Sydney: Nearly three billion animals were killed or displaced by Australia's unprecedented 2019-20 wildfires in "one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history", according to a report released Tuesday.

Canberra: Australia's consumer watchdog launched court action against Google on Monday alleging the technology giant misled account holders about its use of their personal data.

Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un placed the city of Kaesong near the border with South Korea under total lockdown after a person was found there with suspected COVID-19 symptoms, saying the vicious virus may have entered the country, state media reported Sunday.

Washington: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide has topped 16 million.

According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. leads the count with 4.1 million, followed by 2.3 million in Brazil and 1.3 million in India.

The U.S. also has the highest number of deaths with 146,460, followed by 86,449 in Brazil and 45,823 in the U.K.

In the U.S., New York state leads with 32,608 deaths.

London: The chief scientist at the World Health Organization estimates that about 50 per cent to 60 per cent of the population will need to be immune to the coronavirus for there to be any protective herd immunity effect.

Mumbai: SpiceJet has been designated as an "Indian scheduled carrier" to operate flight services to the UK from India, the Gurugram-based no-frills airline said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

Jerusalem: Merging Israel's technological expertise with India's mass production capabilities, experts from the two countries have joined hands to develop rapid testing for COVID-19 in under 30 seconds.