Spain's number of total deaths due to the coronavirus crossed 18,000 with 547 new deaths on Tuesday, which is a slight increase in the number of daily deaths reported as per the Spanish Health Ministry.On Monday, Spain had reported 517 deaths, which was one of the lowest daily increase reported in the last three weeks. As per the data from Johns Hopkins University, the current toll in Spain stands at 18,056.The Spanish authorities have also recorded a fall in the number of active cases for the first time since the outbreak. The authorities on Tuesday observed that the active cases had come down by 299 in the last 24 hours. Spain has now 86,981 active cases.Spain's overall tally of cases including the dead and recovered stands at 172,541. It has reported the third-highest fatalities in the world just behind the United States (23,649) and Italy (20,465)With 172,541 total cases, Spain is only behind the United States in the number of overall cases. The United States as of Tuesday has ...

The Indian Consulate General in Dubai has issued an advisory on partially resuming the passport services for Indian applicants through BLS Sharjah Centre from April 15 onwards.The advisory from the consulate general says that the applications for renewal of passports that have expired or would expire on or before April 30, 2020 will be processed initially.The Consulate General in Dubai also listed the ways people can apply for the renewal of passports.Those people who want to apply for renewal can send an email to the consulate at the email address- passport.dubai@mea.gov.in with an explanation of the emergency for the renewal.The Consulate would then give an appointment at the BLS International Exclusive Centre for Indian Passport and Visa Services at Sharjah.As per the advisory, the applicant will have to prepare the application online and attach all required documents before visiting the centre at the appointed time.The passport services were suspended in the wake of the COVID-19 ..

People in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) are facing discrimination at the time of COVID-19 outbreak as they are being denied benefits under the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme launched by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.Pakistan government launched the Ehsaas Emergency Cash programme under which Rs. 12,000 grant is to be provided to around 12 million families across the country including those from PoK.But like all other schemes announced by Pakistan in the past, this too has excluded an already discriminated and deprived PoK populace of the benefits, as the residents have received nothing but despair after standing in long queues for hours outside the designated banks.A local woman said, "Our house caught fire and everything got burnt. Even our daughter faced severe injuries. Today we have nothing with us, not even food and we are getting no help. Our daughter got treated in Rawalpindi but now we don't have money to continue with her treatment. We came to know that we will be ...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected the growth of Indian economy in 2020 at the rate of 1.9 per cent, while the world economy is likely to contract sharply by "minus 3 per cent" due to the coronavirus pandemic, which is proving worse than the 2008-09 financial crisis.The IMF on Tuesday its yearly World Economic Outlook, providing a grim picture of the world economy amid global lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has jolted the world by claiming over one lakh lives globally.The IMF has, however, given a bullish projection about India's economic growth in 2021, pegging the growth rate at 7.4 per cent.Gita Gopinath, Chief Economist and Director of the research department at IMF said in her opening remarks, "The COVID-19 pandemic is inflicting high and rising human costs worldwide. Protecting lives and allowing health care systems to cope have required isolation, lockdowns, and widespread closures to slow the spread of the virus.""The health crisis is, ...

The Department of Health and Social Care has reported that at least 12,107 people have died in the UK hospitals due to the coronavirus.This is an increase of 778 since the last update. 93,873 people in the country have tested positive for the coronavirus, as per CNN.There has been a discrepancy in the UK while reporting the deaths recorded among elderly residents.David Behan, chairman of home operator HC-One, has said that there could be discrepancies which may result in underreporting of deaths.Meanwhile, the Heathrow Airport in London, which is one of the busiest airports in Europe, has predicted a decline in passenger demand by over 90 pc in April, as the virus has halted the travel.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held a telephonic conversation with President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas and the two leaders discussed challenges posed by the COVID-19.As per an official release, "the two leaders discussed the challenges posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and apprised each other of the steps being taken in their respective countries to control the situation."Prime Minister Modi also appreciated the measures taken by Abbas' authorities to protect their population from the virus and assured all possible support from India for these efforts.The two leaders will stay in touch over various issues regarding the global pandemic. Palestine has so far reported 308 confirmed cases of coronavirus and two deaths so far.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its Global Financial Stability Overview released on Tuesday has noted that early in 2020, global financial markets remained afloat as there was a sense of optimism on the back of supportive monetary policy, reduced trade tension and tentative signs of stabilisation in the global economy. However, the spread of COVID-19 has posed a risk that has seen the prices of risk assets and commodities fall at unprecedented speed.The document released by the IMF says that the equity markets experienced the fastest drop in history with the S and P 500 falling 20 per cent from its peak in just 16 trading sessions.The asset price declines reached about half the magnitude seen in 2008-09 at the worst point of the sell-off, and implied volatility spiked across asset classes, in some cases to levels last seen during the global financial crisis.Financial Counsellor and Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department, IMF, Tobias Adrian while releasing the

