Coronavirus death toll surges to 170, more than 7700 now infected in China

The death from the novel Coronavirus has climbed to 170, health officials said on Thursday, adding that more than 7700 people across China are now infected with the disease.
China’s national health commission (NHC) said Thursday that at least 1,370 are critically ill with the infection and there are 12,167 suspected to have been infected with the previously unknown virus.
Beijing is reported to have at least 111 confirmed cases and the number has also crossed 100 in the financial capital, Shanghai.
More than 160 deaths have been reported from the central Chinese province of Hubei and its capital, Wuhan, which is at the epicentre of the deadly and rapidly spreading outbreak.
The virus has now spread to at least 16 countries globally.
Meanwhile, the WHO DG, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said the situation is of grave concern and reconvened the Geneva-based organisation’s International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on novel coronavirus 2019, to advise it on whether the outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern.
“The WHO is monitoring this outbreak every moment of every day. We share the concern of many people who are worried for their own health and that of their friends and family. The emergence of any new pathogen with the potential to cause severe illness and death is of grave concern and must be taken with the utmost seriousness,” Tedros said in a press conference in Geneva after returning from China where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“The continued increase in cases, and the evidence of human-to-human transmission outside China, are both deeply concerning. Although the numbers outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much larger outbreak,” he added.
“I have therefore decided to reconvene the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on novel coronavirus 2019, to advise me on whether the outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern, and to seek their recommendations on how best to protect people all over the world – while recognising what China is doing,” he said.
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China says it needs more time to assess US, India proposal to blacklist JeM chief’s brother at UNSC
China on Thursday said it needs more time to “assess” the India-US proposal to list Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) leader Abdul Rauf Azhar as a global terrorist at the UN Security Council, hours after blocking the joint effort. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the 1267 Committee of the UN Security Council has clear provisions about designating terrorist organisations and officials. China had similarly sought time to assess the case.
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China, Nepal agree on cross-Himalayan railway
China has agreed to finance a feasibility study for a cross-border railway with Nepal under the trans-Himalayan multi-dimensional connectivity network, part of the Belt and Road Initiative and pledged $118 million for China-assisted projects in the country, the foreign ministries of the two countries have said. Chinese state councillor and foreign minister, Wang Yi said China will work with Nepal on power projects and also in building cross Himalayan connectivity projects.
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Sri Lanka's ex-leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa leaves Singapore: Report
Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left Singapore Thursday, the city-state's immigration office said, after his social visit pass expired. "The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority confirms that Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa left Singapore on 11 August 2022," the office said in reply to an AFP query. Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on July 13 and then to Singapore, where he announced his resignation after months of protests over Sri Lanka's economic meltdown.
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Global youth unemployment set to slip to 73 million in 2022: UN
The total global number of unemployed youths should fall to 73 million in 2022, down by two million from the year before, the United Nations said Thursday. However, the figure is still six million higher than the pre-pandemic level of 2019, with the recovery in youth unemployment lagging behind the bounceback in other age groups, the UN's International Labour Organization said.
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'Extreme heat' warning begins in UK as France battles ‘devastating wildfire’
A four-day "extreme heat" warning came into force across England, Wales, and parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland on Thursday as temperatures are expected to breach 35 degree Celsius. The amber warning follows Britain's first-ever red "extreme heat" warning in July, following months of minimal rainfall. Even England's famously lush countryside went from shades of green to yellow. England's heatwave warning comes amid a devastating wildfire in southern France.