News Headlines - 06 May 2021

▽India’s worst COVID record: Over 400,000 new cases, 3,980 deaths | Al Jazeera

India has reported more than 400,000 coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, while the number of dead from the virus rose to a record 3,980.
The South Asian nation’s tally has surged past 21 million cases, boosted by a record 412,262 new infections. The number of people who have died due to COVID-19 now totals 230,168, health ministry data showed on Thursday.

▽Japan pledges ¥5.5 billion to help India combat COVID-19 | The Japan Times

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Wednesday that Tokyo will contribute up to ¥5.5 billion ($50.3 million) in additional grant aid to India to help battle the coronavirus pandemic as the South Asian country is in crisis amid rapid spreading of the virus including more contagious variants.
In an online meeting with Motegi, his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar expressed gratitude for Japan's assistance, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.

▽Covid: Japan town builds giant squid statue with relief money - BBC News

A seaside town in Japan has raised eyebrows after it used funding from an emergency Covid-19 relief grant to build a giant statue of a squid.
The 13m-long (43ft) sea creature lies in the port of Noto, where flying squid is the town's delicacy.
It reportedly used 25m yen ($228,500; £164,700) of the emergency funding to build the statue.

▽Girl's death in Japan prompts probe of alleged bullying

A Japanese city will reinvestigate alleged bullying that was denied by education officials two years ago after a 14-year-old girl was found dead in a neighborhood park.
Saaya Hirose, an eighth grader, disappeared from her home in Asahikawa on the main northern island of Hokkaido in February. Authorities said she was found dead in the park and there was no sign of a crime.

▽Nintendo profits boom as people stuck at home play games

Annual profit for the Japanese maker of Super Mario and Pokemon games totaled a record 480.4 billion yen ($4.4 billion), up from 258.6 billion yen the year before. The results, released Thursday, were better than the company’s internal profit forecast of 400 billion yen ($3.7 billion).
Sales rose 34% to 1.76 trillion yen ($16 billion), the company said.