Former US President Barack Obama in a video message on Tuesday formally endorsed his former Vice President Joe Biden, who is gunning for the White House in the elections later this year.Obama while endorsing said: "The kind of leadership that's guided by knowledge and experience, honesty and humility, empathy and grace -- which kind of leadership doesn't just belong to our state capitols and mayors' offices. It belongs in the White House. And that's why I'm so proud to endorse Joe Biden for President of the United States."Biden has now become the presumptive nominee for the Democrats after fellow contestant Bernie Sanders withdrew and endorsed him. Biden will go up against the presumptive Republican nominee and incumbent President Donald Trump.Obama further said: "If there's one thing we've learned as a country from moments of great crisis, it's that the spirit of looking out for one another can't be restricted to our homes, or our workplaces, or our neighbourhoods, or our houses of ..

Airline passenger revenue is set to plunge by USD 314 billion in 2020, which is a decline of 55 per cent from 2019 due to coronavirus as per the updated analysis released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).On March 24, the IATA had predicted an estimated loss of USD 252 billion in revenues, which is 44 per cent decline in passenger for airline industry due to severe travel restrictions lasting more than three months as governments across the world try to contain the disease.As per a release by IATA, the world is heading for a recession. The economic shock of the COVID-19 crisis is expected to be at its most severe in Q2 when the GDP is expected to shrink by 6 per cent (by comparison, GDP shrank by 2 per cent at the height of the global financial crisis). Passenger demand closely follows GDP progression. The impact of reduced economic activity in Q2 alone would result in an 8 per cent fall in passenger demand in the third quarter."The release added: "Travel ...

The Indian Rapid Response Team imparted training and shared its experience with the Kuwaiti personnel at Jaber Al Ahmed Hospital as part of capacity building in the fight against COVID-19.The team had reached Kuwait on Monday.A release issued by External Affairs Ministry on Monday said that the rapid response team is expected to stay in Kuwait for the next two weeks to help the Kuwait government with medical assistance in testing and treatment of the people infected by the novel coronavirus.The team went to Kuwait following a phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Saba. Both the leaders had agreed for a coordinated approach towards the deadly disease.

The coronavirus outbreak has killed more than 24,000 people in the United States, the highest number of fatalities in any country, data from the Johns Hopkins University showed on Tuesday.As of 1.20 pm EDT (5.20 pm GMT), fatalities in the US reached 24,485, according to the university's Coronavirus Resource Center.At least 584,073 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the US, the largest number of infections among all countries.

The number of coronavirus cases reported in France has passed 100,000, top French health official said on Tuesday."As of this evening, we have passed the 100,000 mark in terms of test-confirmed coronavirus cases," Jerome Salomon told reporters.France now has 103,573 confirmed cases, with 5,497 new infections recorded in the past 24 hours.The death toll is 15,729. Of them, 10,129 were hospital patients. The number of people who died in hospitals in the past day is 559.On Monday, President Emmanuel Macron extended the nationwide lockdown until May 11. Restrictions on public life went into effect on March 17 in a bid to limit the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Tuesday (local time) welcomed the decision of India's Supreme Court to relax conditions for the release of individuals detained as "foreigners" in Assam's detention centres due to concerns with the spread of COVID-19."We welcome this decision as a first step," a statement by USCIRF quoted its Chair Tony Perkins as saying."We urge the Indian Supreme Court to continue on this promising path and order the release of all those detained in the detention centres on humanitarian grounds. Even two years as a minimum time for release is unreasonable given the threat of detention centres becoming a breeding ground for the spread of COVID-19," he added.In response to an application submitted by the Justice for Liberty Initiative, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered the release of detainees held for at least two years and lowered the personal bond amount necessary to secure release from Rs 100,000 to 5,000.Coronavirus has impacted ..

As coronavirus pandemic deepens, over 117 million children in 37 countries are expected to miss out on receiving live-saving measles vaccine, the United Nations said on Tuesday.Measles immunisation campaigns in 24 countries have already been delayed and more will be postponed, the World Health Organization and the UN children's fund UNICEF said."Together, more than 117 million children in 37 countries, many of whom live in regions with ongoing measles outbreaks, could be impacted by the suspension of scheduled immunisation activities," Measles and Rubella Initiative (M & RI) said in a statement.New WHO guidelines endorsed by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation aim to help countries to sustain immunisation activities during the COVID-19 pandemic."The @MeaslesRubella Initiative supports recommendations to: temporarily pause preventive immunisation campaigns where there's no active outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease continue routine immunisation services, ..

