Fauci: US ‘going in wrong direction’ in coronavirus outbreak

Frank Harris Jr. hangs the latest string of prayer ribbons for the over 6,000 Massachusetts residents who have died from the coronavirus outbreak at Grant AME Church in Boston, Massachusetts, the United States, in this file photo. The United States is “going in the wrong direction” with the coronavirus surging badly enough that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, told senators some regions are putting the entire country at risk.SD-Agencies

India overtakes Russia in COVID-19 cases

India has recorded record new cases of COVID-19 in the past days, taking its total above that of Russia.

The country now has the third-largest number of confirmed cases in the world, 697,413. There have been 19,693 deaths.

The latest surge in numbers has also been powered by a rise in cases from a handful of southern states, including Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. India reopened shopping centers, places of worship and offices a month ago.

Tokyo incumbent governor wins second term

Voters in Tokyo re-elected incumbent Yuriko Koike as their next governor, public broadcaster NHK reported on Sunday, citing its exit poll, as the Japanese capital grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and prepares for next year’s Olympics.

Koike, 67, often floated as a potential prime minister, won plaudits from the public for her straight-talking approach to the pandemic in contrast with what critics say was Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s initially slow and clumsy response.

A former defense and environment minister, Koike is promising to prepare Tokyo — which accounts for about 20 percent of Japan’s economy — for any second wave of infections and gain a public understanding for a “simplified” Olympics next year after the 2020 Summer Games were postponed because of the coronavirus.

Cosmonaut votes on Putin’s reforms from ISS

Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin became the first person to vote online from the International Space Station (ISS) last week, the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos announced.

The 51-year-old cosmonaut, who came aboard the ISS in April, cast his ballot as part of a week-long vote to approve constitutional reforms that could extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule, Roscosmos said.

“Anatoly Ivanishin has become the first man to have voted online from orbit,” the Russian space agency said. The ballot on changes to Russia’s basic law was scheduled for April 22, but was postponed as health officials registered a surge in coronavirus cases.

Gas explosion at Tehran clinic kills 19

An explosion last week from a gas leak in a medical clinic in northern Tehran killed 19 people, Iranian state TV reported.

Authorities initially said 13 people were dead, but Jalal Maleki, spokesman for the Tehran Fire Department, later told state TV that the toll had risen to 19.

State-run IRNA news agency also quoted Maleki as saying the dead included 15 women and four men.

Trump repeats vow to defeat ‘radical left’

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday vowed to defeat the “radical left” in an Independence Day speech at the White House, condemning recent efforts to remove or rethink monuments to historical figures as attempts to destroy the United States.

Trump claimed without evidence that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases in the United States were “totally harmless.” In fact, many U.S. states marked a record number of new cases. In Texas alone, 7,890 patients were hospitalized after 238 new confirmed cases over the past day.

Peaceful protesters called for racial equality just steps from where Trump spoke in Washington, D.C.(SD-Agencies)