The overall number of Covid cases has surpassed 262 million
amid concern about the emergence of a new variant, Omicron, in some countries.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case
count mounted to 262,093,495 while the death toll from the virus reached
5,206,982 Tuesday morning.
The US has recorded 48,438,063 cases to date and more than
778,701 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the
university data.
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases
since January, has registered 22,084,749 cases so far, while its Covid death
toll rose to 614,428.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,583,597 on Sunday, as
8,309 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the
federal health ministry data.
Besides, as many as 236 deaths due to the pandemic since
Saturday morning took the total death toll to 468,790.
Russia registered 33,860 new coronavirus cases over the past
24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 9,604,233, the official monitoring and
response center said Monday.
The nationwide death toll grew by 272,755, to 273,964 while
the number of recoveries increased by 8,268,111 to 8,295,811.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on
Sunday that it's not yet clear whether Omicron easily spreads from person to
person compared to other variants, even though the number of people testing
positive has risen in South Africa where this variant was involved.
It's also not yet clear whether Omicron causes more severe
disease, but preliminary data suggests that there are increasing rates of hospitalization
in South Africa, which however may be due to increasing overall numbers of
people becoming infected, reports Xinhua.
WHO classified on Friday the latest variant B.1.1.529 of
SARS-CoV-2 virus, now with the name Omicron, as a ‘Variant of Concern’ (VOC).
Comment
A US Navy destroyer
escort that engaged a superior Japanese fleet in the largest sea battle of
World War II in the Philippines has become the deepest wreck to be discovered,
according to explorers.
The USS Samuel B Roberts, popularly known as the
"Sammy B," was identified on Wednesday broken into two pieces on a
slope at a depth of 6,985 meters (22,916 feet).
That puts it 426 meters (1,400 feet) deeper than the USS
Johnston, the previous deepest wreck discovered last year in the Philippine Sea
also by American explorer Victor Vescovo, founder of Dallas-based Caladan
Oceanic Expeditions. He announced the latest find together with UK-based EYOS
Expeditions.
"It was an extraordinary honor to locate this
incredibly famous ship, and by doing so have the chance to retell her story of
heroism and duty to those who may not know of the ship and her crew's
sacrifice," Vescovo, a former Navy commander, said in a statement.
The Sammy B. took part in the Battle off Samar, the final
phase of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, in which the Imperial
Japanese Navy suffered its biggest loss of ships and failed to dislodge the US
forces from Leyte, which they invaded earlier as part of the liberation of the
Philippines.
According to some records, the destroyer escort disabled a
Japanese heavy cruiser with a torpedo and significantly damaged another while
battling the group led by the command battleship Yamato. After having spent
virtually all its ammunition, it was critically hit by the battleship Kongo and
sank. Of a 224-man crew, 89 died and 120 were saved, including the captain, Lt.
Cmdr. Robert W Copeland.
According to Samuel J Cox, a retired admiral and naval
historian, Copeland stated there was "no higher honor" then to have
led the men who displayed such incredible courage going into battle against
overwhelming odds, from which survival could not be expected.
"This site is a hallowed war grave, and serves to
remind all Americans of the great cost born by previous generations for the
freedom we take for granted today," Cox said in a statement.
The explorers said that up until the discovery, the
historical records of where the wreck lay were not very accurate. The search
involved the use of the deepest side-scan sonar ever installed and operated on
a submersible, well beyond the standard commercial limitations of 6,000 meters
(19,685 feet), EYOS said.
– AP/UNB
Comment
Three people died Monday when a long-distance train collided
with a dump truck in a rural region of the US state of Missouri, leaving
multiple passengers injured, local officials said.
Seven of the Amtrak train's approximately eight cars
derailed on a route from Los Angeles to Chicago when it struck the truck at a
rail crossing southwest of Mendon, Missouri.
Railcars were seen toppled on their sides along a farm field
as passengers climbed out the windows and doors in images posted to social
media.
"It all happened like slow motion. It started to rock
and, and rock, and then flicker, and then it just all of a sudden -- all this
dust was through my window," Robert Nightingale, who had been asleep in
the train, told CNN.
Blocked in his car, he climbed into a hallway before exiting
through the side of the train, he said, adding that the dump truck appeared to
have been carrying big boulders.
Justin Dunn, a spokesman for the Missouri State Highway
Patrol, told reporters at a press conference that the investigation "is in
its preliminary stages."
The train was carrying more than 200 passengers and around a
dozen crew when it crossed the intersection on a gravel road, which officials
said had neither lights nor electronic control devices marking the tracks,
which is common in rural areas.
"There are multiple injuries and we can confirm there
were three fatalities, two on the train and one in the dump truck," Dunn
said.
Emergency responders from surrounding counties arrived at
the scene and some injured were carried to trauma centers in medical
helicopters, officials said.
The National Transportation Safety board, the US agency
responsible for investigating transportation incidents, said on Twitter that a
14-member team would probe the derailment.
The accident comes one day after another Amtrak-operated
train collided with a passenger vehicle at a railroad crossing in California,
resulting in three deaths.
The crossing involved did not have guards, and a local fire
official said it was not uncommon to have accidents there, the local NBC
affiliate reported.
– AFP/BSS
Comment
Pollution is linked
to more than 10 percent of cancer cases in Europe, a report by the European
Environment Agency said Tuesday.
Most of these cases are preventable, it said.
"Exposure to air pollution, carcinogenic chemicals,
radon, UV (ultraviolet) radiation and second-hand smoke together may contribute
over 10 percent of the cancer burden in Europe," the agency said in a
statement.
But EEA expert Gerardo Sanchez said "all environmental
and occupational cancer risks can be reduced".
