Carolina Vasquez lost track of days and nights, unable to see the sunlight while stuck for two weeks in a windowless cruise ship cabin as a fever took hold of her body. On the worst night of her encounter with COVID-19, the Chilean woman, a line cook on the Greg Mortimer ship, summoned the strength to take a cold shower fearing the worst: losing consciousness while isolated from others. Vasquez, 36, and tens of thousands of other crew members have been trapped for weeks aboard dozens of cruise ships around the world long after governments and cruise lines negotiated their passengers' disembarkation. Some have gotten ill and died; others have survived but are no longer getting paid. Both national and local governments have stopped crews from disembarking in order to prevent new cases of COVID-19 in their territories. Some of the ships, including 20 in US waters, have seen infections and deaths among the crew. But most ships have had no confirmed cases. "I never thought this would turn

In Texas, where the Republican governor was praised by President Donald Trump for loosening restrictions, hair salons and barber shops were allowed to reopen Friday, following earlier restarts of restaurants and retailers. Republican Senator Ted Cruz flew up from Houston to get his hair cut at a Dallas salon that became a rallying cry for conservative protests against lockdown orders after the owner refused to shut down and was jailed. She was later ordered released. California, which imposed the first statewide stay-home order in the U.S., was taking more modest steps. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom allowed clothing stores, sporting goods shops, florists and other retailers to start operating curbside pickup Friday, with many employees required to wear masks. Pennsylvania announced that 13 counties, including much of the Pittsburgh area, can loosen restrictions next week, following a similar move for a swath of rural northern Pennsylvania. South Carolina restaurants can reopen with

China has reported 15 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases, taking their total to 836 while one new imported COVID-19 infection was confirmed, health officials said on Saturday. According to China's National Health Commission (NHC), as for Friday 836 asymptomatic cases, including 63 from overseas, were still under medical observation. The NHC said one imported case of coronavirus was reported on Friday and 15 new asymptomatic cases, all domestic ones, were confirmed in the country. Most of the asymptomatic cases were being reported from first coronavirus epicentres Hubei province and its capital Wuhan where no confirmed cases were reported for the 35 days, the local health commission said. Normalcy is returning to the province as the lockdown has been lifted and offices, business and factories have been opened since last month. The province still has 628 asymptomatic cases under medical observation, after 13 new cases were reported on Friday, the commission said. Death toll in China ...

AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni has revealed that some of his squad members were still recovering from coronavirus. Serie A has been on hold since mid-March but Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Thursday he was hopeful group training could resume on May 18. "We have some infected players in the process of recovery," Scaroni told local media. Scaroni believes Italian football must live with COVID-19 and take an example from the Bundesliga which will restart on May 16. "We have to get used to living with the virus and this also applies to football," he said. "It is not possible to stand still until there is zero infection. Basically we can adopt the German formula that provides that those who are sick go into quarantine while their teammates continue." Milan technical director Paolo Maldini, together with his 18-year-old son Daniel, a youth team player, have both recovered from the virus. "Maldini father and son are doing well. There are players who are improving, but .

Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Batra's tenure as the chief of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has been extended till May next year after its annual congress was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to postpone the Congress, which was earlier scheduled to begin in New Delhi on October 28, was taken at an online meeting of the FIH Executive Board on Friday. "I'm looking forward to the numerous tournaments and competitions ahead of us, which we are preparing with full dedication and passion with all National Associations involved," Batra said. The exact date of the postponed congress will be confirmed as soon as possible, the FIH said in a statement. "This decision, made due to the current uncertainties following the global COVID-19 pandemic, is based on Art. 12.1 of the FIH Statutes, covering cases of force majeure," it added. The postponement means the tenures of all the current FIH office-bearers get extension until next year's ...

Actor Elle Fanning says she would love to pursue direction if she gets a good story. The actor said she "badly" wants to go behind the camera. "It's something that I do want to do badly. You've just got to find the right story. What is it that you want to tell? Is it going to be personal? Is it not? Are you going to write it? Are you not? A lot of big questions. I will for sure one day," Fanning said in an interview with Variety. She will next be seen as Catherine the Great in Hulu's 10-part satirical comedy series "The Great", which debuts on May 15. Fanning is also looking forward to The Nightingale, which also features her sister Dakota. The film, directed by actor Melanie Laurent, was scheduled to release in December but has been postponed by a year due to coronavirus pandemic.

