Live news: Russia renews assault on Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol
Live news updates: Ukrainian President says Russia's invasion of his country was just the beginning.
 "Ukraine")
Firefighters work inside a building destroyed by a Russian bomb in Chernihiv on Friday, April 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
China logs 2,971 new local COVID-19 cases in past 24 hours
The Chinese mainland reported 2,971 new locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, of which 2,736 were reported in Shanghai, said the National Health Commission on Saturday.
Besides Shanghai, the rest of the local cases were reported in 16 other provincial-level regions including 136 in the northeastern province of Jilin, and six in Beijing, reported Xinhua citing the commission.
China also reported 21,355 locally transmitted asymptomatic infections of the novel coronavirus on Friday, of which, 20,634 were reported in Shanghai.
IIT Madras turns Covid-19 cluster with 55 testing positive
With 25 more testing positive, the total number of persons infected with Coronavirus in the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM) has gone up to 55, said Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J.Radhakrishnan.
According to him, the tests are being conducted in the 19 hostels in IITM complex. The infection rate is higher in a hostel that has students from other states.
Out of 1,420 persons, 55 have tested positive.
Russia shifts forces for battle over Ukrainian heartland
Russia and Ukraine hurtled toward what could be an epic battle for control of the country's industrial heartland as Ukrainian officials reported that Moscow had shifted a dozen crack military units from the shattered port of Mariupol to eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russia reported Friday that one serviceman was killed and 27 others were left missing after the fire on board the warship Moskva, which sank a week ago following what the Ukrainians boasted was a missile attack.
The Russian military previously reported everyone aboard had been rescued.
Delhi's R-value 2.1 this week, every COVID-19 infected person infecting two others: IIT-Madras analysis
Delhi's R-value, which indicates the spread of COVID-19, was recorded at 2.1 this week, implying that every infected person is infecting two others in the national capital, according to an analysis by IIT-Madras.
The 'R' or reproductive value indicates the number of people an infected person can spread the disease to, and a pandemic is considered to end if this value goes below one.
The preliminary analysis by computational modelling was done by IIT-Madras' Department of Mathematics and Centre of Excellence for Computational Mathematics and Data Science headed by Prof Neelesh S Upadhye and Prof S Sundar.
Security tightened ahead of PM Modi's visit to J-K tomorrow
Security arrangements have been strengthened ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir's Palli on Sunday.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to address panchayats across the country on 'Panchayati Raj Diwas' tomorrow.
Every year, April 24 is celebrated as the National Panchayati Raj Day.
Mask mandates return to US college campuses as Covid cases rise
The final weeks of the college school year have been disrupted yet again by COVID-19 as universities bring back mask mandates, switch to online classes and scale back large gatherings in response to upticks in coronavirus infections.
Colleges in Washington, DC, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Texas have reimposed a range of virus measures, with Howard University moving to remote learning amid a surge in cases in the nation's capital.
This is the third straight academic year that has been upended by COVID-19, meaning soon-to-be seniors have yet to experience a normal college year.
Russia's standing in G-20 not threatened by Ukraine invasion
The last time Russia invaded Ukraine, in 2014, outraged world leaders booted Russia out of the Group of Eight industrialised nations, which quickly rebranded itself the Group of Seven.
Eight years later, the G-7 is still holding at seven a collection of countries that meet to talk through big issues like trade, economics and security.
This past week, as global leaders gathered in Washington for spring meetings involving officials from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, G-7 and the larger Group of 20, it quickly became apparent that despite Russia's ongoing assault on Ukraine, its membership in the G-20 remains firmly intact.
2,527 fresh COVID-19 infections push India's tally of cases to 43,054,952
With 2,527 coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's total tally of cases rose to 43,054,952, while active cases have increased to 15,079, according to Union health ministry data updated on Saturday.
The death toll has climbed to 522,149 with 33 fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.75 per cent, the health ministry said.
An increase of 838 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
Over 11mn people fled Ukraine since war began: UN
More than 11 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia began its war against Kiev on February 24, according to the latest UN figures.
The world body further revealed that while 5.1 million people left for neighbouring countries, another 6.48 million were believed to have been displaced inside the war-torn nation, reports the BBC.
Of the 5.1 million people, Poland has taken in 2,867,241 refugees, the highest number, followed by Romania (769,616), Russia (578,255), Hungary (480,974), Moldova (430,170), Slovakia (349,286) and Belarus (23,900), according to the UN.
Over 11mn people fled Ukraine since war began: UN
More than 11 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia began its war against Kiev on February 24, according to the latest UN figures.
The world body further revealed that while 5.1 million people left for neighbouring countries, another 6.48 million were believed to have been displaced inside the war-torn nation, reports the BBC.
Of the 5.1 million people, Poland has taken in 2,867,241 refugees, the highest number, followed by Romania (769,616), Russia (578,255), Hungary (480,974), Moldova (430,170), Slovakia (349,286) and Belarus (23,900), according to the UN.
Amid multi-layered security for Modi's visit, Jammu's Palli village waits eagerly to welcome him
A multi-layered security set-up is in place on Saturday for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu's Samba district on Sunday.
The security set-up was beefed up with traffic restrictions after Friday's terror attack in Jammu city in which two terrorists and a CISF officer were killed.
Despite the attack, residents of Palli village remain unfazed and jubilant about Modi's visit.
The otherwise sleepy village has come to life in a big way as the locals are enthusiastically waiting for the VVIP visit.
Sitharaman makes India's stand clear with the US on the Ukraine crisis
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said India's stand on the Russia-Ukraine war was predicated on the security challenges in its own neighbourhood and the US should understand that though it has a friend in India, that "friend can't be a weak friend (and) the friend should be not weakened".
The Union Minister said she found that understanding in her interactions during her ongoing visit to the US for the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group.
She met many US officials on the sidelines, including National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and other officials, over a dinner hosted by Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
Baltic states mull joint air defence procurement
The Baltic states -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- are planning to organise joint procurement programmes to beef up their air defence capabilities, the Prime Ministers of the three countries said following their meeting in the Latvian state capital Riga.
The Prime Ministers of the three Baltic states met on Friday.
Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said their talks focused on strengthening defence cooperation through joint purchases of air defence systems, Xinhua news agency reported.
India carving out opportunities from challenges amid Ukraine crisis
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that India is "carving out" opportunities from challenging situations as the world continues to face hikes in fuel prices and shortage of food grains amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
Addressing a press conference in Washington alongside Indian envoy to US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Sitharaman said that India is trying to find a market for its exports and provide meaningful assistance to end hunger.
The Finance Minister said she voiced her concern that countries like India which have potential for floating its agricultural produce, particularly cereals, have faced difficulties with the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Russia aims at full control of Donbas, southern Ukraine: General
One of the tasks of the Russian Armed Forces during the ongoing second stage of the special military operation is to "establish full control over Donbas and southern Ukraine," Deputy Commander of Russia's Central Military district, Rustam Minnekaev said.
The control of Donbas will make it possible for Russia to create a land corridor to Crimea and influence Ukraine's vital facilities, including Black Sea ports where agricultural and metallurgical products are delivered to other countries, Minnekaev added on Friday at a defence industries meeting.
The Major General said control of Ukraine's south will open another way out to Transnistria, Xinhua news agency reported.
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First Published: Apr 23 2022 | 7:43 AM IST