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced the extension of the nationwide lockdown with relaxation to some sectors.Addressing the media in Islamabad on Tuesday, Khan said, "We made the hard decision of imposing lockdown in the country which was very well implemented due to cooperation of the people."He said that the spread of coronavirus had slowed down to 30 per cent of the projected target, Radio Pakistan reported.The Prime Minister said ventilators, protective clothing, and other gear "have been reaching the country to meet the demand".Imran Khan announced to open the construction industry in cities from today as this has the lowest risk factor in terms of coronavirus spread.Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar said the industries that are exempted from the lockdown are export sector, chemical manufacturing plants, e-commerce, software development and planning, paper and packaging units, industries with labour on-site, cement and fertilizer plants, mines and ..

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he has instructed his administration to halt World Health Organisation's funding while a review is being conducted in the WHO's "role in severely mismanaging and covering up" the spread of coronavirus after it emerged in China."Today I'm instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization. We will redirect global health and directly work with others. All of the aid that we send will be discussed at very, very powerful letters," Trump said during a press conference.The US President has been critical of the world health body stating that the organisation was aware of the dangers of the coronavirus months before it took action.The United States has been the worst-hit country from the coronavirus. The virus has killed over 25,000 people in the country since the outbreak. There are at least 594,207 cases of coronavirus in the US.The US President also said the funding would be suspended while officials conduct a review "to

The number of people infected with the new coronavirus worldwide has surpassed 1.8 million with 71,779 cases verified over the past 24 hours, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.According to the update, the global count of confirmed COVID-19 cases has reached 1,844,863, with the majority of them concentrated in Europe (943,272) and the Americas (644,986).The death toll has grown by 5,369 cases over the past day to a total of 117,021 fatalities, the report read.

Egyptian security forces have killed seven terrorists who were planning an attack on the country's Coptic Orthodox Christian population during their upcoming Easter celebrations, the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs said.According to the ministry, security forces raided an apartment in a densely-populated region of the capital. Mohammed Fawzy Al Hofi, a lieutenant officer, was killed during the attack, and one other police officer suffered injuries, the statement read.Security forces found six machine guns and ammunition in the apartment after the raid, according to the statement.On Tuesday evening, the national media reported on the security operation, which took place in a multistorey building in the Al Amireya region of the Egyptian capital.The country's Coptic Orthodox Christians are set to celebrate Easter Sunday on April 19.In April 2017, Egypt's Coptic Christians were targeted by bomb blasts during services to celebrate Palm Sunday. Two blasts in the cities of Tanta and ..

Wilson Witzel, the governor of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, has been tested positive for coronavirus."On Friday, I began feeling ill and asked for a coronavirus test. Today the result came and it turned out to be positive," Witzel said in a video message posted on his Twitter page on Tuesday evening.The governor said that he had several symptoms of the disease, including fever, sore throat, and fatigue, Sputnik reported."Right now, I feel better and I will continue to work while in self-isolation, following the recommendations of doctors," Witzel further said.Brazil has reported 24,000 cases of coronavirus since the outbreak of the disease.Several political figures, including presidential communications secretary Fabio Wajngarten, have tested positive for the disease during the ongoing outbreak.

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States has topped 600,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The death toll has surpassed 25,000.While the number of cases stands at 602,989, a total of 25,575 people have died from the deadly virus in the country, reported Sputnik citing Johns Hopkins University.A total of 46,515 people have recovered as per the university's data.

Michigan [USA], April 15 (ANI): Indian automaker Mahindra is joining the "Arsenal of Health" efforts spearheaded by General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. in Michigan to make medical Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers fighting COVID-19.More than 20 Mahindra employees of the Michigan plant are making medical shields from windshields. This innovative ease-of-use box-shaped design will be used by doctors, nurses, local frontline healthcare workers and first responders."MANA's Michigan employees have taken an all-hands-on-deck approach to the COVID-19 fight," said Rick Haas, President and CEO, Mahindra Automotive North America (MANA)."We have a company full of people who love to design and make things and they are not people who like to stand on the sidelines. We have ideas coming in from across the company and we are looking hard at all of them." Haas added.MANA is working with the state, Michigan's congressional delegation, trade organisations, Oakland County and .

