By Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's much-vaunted decades of congressional experience face a

All auto rickshaw drivers have been informed that it was mandatory to use license, permits and batches; they have been told not to use fancy numbers, to stand in a queue as per the rickshaw rules, not to charge passengers exorbitantly, according to Thane Traffic Police DCP, Balasaheb Patil

With the easing of restrictions and reopening of schools, the city’s suburban railway network has witnessed a rise in the number of passengers.

Rohtas police on Monday recovered 38 kgs of Doda powder and arrested a man and a woman from a Delhi bund bus. The drug was worth ₹30 lakh in Delhi, the arrested smugglers told police.

At least 34 people died and five people were reportedly missing owing to heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand that has brought all activities in the state to a standstill.

The fatal police shooting of a Black teen in Chicago seven years ago is looming large over the city’s former mayor, Rahm Emanuel, as he looks to win confirmation as ambassador to Japan

In-form Liverpool head back to the scene of their 2019 Champions League final win with a trip to the Wanda Metropolitano for tonight’s meeting with Atletico Madrid. The match is also a repeat of the round of 16 clash that ended Jurgen Klopp’s hopes of winning back-to-back Champions League titles in 2020, having been beaten 4-2 on aggregate just before the Covid-19 pandemic led to lockdowns across the world. Since then, Liverpool have recovered a swathe of first-team players from long-term injuries, while Diego Simeone’s men have lifted their second LaLiga title under his watch. As things stand in Group B, it is the Premier League giants in control of proceedings, having won two from two thus far, though Atletico could leapfrog them in the standings with a win in the Spanish capital. Klopp, who has backed star man Mohamed Salah for the 2021 Ballon d’Or award following his stunning run of form, largely has a full squad from which to choose. Although midfield duo Curtis Jones and Thiago Alcantara will miss out, the German’s hopes of maintaining his side’s lead atop the group have been boosted by the return of Alisson Becker. The goalkeeper missed Saturday’s win away at Watford after playing for Brazil during the international break and duly flew straight to Spain. In order to avoid the UK’s quarantine regulations, both he and Fabinho - who is on the bench - will stay there until Thursday after playing against Colombia, one of the few remaining countries on the red travel list. Liverpool starting XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson, Keïta, Milner, Henderson, Salah, Firmino, Mané. Tuesday 19th October 8pm BST Venue Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid. Injured: Thiago (calf), Harvey Elliott (ankle), Curtis Jones (fitness) Read More Jurgen Klopp backs Liverpool star Mo Salah for 2021 Ballon d’Or award Diego Simeone: Mo Salah is extraordinary, Liverpool are fantastic but Atletico Madrid can hurt them Atletico Madrid vs Liverpool: Prediction, kick off time, TV, live stream, team news, h2h results Mohamed Salah goal: Watch Liverpool star score stunning individual effort against Watford

By Nathan Layne (Reuters) - Thousands of unvaccinated workers across the United States are facing potential job losses as a

By Alessandra Prentice LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - African countries want a new system to track funding from wealthy nations that are failing

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Navy report has concluded there were sweeping failures by commanders, crew members and others that fueled the July 2020 arson fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard, calling the massive five-day blaze in San Diego preventable and unacceptable.

By Kevin Fogerty and Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) -FBI agents on Tuesday raided a Washington mansion linked to Russian

By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union's executive said on Tuesday that Turkey's bid to join the bloc had

The funeral for 25-year-old Jelani Day, an Illinois graduate student whose body was identified nearly a month after he was reported missing, was held Tuesday in Danville, Illinois.

By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS (Reuters) -A World Health Organization-led programme to ensure poorer countries get fair access to COVID-19 vaccines,

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard on Tuesday defended his role in building a metro rail during

Former pacer Venkatesh Prasad stated that the India bowler is one of the best bowlers going around due to his economy rate and ability to bring out the variations.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday it was not taking a carbon tax off the table as