Amazon Prime Video has given a second season order for Greg Daniels' show "Upload". The season two renewal comes just a week after the show premiered on Amazon Prime Video, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The single-camera sitcom, featuring Robbie Amell and Andy Allo, takes place in the near future, where people who are near death can be "uploaded" into a virtual afterlife of their choice. "I am thrilled to continue a great relationship with Amazon Studios and this wonderful cast and find out what happens next to Nora and Nathan and Ingrid and their 2033 world. With this news I can stop drawing my season 2 flip book," Daniels said in a statement. "Upload" is executive produced by Daniels and his producing partner Howard Klein.

Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary has the coronavirus, the White House said, making her the second person who works at the White House complex known to test positive for the virus this week. President Donald Trump, who publicly identified the affected Pence aide, said he was not worried about the virus spreading in the White House. Nonetheless, officials said they were stepping up safety protocols for the complex. Pence spokeswoman Katie Miller, who tested positive Friday, had been in recent contact with Pence but not with the president. She is married to Stephen Miller, a top Trump adviser. The White House had no immediate comment on whether Stephen Miller had been tested or if he was still working in the White House. Katie Miller had tested negative Thursday, a day before her positive result. This is why the whole concept of tests aren't necessarily great, Trump said. The tests are perfect but something can happen between a test where it's good and then something ...

Several American lawmakers have introduced a legislation in Congress to offer the 40,000 unused green cards to thousands of foreign nurses and doctors to meet the urgent needs of the overstretched healthcare sector in the US, the worst hit nation by the coronavirus pandemic. The US has nearly 1,284,000 cases of confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 77,000 people have died due to the highly contagious disease. The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act would allow for recapturing green cards that were approved by Congress but unused in past years, allowing thousands of additional medical professionals to serve permanently in the United States. The legislation would send green cards to 25,000 nurses and 15,000 doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that states like Iowa have the professionals they need to serve patients for years to come, a media release said. The move is likely to benefit a large number of Indian nurses and doctors in the US, who are either on H-1B or J2 visas. The ..

Filmmaker Mike Flanagan is set to tackle the film adaptation of yet another book from celebrated author Stephen King. Flanagan, who previously helmed the film version of King's novel"Doctor Sleep", is now adapting a scrip from the author's 2014 book "Revival". The filmmaker also has the option to direct the movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The project has been set up at Warner Bros and will be produced by Flanagan and Trevor Macy through their banner Intrepid Pictures. "Revival" centres around the relationship between a heroin-addicted musician and a dubious faith healer with a hidden agenda. The minister is obsessed with trying to find a way to communicate with his departed wife and child but ends up connecting to a Lovecraftian horror. Flanagan and Macy have earlier teamed for the 2017 adaptation of King's novel "Gerald's Game", which released on Netflix. They also collaborated on the 2018 Netflix series "The Haunting of Hill House".

Temuera Morrison will be making a return to the "Star Wars" universe as the actor is set to play Boba Fett in the second season of Disney Plus series "The Mandalorian". Morrison, 59, had earlier played the role of Jango Fett, the father of Boba Fett, in George Lucas' 2002 movie"Star Wars: Attack of the Clones". Boba Fett is a famed bounty hunter who first appeared on the big screen in 1980's"Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" and later in "Return of the Jedi". Jeremy Bulloch had essayed the role in the original films. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Morrison will have a small role as Boba Fett. The character also had a cameo appearance in the first season of "The Mandalorian". The show takes place after the events of "Return of the Jedi",in which fans saw Boba Fett die in sarlacc pit. "The Mandalorian" is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. The series depicts a lone bounty hunter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority .

The US women's national team has filed an appeal against a legal setback in their equal pay lawsuit, saying they are being paid less than the men even though they win twice as much. In dismissing their equal pay claim last Friday, Judge Gary Klausner said the case was unwarranted because they had previously turned down an offer in the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations to be paid along the lines of the US men's team. "The argument that women gave up a right to equal pay by accepting the best collective bargaining agreement possible in response to the Federation's refusal to put equal pay on the table is not a legitimate reason for continuing to discriminate against them," said USWNT spokesperson Molly Levinson on Friday night. She listed a series of grievances in the motion to appeal which was filed in a federal district court in California and is part of a larger lawsuit for equal pay. Levinson said the women are being discriminated against because they are not getting as ..

President Donald Trump says he's in no rush to negotiate another financial rescue bill, even as the government reported that more than 20 million Americans lost their jobs last month due to economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus. The president's low-key approach came Friday as the Labor Department reported the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression and as Democrats prepared to unveil what Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer calls a Rooseveltian-style aid package to shore up the economy and address the health crisis. Some congressional conservatives, meanwhile, who set aside long-held opposition to deficits to pass more than USD 2 trillion in relief so far, have expressed reservations about another massive spending package. We've kind of paused as far as formal negotiations go, Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council told reporters Friday. He said the administration wanted to let the last round of recovery funding kick in before committing to ..