"Environmentally determined cancers due to radiation or
chemical carcinogens can be reduced to an almost negligible level," he
told journalists last week before the release of the report, the agency's first
on the link between cancer and the environment.
In the European Union, 2.7 million people are diagnosed with
cancer each year and 1.3 million die from it.
The continent, which accounts for less than 10 percent of
the world's population, reports almost a quarter of new cases and a fifth of
deaths.
Air pollution is linked to around one percent of all cancer
cases in Europe, and causes around two percent of all cancer deaths, the agency
said.
Indoor exposure to radon is linked to up to two percent of
all cancer cases, and one in ten lung cancer cases in Europe.
Natural UV radiation may be responsible for up to four
percent of all cancer cases in Europe, the agency said.
Exposure to second-hand smoke may increase the overall risk
for all cancers by up to 16 percent for people who have never been smokers, it
added.
The agency warned that some chemicals used in European
workplaces contribute to causing cancer, including lead, arsenic, chromium,
cadmium, acrylamide, and pesticides.
Asbestos, a well-known carcinogen, is estimated to account
for 55 to 88 percent of occupational lung cancers. The EU banned asbestos in
2005, but it is still present in some buildings and workers involved in renovation
and demolition work are still exposed, the agency said.
"Environmental and occupational cancer risks can be
reduced by cleaning up pollution and changing behaviours," it added.
"Decreasing these risks will lead to a fall in the
numbers of cancer cases and deaths."
– BSS/AFP
Comment
Two Russian missiles
slammed into a crowded shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of
Kremenchuk on Monday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 59, officials
said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said more than 1,000 people
were in the mall at the time of the attack, which witnesses said caused a huge
fire and sent dark smoke billowing into the sky.
At least 16 people were killed and 59 injured, Ukraine's
emergency services said.
A Reuters reporter saw the charred husk of a shopping
complex with a caved-in roof. Firefighters and soldiers were pulling out
mangled pieces of metal as they searched for survivors.
The mall was engulfed in a wall of flame which turned to
thick clouds of smoke as firefighters worked to contain the blaze. Aerial
photos showed the structure reduced to twisted metal, with workers combing
through growing piles of rubble.
"It is impossible to even imagine the number of victims
... It's useless to hope for decency and humanity from Russia," Zelenskiy
wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Kremenchuk, an industrial city of 217,000 before Russia's
Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, lies on the Dnipro River in the region of Poltava
and is the site of Ukraine's biggest oil refinery.
Dmytro Lunin, governor of the central Poltava region, wrote
on Telegram that it was too soon to talk of a final death toll as rescuers
continued to trawl through the rubble.
"It's an act of terrorism against civilians," he
said separately, suggesting there was no military target nearby that Russia
could have been aiming at.
At one point, paramedics rushed into the building after
rescuers called out "200" meaning they had found one or more bodies
in the building. Reporters were later pushed away from the scene as air raid
sirens wailed again.
UKRAINE WANTS MORE WEAPONS
As night began to fall, rescuers brought lights and
generators to continue the search. Worried family members, some close to tears
and with hands over their mouths, lined up at a hotel across the street from
the mall where rescue workers had set up a base.
Kiril Zhebolovsky, 24, was looking for his friend, Ruslan,
22, who worked at an electronics store and hadn't been heard from since the
blast. "We sent him messages, called, but nothing," he said. He left
his name and phone number with the rescue workers in case his friend is found.
A mall worker who gave his name as Roman, 28, told Reuters
that the mall's management had only three days ago allowed shops to remain open
during air raid sirens.
Ukraine's air force command said the mall was hit by two
long-range X-22 missiles fired from Tu-22M3 bombers that flew from Shaykovka
airfield in Russia's Kaluga region.
Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry
Polyanskiy, wrote on Twitter, without citing evidence, that the attack was a
"Ukrainian provocation."
"Exactly what Kiev regime needs to keep focus of
attention on Ukraine before (the) NATO Summit," he said, referring to the
alliance's Madrid gathering due to begin on Tuesday.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that
the upcoming summit will agree a new assistance package for Ukraine in areas
"like secure communications, anti-drone systems, and fuel."
"We need more weapons to protect our people, we need
missile defences," Andriy Yermak, head of President Zelenskiy's office,
wrote on Twitter after the attack.
Vadym Denysenko, an interior ministry adviser, said Russia
could have had three motives for the attack.
"The first, undoubtedly, is to sow panic, the second is
to ... destroy our infrastructure, and the third is to ... raise the stakes to
get the civilised West to sit down again at the table for talks," he said.
Russia, which has captured the eastern Ukrainian city of
Sievierodonetsk after a weeks-long assault, has stepped up missile strikes
across Ukraine in recent days.
Missiles hit an apartment block and landed close to a
kindergarten in the Ukrainian capital on Sunday, killing one person and
wounding several more people.
- Reuters
Ukraine crisis Ukraine Russia-Ukraine conflict Russia-Ukraine war
Comment
The overall number of Covid cases is gradually approaching
550 million amid a rise in new infections in Southeast Asia, the Middle East
and Europe.
According to the latest global data, the total case count
mounted to 549,667,293 while the death toll from the virus reached 6,352,025 on
Tuesday morning.
The US has recorded 88,910,140 cases so far and 1,041,027
people have died from the virus in the country, the data shows.
In India, as many as 13,562 new Covid-19 cases were recorded
in 24 hours, taking the total tally to 43,420,608, according to the data
released by the health ministry on Monday.
Besides, 21 deaths were reported due to the pandemic in the
country since Saturday morning, bringing the death toll to 525,020.
Comment
The overall number of Covid cases is gradually approaching 550 million amid a rise in new infections in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe. According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 549,667,293 while the death toll from the virus reached 6,352,025 on Tuesday morning.