World

NEW DELHI: The Indian government rejected on Thursday (Jul 22) recent studies suggesting that millions of people have died in the country from COVID-19, several times the official toll of almost 420,000. It said in a statement however that several Indian states were now "reconciling" their data after dealing with a spike in cases in April and May. On Tuesday a study by US research group the Center for Global Development suggested anywhere from 3.4 million to 4.7 million people had died in India, between eight and 11 times the official number. That would give the country the world's highest number of fatalities. Currently its official toll of 419,000 trails the United States on 610,000 and Brazil with 545,000. The study is the latest to cast doubt on India's official numbers, pointi...

BEIJING/HONG KONG :Ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc said a regulatory order that its app be removed from app stores in China could hurt revenue, while other newly U.S.-listed Chinese firms also found themselves the subject of cybersecurity investigations. BEIJING/HONG KONG -Ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc said a regulatory order that its app be removed from app stores in China could hurt revenue, while other newly U.S.-listed Chinese firms also found themselves the subject of cybersecurity investigations. Sunday's takedown order from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) comes just two days after the regulator announced an investigation into Didi and less than a week after it made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Didi told Reuters on Monday that it was unaware b...

Most Asian stocks gained on Monday, extending the rally that took global equities to a record high after a U.S. jobs report signalled the economic recovery remained intact but didn't yet warrant any immediate withdrawal of Federal Reserve stimulus. LONDON/TOKYO: World stocks clung close to record highs on Monday as worries about the Delta variant of COVID-19 offset positive sentiment from surging euro zone business activity and a welcome U.S. jobs report. The STOXX index of 600 leading European companies was flat, reversing earlier losses after data showed euro zone businesses expanded activity at the fastest rate in 15 years in June. Activity for British services firms also soared in June, albeit at a slightly slower rate. French shares sank 0.4per cent as Health Minister Olivier ...

SINGAPORE: A student at St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) was taken to hospital on Thursday (Jul 22) after a fall from height at school. The police said they received a call for assistance at 38 Malcolm Road, the address of the school, at about 11.40am. "A male teenager had fallen from height and was conscious when conveyed to the hospital," said the police, adding that they do not suspect foul play. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said a person was taken to KK Women's and Children's Hospital. The boy fell from the fourth level in the common area after recess, said Mr Lee Kok Fatt, who is chairman of the SJI board of governors. The school contacted his parents and a teacher accompanied the student to hospital, Mr Lee told CNA. In a media statement, SJI said that the schoo...

BEIJING: The Delta variant poses new risks for the world's second-biggest economy as it spreads from the coast to China's inland cities and presents fresh challenges to authorities who have for months managed to avert any widespread outbreak of the coronavirus. Barely a month after disrupting industry in the southern export hub of Guangdong, cases of the Delta variant were detected in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province on the coast. The infections were traced back to a flight from Russia. Since Nanjing confirmed its first Delta cases on Jul 20, numerous cities in southern China and a few in the north including Beijing have reported infections. The tally of locally transmitted cases stood at 353 as of Sunday (Aug 1). It was not immediately clear whether Nanjing was the source of al...

SINGAPORE: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday (Jul 27) he was committed to having a constructive relationship with China and working on common challenges as he laid out his vision for ties with Beijing, which have sunk to their lowest point in decades. The United States has put countering China at the heart of its national security policy for years and President Joe Biden's administration has called rivalry with Beijing "the biggest geopolitical test" of this century. While Austin's speech in Singapore touched on the usual list of behaviour Washington describes as destabilising, from Taiwan to the South China Sea, his comments about seeking a stable relationship could provide an opening for the two countries to start to reduce tension. "We will not flinch when our int...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's predominant human trafficking crime is forced labour, the US State Department said on Friday (Jul 2), after downgrading the Southeast Asian country to the worst tier in its annual report on human trafficking. Malaysia fell to Tier 3 in this year's closely watched Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report as it continued to conflate human trafficking and migrant smuggling crimes, and did not adequately address or criminally pursue credible allegations on labour trafficking, the report said. Malaysia's home ministry has not commented publicly on the report and did not immediately respond on Friday to a request from Reuters for comment. In a teleconference with reporters, Acting Director of the State Department's trafficking office Kari Johnstone said the overwhelmin...

A store advertises for employees, after coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions were lifted, in Santa Monica, California, June 22, 2021. Lucy Nicholson | Reuters Small businesses across the country are struggling to keep employees and attract new staff in a tight labor market which has given workers the upper hand. The latest nonfarm payroll report on Friday showed that the hiring remains hot, with a better-than-expected 850,000 jobs added in June by employers, and wages again ticking higher. Businesses are being forced to offer higher pay and more benefits to staff up and take advantage of a booming economy post-Covid. And they are competing locally with a slew of major corporations across the U.S. that have been hiking wages and offering enticing bonuses. Amazon is offering a $1,000...

Twitter Inc saw a surge in demands over the course of last year from governments around the world to take down content posted by journalists and news outlets, data to be released by the social media platform for the first time will show. REUTERS: Twitter Inc saw a surge in demands over the course of last year from governments around the world to take down content posted by journalists and news outlets, data to be released by the social media platform for the first time will show. In its transparency report to be published on Wednesday and a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Twitter said verified accounts of 199 journalists and news outlets on its platform globally were subject to 361 legal demands from governments to remove content in the second half of 2020, an increase of 26per cent f...

MANILA: Rodzon Enriquez's skeletal remains are pulled out of a coffin-sized tomb in Manila and placed in a body bag. Five years after the 21-year-old was killed in the Philippines' drug war, the lease on his grave is expiring. Activists estimate tens of thousands of people have died since President Rodrigo Duterte ordered police to go after drug addicts and dealers in a widely-condemned campaign that has largely targeted poor men. Many of the dead were put in "apartment" tombs stacked metres high in jam-packed cemeteries across the sprawling capital, where a five-year lease on a rectangular concrete box costs about 5,000 pesos (US$100). As leases run out, a Catholic charity is helping families unable to afford the renewal fee to retrieve the bones of their loved ones with the aim of...