Armenia, Azerbaijan say truce violated

Search and rescue teams work on the blast site hit by a rocket during the fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the city of Ganja, Azerbaijan, on Sunday. Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a Russia-brokered cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting Saturday, but immediately accused each other of derailing the deal intended to end the worst outbreak of hostilities in the separatist region in more than a quarter-century.SD-Agencies

US economists awarded Nobel Prize in economics

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded to Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson for work on commercial auctions.

The American economists were commended for their “improvements to auction theory and invention of new auction formats,” the Nobel Committee said as the prize was awarded on Monday.

Milgrom, 72, is the Shirley and Leonard Ely professor of humanities and sciences at Stanford University. Wilson, 83, is the Adams distinguished professor of management, Emeritus at Stanford.

India virus cases cross 7 million

India’s confirmed coronavirus toll crossed 7 million on Sunday with a number of new cases dipping in recent weeks, even as health experts warn of mask and distancing fatigue setting in.

The Health Ministry registered another 74,383 infections in the past 24 hours. India is expected to become the pandemic’s worst-hit country in coming weeks, surpassing the United States, where more than 7.7 million infections have been reported.

The ministry also reported 918 additional deaths, taking total fatalities to 108,334.

The number of people who have died of COVID-19 has remained relatively low in South and Southeast Asia — from India to Vietnam — compared to European countries and the United States, said Dr. Randeep Guleria, a government health expert.

20 killed in Thailand bus-train collision

A bus heading to a Buddhist temple collided with a train in central Thailand on Sunday, killing at least 20 people and injuring 30, authorities said.

The accident took place at 8:05 a.m. near the Khlong Kwaeng Klan railway station, 63 kilometers east of Bangkok, said Maitree Tritilanon, governor of Chachoengsao province, where the crash occurred.

A tour bus carrying some 60 factory workers on their way to a Buddhist ceremony at a temple was crossing a railway track when it was hit by a freight train headed to the capital from the east of the country.

Pence, Harris clash over pandemic response

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, clashed on October 7 over the White House’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed over 210,000 Americans.

“The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country,” said Harris in response to the moderator’s first question over the pandemic in the vice presidential debate at the University of Utah.

Study: COVID-19 can survive for 28 days on surfaces

The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can survive on items such as banknotes and phones for up to 28 days in cool, dark conditions, according to a study by Australia’s national science agency.

Researchers at CSIRO’s disease preparedness center tested the longevity of SARS-CoV-2 in the dark at three temperatures, showing survival rates decreased as conditions became hotter, the agency said on Monday. The scientists found that at 20 degrees Celsius, SARS-CoV-2 was “extremely robust” on smooth surfaces — like mobile phone screens — surviving for 28 days on glass, steel and plastic banknotes.

(SD-Agencies)