Covid-19: Italy begins to emerge from world’s longest nationwide lockdown

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People wearing face masks cross Ponte Milvio bridge, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Rome, Italy, May 1, 2020. (REUTERS) COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ Stir-crazy Italians will be free to stroll and visit relatives for the first time in nine weeks on Monday as Europe’s hardest-hit country eases back the world’s longest nationwide coronavirus lockdown. Four million people — an estimated 72 percent of them men — will return to their construction sites and factories as the economically and emotionally shattered country tries to get back to…

Oil prices open down on persistent oversupply worries

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US crude futures fell more than 5% in early trade on Monday(AP) COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ US crude futures fell more than 5% in early trade on Monday, paring last week’s gains, on worries about oil oversupply and tempered hopes for an economic recovery as some US states and cities around the world ease coronavirus pandemic restrictions. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell as low as $18.50 a barrel and last traded down 95 cents, or 4.8%, at $18.83. The benchmark contract rose 17% last week.

‘Extend Covid-19 emergency benefits to international students’: An appeal to Canadian PM

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The Canada Emergency Student Benefits programme or CESB, announced by Trudeau last month, is targeted at Canadian students.(Bloomberg) COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ A leading Indo-Canadian organisation has written to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, appealing to him to extend emergency benefits announced during the Covid-19 pandemic to international students, including nearly 200000 from India. Students from India comprise the largest contingent from abroad in Canada, with over 2 lakh from among the nearly 6.5 lakh. However, a large number of them have been stranded in Canada after restrictive measures were announced…

Japanese PM to consult with experts to extend state of emergency till May 31: Report

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The current state of emergency is set to expire on Wednesday, the last day of a week-long national holiday.(AP file photo ) COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, will consult with experts at a meeting on Monday to extend the national state of emergency until May 31, broadcaster NHK reported on Sunday. The government will also discuss further action on how to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus epidemic that has infected 15,589 people and killed 530 in the country. Japan is expected to declare the extension…

Eye on Gulf countries, Pak ups Twitter campaign to target India over ‘Islamophobia’

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Indian officials said it was clear that the social media campaign wasn’t just an invention of Pakistan’s deep state, the Inter Services Intelligence, but had its origin in Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s shrill pitch against India, and PM Modi at the UN General Assembly in August last year.(File Photo) COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ Indian security agencies have identified nearly 7,000 accounts on micro-blogging site Twitter that were opened in April 2020 and are being operated from Pakistan, a report submitted to the government this week has said. These social media…

UK doctor alerts Indians to poor diet link with Covid-19 deaths

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Meals being distributed to the people in need at a food distribution, in Gazipur Govt School, during lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, in New Delhi. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO) COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ Poor diet is a major cause behind the Covid-19 deaths and the Indians must urgently cut down on ultra-processed food to build resilience against the deadly virus, a leading Indian-origin cardiologist in the UK has cautioned. Dr Aseem Malhotra, who is among the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) frontline medics and also a professor of evidence…

‘Nothing can stop America’: Warren Buffett says US can withstand Covid-19

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File photo of Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway(Reuters File ) COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ Billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Saturday said the United States’ capacity to withstand crises provides a silver lining as it combats the coronavirus, even as he acknowledged that the global pandemic could significantly damage the economy and his investments. Over more than 4-1/2 hours at the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, Buffett said his conglomerate has taken many steps responding to the pandemic, including providing cash to struggling operating units, and throwing in…

Covid-19: Mosques and schools to reopen in Iran’s low-risk areas

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The health ministry said on Saturday that the trajectory of infections has started a “gradual” downward trend in Iran, where the death toll is 6,156 and total number of diagnosed cases has reached 96,448.(Bloomberg file photo ) COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ Iran plans to reopen mosques and schools in areas that have been consistently free of the coronavirus as President Hassan Rouhani’s government starts to ease restrictions that were aimed at containing the outbreak. With mosques closed and religious gatherings banned since mid-March as the outbreak spread in the Middle East’s…

Over 150,000 Indians in UAE register to return home

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About 10 per cent of the applicants are visit and tourist visa holders who got stranded here due to the ongoing lockdown in India.(ANI file photo. Representative image ) COURTESY BY: https://www.hindustantimes.com/ Over 150,000 Indians in the UAE, who wish to return home amid the coronavirus lockdown, have applied through the online registration process to the Indian missions here, according to media reports. The Indian missions in the country last week opened online registration for the expatriates who wish to fly back home after getting stuck in the country amidst…

Clarke left bemused after Cricket Australia excluded Khawaja from national contract list

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COURTESY BY: https://www.cricingif.com/ Cricket Australia announced the names of 20 nationally contracted players but one notable omission left former Australia captain Michael Clarke bemused. Clarke asked the reason for leaving out the senior batsman Usman Khawaja from the list. The 33-year-old has fallen down the pecking order and not long ago he was considered as the lynchpin of Australia’s batting line-up. “I find it very hard to believe that someone with the talent and the runs behind him over 10 years isn’t in Australia’s top 20 players,” Clarke told Big Sports…