Ivanka Trump's personal assistant has tested positive for the deadly coronavirus, making her the third White House staff member to be infected from COVID-19, a media report said on Saturday. The assistant, who works in a personal capacity for US President Donald Trump's daughter, has not been around her in several weeks, the CNN reported. She has been teleworking for nearly two months and was tested out of caution, the report quoted a source as saying. She was not symptomatic. Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner both tested negative on Friday, the person familiar with the matter told the US news channel. The development comes a day after President Trump confirmed that Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary Katie Miller had tested positive for the coronavirus. "She's a wonderful young woman, Katie, she tested very good for a long period of time and then all of a sudden today she tested positive," Trump said during a meeting at the White House. He said Miller had not come into ...

The U.S. government has awarded a $275 million border wall contract for construction that would begin in South Texas in January, at the start of President Donald Trump's second term if he is re-elected. Caddell Construction Company, based in Montgomery, Alabama, won the contract to build 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) of barriers in and around Laredo, Texas, a city of 260,000 people on the Rio Grande, the river that runs between Texas and Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the contract award Friday night using funds it had previously received from Congress rather than military funding re-directed to the wall. The CBP said construction would begin in January 2021 pending availability of real estate. There is little existing wall separating Laredo and its sister city of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Much of the planned construction would cut through private land in neighborhoods close to the edge of the Rio Grande, requiring the government to take property through its power of ...

The WHO and the UN's postal agency have released a commemorative postage stamp on the 40th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, with the head of the global health body expressing gratitude to a top Indian-origin UN official. In May 1980, the 33rd World Health Assembly issued its official declaration that "the world and all its peoples have won freedom from smallpox." It was ended on the back of a 10-year WHO-spearheaded global effort that involved thousands of health workers around the world to administer half a billion vaccinations to stamp out smallpox. "When WHO's smallpox eradication campaign was launched in 1967, one of the ways countries raised awareness about smallpox was through postage stamps when social media like Twitter and Facebook was not even on the horizon," World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "I especially want to thank my friend Mr Atul Khare, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support, for ...

Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy, the duo whose extraordinary magic tricks astonished millions until Horn was critically injured in 2003 by one of the act's famed white tigers, has died. He was 75. Horn died of complications from the coronavirus on Friday in a Las Vegas hospital, according to a statement released by publicist Dave Kirvin. Today, the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend, Siegfried Fischbacher said in the statement. From the moment we met, I knew Roy and I, together, would change the world. There could be no Siegfried without Roy, and no Roy without Siegfried. He was injured in October 2003 when a tiger named Montecore attacked him on stage at the Mirage hotel-casino in Las Vegas. He had severe neck injuries, lost a lot of blood and later suffered a stroke. He underwent lengthy rehabilitation, but the attack ended the long-running Las Vegas Strip production. The darker-haired of the flashy duo, Horn was credited with the idea of ...

Nepal has reported seven new coronavirus cases, taking the number of infections in the country to 109, the health ministry said on Saturday. Nepal is among the nations that has the least number of cases of the deadly coronavirus. The new cases involve three women and four men aged between 17 and 65 years. The women belonged to Udayapur district, while three men are from Kapilavastu district and one from Parsa district. With this, the total number of infections in the Himalayan nation has reached 109, it said. So far, 30 people have recovered from the disease, the ministry said. According to the Johns Hopkins University data, the virus has infected over 3.9 million people and claimed over 270,000 people worldwide.

Pop star Taylor Swift has announced an hour-long concert special "City of Lover" which will air on ABC. The announcement comes weeks after Swift was forced to cancel all of her 2020 live appearances and performances, including "Lover Fest East" and "Lover Fest West" , due to coronavirus pandemic. The special, which will air on May 17, was filmed in September at the L'Olympia Theater in Paris, where she performed in front of audiences from 37 countries. It will be available for streaming on Disney Plus and Hulu on May 18. "Excited to announce the City of Lover Concert! We filmed my show in Paris in September and thought it'd be fun to share it with you. May 17 at 10p ET on @abcnetwork and available the next day on @hulu and @disneyplus !#TaylorSwiftCityOfLover" the 30-year-old singer tweeted on Friday. The musical event gives fans unprecedented access to behind-the-scenes moments with the artist and marks her only concert performance this year, ABC Network said in a press ...