Wearing masks and gloves, South Korean voters cast their ballots on Wednesday to elect 300 parliamentary lawmakers amid the coronavirus outbreak.Voting kicked off at 6 am (local time) and was to run until 6 pm (local time) at 14,330 polling stations across the country, according to the National Election Commission (NEC). The number of eligible voters is 44 million, according to Yonhap news agency.The once-in-four-years legislative election is widely seen as a referendum on President Moon Jae-in, whose five-year term will end in mid-2022, as well as a test of the country's fight against COVID-19 under the leadership of Moon, The Strait Times reported.South Korea has received international praise for its massive testing capability and other innovative measures, such as drive-through testing and high-tech contact tracing.Experts, therefore, expect the ruling Democratic Party (DP) to extend its lead in Parliament, given that the government's handling of the virus outbreak is viewed ...

A political activist from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) has alleged that Pakistan has been regularly violating ceasefire at the Line of Control these days to infiltrate terrorists into Kashmir valley amid COVID-19 spread.Amjad Ayub Mirza, a political activist and author based in Glasgow told ANI, "It is Pakistan, which is responsible for ceasefire violation. We, the people of PoK are aware of this fact that always Pakistan initiates a ceasefire violation to which India retaliates."The activist said that like always, time too, the ceasefire violation was started by Pakistan which created problems for locals, even in the areas of Jammu that do not even come in the jurisdiction of the ceasefire line.Divulging further on the heinous activities conducted by Pakistan, the activist said, "There can be three reasons for them to do so. Firstly due to the coronavirus outbreak, the establishment has been exposed over the mishandling of the pandemic. The country does not even have proper ...

Defying all orders from the state to refrain from religious congregations to curb the spread of COVID-19, prominent ulemas and religious scholars from across Pakistan on Tuesday stated that the five daily prayers and the Friday prayers would be held in mosques. They, however, mentioned that all precautionary measures advised by the government will be implemented.The statement from the ulemas, cited by Dawn, comes as the government announced it would continue the lockdown imposed in light of the coronavirus outbreak, easing restrictions for some industries which it said were 'low-risk'.Authorities in all provinces had officially restricted congregations in mosques, including for Friday prayers, to five people or less for the past two weeks. However, several instances of violation of government orders, and confrontation with police trying to enforce these orders, have been reported since then.Speaking at a press conference after the meeting between representatives from the ...

The US Department of Justice on Tuesday (local time) said it has repatriated approximately USD 300 million (RM 1.292 billion) to Malaysia in additional funds misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (MDB), the Asian country's investment development fund.The government of former Prime Minister Najib Razak set up the 1MDB fund in 2009 to promote economic development in Malaysia through global partnerships and foreign direct investment.The Justice Department estimated that some USD 4.5 billion was siphoned out of Malaysia by high-level fund officials and their associates between 2009 and 2014 in a scandal that called for Razak's resignation -- including Mahathir Mohamad, one of the former's predecessors.The funds were laundered through financial institutions in several jurisdictions, including the United States, Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg."We are pleased to make this latest repatriation of an additional USD 300 million in stolen 1MDB funds," Assistant Attorney General

The assertion came in response to a question by five MPs of the European Parliament, namely Petras Austrevicius, Ausra Maldeikiene, Hannes Heide, Francisco Guerreiro and Petra De Sutter who had submitted a question to EU Foreign Affairs chief, Josep Borrell, asking about the position of EU on the succession of Dalai Lama and what measures the Union intends to take.The EU parliamentarians said that they expect Beijing to respect the spiritual leader's succession according to the traditional standards of Tibetan Buddhism, according to an independent analyst.In January this year, the US House of Representatives had unanimously passed the Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA) to strengthen policy in support of Tibet, a move that was hailed as "encouraging and empowering" by the representatives of Tibet.The Act intended to, among other things, sanction Chinese officials for interfering in the Dalai Lama's succession.The Dalai Lama institution has existed for more than 600 years, during ...

Prolonged or intermittent social distancing may be necessary even until 2022 to prevent future Covid-19 seasonal outbreaks, a new study has said.Researchers from Harvard University, led by Stephen Kissler, used estimates of seasonality, immunity, and cross-immunity for two betacoronaviruses from time series data from the United States, to inform a model of Covid-19 transmission, Xinhua news agency reported.Recurrent wintertime outbreaks of Covid-19 "will probably occur after the initial, most severe pandemic wave," researchers wrote on in the study 'Projecting the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 through the postpandemic period', published in the online journal Science.The researchers added that without a vaccine or other interventions, "prolonged or intermittent social distancing may be necessary into 2022."Noting that "a key metric for the success of social distancing is whether critical care capacities are exceeded," the study said that "additional interventions, including ...

