Category: International

International

Second Suspected Case of Novel Coronavirus Also Found In Kerala

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The second case of novel coronavirus in India is reported from Kerala. The patient returned from China on January 24 and it suspected to have coronavirus infection but is said to be stable.

Novel coronavirus cases in India

On Thursday, the first case of novel coronavirus was reported from Kerala where a medical student from China’s Wuhan city reported the throat infection. Soon she was quarantined at a hospital in Thrissur.

The second suspected case of novel coronavirus was also from Kerala. But the case is yet to be confirmed said Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja. The minister said that the government was informed about the suspected case of coronavirus by National Institute of Virology in Pune. The institute said that there could be possibility of another positive case in Alappuzha.

NIV Pune is conducting detailed examination of the patient to confirm the case. Meanwhile, the government has released an advisory for people coming from China to report to health department. NIV Pune would confirm the second case in a short time.

Kerala, that has two cases of novel coronavirus, has 1,700 people under surveillance at their homes. They have exposure to the virus in China. But around 70 people have been kept in isolation wards for close monitoring.

Novel coronavirus outbreak in the world

Starting from Wuhan in China, the novel coronavirus has spread to more than 20 countries across the globe. Considering the speed of outbreak, the WHO has declared novel coronavirus a global health emergency.

Source: https://bit.ly/37R4lNF

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International

Britain Puts An End To Brexit On Friday 11 PM

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On Friday 11 p.m., Britain bade farewell to the European Union. It has been nearly a half-century since UK joined the world’s largest trading bloc but it decided to walk out of EU to an uncertain future as a midsize economy.

Brexit timeline

Three-and-a-half ago, the then prime minister of Britain Theresa May proclaimed that “Brexit means Brexit” but she couldn’t keep her promise and had to resign in the wake of her inability to negotiate a Brexit deal.

The present prime minister Boris Johnson was voted to power only for Brexit and he kept the promise. He got commanding majority in election last month only on the promise to get Brexit done. After Brexit, he tweeted that spread hope and opportunity to every part of the UK.

Mr. Johnson met his cabinet in Sunderland to celebrate Brexit and promise that his government would undertake the biggest revival of the infrastructure since the Victorians. Sunderland is an industrial city in the north and also a traditional labor stronghold.

UK before and after Brexit

Brexit debate split the country geographically and generationally. But the future of UK seems uncertain even after Brexit. Scotland is threatening to renew its drive for independence. Also, Northern Ireland wants to join hands with Ireland. But UK is certain that Brexit will upend settle relations in virtually all areas of society. But at the same time, Britain will have to confront and answer new questions.

Source: https://nyti.ms/38SCvke

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International

A Fan Uploaded Last Selfie With Kobe Bryant

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A young fan of Kobe Bryant could have captured the last picture of the basketball legend had Kobe allowed him. But the fan quickly clicked a selfie as Kobe Bryant walked past him. He was thirteen-year-old BradySmigiel.

Selfie with Kobe Bryant

Brady Smigiel was in the Mamba Sports Academy owned by Kobe Bryant for a match. Luckily the basketball star was also at the academy to coach the team of his daughter Gianna (13). Brady was happy to find Bryant in the academy and wanted to click a picture with the star.

Brady approach Kobe Bryant for a picture but the latter promised a better picture next day. According to Brady’s mother, Dionne Smigiel, the NBA star wasn’t in the mood to click picture because his daughter’s team lost their match.

Brady Smigiel waited for selfie

An ardent fan of Kobe Bryant, Brady waited for the NBA star to come out after Gianna’s game. And the star came out but only to decline his request. Kobe Bryant promised Brady a good picture the next day but the destiny has different things for Kobe.

According to Brandy, Kobe Bryant asked whether he was playing the tournament and when Brandy responded in affirmation, Kobe said that they would take a picture the next day. But that day never came.

Brandy Smigiel quickly take out his mobile and took an instant selfie when the NBA star walked past him. The next day, Brandy uploaded the picture on Facebook with caption “we will take a better pic tomorrow”.

Source: https://bit.ly/36KQLKu

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International

With 213 Deaths And 9,692 Infected, Coronavirus Is Declared Global Health By WHO

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World Health Organization (WHO)has declared coronavirus, a global health emergency after the death toll in China from coronavirus reached 213. According to Chinese health authorities, maximum number of deaths were reported from Hubei and there were close to 10,000 infected cases in the country.