Music icon Bob Dylan is set to release his first album of original songs in eight years, Rough and Rowdy Ways, on June 19. The album is a follow up of 2012's "Tempest. The Nobel Prize-winning singer shared the release date of his new studio effort on Instagram and also released a third song from the album, the guitar-heavy False Prophet". The song follows Murder Most Foul and I Contain Multitudes. The album, his 39th collection of original songs, is said to be named after the 1929 Jimmie Rodgers classic My Rough and Rowdy Ways. It has ten tracks; on the CD version, while the 17-minute-long Murder Most Foul will get its own disc.

Pakistan on Saturday began easing the month-long lockdown despite a steady rise in the number of the coronavirus cases which rose to 27,474 after health authorities reported a big jump of 1,637 infections and 24 deaths in a single day. Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that Pakistan would begin easing its nationwide lockdown in a phase-wise manner by allowing various businesses to open up from Saturday, citing the economic crisis due to the shutdown, which was enforced in the country in March end. The first phase of easing lockdown began as the government announced removing restrictions by allowing more business to open and operate from dawn to 5pm. The federal government was trying to provide maximum relief to the people but due to the current economic conditions of the country, the lockdown must be eased, the Express Tribune quoted Khan as saying. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Adviser to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Ajmal Wazir said the provincial government .

Singapore on Saturday saw a drop in its daily tally of new coronavirus cases as the city-state reported 753 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total to 22,460, majority of them foreign nationals, including Indians, living in dormitories. On Friday, Singapore reported 768 new cases of coronavirus. The Health Ministry said the vast majority of the 753 new cases reported on Saturday are work permit holders (foreigners) residing in worker dormitories. Nine cases are Singapore citizens or permanent residents (foreigners). As of Friday, 19,232 of the 323,000 foreign workers living in dormitories, or nearly six per cent, have tested positive for COVID-19, reported The Straits Times. Singapore had placed 18,402 coronavirus patients in isolation while 1,245 are hospitalised by Friday, according to a data from the Health Ministry. The Ministry said 1,245 cases were still in hospital while 20 people have died of the disease. Singapore currently has the highest number of coronavirus cases ..

Luke Greenfield, the director of films such as "The Girl Next Door" and "Something Borrowed", will helm STXfilms' upcoming movie "We Are Untouchable". The director will also co-write the action-thriller in collaboration with Captain Mauzner, reported Deadline. The screenplay has been penned by Oritte Bendory and Aaron Feldman with revisions by Michael Diliberti and by Anthony Drazan. The story is about a group of international college grads working in Mexico City at their respective diplomatic embassies. "By day, they're slaving away as mailroom assistants getting abused by their bosses. But when they find out they have diplomatic immunity and they can't get arrested for anything they do they go wild with it and live out their fantasies. "Soon they're living double lives in the ultimate wish-fulfillment...until it isn't. They gradually fall into serious danger when they get entangled with a violent and savage group who extort them for their 'get out of jail free' cards," the ...

An Indian teenager here has recorded songs in over 20 languages, including Arabic, to spread awareness on the COVID-19, saying music has always been her choice for effective communication, according to a media report on Saturday. Suchetha Satish's songs advise the people to keep distance, maintain cleanliness and practice hand washing regularly, the Khaleej Times reported on Saturday. Satish, who hails from Kerala, released her first coronavirus awareness song on March 16 in English, titled 'Say No To Panic', the daily reported. Since then, 14-year-old Satish, who holds the world record for singing in most number of languages in a concert, has recorded the awareness songs in Malayalam, Bengali, Arabic, Kannada, Tulu, Konkani, Marathi, Gujrati, Rajasthani, Sindhi, Himachali, Odiya, Manipuri, Nepali, Urdu, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Kashmiri and Sanskrit. Her songs in Malayalam, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Assamese were used by the Kerala government in its 'Break the Chain' campaign, the .

The flight from Italy was one of the last arrivals that day at the Stockholm airport. A Swedish couple in their 50s walked up and loaded their skis into Razzak Khalaf's taxi. I t was early March and concerns over the coronavirus were already present, but the couple, both coughing for the entire 45-minute journey, assured Khalaf they were healthy and just suffering from a change in the weather. Four days later, the Iraqi immigrant got seriously ill with COVID-19. Still not able to return to work, Khalaf is part of the growing evidence that those in immigrant communities in the Nordic nations are being hit harder by the pandemic than the general population. Sweden took a relatively soft approach to fighting the coronavirus, one that attracted international attention. Large gatherings were banned but restaurants and schools for younger children have stayed open. The government has urged social distancing, and Swedes have largely complied. The country has paid a heavy price, with 2,769 ...

