JAKARTA, March 6 — Indonesia was surprised by the detection of two cases of a new virus variant, right after one year of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country, while the coronavirus pandemic is still dragging on, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

KUALA LUMPUR/SINGAPORE, Jan 14 — China's Sinovac Biotech defended the safety and efficacy of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday, after researchers in Brazil released late-stage clinical data showing efficacy that was much lower than initially announced.