NEW DELHI: India’s official coronavirus death toll soared past 50,000 on Monday as the pandemic rages through smaller cities and rural areas where health care is feeble and stigmatisation rife. Many experts say the real numbers may be far higher due to low testing rates and because deaths are often
HONG KONG: Asian markets were mixed in early trade Monday as investors weighed ongoing China-US tensions and the struggle by Washington lawmakers to hammer out a much-needed new stimulus. Analysts said there was little reaction to news that trade review talks between the superpowers due to have taken place Saturday
SYDNEY, Australia: US technology giant Google went on the offensive Monday against an Australian plan forcing digital giants to pay for news content, telling users their personal data would be “at risk”. Australia announced last month that firms such as Google and Facebook would have to pay news media for
WELLINGTON, New Zealand: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday delayed New Zealand’s looming election by four weeks to October 17 after a renewed coronavirus outbreak hampered campaigning. Ardern was under pressure from political opponents and her coalition partners to shift the original September 19 vote following the shock discovery of
WASHINGTON: This week the eyes of US voters turn to Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and the Democratic convention — unless they swivel first to Republican distracter-in-chief Donald Trump. For the Democrats, the convention is the real 2020 campaign launch, culminating on Thursday when Biden accepts the nomination to confront Trump
BARCELONA, Spain: Lewis Hamilton said he was in a “beautiful” trance on Sunday as he raced to another record-breaking triumph to open up a 37-point lead in this year’s drivers’ championship at the Spanish Grand Prix. His Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, one of Formula One’s greatest pragmatists, agreed, but
LONDON: An Australian marathon swimmer on Sunday became the second woman to break the men’s record for number of Channel crossings — and avoided new UK quarantine rules on French arrivals on her return. Chloe McCardel, from Sydney, completed her 35th swim across the world’s busiest shipping lane after emerging on
WASHINGTON: Global influenza vaccine makers have produced a record number of doses for the coming flu season, as authorities try to ease the burden on hospitals ahead of an expected Covid-19 resurgence. In the US, pharmaceutical companies plan to make around 196 million doses to serve the population of 330
WASHINGTON: Despite being gaffe-prone, getting up in years and barely heading out on the campaign trail, Democrat Joe Biden is leading in the polls as the coronavirus epidemic and economic crisis make the November presidential election a referendum on Donald Trump. The Covid-19 outbreak has stripped Trump of his beloved
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump’s younger brother Robert died on Saturday after being hospitalised for an undisclosed illness, the US president said in a statement mourning his loss. “It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight,” Trump said in a White House statement. “He