News Headlines - 21 April 2021

▽Tokyo, Osaka and Hyogo set for third coronavirus state of emergency | The Japan Times

Japan is bracing itself for a state of emergency once again after Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura on Tuesday submitted a formal request for the order and speculation mounts that Tokyo, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures will follow suit later this week.
The government plans to declare a fresh state of emergency over the novel coronavirus in Tokyo, Osaka and Hyogo, Jiji Press reported, citing informed sources.
The decision will be made at a meeting of its coronavirus response headquarters on Thursday, the sources said, with the new state of emergency seen running for about three weeks.

▽COVID-19 alert in Vanuatu after infected body washes ashore - CNA

Vanuatu slapped travel restrictions on its most populous island on Monday (Apr 19) after tests confirmed that a body that washed ashore on the largely coronavirus-free Pacific nation was infected with COVID-19.
Government sources said the deceased was a Filipino sailor whose vessel had left Port Vila a day before his body was found washed up near a village about 5km outside the city on Apr 11.
The man's crewmates and police officers who retrieved the body had all tested negative for the virus, said the sources, who wished to remain anonymous as they were not authorised to discuss the matter.
It was not clear how or where the man died, or how his body ended up in the sea.

▽T. rex walked surprisingly slowly, new study finds - CNN

T. rex would have covered just under 3 miles in an hour -- a speed similar to that of humans and many other animals -- at its preferred walking speed, according to new calculations by Dutch paleontologists. However, this pace is slower than other estimates of the tyrant lizard king's walking speed... Earlier estimates had not taken fully into account the role of the T. rex's tail -- which makes up more than half its length -- when crunching the numbers, said Pasha van Bijlert, lead author of a new study on T. rex locomotion published in the journal Royal Society Open Science on Tuesday.

▽Jose Mourinho: Tottenham sack manager after 17 months - BBC Sport

Jose Mourinho has been sacked by Tottenham after just 17 months in charge.
The Portuguese replaced Mauricio Pochettino as Spurs manager in November 2019 and guided the club to sixth in the Premier League last season.
They are currently seventh, having picked up two points from their past three league games, and were knocked out of the Europa League in March.

▽Queen's birthday: Public's messages about Philip 'a comfort', she says - BBC News

The Queen's birthday, which comes four days after the duke's funeral, is being marked in a low-key, private way.
There will be no public celebrations as the monarch continues to observe two weeks of mourning until Friday.
No photograph celebrating the day is expected to be released this year, as would be customary.