Global COVID cases nearing 46 million
Washington: The overall number of global coronavirus cases was nearing the 46 million mark, while the deaths have surged to almost 1,193,860, according to the Johns Hopkins University. As of Sunday morning, the total caseload and death toll stood at 45,960,780 and 1,193,859, respectively, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update. The US is the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 9,116,186 and 230,345, respectively, according to the CSSE. India comes in second place in terms of cases at 8,137,119, while the country’s death toll soared to 121,641. (IANS)
French manhunt underway after shooting of priest
Lyon (France): French police interrogated one suspect and searched for others on Sunday after a Greek Orthodox priest was shot and critically wounded while closing the door to his church in the French city of Lyon. Investigators are trying to determine whether a man arrested Saturday night was the gunman behind the attack, or has information about it, according to a police official. The priest remains in critical condition after being shot with a hunting rifle, said the official, who was not authorized to be publicly named according to police policy. The motive for Saturday’s shooting remains unclear. Anti-terrorism prosecutors are not investigating the case, and the Lyon prosecutor opened an attempted murder investigation. The attack came as France is under high security alert after the killing of three people at a Nice church on Thursday. (AP)
Earthquake strikes Indonesia
Jakarta: An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck Indonesia’s Maluku province on Sunday, but did not cause damages or casualties, officials said. The meteorology and geophysics agency did not issue a tsunami warning, as the quake did not potentially trigger giant waves, reports Xinhua news agency. The quake’s epicenter was recorded at 193 km northeast Maluku Barat Daya district and the depth at 196 km under the sea bed, the agency said. Indonesia has been often hit by earthquakes as it sits on a vulnerable quake-impacted zone called “the Pacific Ring of Fire”. (IANS)
Nile dam talks to resume
Khartoum: Sudanese authorities have said that the tripartite negotiations with Egypt and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will resume on Sunday. “The negotiations on filling and operation of the GERD will resume on Sunday among ministers of water affairs in the three countries, to be chaired by Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, the current chair of the African Union (AU),” Xinhua news agency quoted Sudan’s Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources as saying in a statement on Saturday. The three countries agreed to convene a meeting to submit a report to the AU within one week on means of achieving tangible progress in the talks which have stalled since August, it noted. (IANS)