Diego Maradona has lent a hand in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in his hometown by autographing an Argentina national team jersey for a raffle. The sale raised money for an underprivileged area on the outskirts of Buenos Aires affected by quarantine rules. "We're going to get through it," Maradona wrote on the jersey, a replica of the one he wore when he led his country to victory in the 1986 World Cup. The jersey was first offered at auction, but is being raffled to those who have given donations in an initiative that has collected hygiene products, masks and around 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of food for charity. "Diego can't even imagine what he has done for us, it's priceless. I'll be grateful to him until the day I die," said local resident Marta Gutierrez. In addition to the pandemic, Argentina is facing a serious economic crisis and is in laborious negotiations on debt restructuring with creditors.

Jihadists burst into the gold mine where Moussa Tambura worked in Burkina Faso, forbidding everyone from smoking and drinking. It wasn't long before the men returned and leveled the place to the ground. They attacked the site, killed people and burned houses, said Tambura, 29, clenching his fists. He was able to find work again after fleeing to Bouda, another town in country's north that still has small-scale mining. Still, he struggles to provide for his family since his new job isn't as lucrative as his old one. Jihadists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State organization have been overrunning gold mines like Tambura's one by one as they try to gain control of Burkina Faso's most lucrative industry. The extremists are then collecting a protection tax from communities living around the gold mines and also forcing the miners to sell them the gold exclusively, which is then smuggled and sold across the border in places like Benin, Ghana or Togo. The violence already has shuttered ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin marked Victory day, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, in a ceremony shorn of its usual military parade and pomp by the coronavirus pandemic. Putin on Saturday laid flowers at the tomb of the unknown soldier just outside the Kremlin walls and gave a short address honouring the valour and suffering of the Soviet army during the war. Victory Day is Russia's most important secular holiday and this year's observance had been expected to be especially large because it is the 75th anniversary, but the Red Square military parade and a mass procession called The Immortal Regiment were postponed as part of measures to stifle the spread of the virus. The only vestige of the conventional show of military might was a flyover of central Moscow by 75 warplanes and helicopters. In the final events of the VE Day commemoration in Western Europe, which took place a day earlier, Berlin's landmark Brandenburg Gate was illuminated late ...

"Grey's Anatomy" star Caterina Scorsone and her musician husband Rob Giles have decided to part ways after 10 years of marriage. According to People magazine, Scorsone and Giles have decided to co-parent their three daughters: Eliza, seven, Paloma "Pippa" Michaela, three, and Arwen, who was born in December. "Caterina and Rob have separated. They remain friends and are committed to co-parenting their children in a spirit of love," the duo's representative said in a statement. The actor, known for playing Amelia Shepherd on Grey's Anatomy, tied the knot with Giles in 2009.

A Colombian advertising company is pitching a novel if morbid solution to shortages of hospital beds and coffins during the coronavirus pandemic: combine them. ABC Displays has created a cardboard bed with metal railings that designers say can double as a casket if a patient dies. Company manager Rodolfo Gmez said he was inspired to find a way to help after watching events unfold recently in nearby Ecuador. Families in the coastal city of Guayaquil waited with dead loved ones in their homes for days last month as COVID-19 cases surged. Many could not find or were unable to afford a wood coffin, using donated cardboard ones instead. Gmez said he plans to donate 10 of his new beds to Colombia's Amazonas department, where resources are in short supply. So far there is no indication whether the beds will be put to use and no orders have been placed.

The number of people dying from the coronavirus in Ohio's nursing homes has continued to increase at an alarming pace. Close to 500 residents of long-term care centers have died of COVID-19 in the past three weeks, according to data released by the state this week. That's nearly double the total reported for the previous two weeks. The increase in deaths could be attributed to a significant jump or a backlog of cases being added over the past week, said Melanie Amato, a spokeswoman for the state health department. Since mid-April, more than 4,300 nursing home residents and staff members have tested positive for the virus. The numbers don't tell the entire story of how the virus has devastated nursing homes during the pandemic because the Ohio Department of Health has only released the totals for just the past three weeks. Before that, the state didn't require local health departments to report nursing home deaths linked to the virus.

