Marshmallow world in the winter

NEW DELHI: Ajay Singh Yadav only managed a final video call with Raj Karan before his close friend became the latest of an alarming number of young Indians, including children, falling victim to the COVID-19 wave sweeping the country. Some doctors say the reason that under-45s are now vulnerable is that they go to work and eat out more, but there is no definitive proof. They could also be more prone to a new "double mutant" variant found in 60 per cent of samples in Maharashtra, the hardest-hit state. Karan, 38, was campaigning in village elections when he fell ill. Yadav rushed him to a hospital, but he too tested positive and was put into isolation. "I am devastated ... I could only see him via a video call," Yadav, 39, told AFP in the northern city of Lucknow. The nation of 1.3 billion people has been hit by a new wave that has caused 1 million positive tests in a week, and authorities are rattled. At the start of the year, India thought it had beaten the pandemic ... » Learn More about Young and infected: COVID-19’s new patients as India battles huge surge

BERLIN: Germany is paying tribute on Sunday (Apr 18) to the nearly 80,000 people it has lost to the coronavirus, even as the country struggles to get a grip on another rise in infections. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will lead a memorial event with other top officials at Berlin's Konzerthaus concert hall. His office says it is also dedicated to the bereaved “who could not accompany their relatives when they died and for whom important and comforting rituals of mourning were not possible". Germany's confirmed death toll from COVID-19 stood at 79,914 on Sunday, an increase of 67 over the previous day. That is the fifth-highest total in Europe, after the UK, Italy, Russia and France. READ: COVID-19 pandemic leaves French hospital interns at breaking point READ: Germany sees biggest jump in COVID-19 cases since early January Germany had a comparatively small number of deaths in the pandemic’s first phase, but saw much higher infection levels in the fall and winter. In ... » Learn More about Germany remembers nearly 80,000 dead in COVID-19 pandemic

JERUSALEM: Israelis stepped into the streets without masks on Sunday (Apr 18) for the first time in a year, a key milestone as the country vaccinates its way out of a coronavirus nightmare. "It's very strange but it's very nice," said Eliana Gamulka, 26, after getting off a bus near the busy Jerusalem shopping boulevard of Jaffa Street and removing her face covering. "You can't pretend that you don't know anyone any more," she smiled. With over half the population fully vaccinated in one of the world's fastest anti-COVID 19 inoculation campaigns, the health ministry announced on Thursday that masks would no longer be required in public outdoor spaces. For Gamulka, a project manager, the good news came at the perfect time - just two weeks before her wedding. It will be "very nice to celebrate with everyone, now without masks", she said. "The pictures will be great! I'm very relieved. We can start living again." The vaccination of close to five million people has sent ... » Learn More about Masks come off as Israel vaunts COVID-19 victory

BERLIN: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany jumped on Thursday (Apr 15) by 29,426 to 3.073 million, the biggest increase since Jan 8 as the government seeks to push through tougher nationwide curbs to try to contain a third wave of the virus. The reported death toll rose by 293 to 79,381 while the number of new infections per 100,000 residents over seven days rose to 160.1, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed. Germany is grappling with a more transmissible variant of COVID-19 five months before a national election in which Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives are forecast to suffer major losses. Frustrated by a failure of some regions to implement tougher restrictions despite rising cases, Merkel wants parliament to grant the federal government temporary powers to enforce coronavirus lockdowns in areas with high infections. READ: Germany's COVID-19 vaccine rollout gets shot in the arm from doctors surgeries ... » Learn More about Germany sees biggest jump in COVID-19 cases since early January

ST. PETERSBURG — Russia on Saturday said it would expel a Ukrainian diplomat, prompting an immediate pledge of retaliation from Kiev, further escalating tensions over Moscow’s troop build-up on Ukraine’s eastern flank. The detention of a Ukrainian consul in the second city Saint Petersburg comes at a time of global concern of a repeat of Moscow’s 2014 aggression, when Russia annexed the peninsula of Crimea and backed separatists in Ukraine’s east. Moscow claimed the Ukrainian diplomat had been caught “red-handed” trying to obtain sensitive information. In response, the Ukrainian foreign ministry protested “the illegal” detention of its diplomat and said Kiev would expel a senior Russian diplomat. Kiev has been battling Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014 and clashes intensified early this year, effectively shredding a ceasefire agreed last July. Around 30 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of the year, compared to 50 last year. Most of them ... » Learn More about Russia, Ukraine expel diplomats as tensions soar

