India eases COVID restrictions as infections hit 2-month low
CBSN
New Delhi — The roads of India's sprawling capital city were choked with traffic on Monday for the first time in weeks. The lowest daily coronavirus infection numbers in two months have led the government to ease restrictions implemented in several areas as the nation grappled with a deadly second wave of the virus.
Major cities including Delhi and Mumbai allowed many businesses to reopen and police checkpoints were removed, bringing the usual throngs of traffic back onto the roads. India reported 100,636 new COVID-19 cases and 2,427 deaths on Monday — a significant decrease from the record 414,188 cases registered on May 7. The country's total caseload has crossed 28.9 million, with 349,186 deaths, according to official government data, but many experts believe the actual numbers could be five to ten times higher.Zhytomyr, Ukraine — Exactly 1,000 days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Russia's defense ministry accused Ukrainian forces on Tuesday of firing six U.S.-made and -supplied ATACMS missiles at the Russian region of Bryansk. If confirmed, it could be the first time Ukrainian troops had taken advantage of President Biden easing restrictions over the weekend on Ukraine's use of the U.S.-made missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russian territory.
President Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to fire U.S.-made and supplied missiles deeper into Russia — a major policy shift announced over the weekend after months of intense lobbying by Kyiv — has drawn a furious response from Moscow. While there was no immediate reaction directly from the man who launched the nearly three-year war on his neighboring nation, lawmakers aligned with President Vladimir Putin in Russia said Monday that the move was unacceptable and warned it could lead to a third world war.
Tel Aviv — After more than a year of bombing and homelessness, Gazans are looking to a new administration in Washington for help. President-elect Donald Trump's election victory has raised hopes and fears among the five million residents of the Palestinian territories — the warn-torn Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Johannesburg — It's often called the forgotten conflict, but the civil war that has torn Sudan apart for 19 months is fueling the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. In just over a year and a half, 13 million people have been displaced from their homes. At least one overcrowded camp for displaced civilians is already dealing with famine, while other parts of the country are suffering though famine-like conditions.