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers of local stocks today

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers of local stocks today

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers of local stocks today

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers of local stocks today

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers of local stocks today

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers of local stocks today

Risk sentiment deteriorated after a news report, citing inadvertently released results, said the closely watched antiviral drug remdesivir had had no effect on patients in its first randomised clinical test.

Risk sentiment deteriorated after a news report, citing inadvertently released results, said the closely watched antiviral drug remdesivir had had no effect on patients in its first randomised clinical test.

Total 32 issues of 33 industry category of Topix index were in positive territory, with Marine Transportation, Iron & Steel, Nonferrous Metals, Air Transportation, Electric Appliances, Real Estate, and Glass & Ceramics Products issues being notable gainers.

Industrial stocks performed strongly with Transurban gaining 3.7% and Brambles up 4.2%. Healthcare out-performed with a gain of 6% in Sonic, 3.7% in Ramsay Healthcare, and 2.6% in CSL. Info tech and real estate sectors were up more than 3%.

The top body of China's parliament kicked off its four-day bi-monthly meeting in the capital city of Beijing on Sunday. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is expected to decide on the date of the key annual meeting of parliament this year on Wednesday.

A partial reopening of the economy in Alaska, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and others boosted investor sentiments. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state will likely begin to reopen the economy in certain areas with certain precautions after May 15. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he expected the U.S. economy to bounce back in the months after June, once the lockdowns are dismantled.

Total 17 issues of 33 industry category of Topix index were in positive territory, with Rubber Products, Air Transportation, Services, Electric Appliances, Precision Instruments, Securities & Commodities Futures, and Information & Communication issues being notable gainers, while Iron & Steel, Mining, Chemicals, Nonferrous Metals, and Land Transportation issues were notable losers.

Investors continue to struggle against positive news of lifting restrictions and re-opening the economy against what is expected to be the sharpest and most severe downturn since the great depression.

China's banking regulator has asked commercial banks to halt new sales of a wide range of wealth management products that might lead to unlimited losses for investors, a week after heavy losses were recorded in a crude oil futures trading product sold by the country's fourth-largest lender. Investors worry a broad tightening on such products could hurt bank profits.

Among blue chips, index heavyweight Tencent (700 HK) rose 1% to HK$417.20, while Alibaba (9988 HK) slid 0.8% to HK$199. China Overseas Land & Investment (688 HK) jumped 3.5% to HK$27.90; Citic Pacific (267 HK) rose 2.7% to HK$7.98; and Mengniu Dairy (2319 HK), went up 2.5% to HK$28.70.

Wall Street stocks opened higher amid continued investor confidence following steps by a number of US states to reopen their economies. In the United States, some governors are rolling back curbs and allowing restaurants, hair salons and other businesses to reopen despite warnings by health experts that moving too fast might lead to new outbreaks. President Donald Trump, running for re-election amid a slump that has wiped out more than 10 million jobs, is pressing other governors to lift lockdowns. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, one of the hardest-hit and most populous states, says controls will be eased only after numbers of new cases decline.

Investor confidence has been lifted as major countries and several US states reopen for business and central banks seem poised to inject more stimulus to offset the economic hit from the pandemic.

The gains were driven by banking shares after China's big four lenders reported higher profits for the first quarter despite the impact of the pandemic.

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Wall Street stocks opened higher amid reaction to developments regarding the use of Gilead Sciences' antiviral drug remdesivir as a potential new treatment for Covid-19 patients. Gilead Sciences said on Wednesday that preliminary results of a coronavirus drug trial showed at least 50% of patients treated with a five-day dosage of remdesivir improved and more than half were discharged from the hospital within two weeks. Later Wednesday, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said NIAID's remdesivir drug trial, which enrolled about 800 patients, showed quite good news and that the drug would set a new standard of care for Covid-19 patients.

Asian market advanced on Thursday, 30 April 2020, on following U.S. shares advancing overnight on reports the antiviral drug remdesivir is showing promise as an effective COVID-19 treatment.

Total 23 issues of 33 industry category of Topix index were in positive territory, with Mining, Securities & Commodities Futures, Iron & Steel, Real Estate, Nonferrous Metals, and Glass & Ceramics Products issues being notable gainers, while Electric Power & Gas, Other Products, Air Transportation, Information & Communication, and Foods issues were notable losers.