US President Trump and North Korean leader Kim hold talks

Agencies
June 12, 2018

Singapore, Jun 12: US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met for the first time and shook hands here on Tuesday, kicking off their history-making summit aimed at normalising bilateral ties and complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

Trump and Kim met at Capella Singapore hotel in Singapore's Sentosa island after months of diplomatic twists and turns.

The two men walked towards each other, stood face to face for the first time and shared a 12-second handshake against a backdrop of American and North Korean flags. They then appeared to share a few light-hearted words as they walked down a corridor to the hotel's library.

Trump and Kim are the first leaders of their respective countries to meet, marking the culmination of months of diplomatic wrangling and negotiations.

In brief remarks to the media before the start of their meeting, Trump expressed hope that the historic summit would be "tremendously successful."

Sitting next to the North Korean leader, the US President said, "We will have a terrific relationship ahead."

"I feel really great. It's gonna be a great discussion and I think tremendous success. I think it's gonna be really successful and I think we will have a terrific relationship, I have no doubt," Trump responded when asked how he felt in the first minute.

Kim then said there were a number of "obstacles" to the meeting taking place in Singapore today.

"We overcame all of them and we are here today," he told reporters through a translator.

Trump then said, "Thank you very much".

At 9:06 AM (local time), they entered the room where they held their one-on-one meeting for around 45-minutes with just translators present.

According to North Korean media, Kim actually arrived at the venue 7 minutes earlier than Trump to show respect as it's cultural, the young one should arrive earlier than the elder one. The red tie that Trump wears may also show some respect to Kim as well, it's the colour that North Koreans like.

At 9:50 AM (local time), they emerged from their one-on-one meeting and headed into an expanded bilateral meeting.

When asked how the discussion went, Trump said: "Very, very good. Excellent relationship."

Kim was asked at least three times if he'd give up his nukes. In response, he just smiled.

At 9:53 AM (local time), American and North Korean officials were seated across a long table for the expanded bilateral.

Both Trump and Kim made brief remarks.

Trump said he believed he and Kim will "solve a big problem, a big dilemma" and that by working together, "we will get it taken care of".

"There will be challenges ahead but we will work with Trump. We overcame all kinds of scepticism and speculations about this summit and I believe that this is good for the peace," Kim responded.

Fourteen reporters are participating in the tight pool, seven each from the US and North Korea.

On the agenda is North Korea's nuclear capabilities, which Trump is hoping to convince them to abandon in exchange for economic assistance.

On the eve of the summit, the US offered "unique" security guarantees to North Korea in return for a "complete, verifiable and irreversible" denuclearisation.

The summit at Sentosa - the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader - will mark a turnaround of relations between Trump, 71, and Kim, 34, after a long-running exchange of threats and insults.

Sentosa is a popular tourist island a few hundred metres off the main island of Singapore.

The US insists it will accept nothing less than complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

The official North Korean news agency said on Sunday that Kim was ready to talk about "denuclearisation" and a "durable peace" at a summit held "for the first time in history under the great attention and expectation of the whole world."

Trump said on Saturday that Kim has a "one-time shot" to make history.

"I feel that Kim Jong-un wants to do something great for his people," he had said.

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News Network
March 19,2020

New Delhi, Mar 19: The total number of reported novel coronavirus cases in India has climbed to 169, with 30 fresh cases reported from various parts of the country on Wednesday.

The total cases in India include 25 foreign nationals and the three persons who died in Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

As coronavirus cases continue to rise in India, over 5,700 people, who had come in contact with positive cases, continue to be under rigorous surveillance, the government has said.

Maharashtra has 43 cases, including 3 foreigners, while Kerala has recorded 27 cases which include two foreign nationals. A 28-year-old woman from Pune with a travel history to France and the Netherlands tested positive for Covid-19, a senior official said on Wednesday.

A 68-year-old woman has tested positive for coronavirus in Mumbai. She was in close contact with a Covid-19 patient, who was diagnosed yesterday.

In Rajasthan, three more have tested positive for Covid-19. The new cases have come from Jhunjhunu district. Their samples have been sent to SMS Medical college.