An offshoot of the Delta coronavirus variant which appears to be more transmissible than its predecessor is beginning to spread throughout England, scientists have said. Little is known about the AY.4.2 sub-variant, but data suggest it was responsible for almost 10 cent of new infections at the beginning of October. A briefing from the UK Health Security Agency said AY.4.2 is “expanding” and “on an increasing trajectory”. Experts have speculated that it could be 10 to 15 per cent more transmissible than the original Delta variant, which has come to dominate across the world. Dr Jeffrey Barrett, director of the Covid-19 Genomics Initiative at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said this “would be annoying but not catastrophic” for the UK in the coming months. However, he wrote on Twitter, “what is perhaps more worrying is that it suggests the virus still has evolutionary paths to higher transmissibility open to it, and there are millions of Delta cases around the world without much sequencing coverage.” Aris Katzourakis, a professor of evolution and genomics at Oxford University, said it was concerning that the “‘evolutionary trajectory’ of delta is still ongoing, and there is plenty of space for further adaptation to human transmission.” Downing Street said it was keeping “a very close eye” on the Delta sub-variant. "There's no evidence to suggest that this variant... the AY.4.2 one... is more easily spread,” the prime minister’s spokesperson said. But as you would expect, we're monitoring it closely and won't hesitate to take action if necessary." Professor Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College London, said the recent spike in UK cases could not be attributed to AY.4.2 alone. “As AY.4.2 is still at fairly low frequency, a 10 per cent increase [in] its transmissibility could have caused only a small number of additional cases,” he said. “As such it hasn’t been driving the recent increase in case numbers in the UK.” The Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK), which tracks new variants, said AY.4.2 “is likely to become dominant” in Britain if it is found to be more infectious. However, it said there is no evidence to support this yet, with tests underway to determine its “biological properties”. The sub-variant carries two mutations in its spike protein, called Y145H and A222V, which have emerged independently in other variants, suggesting they may prove to be overly problematic. “Neither mutation is a priori an obvious candidate for increased viral transmissibility, but we have learnt that mutations can have different, sometimes unexpected, effects in different strains,” Prof Balloux said. Delta will be the branch from which a good number of things grow now. Dr Stephen Griffin, virologist at Leeds University Ravi Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, told the Guardian that similar mutations to Y145H had been seen in other variants which had a modest effect on the antibody response. For now, AY.4.2 remains rare outside of the UK. Three cases of the sub-variant have been detected in the US so far, while Denmark – renowned for its genomic surveillance – has also picked up a low number of AY.4.2 infections, said Prof Balloux. Although he described the emergence of the sub-variant as “sub-optimal”, he said “this is not a situation comparable to the emergence of Alpha and Delta that were far more transmissible (50 per cent or more) than any strain in circulation at the time.” Prof Balloux added: “Here we are dealing with a potential small increase in transmissibility that would not have a comparable impact on the pandemic.” Dr Barrett said it could be simply be a “fluke” that AY.4.2 has managed to establish itself in the UK but not elsewhere, adding that it would need “to really get established somewhere” to avoid burning out. “That is, landing 20 Delta infections in a place with only Alpha almost guarantees that it will go on to complete replacement, whereas 20 AY.4.2 landing in an existing Delta epidemic may well fizzle,” he said. Testing is meanwhile underway to ascertain whether this new sub-variant may be less well recognised by the body’s antibodies and better at evading the immune response generated by vaccination or previous infection. Both the Alpha and Delta variants generated a large surge in cases during the earlier stages of the pandemic. But with infections once again on the rise – nearly 50,000 people tested positive for Covid on Monday – there is a fear that the emergence of AY.4.2 could be just beginning of a new wave of Delta sub-variants. “It is a worry,” said Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist at Leeds University. “Delta will be the branch from which a good number of things grow now.”

One of the world's largest elevator towers will soon be opened to test elevators of the future as well as current ones high above the Atlanta suburbs

Club Brugge vs Manchester City LIVE! It’s a relatively early trip to Belgium on Tuesday evening for Premier League champions Manchester City to take on a Club Brugge side who are currently unbeaten in the Champions League. Considering the difference in resources available to both sides, City are surely huge favourites but their Belgian opposition are certainly emerging as dark horses in Group A. Joint-top of the Jupiler Pro League after 11 games, they held Paris Saint-Germain’s famed front three largely at bay in a 1-1 draw back in September. They have since beaten RB Leipzig too, meaning they lead Pep Guardiola’s side by a point and could extend that to four with what would be an unlikely victory at the Jan Breydel Stadium. Even at this early stage, the pressure is on last year’s beaten finalists. With kick-off at 17:45 pm BST, follow all the action with Standard Sport’s live coverage! Read More Man City XI vs Club Brugge: Confirmed lineup, team news and injury latest for Champions League game PSG vs RB Leipzig: Prediction, kick off time, TV, live stream, team news, h2h results

A new and modified version of the Oxford vaccine is being developed to target the Delta coronavirus variant, The Independent understands, amid rising infections in the UK and the highest daily death toll since March. Early work has been started by members of Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert’s team at the University of Oxford – the same scientists behind the AstraZeneca jab first rolled out in January. A source said the new vaccine was being designed with the aim of “having something on the shelf ready to scale up – if it’s needed”. This comes as scientists warned that a new offshoot of the Delta variant will “eventually dominate” in the UK if it is confirmed to be more transmissible than its predecessor, with authorities now racing to better understand the newly-mutated virus. Downing Street has said it is keeping “a very close eye” on the AY.4.2 sub-variant, which is steadily spreading throughout England and accounted for nearly 10 per cent of new infections at the start of October. Experts have speculated that it could be 10 to 15 per cent more transmissible than the original Delta variant. The Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK), which tracks new variants, said AY.4.2 “is likely to become dominant” in Britain if it is found to be more infectious. However, it said there is no evidence to support this yet, with tests underway to determine its “biological properties”. Aris Katzourakis, a professor of evolution and genomics at Oxford University, said if the 10 to 15 per cent figure “holds up to scrutiny”, then AY.4.2 “will eventually dominate”. Despite fears of its increased transmissibility, scientists do not believe the new Delta sub-variant is responsible for the recent spike in cases that have been reported across the UK. Some 43,738 tested positive for Covid on Tuesday - down from almost 50,000 the day before - while a further 223 deaths were recorded, the highest figure since 9 March. “As AY.4.2 is still at fairly low frequency, a 10 per cent increase [in] its transmissibility could have caused only a small number of additional cases,” said Professor Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College London. “As such it hasn’t been driving the recent increase in case numbers in the UK.” Experts have meanwhile argued “there is a case” for Delta-specific vaccines for current and future vaccination programmes, with the variant now accounting for the vast majority of global infections. Professor Eleanor Riley, an immunologist at Edinburgh University, said the biggest advantage would be to help bring widespread transmission in the UK ‘to an end”. She said the UK’s autumn booster programme, which will ultimately see 30 million Britons offered a third vaccine dose, “would likely have much greater impact if we were using a Delta-specific vaccine.” Given the continuing effectiveness of the original vaccine in protecting against hospitalisation and death from Covid-19, scientists at Oxford are taking a precautionary approach to developing a Delta jab. The Oxford source said it was “very early days” in the development of the new vaccine, but insisted it wouldn’t be hard to make the necessary modifications given the “plug and play” nature of the technology behind the jab. However, the source said that even “subtle changes” introduced to the manufacturing process as a result of switching to a modified vaccine could cause significant delays and hinder the global rollout of life-saving doses, at a time when millions of people remain unvaccinated. Professor Riley said the protection afforded by the current vaccines against severe disease and death seems to be broadly similar for all variants. “Those of us who have been vaccinated already are no more likely to end up in hospital with the Delta variant than with the original Wuhan or Alpha strains,” she said. However, Prof Riley said that immunity against infection – “and thus the subsequent likelihood of transmitting the virus to someone else” – is affected by the different variants, with the Oxford jab not quite as effective in preventing vaccinated people from catching Delta and “feeling a bit unwell”. “There is therefore a case for rolling out Delta-specific vaccines,” Prof Riley said. “They are likely to be significantly better at suppressing infections in the community and may well bring widespread transmission in the UK to an end. “This, in turn, will reduce the number of unprotected (unvaccinated or unresponsive) people being infected and ending up in hospital.” Pfizer has already announced its plans to develop a Covid booster shot that will target Delta, while Moderna has said it would be able to easily update its vaccine to take into consideration new variants. A timeframe for the new Oxford vaccine has not been released. Professor Robin, an immunologist at Imperial College London, said “it certainly makes sense to introduce Delta-specific vaccines” and admitted he was “surprised” there hadn’t been a desire to roll out modified jabs as part of the UK’s booster campaign. Prof Riley said periodic updated boosters might be required in the months or years to come if Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, continues to “throw up new highly infectious variants”. Prior to their work on Delta, scientists at Oxford developed a vaccine specific to the Beta variant, which has since dropped out of circulation in many countries of the world. A University of Oxford spokesperson said: “Oxford has a broad programme of research on vaccines for coronaviruses and is monitoring emerging variants closely. “We are working with our partners AstraZeneca on testing a Beta variant vaccine in human volunteers at the moment, and on the developing systems for evaluation and licensure of new variant vaccine, should it be needed.”

A police constable attached to Titwala police station and his five friends have been booked and arrested for threatening to kill a bar owner in Kalyan with a gun and damaged his property over a bill issue on Monday night

State receives an average of 80 mm rainfall between October 1 and 19, which is 178% more than the normal 29mm rainfall expected during this period, as per IMD data

PSG vs RB Leipzig - LIVE! Paris Saint-Germain will be looking to enhance their Champions League credentials and cement their place at the top of Group A as they host RB Leipzig tonight. Mauricio Pochettino’s men produced a statement performance to beat last season’s finalists Manchester City 2-0 in the previous round of fixtures, with Lionel Messi scoring his first goal for the club after joining on a free transfer from Barcelona in the summer. Prior to that, however, PSG’s new-look front-three of Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar had flattered to deceive on opening night as the French side were held by Club Brugge, with whom they currently sit level on points at the top. Leipzig, meanwhile, are yet to get off the mark, making a slow start to the season after a turbulent summer in which they lost several key players, but their league form has gradually improved. Follow all the action LIVE with Standard Sport’s blog below... Read More How PSG could lineup against RB Leipzig tonight PSG vs RB Leipzig: Champions League preview How Liverpool will line up against Atletico Madrid

Google's Pixel smartphones are taking a big step toward becoming a true Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy competitor.