WORLD

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a virtual summit with his British counterpart Boris Johnson on Tuesday during which they will unveil a 10-year roadmap to further broad base bilateral ties. Making an announcement about the summit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it will be an important opportunity to elevate the multi-faceted strategic ties and enhance cooperation on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

“A comprehensive roadmap 2030 will be launched during the summit, which will pave the way for further expanding and deepening India-UK cooperation over the next decade across five key areas," the MEA said. It said the five areas are: people-to-people relationship, trade and prosperity, defence and security, climate action and healthcare.

India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will visit the United Kingdom tomorrow for the G7 Foreign Ministers' meet. The UK has invited India for an in-person G7 foreign ministers meeting, for which FMs of Australia, South Korea, South Africa, and the Chair and Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have also been invited. 

A Ministry of External Affairs release said, "External Affairs Minister will be visiting London from 3-6 May 2021 to participate in the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting, at which India has been invited as a guest country. He will thereafter undertake a bilateral visit to the UK."

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday offered help to India in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Chinese state media reported.

According to China's state media agency Xinhua, President Xi Jinping also "extended condolences" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Covid-19 pandemic in India.

"President Xi Jinping sent a message of condolences to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Covid-19 pandemic in the country," Xinhua reported. 

In a stark warning to European nations, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday that relaxing Covid measures can create a "perfect storm" similar to the pandemic situation in India.

New infections and deaths are soaring in India. Experts have indicated that the massive wave can in part be blamed on mass gatherings.

Head of WHO Europe said countries should not make the mistake of relaxing restrictions too soon.

"When personal protective measures are being relaxed, when there are mass gatherings, when there are more contagious variants and the vaccination coverage is still low this can create a perfect storm in any country," Hans Kluge, head of WHO Europe told reporters Thursday.

A proposed multi-billion pound British class action against Google, which alleges the Internet giant secretly tracked millions of iPhone users, is not viable and should not be allowed to proceed, the Supreme Court was told on Wednesday.

Antony White, a lawyer for Google, told the first day of a two-day hearing that the maiden, U.S.-style data protection lawsuit could only seek redress under English laws if any data breach had led to claimants suffering damage.

"It is not my case that loss of personal data may not have serious consequences, but it may not always do so in a way that attracts compensation," he said, adding that any uniform award would also fail to take into account differing phone usage.