In Maharashtra, a 21-year-old man in Pimpri Chinchwad with travel history to the Philippines, Singapore and Colombo has tested positive for coronavirus. One more person in Ratnagiri has tested positive for Covid-19.

Telangana has reported seven more confirmed coronavirus cases. All the seven are Indonesian national.

Delhi has so far reported 10 positive cases which include one foreigner while Uttar Pradesh has recorded 16 cases, including one foreigner. A man from Noida tested positive on Wednesday, taking the total number to four in Noida.

Karnataka reported two fresh cases on Wednesday, taking the number of infections to 13. The number of cases in Ladakh rose to eight and Jammu and Kashmir three. Telangana has reported six cases which include two foreigners.

One more person has tested positive for coronavirus in Kashmir. The person, with foreign travel history, has been put under isolation. He had arrived in J&K on March 16.

There will be restrictions on public transport, assembly of people and some other measures, in #Srinagar from tomorrow.

Rajasthan has also reported four cases including that of two foreigners. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Punjab have reported one case each.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar has confined the state's second positive case of coronavirus in the state.

The health minister has stated that the condition of the patient is stable and is in observation.

In Haryana, there are 16 cases, which include fourteen foreigners.

According to the Union ministry's data, 14 people have been discharged so far, including the three patients from Kerala.

Three persons infected with the virus have died so far, the latest casualty being a 64-year-old man from Mumbai with a travel history to Dubai who succumbed on Tuesday.

While a 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi who returned from Saudi Arabia died last Tuesday, a 68-year-old woman in Delhi who had tested positive for coronavirus passed away on Friday night.

The government on Tuesday banned the entry of passengers from Afghanistan, Philippines and Malaysia to India with immediate effect, according to an additional travel advisory.

With coronavirus cases swelling in the country, the government has also banned the entry of passengers from the European Union countries, Turkey and the UK from March 18 till March 31.

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News Network
February 22,2020

Johannesburg, Feb 22: To meet shortage of skilled nursing staff, private hospitals in South Africa are recruiting senior Indian nurses for their good work ethics and ability to become efficient trainers for the local staff, according to a media report.

A report at a 2018 jobs summit indicated that the country had a shortage of more than 47,000 nurses.

The shortage of the skilled nursing staff has been attributed to several factors, including preference of highly qualified nurses to emigrate or take up contract employment in countries such as the UK, the United Aarb Emirates, Saudi Arabia or New Zealand for want of higher salaries, a report in the weekly Business Times said.

Mediclinic, one of South Africa's largest private hospital groups, confirmed that it is recruiting 150 nurses from India this year.

“To supplement our training, as an internal strategy, we will continue to recruit senior registered nurses from India,” a Mediclinic spokesperson told the Business Times.

Mediclinic started recruiting nurses from India in 2005 but could not provide details about how many among the more than 8,800 nurses it employs at its hospitals are from India.

Another company, Life Healthcare SA, said it employed 135 Indian nurses between 2008 and 2014.

Top managements at the hospital groups lauded senior Indian nurses as being very efficient trainers for local staff.

“But we find that many of them prefer coming here on short-term contracts due to family commitments," a hospital executive said on the basis of anonymity.

The official said that the few who apply for long-term positions are usually young newly-qualified nurses, which is not the group in demand.

“They work hard, with a patient-oriented work ethic, and do not have the nine-to-five approach of many local nurses, especially those who are unionised," the official said.

“We would be very happy to take in more nursing staff from India," the official added.

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News Network
June 17,2020

New Delhi, Jun 17: With an increase of 10,974 new cases and 2,003 deaths in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 count reached 3,54,065 on Wednesday while the toll due to the virus stands at 11,903.

This includes 1,55,227 active cases and 1,86,935 cured, discharged and migrated patients, according to the Union Health Ministry.

While the spike in the number of cases has stayed below the 11-thousand mark, the death toll has increased manifold today as compared to the 380 death reported on Tuesday.

Maharashtra with 1,13,445 cases continues to be the worst-affected state in the country with 50,057 active cases while 57,851 patients have been cured and discharged in the state so far. The toll due to COVID-19 has crossed the five thousand mark and reached 5,537 in the state.

It is followed by Tamil Nadu with 48,019 and the national capital with 44,688 confirmed cases.

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