WORLD

Commuters in London stripped down to their pants and hopped on to the Underground on Sunday, for the 12th annual No Trousers Tube Ride. 

The event was organised by The Stiff Upper Lip Society.

The event was part of The No Pants Subway Ride, an annual global event started by Improv Everywhere in New York in 2002.

Several other cities around the world too took part in the event on Sunday. 

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak chaired an emergency meeting with ministers, medics and healthcare professionals to address the healthcare crisis plaguing the country.

The meeting took place at 10 Downing Street on Saturday, aimed at “bringing together the best minds from the health and care sectors to help share knowledge and practical solutions,” the government said.

Britain is experiencing its worst flu season in ten years with emergency departments under tremendous stress, leading to hundreds of fatalities, according to the latest statistics.

The week before Christmas saw a 50 per cent increase in hospitalisations compared to the peak of the previous severe flu season, in 2017–18. Approximately 22,000 people died around that time, Daily Mail reported.

Akey component of Taiwan's most advanced anti-ship missile has been sent to China, causing calls for greater safeguards in the former nation. A report by the South China Morning Post on Wednesday (January 4) said that a theodolite- which is an optical instrument- from the Hsiung-Feng III anti-ship missile was sent to China's Shandong province for repair. 

Issuing a statement on Wednesday, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST)- a Taiwanese-state-owned corporation- said that the optical instrument was bought from Swiss company Leica last year and it was sent back to the manufacturer for repair recently. 

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday rejected charges of ‘New Delhi being a war profiteer’ over its procurement of discounted Russian oil and said that India tried to defuse the situation around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and quietly helped in the grain deal between Moscow and Kyiv. EAM Jaishankar also described the cap on the price of Russian crude oil as a “Western decision” that was taken “without any consultations with India,” asserting that New Delhi will never automatically sign into what others have cooked up.

In an interview with 'Die Press' newspaper in Austria, Jaishankar while replying to a question on the Ukraine conflict, indicated India's readiness to contribute towards defusing the situation. "If we can help, we stand ready. And we have already helped -- very quietly on the grain deal, for example. We also tried to defuse the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant," he said.

Jaishankar was asked whether he sees a role for India as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine. The External Affairs Minister paid a four-day visit to Austria that ended on Tuesday. There were serious global concerns over the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in August after it came under fire, with both Russia and Ukraine blaming each other for the attacks. Later, a team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency travelled to the site.

The grain deal was sealed in July following months of negotiations to primarily facilitate the export of millions of tonnes of wheat, maize and other grains from Ukraine. The deal was considered crucial for addressing food shortages in many countries.

Asked whether the main role of a mediator has already been occupied by Turkey, Jaishankar said: "No. But it's not a question of who gets the credit as a mediator and makes the headlines for it." To another question on India's energy imports from Russia at discount prices and whether India is benefitting from not joining the Western sanctions, Jaishankar strongly rejected such a view.

"I vehemently reject -- politically and also mathematically -- that India is a war profiteer. Oil prices have doubled as a result of the Ukraine war," he said in the interview that appeared on Monday. Jaishankar said the oil market is also driven up by sanctions against Iran or what is happening in Venezuela. "In such a situation, it makes diplomatic and economic sense to look around the market for the best deal. Would Europe pay more if it didn't have to?" he asked.

(With inputs from agencies)