When Eliud Kipchoge made history by beating the two-hour mark for the marathon, the Kenyan was wearing a pair of controversial Nike running shoes that has sent rival companies scrambling to play catch-up in a business worth billions of dollars. The likes of Adidas, Asics, Brooks, Hoka, New Balance and Saucony have recently released or are about to unveil their own carbon-fibre versions of running shoes. Critics claim the new shoes are the equivalent of mechanical doping, while supporters hail them as a revolutionary technical advance in footwear after decades of stagnation. Nike said its Vaporfly range, unveiled in 2016, was an "example of how product design can capture the fascination of an entire sporting community and, more broadly, inspire new benchmarks of athletic potential", boasting an improvement in times by up to four percent. Elite athletes wearing versions of the Vaporfly, the carbon plates of which lend a propulsive sensation to every stride, have set a rash of personal ..

A six-week-old baby has become the youngest victim of coronavirus in England as the official death toll across hospitals and the wider community linked to COVID-19 hit 31,241 in the UK. The baby's death on Friday comes as Britain prepares for some easing in the strict lockdown measures in place to curb the spread of the deadly virus as it is believed that Britain is past the peak of the pandemic. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to make a televised address on Sunday, during which he will lay out a comprehensive plan to start unlocking the economy. However, Cabinet ministers have been warning against raising expectations beyond a modest easing of the social distancing rules in place to manage the pressure on the state-funded National Health Service (NHS). There are some concerns that people would start flouting the stay-at-home message during a long Bank Holiday weekend to mark the 75th anniversary of the World War II Victory in Europe (VE) Day on Friday. I'm conscious that ...

Australia's Daniel Ricciardo anticipates "chaos", "rust" and "adrenaline" should the 2020 Formula One season start at last. The global spread of the coronavirus has already led to 10 races, of what was to have been a record 22-event championship, being either cancelled or postponed. Officials at the FIA, motorsport's world governing body, are hoping to launch the season behind closed doors in Austria on July 5. "(It will be) some form of chaos, hopefully in a controlled manner," the Renault driver told BBC Radio Five Live. "I am not really referencing cars everywhere. But there is going to be so much rust, a combination of emotion, excitement, eagerness." Ricciardo, waiting out the crisis on his farm near Perth, Western Australia, believes a dramatic season-opener is in prospect at the Red Bull Ring. "Everyone is going to be ready to go," he said. "You are going to get some guys who perform on that level of adrenaline and others who might not. "So you're going to get some bold ...

Tens of thousands of people have turned out in the capital of Belarus despite sharply rising coronavirus infections to watch a military parade celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Belarus has not imposed wide-ranging restrictions to halt the virus' spread and authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed concerns about it as a "psychosis." At Saturday's parade of some 3,000 soldiers, Lukashenko said Belarus' ordeal in the war is incomparable with any difficulties of the present day. Some aged war veterans in the stands at the parade wore masks, but in general there were few masks to be seen in the throng of spectators. Belarus, a country of about 9 million, has recorded more than 21,000 cases of coronavirus infection.

Russian President Vladimir Putin marked Victory Day, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, in a ceremony shorn of its usual military parade and pomp by the coronavirus pandemic. In neighboring Belarus, however, the ceremonies went ahead in full, with tens of thousands of people in the sort of proximity that has been almost unseen in the world for months. Putin on Saturday laid flowers at the tomb of the unknown soldier just outside the Kremlin walls and gave a short address honoring the valor and suffering of the Soviet army during the war. Victory Day is Russia's most important secular holiday and this year's observance had been expected to be especially large because it is the 75th anniversary, but the Red Square military parade and a mass procession called The Immortal Regiment were postponed as part of measures to stifle the spread of the virus. The only vestige of the conventional show of military might was a flyover of central Moscow by 75 warplanes and .

Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal says he is ready to focus on his personal life and that includes having kids some day. The 39-year-old actor said he has neglected his family a lot due to his commitment to his work but now he has "lightened up". "I'm interested in my life, even more so than my work. I've reached a point in my career where I feel hungry in a different way. I've seen how much of my life I've neglected as a result of being committed to that work and that idea," Gyllenhaal told British Vogue in an interview. "(I've) lightened up. Seeing life as something that is, you know, fleeting, and the world being as it is now. I've turned to my family, I've turned to my friends and I've turned to love. I'm a little less interested in the work, I would say, and more interested in that," he added. Gyllenhaal, who is rumoured to be dating French model Jeanne Cadieu for the past two years,said that he "definitely" plans to have kids in future. "Yes, of course I do. I definitely do. The ...

The president of French soccer club Lyon says players in the men's and women's teams all tested negative for the coronavirus. The squads were tested by club doctors at Lyon's training center and "there were no positive cases," Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas told regional newspaper Le Progrs. The men's French league was canceled with 10 rounds of matches remaining amid coronavirus concerns, with Paris Saint-Germain declared champion and Lyon finishing outside the European places in seventh. Aulas had argued fervently for it to be completed in late August with a playoff system, but with PSG staying the champion given its large lead before play was stopped. Lyon's women's team reached the French Cup semifinals before women's matches were canceled.

