From Delhi to the western state of Gujarat and the southern tech city of Bengaluru, India has been overwhelmed by a surge in deaths after it was swept by a second wave of coronavirus infections. Cases early this month topped more than 400,000 a day reut.rs/3fXJUnM 1/6
With overburdened hospitals and scant supplies of oxygen and drugs for an already creaky healthcare system, the numbers of cremations and burials reported by several major cities are far larger than official death tolls, @Reuters finds 2/6
In Surat, Gujarat, a city of six million people and is best known for its diamond-polishing industry, at least seven crematoriums and graveyards saw a more than threefold rise in the number of cremations and burials in April versus a year ago 3/6
Nowhere has the crisis been more acute than in New Delhi. Last month, fewer than 20 of its more than 5,000 beds in intensive care units dedicated to treating COVID patients were free.
Patients rushed from hospital to hospital, with some dying on the streets or at home 4/6
Some of Delhi’s largest crematoriums had to clear space in car parks to burn the dead.
A patch of adjacent waste ground was cleared at the Seemapuri crematorium. Cremations built up an invisible wall of heat that seared those on the roofs of nearby buildings 5/6
A lack of firewood: India’s Hindu majority cremates its dead and the huge numbers of deaths mean bodies stacking up.
A local lockdown to rein in the pandemic has brought a shortage of workers to cut trees. Read more about the devastating second wave reut.rs/3fXJUnM 6/6
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Four decades ago, the United States deployed cruise and Pershing II nuclear missiles in Europe to counter Soviet SS-20s - a move that stoked Cold War tensions but led within years to a historic disarmament deal 1/10 reut.rs/3W97ZNj
'We can be proud of planting this sapling, which may one day grow into a mighty tree of peace,' Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev told US President Ronald Reagan in December 1987 as they agreed to dismantle the rival systems under a new treaty 2/10
The treaty scrapped all ground-based shorter-range and intermediate-range (INF) nuclear and conventional weapons - those with ranges between 500 km and 5,500 km 3/10
Israel intensified its bombardment of Rafah in Gaza's south and over a dozen members of one family were killed in an air strike, residents said, as the ruined Palestinian enclave's health ministry announced 29,313 deaths in the war so far 1/6 reut.rs/3wrVZgR
In Jerusalem, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz cited 'promising early signs of progress' on a new deal to release hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza amid talks conducted by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to secure a pause in the war 2/6
The Israeli army said it had stepped up operations in Khan Younis, a city just north of Rafah. It made no mention of attacks on Rafah itself in its daily summary of events in Gaza and did not immediately respond to a request for comment 3/6
View of Buckingham Palace following King Charles' cancer diagnosis reut.rs/486lbGw
King Charles has been diagnosed with a form of cancer and will postpone public engagements to undergo treatment, Buckingham Palace said, but added he remained ‘wholly positive’ about the scare less than 18 months into his reign
Israeli shelling killed 14 Palestinians in Khan Younis in a southern coastal area of the Gaza Strip packed with people who had fled attacks in other parts of the enclave, Gaza health ministry officials said 1/8 reut.rs/48luYtg
The dead included nine children, an official told @Reuters.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the attack although it had separately reported fighting and air strikes against Hamas militants in the Khan Younis area 2/8
Gaza residents also said Israeli planes and tanks bombarded three refugee camps in the center of the shattered enclave in heavier attacks than in previous days 3/8
After a school shooting in Tennessee, they recorded the frustrations of parents and state legislators whose cries for gun control were silenced 1/8 reut.rs/41DFBFj
In one photo, it’s almost possible to hear Representative Justin Pearson’s measured tones as he stands in prayer with one hand raised at the Capitol following a legislative session that failed to change any gun laws 2/8
In March, a former student at the Covenant School in Nashville killed three children and three staff members. Pearson and fellow Representative Justin Jones, both Black Democrats, were briefly expelled for leading a gun control protest on the House of Representatives floor 3/8
Elon Musk threatened to sue media watchdog Media Matters and those who attacked his social media platform X, following moves by several large US companies to halt advertising on the site after being promoted alongside antisemitic content 1/5 reut.rs/40JDEqD
Musk and X have been under a microscope all week for antisemitic and racist content that has proliferated on the site since he purchased it in 2022 2/5
Liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America said earlier this week that it found ads from IBM, Apple and others were placed alongside content promoting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party 3/5