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.

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.

Investor sentiment around the world was brightened by Gilead Sciences Inc.'s announcement 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. Globally, the coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 3.1 million and taken at least 226,771 lives, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University.

Local shares fell in early trade on reigniting tensions between the world's top two economies after U.S. officials tried to pin blame for the coronavirus pandemic on China.

Banks stocks were lower. National Australia Bank ended the day 2.3% lower Westpac and ANZ both declined about 1.5% while Commonwealth Bank dropped 0.8%.

The latest survey from the Australian Industry Group revealed that the services sector in Australia continued to contract in April, and at a steeper pace, with a Performance of Services Index score of 27.1. That's down from 38.7 in March and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The Australian share market got a boost on hopes for an economic recovery at home after the government unveiled plans to end most coronavirus restrictions by July. Prime Minister Scott Morrison's announced a plan to ease social distancing restrictions in a three-step process, which would remove all curbs by July and get nearly 1 million people back to work amid a decline in coronavirus cases.

A record 309 mn Indians tuned in to watch India's semi-final clash with Australia

World Cup winning-Australia captain Meg Lanning has used the extra time in hand amid the COIVD-19 pandemic to provide a virtual batting class to Ireland women's cricket squad. Lanning was joined by former Ireland skipper Isobel Joyce in the initiative that took place this week to help the players keep their skills sharp during the forced break from cricket. The duo touched upon a number of topics, including the mental preparation going into a big game, shot selection and an analysis of the Australian captain's T20I century against England last year. The session was chaired by Irish women's team head coach Ed Joyce and also featured Australia boss Matthew Mott. "Any time you can pick the brains of experienced cricketers such as Meg and Isobel is valuable, and I know that our entire squad enjoyed this unique opportunity," Ireland skipper Laura Delany said. "People often underestimate the mental aspect of the game, and both players spoke about the importance of mental preparation before .

Australia's Super Rugby competition is planning for an early July return, a spokesman said Saturday, after the coronavirus outbreak derailed the season and sparked turmoil within the sport's cash-strapped governing body. Rugby Australia's board suffered another tumultuous week with new director Peter Wiggs -- who had been tipped to take over the chairman's role -- quitting after just five weeks in the job. His departure followed the resignation last month of chief executive Raelene Castle after pressure from the board and a simmering financial crisis. Clubs are set to begin training in the coming days under strict health regulations aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 among players, a spokesman said on Saturday. "We do not have a confirmed date for the resumption of Super Rugby in Australia, however early July presents a best case scenario," he added. This year's Super Rugby competition saw seven rounds played before the pandemic forced a stop to the season in March. The ...

LG Polymers India Ltd on Saturday blamed leaking vapour from a storage tank for the leakage of deadly styrene monomer gas at its Visakhapatnam plant that killed at least 11 people and forced the evacuation of thousands. Status quo at the plant was restored on Saturday morning, the company said in a statement. The gas leakage from the plant was reported on Thursday morning after the company tried to restart operations following the partial easing of the coronavirus lockdown. "Our initial investigations suggest that the cause of the incident is prima facie by the leaking vapor from the Styrene Monomer (SM) storage tank near the GPPS (General Purpose Poly Styrene) factory on Thursday, May 7," the statement said. The unit of South Korean chemical giant LG Chem said it is committed to working closely with the concerned authorities to investigate the cause of the incident, prevent recurrence in future and secure the foundation for care and treatment. "While focusing on stabilizing the ...

The Prem Singh Tamang government in Sikkim has decided to reduce the salaries of the chief minister and ministers by 35 per cent for the next one year to mitigate the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the state's economy. As per decisions taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by the chief minister on Friday, utilisation of discretionary funds of the ministers have also been put on hold. The state government has decided to impose a ban on appointments under regular/work-charged/muster roll/adhoc/consolidated pay/ temporary basis for six months, a press release issued by the Information and Public Relations department said. The state government has also decided to impose a ban on replacement and purchase of new vehicles, computers and peripherals while the allocation under revenue expenditure in all departments will be curtailed by ten per cent. Among other things, there will be restrictions on advertisement or publication of notice inviting tender except ..

The Bt gene in brinjal does not increase productivity. But what it is surely about to do is bring India's first genetically altered food crop to your dining table. And there are lots of reasons why this should worry you, writes Devinder Sharma.

The joint statement on climate change at the end of PM Modi’s recent tour of China has expectedly created considerable hype. Darryl D’Monte takes a balanced view of its import and the real challenges for India in the face of global climate politics.

Of course the military should be prepared for conflict. However, whether to engage in such conflict, and how, is a decision for the civilian leadership, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

Let the mineral wealth of Central India remain untapped until the people there acquire the capacity to negotiate the terms for its use and benefit directly from doing so, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

Growing numbers of elected representatives fund their poll campaigns with corporate backing. And growing numbers of people with a big business background have ventured directly into the electoral arena, writes P Sainath.

The AAP manifesto may have talked at length about “a flexible and fair labour policy” and regularisation of contract workers, but for a vast section of daily wage-earners, such promises hold no meaning. Devanik Saha talks to one to find out why.

As the world marks World Menopause Day on 18 October, millions of Indian women over 45 are finding it difficult to smile through it - thanks to the lack of information and misunderstanding among them about this rather rough phase of life. Neeta Lal reports on the Delhi-based Indian Menopause Society.