Lockdown in Wuhan, China

With 204 deaths, Hubei has become the centre of epidemic. Also, the Chinese authorities have detected 1,220 new cases in Hubei. The total number of persons infected with coronavirus has reached 6,000 with the new cases. In a hurry, China has placed some 60 million people in Hubei under virtual lockdown stage.

WHO is worried about coronavirus

The world health body said it declared coronavirus a global emergency because the potential of the virus to strike the countries with weaker health system. Coronavirus has already spread to 18 countries with Italy joining the list of coronavirus infected countries.

Italy found virus in to Chinese tourists afterwards the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Contetook a more drastic measure that others. Italy closed all air traffic to and from China. But WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the organization opposes such restrictions.

Other countries are rescuing their citizens from Hubei but Air France, American Airlines and British Airways have stopped flying to mainland China. The airline employees were worried about the exposure to the virus.

Stocks around the world also plunged fearing the economic fallout from Coronavirus in China that is the second-biggest economy of the world. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities are assessing the situation.

Source: https://bit.ly/38RxacQ

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International

Coronavirus: Why The World Is Scared Of This Virus Outbreak?

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The latest tally of coronavirus is 106 fatalities and over 4,000 infected worldwide. But the good thing is that the world has come together to contain the spread of the deadly virus. 

In India, the Union Health Ministry has already sounded alert at international airports and has asked its officials to do a thermal screening of those coming from China. Several cases of coronavirus from Delhi, Mumbai and other states have been reported.

Members of security wear facemasks inside the high-speed train station connecting Hong Kong to mainland China during a public holiday in celebration of the Lunar New Year in Hong Kong on January 28, 2020, as a preventative measure following a virus outbreak which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan. – China on January 28 urged its citizens to postpone travel abroad as it expanded unprecedented efforts to contain a viral outbreak that has killed 106 people and left other governments racing to pull their nationals from the contagion’s epicentre. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP) (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)

An emergency helpline number has been set up to attend to queries about the deadly virus. The call center is active 24×7. The Union Health Ministry provided information about the helpline number in a Tweet. Anyone looking for help can call 011-23978046. He will be directed to the concerned district and state officials for help. 

Let’s check what is this virus and where it came from

Origin

Origin of the coronavirus can be traced to Wuhan city in central China and it is suspected that the virus took birth in the crowded seafood market of the sprawling capital of … Read the rest

International

The US Embassy In Baghdad Again Hit With Rockets

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The US embassy in Iraq was attacked with rockets on Sunday. It was the first attacked after months of close-calls but thousands of protestors kept-up anti-US sin-ins across the country.

Attack on US embassy

Three rockets landed in the US embassy but no casualty was reported according to Iraqi security forces. But the US embassy didn’t give any information on the attack. Also, no one took responsibility for the attack but the US blamed Iran-backed military factions in Iraq for the attack. The rockets were launched earlier in the day and fell on the western bank of Tigris.

Iraq condemned the attack

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi condemned the attack. Speaker of Parliament Mohammed Halbusiwhile condemning the attack said that Iraq faced the risk of being dragged into a homeland war. But it had already been dragged into a worrying tit-for-tat fight between the US and Iran.

The US in Iraq

Presently there are approximately 5,200 Americans stationed at various locations in Iraq. And they are there to lead the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group. But now the top Iraqi fighters also want the US to be out after the Baghdad attack.

Iraqis protesting against the US

Cleric Moqtada Sadr, who’s considered a vehement critic of the US, held a rally in Baghdad on Friday and called for American troops to leave with thousands of his supporters. He had previously supported the anti-regime protests across Baghdad and south. Also, he held a large bloc in parliament and top ministerial posts.

Source: https://bit.ly/2GqhHnU

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International News & Politics

European Union Passes Six Resolutions Against CAA And Kashmir Ahead of PM Modi’s Visit

HT News

As India PM Narendra Modi’s gears up for the India-EU summit in Brussels in March, there is a big backlash from European Parliament (EU) on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the clampdown on Jammu and Kashmir.

EU backlash on CAA and J&K

EU parliament had six resolutions by 626 from 751 members on the CAA and J&K. But their bigger concern was CAA as they are of the opinion that the controversial citizenship law could create the largest statelessness crisis in the world. But the Indian government refuted the resolutions by calling both the issues as internal matters of the country. Also, the government assured that acts were adopted with due process of the law.

