Covid19: Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, daughter Aaradhya in Hospital

Mumbai, India: Miss World 1994 and well known Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her daughter Aaradhya Bachchan, who tested COVID-19 positive, have been hospitalised. Aishwarya and Aaradhya complained of throat pain and mild fever. The BMC team reached at their residence Jalsa and then both were shifted to Nanavati Hospital in different ambulances. Meanwhile,  Amitabh Bachchan and his actor-son Abhishek are recuperating in an isolation ward in the same hospital. Here’s everything the actor has to say about her daughter Aaradhya Rai Bachchan.

Earlier, informing everyone about Aishwarya and Aaradhya being coronavirus positive, Abhishek Bachchan had tweeted, "Aishwarya and Aaradhya have also tested COVID-19 positive. They will be self quarantining at home. The BMC has been updated of their situation and are doing the needful.The rest of the family including my Mother have tested negative. Thank you all for your wishes and prayers".

On July 11, Amitabh Bachchan tested positive for coronavirus and was admitted to Mumbai’s Nanavati hospital with mild symptoms. The actor took to Twitter to share the news with his fans. He wrote, "I have tested CoviD positive ..  shifted to Hospital  .. hospital informing  authorities .. family and staff undergone tests , results awaited .. All that have been in close proximity to me in the last 10 days are requested to please get themselves tested!"

Soon after Amitabh confirmed the news on Twitter, his son Abhishek also tested positive for COVID-19. He informed everyone about the same via a tweet: "Earlier today both my father and I tested positive for COVID 19. Both of us having mild symptoms have been admitted to hospital. We have informed all the required authorities and our family and staff are all being tested. I request all to stay calm and not panic. Thank you," he wrote.

Despite theft allegations, Russia hails deal to make UK-developed COVID-19 vaccine

Moscow: Russian drugmaker R-Pharm has signed a deal with AstraZeneca for it to manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the British pharmaceuticals giant and Oxford University, it said on Friday, July 17.

Following allegations from Britain, Canada and the United States that hackers backed by Russia were trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine and treatment research, the head of Russia's wealth fund said the deal showed that Moscow has no need to steal anything."We don't need to take anything from the UK, everything is given to R-Pharm by AstraZeneca and AstraZeneca will be the one of core producers of Oxford vaccine in the world," fund head Kirill Dmitriev told Reuters.

Dmitriev, who has been injected himself with the Russian vaccine, said he believed it was superior to others. He said its effect lasted longer, it was based on proven virus technology, and had so far shown no side effects including on female fertility. Reuters could not verify those assertions.

Britain, Canada and the United States said on Thursday, July 18 that hackers backed by the Russian state were trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine and treatment research from academic and pharmaceutical institutions around the world - allegations the Kremlin denied.

AstraZeneca declined to comment. It said last month it was in talks with Russia and other countries about supply deals for its potential coronavirus vaccine. The global vaccine race was about scientific prestige, international cooperation, and Russia's desire to vaccinate its own population as quickly as possible in order to resume full economic activity, Dmitriev said.

Rolling out a vaccine would not be a big money-spinner, said Dmitriev, because the Russian-made vaccine would be sold at not-for-profit prices and be free at point of delivery inside Russia.

Russia's interest in the Oxford vaccine, which he described as "pretty good", stemmed from a desire to help international efforts to roll out a vaccine. Moscow will deliver the British-developed vaccine to other countries who want it, he said.

French govt to postpone pension reform talks until 2021- union

Paris, France: Negotiations between the French government and unions over controversial reform to the pensions system will be postponed until 2021 to focus on economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the prime minister said on Friday.

The reform, pushed by President Emmanuel Macron and the single greatest revamp of the pension system since World War Two, was halted in its tracks in February by the pandemic. The proposal angered unions and brought thousands of people onto the streets at the turn of the year. The decision to push it back aims in part to ease those tensions as France grapples with the economic fallout from the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Jean Castex said the reform, which includes raising the retirement age by two years to 64, would not be scrapped. A deferment until after the 2022 presidential elections might defuse union and voter concerns but would undermine Macron's already-weakened credibility as a reformer. "I think it's extremely important in the quite exceptional circumstances in which our country finds itself, and which you are aware of, a health crisis that is not over, an economic crisis that has taken hold, it's very important to show the French people that dialogue exists, that it is by gathering around the table, by listening to each other, by respecting each other that we can hope to find collective understanding and an answer to the crisis." said Jean Castex.

The reform is central to Macron's ambition of creating a more flexible and competitive labour force. But trade unions argue that it will erode hard-earned benefits and leave pensioners worse off. 

"This corresponds to our desire to not make the pension reform a matter for the summer and the autumn, and rather to give ourselves time understand it and first see how we could be capable of responding to the fight against unemployment, the creation and retention of jobs, the fight against rising poverty and, most of all, making young people the priority." said Lurent Berger, Head of CFDT labour union.

