India's COVID-19 caseload rises to 97.35 lakh; recoveries cross 92 lakh
New Delhi, Dec 9: India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 97.35 lakh on Wednesday, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease crossed 92 lakh, pushing the national recovery rate to 94.66 per cent, according to the Union health ministry.
The total coronavirus cases mounted to 97,35,850 with 32,080 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll rose to 1,41,360 with 402 new fatalities, data updated by the ministry at 8 am showed.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 92,15,581, pushing the national recovery rate to 94.66 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stood at 1.45 per cent.
The COVID-19 active caseload remained below four lakh for the third consecutive day.
There are 3,78,909 active coronavirus infections in the country now which comprises 3.89 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed 20 lakh on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. It went past 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28 and 70 lakh on October 11. The figure crossed 80 lakh on October 29 and surpassed 90 lakh on November 20.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 14,98,36,767 samples have been tested up to December 8, with 10,22,712 such examinations being conducted on Tuesday.
The new fatalities include 57 from Delhi, 53 from Maharashtra, 49 from West Bengal, 31 from Kerala, 30 from Punjab, 23 from Uttar Pradesh and 20 from Rajasthan.
The total number of deaths reported so far in the country includes 47,827 from Maharashtra, 11,880 from Karnataka, 11,822 from Tamil Nadu, 9,763 from Delhi, 8,820 from West Bengal, 7,967 from Uttar Pradesh, 7,042 from Andhra Pradesh and 4,964 from Punjab.
The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
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Trump sues BBC for USD 10 billion, alleges defamation over edited Jan 6 speech
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Monday seeking USD 10 billion in damages from the BBC, accusing the British broadcaster of defamation as well as deceptive and unfair trade practices.
The 33-page lawsuit accuses the BBC of broadcasting a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump,” calling it “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence” the 2024 US presidential election.
It accused the BBC of “splicing together two entirely separate parts of President Trump's speech on January 6, 2021” in order to ”intentionally misrepresent the meaning of what President Trump said.”
The lawsuit, filed in a Florida court, seeks USD 5 billion in damages for defamation and USD 5 billion for unfair trade practices.
The BBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
The broadcaster apologised last month to Trump over the edit of the Jan. 6 speech. But the publicly funded BBC rejected claims it had defamed him, after Trump threatened legal action.
BBC chairman Samir Shah had called it an “error of judgment,” which triggered the resignations of the BBC's top executive and its head of news.
The speech took place before some of Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol as Congress was poised to certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election that Trump falsely alleged was stolen from him.
The BBC had broadcast the hourlong documentary — titled “Trump: A Second Chance?” — days before the 2024 US presidential election. It spliced together three quotes from two sections of the 2021 speech, delivered almost an hour apart, into what appeared to be one quote in which Trump urged supporters to march with him and “fight like hell.” Among the parts cut out was a section where Trump said he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.
Trump said earlier Monday that he was suing the BBC “for putting words in my mouth.”
“They actually put terrible words in my mouth having to do with Jan. 6 that I didn't say, and they're beautiful words that I said, right?" the president said unprompted during an appearance in the Oval Office. "They're beautiful words, talking about patriotism and all of the good things that I said. They didn't say that, but they used terrible words.”
The president's lawsuit was filed in Florida. Deadlines to bring the case in British courts expired more than a year ago.
Legal experts have brought up potential challenges to a case in the US, given that the documentary was not shown in the country.
The lawsuit alleges that people in the US can watch the BBC's original content, including the “Panorama” series, which includes the documentary, by using the subscription streaming platform BritBox or a virtual private network service.
The 103-year-old BBC is a national institution funded through an annual license fee of 174.50 pounds (USD 230) paid by every household that watches live TV or BBC content. Bound by the terms of its charter to be impartial, it typically faces especially intense scrutiny and criticism from both conservatives and liberals.
