FIFA News Live Updates: ‘No I’m not going to retire’, says Messi after FIFA win – The Economic Times

China reports two new COVID deaths for Dec 18 vs none a day earlier

China reported two new COVID-19 deaths for Dec 18, compared with none the previous day, increasing the nation’s fatalities to 5,237, the National Health Commission said on Monday. The country reported 1,995 new symptomatic COVID-19 infections on Dec. 18, compared with 2,097 a day earlier. Excluding imported infections, China reported 1,918 new local symptomatic cases, down from 2,028 a day earlier.

MP govt to bear college fees of students scoring more than 75% in 10th and 12th standards

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday announced scholarships for students securing more than 70 marks in 10th and 12th standard exams. Addressing an event, the CM said “We have decided to develop playgrounds in 110 villages.” He further said the government will bear the medical and engineering college fees of those students who qualify for the scholarships. “I already give laptops to students who scored more than 75% in their 12th standard exams. Now, I will also bear the fees of medical college, engineering college, IIT and law college,” he said.

Renesas halts work at Beijing plant due to COVID spread

Japanese chip maker Renesas Electronics Corp suspended work at its Beijing plant from Friday for several days due to the spread of COVID-19 in the city and out of consideration for worker safety, a plant spokesperson said on Monday. Renesas is a major producer of semiconductors for automobiles, although the Beijing plant makes chips mostly for industrial uses and home appliances. It has sufficient stockpiles and no significant impact is expected in the immediate future, the spokesperson added. A recent surge in COVID cases in China has hit major urban centres throughout the nation.

Twitter to ban users from promoting rival social platforms

Twitter announced on Sunday it would no longer allow users to promote their accounts on several rival social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram, but the site’s mercurial owner Elon Musk appeared to backtrack on the new policy just hours later. The sudden shift in the rules was the latest in a series of controversial changes made by Musk since he took over the company in October — upheaval that has led a growing number of users to encourage followers to view their posts on other sites.

Musk polls Twitter users about whether he should step down

Elon Musk is asking Twitter’s users to decide if he should stay in charge of the social media platform after acknowledging he made a mistake Sunday in launching new speech restrictions that sought to ban mentions of rival social media platforms. In yet another drastic policy change, Twitter had announced that users will no longer be able to link to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon and other platforms the company described as “prohibited.” But the move generated so much immediate criticism, including from past defenders of Twitter’s new billionaire owner, that Musk promised not to make any more major policy changes without an online survey of users.

Tokyo stocks open lower on fears of global slowdown

Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday, after Wall Street dropped over renewed fears of a global slowdown. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.78 percent, or 214.14 points, at 27,312.98 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.54 percent, or 10.60 points, at 1,939.61.

11 people seriously injured amid turbulence on Hawaii flight

Nearly a dozen people were seriously injured when a flight to Hawaii was rocked by severe turbulence on Sunday about 30 minutes outside Honolulu, an emergency response agency said. Eleven people were hospitalized in serious condition and nine others were in stable condition, the Honolulu Emergency Medical Services said in a statement. It said a call came in shortly after 11 a.m. about the injuries on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Phoenix. Responders treated 36 people and of those, 20 people were transported for further medical treatment. The statement said the wounds included a serious head injury, lacerations, bruising and loss of consciousness.

Governments move closer to deal at biodiversity conference

There were signs on Sunday that negotiators were closing in on a historic deal at a U.N. conference that would be the most significant effort to protect the world’s land and oceans and provide a critical infusion of money to save biodiversity in the developing world. China, which holds the presidency at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, or COP15, released a draft framework Sunday morning that calls for restoring 30% of land and water considered important for biodiversity be conserved by 2030. Currently, 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine areas are protected. It also calls for a redoubling of efforts to conserve threatened species, minimize the impacts of climate change and reduce pollution. “There has never been a conservation goal globally at this scale,“ Brian O’Donnell, the director of the conservation group Campaign for Nature, told reporters. “This puts us within a chance of safeguarding biodiversity from collapse … We’re now within the range that scientists think can make a marked difference in biodiversity.” The draft also calls for raising $200 billion by 2030 for biodiversity and working to phase out or reform subsidies that could provide another $500 billion for nature. As part of that, it calls to increase to at least $20 billion annually or by some estimates double the amount that goes to poor countries by 2025. That number would increase to $30 billion each year by 2030.

‘No I’m not going to retire’, says Messi after FIFA win

In what may come as a relief to millions of football fans across the world, Argentine talisman Lionel Messi has announced that he will continue to play football for Argentina after securing the 2022 FIFA World Cup title with his national team, defeating France. “No, I’m not going to retiring from the Argentina national team,” he told TyC Sports, as quoted by Goal.com. “I want to continue playing as a champion.” The Argentina legend also said he had a feeling he was going to win the tournament this time around. On Sunday, Argentina came out victorious in the intensely fought final in what was the last World Cup for Argentine talisman Lionel Messi. After finishing all square at the end of the second half of extra time, Argentina won the final 4-2 on penalties.