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THE BIG STORY
The coronavirus variant first detected in India has now been officially recorded in 53 territories, a World Health Organisation report showed. The report also said that B1617 had shown increased transmissibility, while disease severity and risk of infection were under investigation.
WORLD
Manhattan's district attorney has convened a grand jury that is expected to decide whether to indict Mr Donald Trump, which indicates he feels he has evidence of a crime by the former president, someone close to him or by his company, US media reported. Mr Trump rejected the investigation as "purely political".
WORLD
China is bracing itself for a heavy flood season, with 71 rivers already exceeding warning levels, the official Xinhua news agency has reported, as the meteorological authorities warned that global warming is fuelling more extreme weather.
Rain in some parts of central and southern China has hit record highs in recent weeks.
THE BIG STORY
Sports coaches here say they are exercising more caution while conducting private one-on-one outdoor lessons amid the heightened safe distancing measures that have affected most physical activities. Some have cut half of their classes for this period, while others are conducting classes at a single location.
OPINION
Things are beginning to boil over in Sri Lanka, whose straddling of the world's most important sea route gives it vital strategic significance. In its external ties, Chinese influence on the island is building up to be a geopolitical flashpoint. And majoritarianism and geopolitics can be an incendiary mix, says associate editor Ravi Velloor.
SINGAPORE
Some diplomatic meetings have adopted videoconferencing, but others, such as the recently cancelled Shangri-La Dialogue, have resisted going virtual. Its organisers said the value of face-to-face diplomacy, which the summit promotes, was not easy to replicate virtually.