INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
WASHINGTON: The global tally of people infected by the coronavirus shot past 50 million on Monday, as United States President-elect Joe
Biden geared up to name the scientists who will lead the country's response to its disastrous outbreak.The incoming leader made the pledge
in his first speech since being projected as the winner of the presidential election, signaling he plans to prioritize the pandemic from the
in a nailbiting poll."On Monday I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as transition advisers to help take the Biden-Harris
plan and convert it into an actual blueprint that will start on January 20, 2021," Biden told supporters, referring to the day he will be
sworn in as commander-in-chief and get the keys to the White House."The team being assembled will meet these challenges on Day One," his new
sign of slowing, despite Trump's claim the world's biggest economy is "rounding the corner."Myanmar street partiesThe raging pandemic --
which first emerged in central China almost a year ago -- did not deter voters in Myanmar, where excited crowds bunched together in their
eagerness to cast their ballots.Hundreds of die-hard supporters ignored warnings and gathered in a premature celebration, dancing, singing
NLD victory!" 25-year-old Thazin Swe said, as she hailed Aung San Suu Kyi's likely win.Schoolteacher Hnin Wut Yee, 23, said she had
"concerns" about the lack of social distancing, adding: "We're all watching each other with suspicion."Cases of the coronavirus in Myanmar
have spiralled upwards in recent months, sending swathes of the country into lockdown and forcing campaigns online, where hate speech
between rival factions has festered.But Suu Kyi refused to postpone the polls -- a decision that could see "serious public health
worldwide, according to an AFP tally, and over 50 million cases have been registered across the globe.Europe -- with 12.6 million cases and
306,000 deaths -- is once again the epicentre of the pandemic.Under new measures in Greece, people can only leave home if they make a mobile
phone request and receive authorisation.Essential shops can stay open, including supermarkets and pharmacies.Hairdressers have also been
Italy, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom, while Germany and other nations have also imposed new rules.Britain has banned entry to all
non-resident foreigners coming from Denmark after a mutated version of the coronavirus linked to mink farms was found in humans.Royals and
politicians in London observed a low-key and socially-distanced Remembrance Sunday without the usual solemn pageantry to honour the
country's war dead.And demonstrators once again took to the streets across the world, including in Leipzig, Germany, where 65-year-old
cases and 411,700 deaths, Asia with 11 million cases and 176,600 deaths and the United States and Canada with 10.1 million infections and
