News in pictures: FedEx on self-flying plane, man killed over Dh1 in India, Modi greets Lata Mangeshkar, global COVID-19 cases, free masks in Sydney…

NEW START DATE FOR VIRUS-DELAYED OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY: The Tokyo 2020 torch relay, which was put on hold when the Olympics were delayed over the coronavirus, will start next March from Japan's Fukushima region, organisers said Monday. The Olympic flame had already arrived in Japan from Greece and the relay was days from beginning earlier this year when organisers and Olympic officials took the historic decision to postpone the Games by 12 months. The flame is currently on display in Tokyo. https://gulfnews.com/sport

JAPAN AIRLINES EMBRACES GENDER NEUTRAL GREETINGS: Japan Airlines is ditching the phrase "ladies and gentlemen" and instead embracing gender neutral terms during in-flight and airport announcements from next month, the company said Monday. From October 1, JAL "will abolish expressions that based on (two types of) sex and use gender-friendly expression" like "good morning" and "good evening," a spokesperson said. In Japanese, the expression generally used for such announcements is already gender-neutral, but the decision applies to other languages used by the airline. https://gulfnews.com/business/aviation

BEIJING PASSES LAW TO PROTECT MEDICAL WHISTLEBLOWERS: Beijing's city government will protect "non-malicious" medical whistleblowers under a new law, passed months after a Chinese doctor was punished for sounding the alarm at the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. China's leaders suffered a rare wave of public outrage after ophthalmologist Li Wenliang died of the disease in Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus first emerged late last year. He had attempted to warn authorities about the new infection but was instead reprimanded for "spreading rumours". https://gulfnews.com/world/asia

FEDEX PACKAGES MAY SOON BE DELIVERED BY SELF-FLYING PLANES: Logistics giant FedEx is looking to use self-flying planes to transport packages to remote places, according to the CEO of the company. FedEx is working with tech startup Reliable Robotics to test the use of an unmanned aircraft for cargo delivery, news site Supply Chain Dive said. "This initiative deals with smaller turboprop airplanes and in this case the single-engine C208, which we are looking at putting in very remote and uninhabited areas as part of our network," FedEx CEO Fred Smith was quoted as saying. https://gulfnews.com/business

GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS CASES CROSS 32.88 MILLION: More than 32.88 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 992,953 have died, according to a Reuters tally published on Monday. The United States topped the list with 7,106,600 cases and 204,538 deaths; followed by India with 5,992,532 cases and 94,503 deaths; then Brazil with 4,686,080 cases and 140,677 deaths; and Russia with 1,151,438 cases and 20,324 deaths. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. https://gulfnews.com/world/coronavirus

TRUMP SPARS WITH CALIFORNIA OFFICIAL ON FIRE, CLIMATE: Donald Trump and California state officials sparred over whether climate change is contributing to out-of-control wildfires across the West, after the president insisted that poor forest management drives the conflagrations. Wade Crowfoot, the secretary of California's Natural Resources Agency, told Trump in a meeting in Sacramento on Monday that a warming climate is making the state's fires worse. "We want to work with you to really recognize the changing climate and what it means to our forests, and actually work together with that science," Crowfoot told the president. Trump responded: "It'll start getting cooler, you just watch." "I wish science agreed with you," Crowfoot said. https://gulfnews.com/world/americas

MODI GREETS LATA MANGESHKAR ON BIRTHDAY: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to iconic playback singer Lata Mangeshkar to wish her on her 91st birthday and said that he considered himself fortunate to have always received her affection and blessings. "Spoke to respected Lata Didi and conveyed birthday greetings to her. Praying for her long and healthy life. Lata Didi is a household name across the nation. I consider myself fortunate to have always received her affection and blessings," he tweeted. Considered an all-time great, Mangeshkar ruled Hindi film female playback singing for more than five decades and is a recipient of numerous awards and honours, including Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian recognition. She has also received acclaim for her songs in various other Indian languages. https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india

MAN BEATEN TO DEATH FOR RS 20 (DH1): A man was allegedly beaten to death after an altercation over Rs 20 (Dh1) in the Burari area of the Indian capital. The victim Rupesh had gone to a salon of accused brothers Santosh and Saroj. The fee was Rs 50. The victim paid Rs30 and said he would pay the remaining Rs20 later. This resulted in a fight. The man was beaten with sticks, the police said. Soon after the incident, Rupesh was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead. The two accused have been arrested, the police said. https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india

AT LEAST 14 KILLED IN LANDSLIDES IN NORTHERN BORNEO: At least 14 people were killed in landslides caused by heavy rains in several locations of Tarakan city in Indonesia's North Kalimantan province, media reported on Monday, citing local authorities. Earlier in the day, reports emerged that 10 people had been killed in the disaster. According to Antara News, seven of the victims, including a family of three, are in the Juata Permai area. Several people were injured and numerous houses were destroyed by the landslides, the publication said.

SYDNEY GIVES OUT OVER 20,000 FREE MASKS: The Sydney city council decided to distribute over 20,000 free and reusable masks to those most vulnerable in the city in a bid to further contain the spreading of COVID-19. Lord Mayor Clover Moore said in a statement on Monday that while the Sydney city council strongly supports the health advice to wear a mask, they also realized that not everyone was able to buy them. "The city of Sydney has purchased cloth reusable masks for the most vulnerable in our community -- rough sleepers, people in social housing and boarding houses," Moore said. https://gulfnews.com/world