Giant clams flourish on the sea bed off Bolinao in Lingayen Gulf, northwest of Manila on October 18, 2008. Highly prized for its meat and decorative shell the giant clam, scientific name: Tridacna gigas had virtually disappeared from the Philippines fished out by local and foreign fishermen.  Photo by Romeo GACAD / AFP MANILA, Philippines — Philippine authorities said Saturday they have seized some 200 tons of illegally harvested giant clam shells worth nearly P1.2 billion ($25 million) in one of the biggest known operations of its kind in the country. Conservationists have expressed alarm over the surging illicit trade in the endangered creatures, which are used as a substitute for ivory following a global crackdown in the trade of elephant tusks. The Philippines is home to most of the world’s giant tropical clam species, and Friday’s raid took place in the western province of Palawan, considered a poaching hotbed. The coastguard said four suspects were arrested on the remote ... » Learn More about Giant clam shells worth P1.2 billion seized in Philippine raid

Director Steven Soderbergh of “The Knick” speaks during HBO’s portion of the 2014 Television Critics Association Cable Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, California July 10, 2014. Image: Reuters/Kevork Djansezian LOS ANGELES  — The Oscars ceremony next week will have the look and feel of a movie, giving winners more time for speeches, while coronavirus masks will play a major role, producers of the show said on Saturday. The coronavirus pandemic and a trio of new producers have led to a reinvention of the traditional show where the world’s highest movie honors are handed out before a seated theater audience of more than 4,000 A-list stars and industry executives. Much of the April 25 ceremony will instead be held at the Art Deco Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, where a stage is being built and where presenters will be doing more than opening an envelope with the winner’s name. “It’s not going to be like anything that’s been done before,” director Steven Soderbergh, who ... » Learn More about Oscars show reinvented as a movie — with masks, longer speeches

Directors Ethan Coen (L) and Joel Coen (R) pose at the Governor’s Ball after winning Oscars for best director and best adapted screenplay, next to producer Scott Rudin (center) who holds an Oscar for best picture for their work in “No Country for Old Men” following the 80th annual Academy Awards, the Oscars, in Hollywood Feb. 24, 2008. Image: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson LOS ANGELES —  Producer Scott Rudin has announced that he will “step back” from Broadway following allegations of abusive workplace behavior, Variety has confirmed. The move marks an extraordinary turn of fortune for one of the theater and film business’s most acclaimed and influential figures. In a statement emailed to the Washington Post on Saturday morning, Rudin apologized for his behavior and declared his departure, writing: “Much has been written about my history of troubling interactions with colleagues, and I am profoundly sorry for the pain my behavior caused to individuals, directly and indirectly.” ... » Learn More about Scott Rudin to ‘step back’ from Broadway after workplace abuse allegations

“The Queen’s Gambit.” Image: Netflix LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) — “The Queen’s Gambit,” the story of a chess prodigy that was a streaming smash for Netflix, may become a musical. Level Forward, has acquired the theatrical stage rights to Walter Tevis’ novel “The Queen’s Gambit,” which served as the basis for the miniseries. Tevis also wrote “The Hustler” and “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” both of which became films and, in the case of “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” a stage show. “The Queen’s Gambit” centers on Beth Harmon, an orphan who discovers she has a preternatural ability to move the pieces around a chess board and dominate the competition. The novel, published in 1983, follows her journey from Kentucky to Paris to Moscow, while she battles addiction and the prejudices of a male-centered world. Now, that journey will involve music, dance and singing, in addition to pawns and rooks. The Netflix miniseries recently nabbed Golden Globes for Best Television Limited Series, ... » Learn More about ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ getting turned into stage musical

Xian Lim Stop blaming the victim.” Thus said Xian Lim, whose house was ransacked and robbed last January. The actor said he had read some articles saying celebrity vloggers like him should not show too much of what’s in their homes, lest robbers could easily plan on how to break and enter. “People are always going to find someone to blame. I did read people saying it’s not right for vloggers to reveal too much of what’s inside their houses, but really, it’s not right to shift the blame onto the victim,” Xian told reporters during a recent virtual gathering for his latest show “1000 Heartbeats-Pintig Pinoy” on TV5. “The issue here should be that it’s wrong to steal. Vloggers are going to do what vloggers want to do. For me, that shouldn’t be wrong,” he pointed out. “Now, should there be limitations on what we should show on our channels? I don’t think creative people should be forced into holding back. No holds barred dapat. The bottom line here is that it’s wrong to steal.” ... » Learn More about Robbery victim Xian Lim: You can never be too careful