The first Air India flight from the UK, scheduled as part of the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate Indians stranded overseas due to the coronavirus lockdown, took off from London's Heathrow Airport on Saturday and will land in Mumbai in the early hours of Sunday. Around 250 Indian students and tourists were seen queuing with their luggage at the airport from early on Saturday as they prepared for the journey home. Each one of them underwent temperature tests before boarding and could face 14 days of quarantine at a hotel or other location designated by the Maharashtra government on landing, with those details to be made available on arrival in Mumbai. "Finally going back to India! Although it was at the last moment but I was lucky enough to get the ticket of the first flight to India under Vande Bharat Mission," said a relieved Indian student, who was part of a group of seafarers who came to the UK for an examination. "We got continuous updates from NISAU (National Indian Students ...

European equestrianism on Saturday became the latest sport to adjust its calendar because of the postponement of the Olympics with the announcement that it had cancelled its 2021 eventing championships. With the Tokyo Games put back to next summer, other sports that had planned major championships for 2021 have been forced to react. The European equestrian championships were scheduled for Haras du Pin in Normandy from 11 to 15 August, which meant they were due to start just three days after the rearranged Olympics ends. The French equestrian federation, which announced the cancellation in a press release, said a postponement had been considered but rejected and, instead, Haras du Pin was "positioning itself for the organisation of the European Eventing Championship in 2023." Eventing sees a single rider and mount compete at show-jumping, dressage and cross-country.

A shootout erupted on Saturday at a protest in western Afghanistan by residents demanding economic assistance, leading to the deaths of at least six people, including a local reporter and two police officers, officials said. Interior Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian said the protesters had gathered outside the governor's office in Feroz Koh, the capital of the western Ghor province. They were demanding relief after weeks of restrictions aimed at containing the coronavirus pandemic. He said some people at the protest opened fire at police, igniting a gun battle that killed the six people and wounded another 19, including nine police. The ministry has launched an investigation and plans to send a delegation to the province. Afghanistan was already mired in poverty before the onset of the pandemic, which has infected nearly 3,800 people in the country and killed at least 109. Many Afghans rely on day labour, which has dried up because of the closure of nonessential businesses.

Nepal on Saturday raised objection over India inaugurating a strategically crucial link road connecting the Lipulekh pass at a height of 17,000 feet along the border with China in Uttarakhand with Dharchula, saying this "unilateral act" runs against the understanding reached between the two countries on resolving the border issues. Nepal's Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement said the government "has learnt with regret" about the inauguration of the link road connecting to Lipulekh pass, which Nepal claims to be part of its territory. The 80-Km new road inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday is expected to help pilgrims visiting Kailash-Mansarovar in Tibet in China as it is around 90 kms from the Lipulekh pass. After inaugurating the road through video-conferencing, Singh said pilgrims going to Kailash-Mansarovar will now be able to complete their journey in one week instead of up to three weeks. The road originates at Ghatiabagarh and ends at Lipulekh pass, the ...

San Diego Comic-Con has announced that it will be presenting an at-home version of its annual event this year. The convention's official Twitter handle shared the news. "Coming soon Free parking, comfy chairs, personalised snacks, no lines, pets welcome, badges for all, and a front-row seat to Comic-Con at Home, the tweet read. Then news comes less than a month after it was revealed that, for the first time in the event's history, Comic-Con would be cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event was scheduled to happen from July 23 to 26. No dates for the online at-home event have been announced yet.

Serbia has protested to the European Union after one of its publications described inventor and electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla as a Croat. Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Saturday he has sent the protest note to Brussels after the EU's Learning Corner site for children described Tesla as a famous Croatian who was one of the first people to discover X-ray imaging. An ethnic Serb born in 1856 in the Austrian Empire in present-day Croatia, Tesla spent most of his life abroad, working in Budapest and Paris before emigrating to the US in 1884 where he assumed American citizenship. He died in New York in 1943. History books quote him as saying that he was proud of his Serb origin and his Croat homeland. Tesla's ethnicity has long been just one of many disputes and points of contention between neighbouring Balkan rivals Serbia and Croatia, which once were both part of the Yugoslav federation that broke up in a civil war in the 1990s. Croatia is an EU member, while Serbia is seeking ...

