A US congresswoman has urged President Joe Biden to send more direct support to India which is battling an unprecedented second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.Congresswoman Haley Stevens, in a letter to Biden on Monday, said that India is now the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic.“This past week India registered over 400,000 daily cases. On May 4, there were 3,786 deaths, bringing the total to 226,188 fatalities. The sharp increase in cases has severely strained the healthcare system, overwhelming hospitals, and depleting oxygen supplies. India is in great need of oxygen, therapeutics, and vaccines,” Stevens wrote.Asking the White House to…
Author: Mike Harrison
Pope Francis on Tuesday formally created a new lay ministry to encourage greater participation of secular women and men in the teaching of the Catholic faith, especially in places where priests are in short supply.The new law creating the lay ministry of catechists officially recognizes for the universal Catholic Church a practice that has been used for centuries in local dioceses.In many parts of the world, lay men and women introduce people to the Catholic faith, educate them on receiving the initial sacraments of baptism and Communion and accompany them in their faith journey.Soon, the Vatican’s liturgy office will publish…
China has warned Bangladesh against joining the US-led Quad alliance, saying that Dhaka’s participation in the anti-Beijing “club” would result in “substantial damage” to bilateral relations.The unusual warning from Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming came weeks after visiting Chinese Defence Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe emphasied to Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid that Beijing and Dhaka should make joint efforts against powers from outside the region establishing a “military alliance” in South Asia and practising “hegemonism”.”Obviously it will not be a good idea for Bangladesh to participate in this small club of four (Quad) because it will substantially damage our bilateral…
Australia set a new target of vaccinating all willing adults by the end of 2021 on Tuesday, hoping to speed a glacial vaccine roll-out that threatens the country’s pandemic success story.Treasurer Josh Frydenberg — unveiling a free-spending, crisis-tinged budget — said the continuation of the country’s “roaring” economic recovery depended on “effective suppression of the virus”.To that end, he said, the conservative government expected Australia’s borders to remain closed well into 2022 and for all adults “who seek to have that vaccine” to have received two doses by the end of the year.Australia has ridden out the coronavirus pandemic by…
The production of Apple’s iPhone 12 in Foxconn’s factory in India slowed down as hundreds of its workers are battling the COVID-19 virus, two sources told Reuters. Foxconn in India is behind the production of iPhones for the country — which is the second-largest market of smartphones in the world. (Photo : Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)BEIJING, CHINA – JANUARY 07: The Apple logo is seen on the window at an Apple Store on January 7, 2019 in Beijing, China. Apple Inc. lowered its revenue guidance last week, blaming China’s slowing economy and weaker than expected iPhone sales, as the company’s chief…
European affairs ministers met on Tuesday in Brussels to discuss the details of the “green certificate” that the EU aims to introduce in June, but talks between the European Commission, EU lawmakers and EU governments have yet to reach an agreement. Reuters | PUBLISHED ON MAY 11, 2021 03:46 PM IST Germany hopes for a swift agreement on a Covid-19 certificate that could allow citizens to travel more easily in the European Union, as more and more countries are opening up amid falling infection rates ahead of the summer holiday season.European affairs ministers met on Tuesday in Brussels to discuss…
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion group smashed the window frontage of HSBC and Barclays in Canary Wharf last month and have targeted Lloyd’s of London as part of what the activists cast as a “Money Rebellion”. Activist Gail Bradbrook was arrested from her home on Tuesday. Reuters | PUBLISHED ON MAY 11, 2021 03:38 PM IST British climate activist Gail Bradbrook, the co-founder of the Extinction Rebellion group, was arrested at home on Tuesday for conspiracy to cause criminal damage and fraud after her group attacked banks such as HSBC and Barclays.Activists from the group smashed the window frontage of…
A 20-metre-long underground escape tunnel has been discovered at an immigration detention centre in Australia, according to refugee advocates. The unfinished tunnel dug around three metres deep in the Falcon compound of Yongah Hill detention centre in Western Australia was reportedly found on Monday morning.The campaign group Refugee Action Coalition said that the tunnel ran from beneath the floor of room 6F in one of the accommodation blocks, underneath two inner fences to within five metres of the outer perimeter fence. The Guardian, quoting the refugee advocates, reported that the tunnel was built “over several months”, but it has not…
Over the years, Intel has built quite the legacy in terms of overall user preference in usage. But since AMD released their Ryzen line back in 2017, they’ve been creeping into Team Blue’s territory at a very rapid pace. And the recent Steam hardware survey shows that. (Photo : Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Lisa Su, president and chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), holds a 3rd generation Ryzen desktop processor while speaking during a keynote session at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. Su said that…
The number of working-age people in China fell over the past decade as its aging population barely grew, a census showed Tuesday, complicating Chinese leaders’ efforts to create a more prosperous and influential nation.The total population rose to 1.411 billion people last year, up 72 million from 2010, according to the once-a-decade census. Slow growth fell closer to zero as fewer couples had children.That adds to challenges for Chinese leaders who want to create a richer society and increase its global influence by developing technology industries and self-sustaining economic growth based on consumer spending.The ruling Communist Party has enforced birth…