India's Hero Motors Company (HMC) Group has backed the UK's new Cycle to Work scheme, launched as part of a wider plan to ease Britain out of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown without overcrowding the public transport network.
Under the scheme, the UK government had recently unveiled plans for pop-up bike lanes, wider pavements, safer junctions, and cycle and bus-only corridors to be created within weeks as part of a GBP 250 million emergency fund.
HMC, which comprises the Indian cycle major Hero Cycles, sees a major scope for India-UK collaboration in the area by combining British research and development (R&D) and Indian supply chains.
The Cycle to Work scheme in the UK is phenomenal in encouraging people to take up cycling, said Pankaj M Munjal, HMC chairman and Managing Director.
India and the UK can collaborate on this cycling mission by working closely on R&D from the UK and supply chain from India, he said.
Besides, the industry chief also highlighted possible tie-ups ...

India's Hero Group backs UK's Cycle to Work COVID-19 scheme

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The leader of the Taliban said on Wednesday that militants were committed to a landmark deal with the US, despite being accused of carrying out thousands of attacks in Afghanistan since it was signed.
In a rare message released ahead of the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan next week, Haibatullah Akhundzada urged Washington "not to waste" the opportunity offered by the deal to end America's longest war.
"The Islamic Emirate is committed to the agreement... and urges the other side to honour its own commitments and not allow this critical opportunity to go to waste," Akhundzada said in a statement, using the name the Taliban called Afghanistan when they were in power.
After months of negotiations, the Taliban and US signed a deal in February which stipulates Washington will withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by next year in return for security guarantees.
"I urge American officials to not afford anyone the opportunity to obstruct, delay and ultimately derail this ...

Afghan Taliban leader says committed to deal with US

Two Americans accused of helping aid former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn flee Japan while awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges were arrested Wednesday, the Justice Department said.
Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas said Michael Taylor, 59, and Peter Taylor, 27, were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service on Wednesday morning in Harvard, Massachusetts.
The Taylors are wanted by Japan officials on charges that they helped Ghosn escape the country in December after the former Nissan boss was released on bail.
Ghosn reappeared in Lebanon, saying he had fled to avoid political persecution. Ghosn, who was charged with under-reporting his future compensation and breach of trust, has repeatedly asserted his innocence, saying authorities trumped up charges to prevent a possible fuller merger between Nissan Motor Co. and alliance partner Renault SA.
The Taylors are expected to appear before a judge via videoconference later Wednesday. There were no lawyers listed ...

US arrests 2 men accused of aiding ex-Nissan boss' escape

The European Union signaled Wednesday that it will not punish member countries for breaking the bloc's deficit rules to tackle the coronavirus but that it could condition their access to sorely-needed recovery funds on them following its advice on how to manage their budgets.
The 27-nation bloc is forecast to enter a recession of historic proportions this year as the coronavirus ravages its economies, with an average drop in output of 7.5 per cent.
Virtually every country has broken the deficit limit of 3 per cent of GDP as they've spent to keep health care systems, businesses and jobs alive.
"In all cases, apart (from) Bulgaria, we concluded that the deficit criteria of the treaty is not complied with. In normal times, this would lead to the opening of an excessive deficit procedure. But these are exceptional times," European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said.
Dombrovskis' remarks came as he unveiled advice from the EU's executive arm, the European ...

EU says virus fund access to be linked to its budget advice

The British government is to unveil legislation Wednesday that could potentially see indefinite curbs on the movements of suspected terrorists, a move that's prompted concerns over civil liberties.
The Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill, which is being labelled as the largest overhaul of terrorist sentencing and monitoring in decades, follows a series of attacks that the government said necessitated changes to terror legislation.
We promised to act and today we are delivering on that promise, Home Secretary Priti Patel said.
Under the proposed changes to the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures, courts will be able to limit the movement of individuals, including via enforced curfews and tagging, for an indefinite period, subject to review, rather than for a maximum of two years.
The bill also seeks to lower the evidence threshold for imposing curbs.
The government says the changes are necessary after 28-year-old Usman Khan stabbed several people, two fatally, near London 

UK government to unveil legislation tightening terror laws

Germany's Volkswagen has pulled a social media ad for a new car and apologized after an outcry over its racist overtones.
The ten-second spot posted on Instagram and Twitter shows a massive white hand pushing a black man away from beside a new yellow Volkswagen Golf parked on the street, then moving him to an open doorway and flicking him inside a French cafe.
Commentators on social media also noted that as the German-language slogan Der Neue Golf - The New Golf - fades into view, the jumble of letters can be read as a racial slur for a brief moment.
And the cafe's name is Petit Colon, which in French literally means the Little Colonist. Volkswagen told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the video had been pulled and that we can understand the outrage and anger.
Without question: the video is inappropriate and tasteless, Volkswagen wrote.
We will clarify how something like this could happen, and there will be consequences.
The Wolfsburg-based automaker, founded under the Nazis to .

