News in pictures: India's economic stimulus, Italy to ban private parties, 31 held in UK, Philippines' 2021 budget, Mumbai power failure hits trading volume, Kushboo joins BJP...

KUSHBOO JOINS BJP AFTER QUITTING CONGRESS: Indian actor-turned-politician Kushboo Sundar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party here on Monday, hours after she quit the Congress. Speaking to reporters at the joining ceremony, the actor from Tamil Nadu said she had come to the understanding over a period of time that if the nation has to move forward, then someone like Prime Minister Narendra Modi is needed to take the country "in the right direction and to its glory". A national spokesperson of the Congress, she resigned from the party protesting against what she called some leaders' "dictating terms" and "suppressing" her.

MUMBAI POWER FAILURE HITS TRADING VOLUME: India's financial capital saw its worst blackout in decades because of a grid failure, disrupting transport networks and briefly hitting trading volume in bond markets. Mumbai, home to India's biggest stock exchanges, financial regulators and the central bank, witnessed a power outage at around 10 am local time. Power tripping - or an overload in the circuit that forces the system to shut down automatically - was the reason for the grid's collapse, according to local power utility Tata Power Ltd. Electricity is gradually being restored across the island city.

PHILIPPINES' 2021 BUDGET HANGS: President Rodrigo Duterte's allies at the House of Representatives splintered on Monday, with majority electing a new speaker while the Philippines' 4.5 trillion-peso ($93 billion) budget aimed to aid economic recovery remains pending in Congress. Congressman Lord Allan Velasco was declared the new speaker after getting the votes of 186 of the 299 sitting House members, according to televised proceedings held outside the chamber's building. Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano, who Velasco is seeking to replace, said the proceedings violated rules and told his challenger's camp to prove his numbers at tomorrow's special session called by Duterte to tackle the budget bill.

FIREFIGHTERS TRY TO CONTAIN FIRE ON MOUNT KILIMANJARO: Tanzanian firefighters were battling on Monday to contain a fire that broke out on Sunday on Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, the National Parks service (TANAPA) said. "The fire is still going on and firefighters from TANAPA, other government institutions and locals are continuing with the efforts to contain it," said Pascal Shelutete, a TANAPA official. He did not provide more details.

INDIA ANNOUNCES ECONOMIC STIMULUS: India on Monday announced steps to stimulate consumer demand, including advance payment of a part of the wages of federal government employees during the festival season and more capital spending as it tries to bolster the pandemic-hit economy. The government will allow its employees to spend tax-exempt travel allowances on goods and services, Nirmala Sitharaman, India's finance minister told a news briefing. She said the government will also shore up investment by spending extra 250 billion rupees ($3.41 billion)on roads, ports and defence projects, and offering 120 billion rupees in interest-free 50-year loans to state governments for spending on infrastructure before March 31,2021.

'WISH YOU WERE HERE' - KOBE'S WIDOW HAILS LAKERS' VICTORY: Vanessa Bryant congratulated the Los Angeles Lakers after they beat Miami Heat 106-93 to win their 17th NBA Championship on Sunday and said she wished her husband Kobe and daughter Gianna could have been present. Kobe, who won five championships with the Lakers, and 13-year-old Gianna were killed in a helicopter crash in January. "Go Lakers! Wish Kobe and Gigi were here to see this," Vanessa Bryant wrote in a post on Instagram that included a photograph of her late husband and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka.

KREMLIN SAYS RUSSIA ABLE TO BE FLEXIBLE IN COVID-19 RESPONSE: The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia could afford to be more flexible in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic than earlier this year when it imposed a lockdown. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had more room for manoeuvre this time round because of better available treatment methods, more hospital beds, and a tried and tested system in place to tackle the virus. Russia, which has no lockdown currently, recorded a new record increase in coronavirus cases on Sunday. Earlier on Monday, new cases remained close to that level.

ITALY TO BAN PRIVATE PARTIES: Italy is set to ban private parties and limit the numbers of guests at weddings and funerals among new restrictions aimed at curbing a surge in coronavirus infections, according to a draft decree seen by Reuters. The decree, which could be issued as early as Monday, prohibits people from hosting more than 10 guests in their homes or in any other private premises. It also states that no more than 10 guests will be allowed at weddings, and no more than 15 people can be present at funerals.

NO DEAL ON GLOBAL DIGITAL TAX THIS YEAR: The 137 nations trying to hammer out a new global standard for taxing multinational tech firms will not secure a deal by the end of this year as hoped, the OECD acknowledged Monday. "The glass is half full: the package is nearly ready but there is still no political accord," said Pascal Saint-Amans, head of tax policy at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development which is tasked with spearheading the talks. The OECD does expect to finalise a "digital tax" proposal "sometime in 2021," Saint-Amans added.

FLOODS, ROUGH SEAS KILL 18 IN VIETNAM: At least 18 people died and more than a dozen are missing after floods submerged homes in central Vietnam and rough seas capsized fishing boats, authorities said Monday, as another storm threatened fresh downpours. Images on state media showed entire villages under water in Quang Tri and Quang Nam, while murky floodwaters swept through the Imperial City of Hue and the tourist hotspot Hoi An over the weekend. More than a hundred thousand homes have been submerged in the floods and nearly 46,000 people evacuated, Vietnam's disaster management authority said.

UK POLICE ARREST 31 SUSPECTED OF ONLINE CHILD ABUSE: Police in Britain said Monday they had arrested 31 suspected online child abusers and seized more than 300 phones, laptops and other items during a recent week-long operation. Officers from a unit dedicated to tackling online child sexual abuse and exploitation, which now features around 200 specialist officers, executed 91 search warrants during the operation across the British capital.The raids took place between September 28 and October 3, with 100 children "protected" as a result, London's Metropolitan Police said.

'CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN INCREASING IN INDIA': Crimes against women are increasing but instead of listening to the victims, allegations are being levelled against them, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Monday adding that now women have to take the responsibility for the safety and security of other women. "Crime against women is increasing. Amid this, instead of listening to the truth and the voices of victim women, defaming them and levelling allegations against them is a shameless and cowardly act. But the women of our country will not stay silent now," Priyanka tweeted. In the following tweet, she said, "If a sister is accused, lakhs of our sister will raise their voices and stand with them. We are taking our responsibilities ourselves. Now women have to take up the responsibility of women's safety."

BJP COUNCILLOR SHOT DEAD IN INDIA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ward councillor from Bhadaipura ward, Rudrapur municipal corporation, Prakash Singh Dhami passed away on Monday after being shot at by unknown assailants, police said on Monday. According to the police, unknown assailants reached Dhami's residence this morning and called him outside. They opened fire on him as soon as he stepped out of his house.

GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS CASES CROSS 37.35 MILLION: More than 37.35 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,073,862 have died, according to a Reuters tally published on Monday. With 214,375 deaths and 7,745,140 confirmed cases, the United States topped the list of twenty countries with the highest recorded infections and deaths in the world, followed by India, Brazil, Russia, Colombia, Argentina, Spain, Peru, Mexico, France, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Iran, Chile, Iraq, Bangladesh, Italy, the Philippines, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.