Playing against India behind closed doors in the much-anticipated Test series at the end of the year might end up being an advantage for the home side, according to Australia batsman Usman Khawaja. Cricket Australia are desperate for the tour, scheduled for Dec-Jan, to go ahead as the lucrative Indian TV rights for the series would go a long way to easing a financial crisis.

Watching my old boxing videos to prepare for Olympics: Manish Kaushik

Women's T20 World Cup Final: India eyes maiden title against Australia

प्रजनेश (Prajnesh Gunneswaran) को शुरू में अच्छा ड्रा मिला है. उनका पहला मुकाबला जापान के तात्सुमो इटो से होगा

भारत में होने वाले ऑस्ट्रेलियन ओपन (Australian Open) के प्रसारण में महिला और पुरुष सिंगल्स के सेमीफाइनल और फाइनल के मुकाबलों में हिंदी कमेंट्री होगी.

अपने पिता के निधन के बावजूद खेलने का कठिन फैसला लेने वाली पूर्व फ्रेंच ओपन चैंपियन येलेना ओस्टापेंको (Yelena Ostopenko) भी हारीं

ऑस्ट्रेलियन ओपन (Australian Open) के पांचवें दिन कई बड़े नाम टूर्नामेंट से बाहर हो गए

नडाल (Rafael Nadal) मेलबर्न में जीत के साथ फेडरर (Roger Federer) के रिकॉर्ड 20 ग्रैंडस्लैम खिताब की बराबरी कर सकते हैं.

महिला सिंगल्स वर्ग के दूसरे सामीफाइनल मुकाबले में विश्व की नंबर एक खिलाड़ी एश्ले बार्टी (Asleigh Barty) का सामना अमेरिका की 14वीं वरीयता प्राप्त सोफिया केनिन (Sofia Kenin) से होगा.

फाइनल में सोफिया केनिन (Sofia Kenin) का सामना सिमोना हालेप (Simona Halep) और गरबाइन मुगुरुजा के बीच होने वाले दूसरे सेमीफाइनल की विजेता से होगा

जोकोविच (Novak Djokovic) फाइनल में पांचवीं वरीयता प्राप्त डोमिनिक थीम (Dominic Theim) या सातवीं रैंकिंग के जर्मन एलेक्सजेंडक ज्वेरेव (Alexander Zverev) से भिड़ेंगे.

Locking up healthy people in their homes and putting wholesale populations under house arrest is perverse. Coronavirus panic merchants and fearmongers have wrecked entire economies based on flimsy evidence and with little public scrutiny. Lockdowns...

Two pieces of plane debris found in Mozambique have been brought to Australia, where experts will determine whether they are from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that disappeared mysteriously over two years ago over the Indian Ocean.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has suffered “very widespread” damage after rising sea temperatures caused the third mass coral bleaching events in five years. Its northern reaches suffered an unprecedented two successive years of severe bleaching in 2016 and 2017. Some previously untouched areas had now suffered "moderate or severe bleaching".

Anecdotally, it is often said that engineers tend to lean rightwards in their politics. In their new book, Engineers of Jihad, sociologist Diego Gambetta and political scientist Steffen Hertog back up that gut sense with data. They find that Islamist radicalism and other far-right movements are dominated by engineers, doctors and those with tech backgrounds, while left-wing movements draw people from the humanities and social sciences. They tell TOI why this may be the case

Politicians from Australia and New Zealand are discussing the possibility of opening up borders to each other, creating a travel corridor -- or "travel bubble" -- between the two nations.

Once the koalas are located, the team and wildlife care experts can give the animals the support they need to survive in the wild.

The washroom, which comes with a toilet and shower, is within the kitchen, with just a glass partition between the two areas.

There is absolutely no mention of Jamaatis in the resignation letter.

2020 is too hard even for Charlie Brooker.

The new clause comes as sellers in Asia seek to protect their interests, as prices of some physical crude grades sold in the region have fallen to close to $10 a barrel due to heavy discounts.

The global market is fearing that India would slide into a 'controlled economy', which would be very damaging, Basu added.

Tennis is one of several social-distancing-compatible sports the Austrian government has allowed to resume as they ease the Covid-19 lockdown.

Tennis Australia spoke about the uncertainty around restrictions around coronavirus and said they will have to plan for all possible scenarios.

Chitrangada Singh talked about facing casting couch in an interview. The actress opened up about losing jobs as she refused to give in.

Cricket Australias staff, which has been stood down amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, could find new jobs stacking supermarket shelves in the coming days

The outbreak of the coronavirus has seen the Australian government seal the international boundaries till September 30. But Cricket Australia is not only keen to conduct the T20 World Cup in October, but also have India travel Down Under for the bilateral series at the end of the year.

Cricket Australia might lose a staggering AUD 300 million dollars if the Indian team fails to turn up for the bilateral series due to the global health crisis.

Australia are scheduled to take on Scotland in a T20 on 29 June before playing three T20s and three ODIs against world champions England from 3 July.

Cricket Scotland said that it is willing to host their scheduled matches against New Zealand and Australia behind closed doors. Both teams are scheduled to visit the associate nation for a brief series in June and the matches are yet to be postponed.

Earlier, West Indies great Michael Holding had also questioned the suggestions of legalising ball-tampering as a precautionary measure in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.