CAPE TOWN, May 4 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa has allocated an extra 4 billion rand ($276 mln) to buy COVID-19 vaccines and extend a special distress grant to thousands of people hit by the pandemic, in a Special Appropriation Bill tabled by the finance minister on Tuesday.
The bill, expected to be debated with the National Treasury in a parliamentary committee meeting later on Tuesday, allocates an additional 1.25 billion rand to the department of health to purchase COVID-19 vaccines and another 2.82 billion rand to social development for funding the distress grant. ($1 = 14.4526 rand) (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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South Africa allocates an extra $276 mln to fight COVID-19

LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) &#8211; Britain will on Tuesday seek to agree decisive action from G7 partners to protect democracies against global threats like those posed by China and Russia.
Hosting the second day of a foreign ministers&#8217; meeting in London designed to lay the groundwork for a leaders&#8217; summit in June, Raab will lead talks among the Group of Seven wealthy nations on threats to democracy, freedoms and human rights.
&#8220;The UK’s presidency of the G7 is an opportunity to bring together open, democratic societies and demonstrate unity at a time when it is much needed to tackle shared challenges and rising threats,&#8221; Raab said in a statement.
In addition to the G7 members Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, Britain has also invited ministers from Australia, India, South Africa and South Korea this week.
Their first face-to-face meeting in two years is seen by Britain as a chance to reinforce support for the rules-based international system at a time when it says China&#8217;s economic influence and Russian malign activity threaten to undermine it.
On Monday, having met with Raab, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was a need to try to forge a global alliance of freedom loving countries, though stressed he did not want to hold China down, but make sure it played by the rules.
Tuesday&#8217;s discussion will also cover the coup in Myanmar, urging stronger action against the military junta in the form of expanded sanctions, support for arms embargoes and more humanitarian assistance.
In the afternoon talks will turn to Russia, including how to respond to a troop manoeuvres on the border with Ukraine and the imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
Raab said on Sunday he wanted the G7 to consider a joint rebuttal unit to tackle Russian disinformation and propaganda. (Reporting by William James; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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G7 to discuss decisive action to counter threats like Russia and China

By Nancy Lapid
May 3 (Reuters) &#8211; The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.
Experimental antibody drug neutralizes COVID-19 variants
An experimental monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 being developed by Eli Lilly and Co and AbCellera Biologics Inc can &#8220;potently&#8221; neutralize numerous coronavirus variants, including those first identified in the UK, Brazil, South Africa, California and New York, scientists have found in test tube experiments. The antibody &#8211; known as LY-CoV1404 or LY3853113 &#8211; works by attaching itself to a place on the virus that has shown few signs of mutating, which means the drug is likely to retain its effectiveness over time, the researchers said in a report posted on Friday on bioRxiv ahead of peer review. &#8220;New variant-resistant treatments such as LY-CoV1404 are desperately needed, given that some of the existing therapeutic antibodies are less effective or ineffective against certain variants and the impact of variants on vaccine efficacy is still poorly understood,&#8221; the research team wrote. An AbCellera spokesperson said the company plans to release information about tests of the drug in humans on Tuesday. (https://bit.ly/3gYQnAU)
COVID-19 antibodies still detectable at 12 months
Some COVID-19 survivors infected early in the pandemic still have detectable antibodies against the virus a year later, according to a new study. U.S. doctors collected blood samples from 250 patients, including 58 who had been hospitalized for COVID-19 and 192 who had not required hospitalization. Six-to-10 months after diagnosis, all of the former inpatients and 95% of the outpatients still had neutralizing antibodies, according to a report posted on Sunday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. In the small subset of those followed for a full year, 8-of-8 people who had been hospitalized still had antibodies, as did 9-of-11 former outpatients. Antibody levels at the time of follow-up were correlated with age and with COVID-19 severity. Older age was linked with higher neutralizing antibody levels, whereas levels were &#8220;lower and more variable&#8221; in participants under age 65 who experienced less severe COVID-19 and did not require hospitalization, the researchers reported. They said vaccination of COVID-19 survivors &#8220;would be prudent&#8221; because vaccine-induced protection against the virus will likely be more long-lived than antibodies induced by mild COVID-19. (https://bit.ly/3eelS82)
No link seen between COVID-19 and aspirin or ibuprofen
A large new study found no indication that use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin or ibuprofen increases people&#8217;s vulnerability to infection by the new coronavirus. Because early reports had suggested such a link, researchers used the COVID Symptom Study smartphone app to query more than 2.7 million individuals in the United States, the UK and Sweden about their use of aspirin and other NSAIDs, as well as about virus symptoms, COVID-19 testing, and healthcare seeking behavior. Close to 9,000 participants reported a positive COVID-19 test during the study, according to a report posted on Sunday on medRxiv in advance of peer review. After accounting for individuals&#8217; lifestyle factors, other illnesses, and symptoms, regular use of NSAIDs was not associated with a higher risk of becoming infected with the coronavirus. &#8220;There have been lingering concerns&#8221; that commonly used NSAIDs &#8220;could increase the risk of COVID infection or worsen the disease course among those who acquire the infection,&#8221; said coauthor Dr. Andrew Chan of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. &#8220;Our study shows that there is no such an association and initial concerns were probably due to the fact that individuals with other risk factors for COVID or symptoms of COVID were more likely to take NSAIDs, rather than a cause and effect relationship,&#8221; he said. (https://bit.ly/3vzKNZN)
Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl in an external browser for a Reuters graphic on vaccines in development.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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COVID SCIENCE-Antibody drug neutralizes virus variants in lab study; COVID-19 antibodies detectable 12 months after infection