The first Air India flight from the UK, as part of the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate Indians stranded overseas due to the coronavirus lockdown, took off from London's Heathrow Airport on Saturday with 326 passengers to Mumbai. The packed flight took off with Indian students and tourists, who were seen queuing with their luggage at the airport from early on Saturday as they prepared for the journey home. Each one of them underwent temperature tests before boarding and face 14 days of quarantine at a hotel or other location designated by the Maharashtra government on landing, with those details to be made available on arrival in Mumbai in the early hours of Sunday. While there is no social distancing possible on the packed flight, Air India is providing a kit for all passengers confirmed to fly, with meals, snacks, sanitizer, mask and gloves. Finally going back to India! Although it was at the last moment but I was lucky enough to get the ticket of the first flight to India under ..

The Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago nation with one of the world's most congested capitals, has seen a rapid rise in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks. Health officials predict that more than 77,000 people or a fourth of those currently living in the country could become infected, with more than 5,000 possibly needing intensive care treatment. Official figures updated Saturday showed 766 cases, including 743 that are still active. A vast majority of the patients are residents of Male, the capital. Three people have died so far. The Maldives, known for its luxury tourist resorts, reported its first case of COVID-19 in March, and until mid-April appeared to have contained the virus within the isolated resort islands that had been converted into quarantine centers. Male is highly congested, housing more than 150,000 people in a 5.8-square-kilometer (2.3-square-mile) area. The government had taken precautions to stop the virus from entering the capital by suspending ...

The Drug Controller of India has allowed clinical trial of Favipiravir medicine, developed indigenously a CSIR laboratory, on coronavirus patients, Director General Shekhar Mande said on Friday. He said the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad has developed the technology to make the drug Favipiravir. The technology has been transferred to a private company, IICT Director S Chandrashekar said. The company will now tie up with hospitals for clinical trials so that the drug could be tested on patients suffering from COVID-19. Approval from patients will be necessary as per the protocols, he said. Mande said Favipiravir is used in countries such as China and Japan to treat influenza. Whenever, a virus enters a cell, it tries to create multiple replicas. Favipiravir stops the replication process, he explained. The CSIR has already tied up with Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd to evaluate Mycobacterium W (Mw) for faster recovery of hospitalised COVID-19 patients and minimise

Reliance Jio has come up with new top-up plans to support extra data usage at up to 75 per cent lower rates and also made annual recharge plans 33 per cent cheaper compared to rivals by enhancing data usage limit at 4G speed to 2 GB per day. The company has brought three new "work-from-home" top-up plans that are available at the denominations of Rs 151 (30 GB), Rs 201 (40 GB) and Rs 251 (50 GB), which supplement usage once the daily limit is exhausted, as per the company's website. With these plans, average data cost comes to about Rs 5 per GB. Under the existing top-ups, which will continue, data on Jio network costs in the range of Rs 8.5 to Rs 21 per GB. Reliance Jio has revised the price for its annual plan to Rs 2,399 and enhance the daily data limit in the new plan to 2 GB. So, despite increase in value of the 365 days validity, the annual plan is 33 per cent cheaper than rivals due to extra data offered by it. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea offer similar annual plans for Rs ..

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the iconic Rabindra Setu, popularly known as the Howrah Bridge that connects Kolkata and its twin city Howrah, was illuminated by the Kolkata Port Trust on the occasion of the 159th birth anniversary of poet Rabidranath Tagore. The bridge which was almost deserted because of the ongoing lockdown was lit up by colourful LED lights in the evening, KoPT officials said. They said the illumination is a symbolic 'Message of Hope, in these troubled times to the citizens of this great metropolis and beyond. White light washed the bridge to honour the front line Covid-19 warriors, followed alternately by red, orange and green signalling the zones that identify the intensity of coronavirus spread, they said. All this while, instrumental pieces of Tagore song was played at the nearby Millennium Park, the officials said.

The Haryana government said on Friday a three-member SIT, which will be headed by a senior IAS officer, has been constituted to investigate the huge stock of liquor going missing from two godowns in Sonipat, and the alleged sale of illicit liquor in the state. With several bootlegging incidents being reported during the lockdown when liquor vends were closed, the SIT will also probe sale of illicit liquor in the state during the period, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said. Liquor vends in Haryana were closed from March 27 after the lockdown was announced, but have now reopened from May 6 after the state government decided to open the vends. He said a senior IAS officer -- either Ashok Khemka, Sanjeev Kaushal or T C Gupta -- will head the SIT while IPS officer Subhash Yadav and Additional Excise Commissioner Vijay Singh will also be its members and jointly investigate the matter. The scope of the SIT, which was earlier to probe the case of seized liquor going missing from the godowns ..