Hong Kong residents braced for a city-wide lockdown, emptying supermarkets and pharmacies, even as leader Carrie Lam called for calm on Tuesday and appealed for the public not to worry over a compulsory mass Covid-19 testing plan.

At least 17 people are feared dead after a landslide trapped dozens of workers inside a Myanmar jade mine, sources and local media said Tuesday.

Facilities for storing dead bodies at hospitals and public mortuaries in Hong Kong are struggling to keep pace with a record number of Covid-19 infections and deaths, eclipsing authorities attempts to control a deepening outbreak.

Aimed at improving global governance and addressing the common challenges of mankind, the 2021 Hehe Culture Global Forum was held in southeastern Zhejiang province’s Tiantai County on December 9.

Dozens of people are feared missing after a landslide early on Wednesday at a jade mine in northern Myanmar, according to a civil society group and media reports.

Thailand reimposed mandatory coronavirus quarantine measures for foreign tourists on Tuesday, nixing a quarantine-free travel scheme as the kingdom seeks to stifle the spread of the Omicron variant.

The Philippines has issued a diplomatic protest over Chinese vessels challenging its ships patrolling the South China Sea with sirens, horns and radio communications, its foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is aiming to ease Covid-19 restrictions on bars and restaurants next week as infections continue to decline, the Jiji news service said on Wednesday.

Myanmar's military government has freed hundreds of political prisoners from the notorious Insein prison, including Aung San Suu Kyi's party spokesman and a famous comedian Zarganar, local media reported.

North Korea fired one ballistic missile off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, as Seoul opens a major arms fair, spy chiefs meet to discuss the nuclear standoff, and South Korea prepares to launch a space rocket.