India
India daily virus cases double in ten days as infections soar
Having let its guard down with mass religious festivals, political rallies and crowds at cricket matches, India is experiencing a huge second wave, with almost...
Concerns over the side effects and effectiveness of tested and approved vaccines continue to rattle nerves elsewhere.
Major vaccination centres in Mumbai were running out of doses on Thursday, with the huge Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital stopping inoculations altogether.
The pandemic has not abated despite more than 660 million jabs having been doled out across the world, with vaccine-manufacturing powerhouse India registering more than 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time and infections in Iran hitting a four-month high.
In Maharashtra, the worst-hit state, nearly 60,000 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.
India reported 93,249 new daily infections on Sunday, according to health ministry data, the highest increase since September, taking the total known cases to almost 12.5 million.
Dubbed the 'pharmacy of the world,' India announced last week it was putting the brakes on exporting COVID-19 vaccines as it battled a new wave of infections and a faltering inoculation drive at home.
The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is being produced under licence in India for the Covax scheme, also led by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is meant to ensure that low-income countries can access COVID-19 jabs.
In a flurry of diplomacy, Japan announced that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will become the first foreign leader to see Biden in person, a sign of the primacy the new US leader attaches to allies.
The state, home to more than 90 million people with some 73 million eligible to vote in the staggered polling that kicks off on March 27, has so far eluded the BJP.
The news came after the ambassador Vijay Khanduja, held talks with the country's vice president, who is also health minister, Constantino Chiwenga.
The democracy research institute, which is independent but receives US funding, pointed to mob violence against Muslims, intimidation of journalists and rising judicial interference since Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won power in 2014.
The intellectual property plan was filed by India and South Africa on 2 October and garnered support from a host of developing countries which - correctly - anticipated being left behind in the vaccination race.
The country has struggled to claw back lost ground after a stringent, months-long lockdown caused the labour market to collapse and the economy to contract by nearly a quarter between April and June.
Police said the discovery was made by authorities during an inspection of a cargo container sent to South Africa from India.
More than 170 people were still missing after a barrage of water and debris hurtled with terrifying speed and power down a valley on Sunday morning, sweeping away bridges and roads and hitting two hydroelectric plants.
More than 170 people were still missing, two days after a wall of water and debris hurtled down a valley in the northern state of Uttarakhand, destroying bridges and roads, hitting two hydroelectric power plants and killing 31.
The massive surge of water swept through the Dhauliganga river valley, destroying everything in its path, videos taken by terrified residents showed.
Tens of thousands of farmers have been camped on the outskirts of India's capital New Delhi since November, calling for a repeal of laws they fear will allow large corporations to crush them.