VW pulls car ad after outcry, apologises for racist overtone

Oprah Winfrey is giving grants to the cities she's called home through her USD 12 million coronavirus relief fund.
She announced Wednesday that her Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation will donate money to organisations dedicated to helping underserved communities in Chicago; Baltimore; Nashville, Tennessee; Milwaukee; and Kosciusko, Mississippi, where she was born.
The reason I'm talking about it is because there is going to be a need for people of means to step up, Winfrey said in an interview with The Associated Press.
I mean, this thing is not going away. Even when the virus is gone, the devastation left by people not being able to work for months who were holding on paycheck to paycheck, who have used up their savings  people are going to be in need. So my thing is, look in your own neighbourhood, in your own backyard to see how you can serve and where your service is most essential. That is the real essential work, I think, for people of means.
After speaking with Chicago Mayor ..

Oprah Winfrey gives USD 12M to 'home' cities during pandemic

India and Bangladesh on Wednesday added five more ports of call that would augment bilateral trade and provide  stimulus to the economic development of the new locations and their hinterland.
The five new ports of call in Bangladesh side are Rajshahi, Sultanganj, Chilmari, Daudkandi and Bahadurabad, while in Indian side are Dhulian, Maia, Kolaghat, Sonamura and Jogigopha, the Daily Star reported.
Bangladesh's Shipping Secretary Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury and Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das  signed the addendum to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade here, the report said.
Under the protocol, presently there are six ports of call. They are Kolkata, Haldia, Karimganj, Pandu, Shilghat and Dhubri on Indian side and Narayanganj, Khulna, Mongla, Sirajganj, Ashuganj and Pangaon on the Bangladesh side.
Further, two more extended ports of call  Tribeli (Bandel) and Badarpur on Indian side and Ghorasal and Muktarpur on Bangladesh side  have been added through this .

Bangladesh, India add 5 more ports of call

Tottenham have launched an investigation after Ivory Coast defender Serge Aurier appeared to flout social-distancing rules for a third time by getting a haircut during the coronavirus lockdown.
Aurier posted an Instagram photo on Tuesday showing off his new haircut and tagged the barber Justin Carr in his post.
"Yes Sir @justscuts #LeCoiffeurEstBon?? (the hairdresser is good)" Aurier wrote next to the picture.
Hairdressers are closed in Britain in line with the government's rules on social distancing.
They are not expected to open again until at least July 4.
"We are investigating the circumstances and will deal with the incident appropriately," a Tottenham statement said on Wednesday.
Aurier has already been in trouble twice during the pandemic lockdown after going out for a run with a friend and training too close to Tottenham teammate Moussa Sissoko.
The 27-year-old and Sissoko apologised and made a donation to the National Health Service.
Tottenham have been plagued by ...

Spurs probe Aurier's third apparent lockdown breach

President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to hold up coronavirus relief money for Michigan after he said  erroneously  that the state had sent absentee ballots to millions of voters. It's not clear that he can do so.
Michigan mailed applications for the absentee ballots, not the ballots themselves. Michigan sends absentee ballots to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election," Trump tweeted Wednesday.
This was done illegally and without authorisation by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!
It was not immediately clear what steps Trump could take to delay the funds, which come from coronavirus relief spending measures he has signed into law.
Trump tagged his acting budget director, his chief of staff and the Treasury Department on the tweet.
Trump has been very vocal about his opposition to voting by mail, claiming the practice is ripe for fraud although there is scant evidence of ...