EU groups that moved the resolutions

  1. Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
  2. The European People’s Party (Christian Democrats)
  3. European United Left and Nordic Green Left
  4. Greens/European Free Alliance
  5. Conservatives and Reformists
  6. The Renew Europe Group

While the first group denounced the fact that India had incorporated religious criteria into its naturalization and refugee policies, the second group expressed its concern over negative image of internal stability in India due to CAA consequences.

India’s reaction to the resolutions

India took exception to the move saying that the issues were entirely internal to the country. And the government displayed hope that those backing India would engage with the government to assess the facts related to the said issues before proceeding any further.

Source: https://bit.ly/3aQ47si

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International

Wuhan Virus Claims 41 Lives; With Over 1,000 People Infected, 14 Cities Locked Down

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The deadly virus outbreak in China has already claimed 41 lives with 15 new fatalities reported by authorities on Saturday. It was further reported that over 1,000 people are infected from the virus.

China virus spread

The new fatalities due to the deadly virus were reported from provincial capital of Wuhan where the deadly virus first emerged. 11 lack residents of Wuhan and millions of 13 more cities are facing quarantine like situation because the cities have been locked down to contain the spread of deadly respiratory contagion that has already spread nationwide and to several other countries.

New cases emerged

So far, 180 new cases have been reported and they will take the national tally of 830 confirmed cases to above 1,000. Also, most of the new cases are from Wuhan but what is more worrying is bulk of the rest of the cases is from the smaller cities outside the locked down cities.

Difficult time for China

The country is passing through the worst phase in history because millions of people are travelling within and outside the country for major Lunar New Year holiday. And this mass movement has increased the risk of further spreading of the virus.

This virus has many things similar to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) that caused ripples in the global health in 2002-03. At that time, it killed hundreds of people in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Source: https://bit.ly/36pzIxi

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International

China Sealed Wuhan To Contain The Threat Of Coronavirus Outbreak

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China has put Wuhan under quarantine after the outbreak of deadly coronavirus claimed 17 lives and infected 500 people. The outbreak started in Wuhan that was called “the main battlefield” against the disease.

Outward flights and trains from the city had been suspended, subways halted and large public gatherings cancelled. Also, the doctors were busy treating patients with full-body protective suits.

Wuhan outbreak

The city was a major transport hub and a seafood market visited by millions of people every day. But what is more worrisome is that some people that visited Wuhan were seen in the US and some Asian countries.

The government has clamped curfew on the movement of transport systems and people who are ordered not to move out of their homes without specific reasons.

The notice said that it was necessary to effectively cut off the virus spread and guarantee health and safety of the people. And the decision came at a time when millions of people were planning to travel across China for the Lunar New Year holiday starting Friday. But there was a ban on all group tours by tourism and cultural department of the city. It would remain in effect until 8th February.

Guiyuan Temple had also scrapped its annual prayer-giving that attracted 700,000 people last year also scrapped the major lunar year event. Meanwhile the hashtag “Wuhan is sealed off” started trending on Weibo that was called China’s Twitter.

The government is keeping a close watch over the development. The comments seemed politically sensitive are regularly censored to keep things in control.

Source: https://bit.ly/2RGGzxb

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Top Celebrities International

Taylor Swift Disclosed Why She Maintains Distance From Making Political Statements

HT News

Taylor Swift generally keeps her political views silent especially after the Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines in 2003 incident when she had to have heavy losses in terms of popularity and finances.

Dixie Chick incident

Swift said that she was ashamed that the then President George W. Bush was born in Texas. And it ultimately resulted in big losses for her. Her band was banned from some radio station that further resulted in a sharp drop in record sales and popularity.

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If it don’t fits I still sits – small wooden box edition 💋

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on

More incidents Swift talked about

She remembered a 2018 incident when her endorsement resulted in serious trouble where she had to encounter stalkers. She said that that was very terrifying because she dealt with stalkers on daily basis.

Another incident of Swift taking political side was presenting pro-LGBTQ themes in her video “You Need To Calm Down”. Swift won the Vanguard Award from GLAAD for this very video. But she felt that she needed to do more than simply celebrating the victory. She said that she could lend her voice to the cause but she wanted to advocate the cause.

Swift talked about her mother

Her mother Andrea, 62, had been diagnosed with brain tumor and she was undergoing chemotherapy when the Grammy Award winner going through all the ordeal.

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Miss Americana 🎬 January 31 on @netflixfilm

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on

She said that it was very painful … Read the rest