India reported 159,632 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly in the country, nudging several state governments to impose fresh restrictions.
India's richest state, Maharashtra, said on Saturday it would close swimming pools and gyms from Monday while schools and colleges have been closed till February 15 after daily cases in the state jumped to over 41,000.
The state government has said only fully vaccinated people will be allowed into private offices while limiting the capacity to 50 per cent of the total workforce.
In the neighbouring state of Gujarat, authorities have extended night curfew hours and cancelled leave for all healthcare personnel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation later on Sunday, according to government sources.
The health ministry reported 327 new deaths, taking the official death toll since the start of the pandemic to 483,790. Total infections stand at 35.52 million.
The US military said on Monday it destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones as Tehran sought to thwart a new US naval effort to open shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
A blast at a fireworks factory in China has killed at least 26 people and injured 61, flattening buildings and sending towering clouds of smoke into the sky, and prompting President Xi Jinping to order a thorough investigation, state media reported on Tuesday.
A Russian overnight missile and drone attack on Ukrainian gas production facilities killed five people, including two rescue workers, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday, as Kyiv and Moscow exchanged rival ceasefire proposals.
Two cases of the deadly hantavirus have been confirmed, and five more are suspected among people who were on a luxury cruise ship now held in the Atlantic near Cape Verde, the World Health Organisation said in its most detailed update on the outbreak.
President Vladimir Putin has declared on Monday a two-day ceasefire in the conflict with Ukraine on May 8-9 to mark Russia’s World War Two victory, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy countered with his own proposed pause in fighting starting earlier, on the night of May 5‑6.
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