(clarifies poachers&#8217; methods)
By Akhona Matshoba and Shafiek Tassiem
HOEDSPRUIT, South Africa, May 3 (Reuters) &#8211; Rhino poaching is on the rise again in South Africa since the government loosened coronavirus restrictions, following a year-long lull due to the pandemic, wildlife parks say.
The strict limits on travel, including international travel, imposed in March last year had the happy side effect of keeping poachers at bay. In 2020, 394 rhinos were poached, 30% fewer than the year before and the lowest yearly tally since 2011.
But then South Africa began easing international travel restrictions in November.
&#8220;Since November, December last year and into 2021, this landscape and particularly Kruger National Park has been experiencing serious numbers of rhino poaching incidents,” said Jo Shaw, the Africa Rhino Lead for WWF International Network.
She declined to say how many incidents had occurred.
&#8220;There is a very real and realised threat as poaching pressure has increased since lockdown perhaps to meet the demand from the international markets,&#8221; she said.
Rhino poaching often involves both local poachers and international criminal syndicates that smuggle the high value commodity across borders, often to Asia where demand is high.
Their methods are cruel: rhinos are sometimes shot with a tranquiliser gun before the horn is hacked off, resulting in the animal being left to bleed to death, Save the Rhino said on its website.
Other rhinos are killed with high-powered hunting rifles before the horn is removed, said Julian Rademeyer, director of the organised crime observatory for east and southern Africa at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime.
Reserves, which have been battling tighter budgets amid a coronavirus-induced lull in tourism, have also been forced to cut back on anti-poaching patrols, compounding the threat to rhinos.
Some reserves use dehorning as a way to prevent armed poachers from taking advantage of easier cross-border travel.
Veterinarians cut the horn at the stub, rather than removing it all, which prevents the rhino from bleeding to death. Balule Nature Reserve, located in the greater Kruger system has de-horned 100 rhinos since April 2019.
The country&#8217;s environmental ministry is expected to release its 2021 half-year poaching figures at the end of June.
&#8220;As restrictions over time have become less, there has been an uptick in poaching as a result,&#8221; said Rademeyer.
South Africa has about 16,000 rhinos located within its borders, