China on Wednesday accused the United States (US) of "spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation" as the theory resurfaced that the coronavirus emerged from a Wuhan laboratory, while urging Washington to open its virology facilities to scrutiny.Led by the US, pressure is mounting for a new probe into the origins of COVID-19 after a World Health Organization (WHO) mission to China, beset by delays and dogged by political baggage, returned inconclusive findings.The Wuhan Institu

India has recorded 26 million COVID-19 cases – second only to the United States (US). It is the new epicentre of the global pandemic.The second wave in recent weeks has overwhelmed the healthcare system, leaving hospitals struggling to cope and critical drugs and oxygen in short supply.But infections now seem to be slowing down.

Long dismissed as a kooky conspiracy theory favoured by the far right, the idea that COVID emerged from a lab leak in Wuhan has been gaining increasing momentum in the United States (US).The government's position has shifted to agnosticism in recent weeks, with top pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky both saying they are open to all possibilities."We need to get to the bottom of this and we need a completely transp

Malaysian authorities were on Tuesday investigating a collision between metro trains in Kuala Lumpur that injured more than 200 people, as dramatic accounts emerged of the crash.A packed train collided with another that was empty and heading in the opposite direction at around 8:45 pm (1245 GMT) Monday in an underground tunnel close to the landmark Petronas Twin Towers.Passengers were left battered and bruised after being thrown across carriages during the crash, with many being evacuated on

Hospitals in Japan’s second-largest city of Osaka are buckling under a wave of coronavirus cases, running out of beds and ventilators as exhausted doctors warn of a “system collapse” and advise against going ahead with the Olympics this summer.The speed at which Osaka’s healthcare system has been overwhelmed underscores the challenges of hosting a key global sports event in two months’ time, particularly when only about half of Japan’s medical staff have completed inoculations. “Simp

The United Nations (UN) on Monday declared the world "at war" against COVID-19, as India's death toll passed 300,000 and Japan opened its first mass vaccination centres.But just two months ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, the United States (US) on Monday advised its citizens against travelling there.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged governments to apply wartime logic to stark inequalities in the response to the pandemic.Despite rapidly advancing vaccination rollouts in we

Hong Kong may soon have to throw away millions of coronavirus vaccine doses because they are approaching their expiry date and not enough people have signed up for the jabs, an official warned Tuesday.Hong Kong is one of the few places in the world fortunate enough to have secured more than enough doses to inoculate its entire population of 7.5 million people. But swirling distrust of the government as it stamps out dissent – combined with online misinformation and a lack of urgency

Gazans tried to piece back their lives Saturday after a devastating 11-day conflict with Israel that killed more than 200 people and made thousands homeless in the impoverished Palestinian enclave.Authorities started distributing tents and mattresses in the Gaza Strip, a day after an Egypt-brokered ceasefire ended deadly Israeli air strikes on the besieged enclave and rocket fire out of it towards Israel.Attention turned to rebuilding the coastal territory controlled by the Islamist group Ham

China's Mars rover drove from its landing platform and began exploring the surface of the planet on Saturday, state-run Xinhua news agency said, making the country only the second nation to land and operate a rover on the Red Planet.The launch last July of the Tianwen-1 Mars probe, which carried the Zhurong rover, marked a major milestone in China's space programme.Tianwen-1 touched down on a vast northern lava plain known as the Utopia Planitia a week ago and beamed back its first

Myanmar's junta chief has said deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health and will appear in court within days during the general's first television interview since the coup.Min Aung Hlaing, who toppled Suu Kyi in a 1 February putsch, gave a two-hour interview to Hong Kong's Phoenix Television on Thursday, with the full programme yet to air."Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health.