Trump threatens funding after Michigan absentee ballot move

Zinedine Zidane expressed admiration at both the physical and mental form in which his Real Madrid players have returned from the coronavirus lockdown and vowed they would give everything to win a trophy.
"The players have worked well from home and that's why they have come back on great form, this is going to be crucial," Zidane said of their individual training plans.
"This week has been great because even working in small groups we can go further, work better, and next week will be even better."
Real are two points behind Barcelona in Spain's La Liga and the 12-time European champions also trail Manchester City after the first-leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
Frenchman Zidane led Madrid to three Champions League titles in his first tenure at the helm of the club and hopes to win something in his first full season back in charge.
"After almost 60 days everyone is happy to get back here and catch up with each other, and to play some football, which is what they all love," 

Zidane hails fit and ready Real Madrid

The Nepal government on Wednesday released a revised political and administrative map showing Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani under its territory, a day after Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli said the areas belong to the country and vowed to "reclaim" them from India through political and diplomatic efforts.
During a televised press conference, Land Reforms Minister Padma Aryal unveiled the new map of Nepal.
Addressing Parliament on Tuesday, Oli said the territories belong to Nepal but India has made it a disputed area by keeping its Army there.
Nepalis were blocked from going there after India stationed its Army, he said.
A Cabinet meeting chaired by Oli on Monday endorsed the new map incorporating Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura as territories of Nepal.
The new map has been updated in the schedule of the Constitution and coat of arms and will be kept at government offices, Minister Aryal said, adding that it will be tabled in Parliament for necessary constitution amendment.
The 

Nepal releases new map including Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani under its territory

The Indian mission in Sri Lanka has made arrangements to repatriate its nationals stranded in the island nation due to the travel restrictions triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak.
The voyage will be part of "Operation Samudra Setu" under which Indian Naval ships are bringing back stranded citizens from abroad.
"Continuing the ongoing efforts for repatriation of Indian nationals stranded in Sri Lanka an Indian Naval Ship INS Jalashwa will make a voyage to Tuticorin from Colombo Port on June 1, 2020," said an Indian High Commission release.
The number of Indian nationals stranded in Sri Lanka was not immediately known.
Priority will be given to compelling cases, including migrant workers/labourers who have been laid off, short-term visa-holders faced with expiry of documents, people with medical emergency, pregnant women, elderly persons, persons required to return to India due to death in family and students.
Under "Operation Samudra Setu", the Indian Navy had repatriated nearly 1,500 ..

COVID-19: Indians stranded in Sri Lanka to sail back home on June 1

Cambridge has become the first university in Britain to cancel all face-to-face lectures for the 2020-21 academic year because of the coronavirus pandemic, after 800 years of welcoming students to its cloisters, quadrangles and classrooms.
It likely won't be the last, as the virus threatens the foundations of the traditional student experience, and the finances of universities around the world.
Cambridge said late Tuesday that all lectures will be held virtually and streamed online until summer 2021. It said it may be possible to hold tutorials and other teaching in small groups  a key part of the university's system  when the new academic year starts in October, as long as social distancing can be followed.
The university, which has about 12,000 undergraduate students, said in a statement that the decision has been taken now to facilitate planning, but as ever, will be reviewed should there be changes to official advice on coronavirus.
The pandemic has already upended student life. ..

Cambridge University scraps in-person lectures for 2020-2021

The European Commission unveiled plans Wednesday to protect biodiversity across the 27-nation bloc while building a more sustainable food system, insisting on the need to both reduce the use of pesticides and promote organic farming.
In line with its ambition of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to zero by mid-century, the EU's executive arm wants to halve the use of chemical pesticides by 2030 and to ensure that at least 25 per cent of agricultural land is reserved for organic farming, compared to 8% at the moment. The commission also wants to plant at least 3 extra billion trees over the next ten years.
The use of antimicrobials, which include antibiotics, should also be reduced by 50% for fish and animal farming.  According to EU figures, agricultural activities generate about 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions.
Nature is vital for our physical and mental wellbeing, it filters our air and water, it regulates the climate and it pollinates our crops, said Stella Kyriakides, the ...

EU wants to reduce pesticides use, promotes organic farming

Close to two dozen people have escaped from coronavirus quarantine centers in Zimbabwe, state-run media reported Wednesday, adding that others are illegally crossing the border from South Africa and not reporting to the centers.
The Herald newspaper, citing officials, reported that 23 people have escaped in the past week, 19 of them from a hotel in Beitbridge, a usually busy border town.
Zimbabwe is using schools, colleges and hotels for the mandatory isolation of people entering the country during a lockdown that is now in its sixth week.
Some returnees have complained about poor conditions at quarantine centers. Zimbabwe's government has said it is doing its best to ensure a comfortable stay.
Hundreds of people have arrived from South Africa by the busload in recent weeks. With more than 17,000 confirmed cases, South Africa has the highest number of infections in Africa.
Millions of Zimbabweans live in South Africa legally and illegally to escape worsening economic conditions back ..

Nearly 2 dozen escape from virus quarantine in Zimbabwe

Australia's premier fast bowler Pat Cummins while accepting the health risk associated with the usage of saliva urged game's custodians will have to come out with an alternate option to strike a balance between bat and ball.
Cummins said applying sweat or any external substance like wax on the ball could be an alternate option if usage of saliva is banned.
The ICC's Cricket Committee has already recommended a ban on the usage of saliva on the ball due to the risk of COVID-19 sread.
"If we remove saliva, we have to have another option," the 27-year-old pacer was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
"Sweat is not bad, but I think we need something more than that, ideally. Whatever that is, wax or I don't know what.
"If that's what that science is telling us, that it's high risk using saliva ... as long as we're keeping other options open, whether that's sweat or something artificial."
Cummins, currently world's no.1 Test bowler, said sweat is a viable option to keep the ball ...

Cummins accepts risk of using saliva but says cricket need alternate option to shine ball

Actor Zoey Deutch has revealed that she contracted coronavirus before the lockdown began and said she is doing "okay" now.
"The Politician" star admitted that she felt guilty for recovering from COVID-19 infection, which continues to wreak havoc around the world.
"People keep asking me, 'Where did you get it?' and I wish I knew. I'm okay now. I'm so grateful for my health and I also feel guilty, in a way, for making it out okay. I think this virus is bringing up so many conflicting emotions.
"I have to say I'm also so grateful for my inherent neuroses, which caused me to stay inside before I was supposed to. I've been quarantined longer than there was a mandated shut-in," Deutch, who continued to test positive for a month, wrote in an essay for Vulture.
The 25-year-old actor said she decided to speak out about her experience with the disease as she wanted to encourage people to wear masks.
"I am so lucky to be healthy, that I'm safe and not immunocompromised and have access to ...

Zoey Deutch reveals she battled coronavirus for a month

China on Wednesday credited its socialist political system for quickly bringing the coronavirus outbreak under control, ahead of its annual Parliament session from Thursday.
China, which came under pressure at the just-concluded World Health Assembly (WHA) session for a probe into the origins of the coronavirus, welcomed the unanimous resolution passed by the world body, calling for an independent comprehensive evaluation of the international response to the COVID-virus.
China claimed the majority of the countries believe the focus should be on the containment of the pandemic, rather than investigating the origin of the virus.
During a media interaction, Spokesperson of advisory body Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Guo Weimin said China brought the COVID-19 pandemic under control in a short period.
China's annual Parliament, comprising the CPPCC and the National People's Congress (NPC), was put off in March this year due to the virus outbreak. A truncated programme .

China credits socialist system for quickly bringing coronavirus outbreak under control

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday dismissed any hope of a review into what has been branded an unfair surcharge on foreign doctors, including Indians, working in the UK's state-funded National Health Service.
A number of professional associations for doctors in Britain have been campaigning against the annual Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), imposed of foreign workers to raise additional funds for the NHS, as an additional burden while they directly contribute to the health service.
The Opposition Labour Party Leader, Keir Starmer, backed their campaign in the House of Commons during the weekly Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, when he asked Johnson if he thinks the surcharge on NHS doctors and nurses is fair.
I have thought a great deal about this and I do accept and understand the difficulties faced by our amazing NHS staff. I have been a personal beneficiary of people and carers who have come from abroad and, frankly, saved my life, replied Johnson, making 

UK PM Johnson refuses to back down on unfair' surcharge on foreign doctors

Pakistan on Wednesday summoned a senior diplomat from the Indian High Commission to protest over the alleged ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC).
The Foreign Office claimed that indiscriminate and unprovoked firing" by the Indian forces in the Nikial Sector on Tuesday caused serious injuries to three Pakistani civilians.
The Indian forces "along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have continuously been targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons, it alleged.
The FO claimed that in 2020, India has so far committed 1,101 ceasefire violations.
It said that the Indian side was called upon to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding; investigate this and other such incidents of ceasefire violations and maintain peace along the LoC and the WB.

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