As an LGBTQ activist, legal whizz-kid and Vietnam's first openly gay candidate running for a seat in its rubber-stamp parliament, Luong The Huy is determined to lead long-lasting change for the country's marginalised communities. Huy, 32, is one of just nine independent candidates running for Vietnam's National Assembly in elections to be held across the country on Sunday and wants to boost the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, who have long fel

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:Don't Travel, Says WHOProgress against the pandemic remains "fragile" and international travel should be avoided, warns the World Health Organization's (WHO) Europe director Hans Kluge.But he adds that all the vaccines authorised by the WHO are effective against the "COVID-19 virus variants that have emerged so far".EU Health PassThe European Parliament and European Union (EU) member states reach a deal p

They've been hailed as virus success stories – places that have seen virtually zero or single-digit COVID cases since the start of the year.But this month, Singapore and Taiwan have both seen a sudden and aggressive rise in cases – with Singapore logging 248 new cases just last week, and Taiwan 1,200 local infections.Both places have gone into a heightened state of restrictions, limiting the size of social gatherings and closing schools.By global standards, these numbers may seem small –

Profits from COVID-19 jabs have helped at least nine people become billionaires, a campaign group said Thursday, calling for an end to pharmaceutical corporations' "monopoly control" on vaccine technology."Between them, the nine new billionaires have a combined net wealth of US$19.3 billion (15.8 billion euros), enough to fully vaccinate all people in low-income countries 1.3 times," The People's Vaccine Alliance said in a statement. The alliance, a netw

Desperate residents of a Myanmar town hit by clashes between the military and an anti-junta defence force pleaded for help Wednesday as the United Nations (UN) warned the fighting may have forced thousands to flee.Government forces used artillery to flush out rebels from the western town of Mindat after fighting broke out on 12 May, a spokesman for a local insurgent group said, and later cut off its water supply.One resident who did not want to be named said that most of those who had been tr

The United Nations (UN) on Tuesday appealed for US$943 million to cope with the Rohingya humanitarian crisis, fearing that a COVID outbreak in South Asia could reach refugee camps before vaccines do. The agency said the funds were needed urgently this year for nearly one million refugees from the Muslim minority who fled to Bangladesh from neighbouring Myanmar after a deadly crackdown in 2017.Most are crowded into squalid refugee camps, and the pandemic has rendered them even more vu

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:1.5 Billion DosesMore than 1.5 billion doses of anti-COVID vaccines have been administered around the world, six months after the start of the first vaccination campaign, according to an AFP count.Killer Cyclone Batters IndiaAt least 27 people are dead and dozens missing after a monster cyclone slams into western India, compounding efforts to battle a devastating virus surge.Fewest US DeathsThe United States (US) is seeing its fewest

They're called "red zones" – COVID hotspots in Cambodia's capital of Phnom Penh that have gone into lockdown.

The Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines should remain highly effective against two coronavirus variants first identified in India, according to new research carried out by United States (US) scientists.The lab-based study was carried out by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Center and is considered preliminary because it has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal."What we found is that the vaccine's antibodies are a little bit weaker against the variants,

Taiwan reported 206 new local cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, breaking the previous day’s record high of 180 as authorities brought in the strictest measures yet in a bid to contain the virus.The outbreak, which began about three weeks ago among employees of the national airline and a connected quarantine hotel, has now produced about 85 percent of Taiwan’s total number of locally transmitted cases since the pandemic began.The sudden rise in cases in a country widely considered to have had one o