Indian fencing achieved its best-ever performance on the global stage as Epee fencers Taniksha Khatri and Prachi Lohan concluded their individual campaigns at the Senior World Fencing Championships 2026 in Hong Kong. Both athletes became the first Indian women's Epee fencers to qualify for the Main Table of 64 (Direct Elimination Round) at a Senior World Championships, competing in a field of over 180 athletes at the Asia World Expo. In the final standings for Women's Individual Epee, Taniksha Khatri placed 43rd overall, registering India's highest-ever individual rank in the event at a Senior World Championships. Her teammate Prachi Lohan finished 58th, giving India two fencers in the top 60. Rounding out the Indian squad in the same event, Yashkeerat Kaur Hayer ranked 143rd, and Mitva Jesangbhai Chaudhari ranked 150th. Expressing his support for the athletes, Rajeev Mehta, Secretary General of the Fencing Confederation of Asia and the Fencing Association of India, sai...
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was quoted as saying the government should "just let people die" during the Covid-19 pandemic rather than impose a second national lockdown, the inquiry into how Britain handled the crisis heard on Monday.
Patrick Vallance, who was the government's chief scientific adviser during COVID, made a note in his diary on October 25, 2020, about a meeting involving then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Sunak, who was finance minister.
The diary entry shown to the inquiry recorded how Dominic Cummings, Johnson's most senior adviser during the pandemic, had relayed to Vallance what he said he had heard at the meeting.
Vallance quoted Cummings in his diary as saying: "Rishi thinks just let people die and that's okay. This all feels like a complete lack of leadership."
A spokesman for Sunak said the prime minister would set out his position when he gives evidence to the inquiry "rather than respond to each one in piecemeal".
The inquiry is examining the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic that shut large sections of the economy and killed more than 220,000 people in Britain. It is due to run until the summer of 2026.
Senior government officials have repeatedly said the government was unprepared for the pandemic and a "toxic" and "macho" culture hampered the response to the health crisis.
The danger for Sunak is that evidence at the inquiry undermines his attempt to cast himself as a change to the chaotic leadership of Johnson even though he was one of the most senior ministers in that government.
Previous evidence has shown he was branded "Dr. Death" by one government scientific adviser over his "Eat Out to Help out" policy in the summer of 2020, which subsidised meals in pubs and restaurants but was criticised by health experts for spreading the virus.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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