from humiliated colony to great power at the centenary celebrations for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Thursday, in a speech reaching deep into history to remind patriots at home and rivals abroad of his nation's – and his own – ascendancy.Speaking above the giant portrait of Mao Zedong, which dominates Tiananmen Square, from the podium where the famous chairman proclaimed the People's Republic of Chi

Germany's CureVac said Wednesday that final trial results showed its coronavirus vaccine had an efficacy rate of just 48 percent, far lower than those developed by mRNA rivals BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna.The outcome had been expected after poor interim data were released earlier this month.The company in part blamed "the unprecedented context of 15 strains circulating" among the trial volunteers, as well as varying responses across age groups.The COVID vaccines developed by Ger

Myanmar authorities released more than 2,000 anti-coup protesters from prisons across the country on Wednesday, including local journalists jailed after reporting critically on the junta's bloody crackdown.Myanmar has been rocked by massive protests and a brutal military response since the February coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi and her government.More than 880 civilians have been killed in a crackdown by the State Administration Council – as the junta calls itself – and almost 6,500

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un replaced several senior officials after a "crucial" coronavirus incident, state media reported Wednesday, potentially signalling a breach in the country's epidemic defences.Pyongyang closed its borders in January last year to try to protect itself against the virus that first emerged in neighbouring China and has gone on to sweep the world.It has not publicly confirmed any cases of the disease at any point, either in state media or in the test st

The United States (US) led calls at a G20 meeting Tuesday for greater global cooperation in light of the coronavirus crisis as China insisted that multilateralism should not just be a slogan.Italy welcomed foreign ministers of the Group of 20 major economies to the southern city of Matera for their first in-person talks since the start of the pandemic that has claimed nearly four million lives worldwide.In a sharp reversal in tone from the previous US administration, Secretary of State Antony

Myanmar's multi-billion-dollar jade mines risk becoming a "slush fund" for military repression, Global Witness said Tuesday, urging consumers to boycott purchasing any jade and gemstones from the coup-wracked nation.The country has been in turmoil since the military toppled the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, with more than 880 killed in a junta crackdown on dissent, according to a local monitoring group.Myanmar is one of the world's biggest sources of jadeite and the indu

More than 10 million Australians have been ordered into lockdown as coronavirus cases spread across the country, and Brisbane on Tuesday became the fourth major city to issue stay-at-home orders.The three-day snap lockdown for Brisbane, starting on Tuesday evening, comes on top of similar measures imposed in Sydney, Perth and Darwin in recent days."These are tough decisions," Queensland state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said, after Australia recorded 23 virus cases in 24 hours.&qu

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:Record In Saint PetersburgRussia's Saint Petersburg, like the capital Moscow, posts record COVID-19 deaths as it prepares to host a Euro 2020 quarter-final on Friday despite the spread of the Delta variant.Twenty20 Moved To UAEThe Twenty20 cricket World Cup in October and November will be moved to the United Arab Emirates from India due to the pandemic, an Indian cricket board official says.US Infections PlateauAfter declining fa

The transmission advantage of the Delta variant that is spreading at pace globally is a sign that the race between vaccination and the virus could tip in favour of the latter unless countries ramp up their immunisation campaigns and practise caution, scientists say.The variant, first detected in India, has been identified in at least 92 countries and is considered the “fittest” variant yet of the virus that causes COVID-19, with its enhanced ability to prey on the vulnerable – particularly in