Texas and Arizona ramp up measures as U.S. coronavirus cases shatter records

Texas and Arizona officials ramped up measures on Thursday as the United States reported at least 70,000 new COVID-19 cases, a record daily increase for the seventh time this month, according to a Reuters tally.

U.S. deaths are also rising and have recently reached the highest levels since early June, led by Arizona, California, Florida and Texas, according to the tally. There has been an upswing in COVID-19 cases across the American South and West after state and local officials started loosening economic and social restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.

Moreover, the rate of people testing positive among all those who are screened has exceeded 5% - a level above which health experts say is concerning - and was trending upward in some two dozen states over the past two weeks, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

Arizona has registered the highest positivity rate, with nearly a quarter of everyone tested statewide found to be infected, followed by Florida at nearly 19%, South Carolina at 18% and Texas and Alabama each at 17%.

In Arizona, health officials announced a surge in available testing - up to 5,000 free tests a day - targeted in undeserved and high-need communities. More than half of all states - 30 out of 50 - have reported record one-day increases in cases this month. Infections are rising in almost all states, based on a Reuters analysis of cases the past two week compared with the prior two weeks.

The tally of known infections in Texas jumped by an all-time high of 10,791 cases statewide during the past 24 hours, and the state also reported a record 110 additional COVID-19 deaths, its fourth such daily benchmark this month. In Texas' Rio Grande Valley, officials are bringing in refrigerator trucks and authorities in Hidalgo County have requested additional help from funeral directors in other communities.

Authorities also organized give-aways of masks, hand sanitizer and food as residents struggle with both the health and economic crises. Nationally, the total number of cases surpassed 3.5 million, by far the highest number of any country in the world, and more than 137,000 Americans have died from the highly contagious respiratory illness to date.

Zuckerberg criticizes Trump virus response, Fauci implores young people to stay vigilant

California: The leading U.S. expert on infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, on Thursday implored younger people to continue social distancing and other measures to curtail spread of the novel coronavirus, which has surged in some parts of the country.

"You have to have responsibility for yourself, but also a societal responsibility, that your getting infected is not just you in a vacuum, you're propagating a pandemic," he said in a live interview with Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg.

Social media platforms including Facebook, which in April removed "pseudoscience" as an option for advertisers, have been criticized for allowing the spread of misinformation about the pandemic, from bogus cures to wide-ranging conspiracy theories.

Zuckerberg criticized the administration of President Donald Trump for its response to the virus.

"It is clear that the trajectory of the US is significantly worse than many other countries, and that our government and this administration have been considerably less effective in handling this." New U.S. cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, have climbed to over 60,000 a day from daily totals under 20,000 in May. The median age of those infected has fallen by about 15 years as younger people, many of whom may show few symptoms of illness, are being infected, Fauci said.

He cautioned that even asymptomatic people can spread the coronavirus to others, increasing the likelihood that the virus could infect a more vulnerable person. Fauci said some states have moved forward with reopening even though they did not meet guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We have to regroup," Fauci said, noting that some regions of the country are much less at risk than others. He urged people to wear face coverings, avoid crowds, maintain social distance and remember that being outdoors is always better than being indoors.

"We should be looking at public health measures as a vehicle or a gateway to getting the economy back," he said.

Australia: Victoria state reports highest daily increase in Corona cases

Melbourne: Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria reported 317 new cases on Thursday, the state's highest one-day rise in infections and the country's largest since early April. 

Victoria has been isolated from the rest of the country for more than a week following a fresh outbreak of the disease. The 4.9 million residents in its capital, Melbourne, have been ordered to stay home except for essential business.

The record number of cases comes as the Australian government announced their plan to commit a further A$2 billion ($1.4 billion) into wage subsidy and training programs to counter rising unemployment in the country. That decision gives the first indication of how Prime Minister Scott Morrison plans to prop up the economy beyond September when a broader A$60 billion wage subsidy package is still due to expire. 

"Victorian situation is very concerning. But as the, I think the chief health officer in Victoria was remarking today, they are, I think, hopeful that what we're seeing is those figures starting to level out. I said yesterday that I thought this would still be at a high level for some time, but as the effects of the lockdown I think kick in, then hopefully we'll see those new case numbers fall. And so yes it is a big setback in Victoria."- said PM Scott Morrison.

Victoria premier Daniel Andrews said- "it is 317 new cases since we last updated you. Of those 317 new cases, 28 connected and known to be connected to contained outbreaks and complex cases, 289 of those are under investigation by our public health team. I'm very sad to have to report that there have been two further Victorians pass away, bringing the total number of deaths as a result of this virus to 29."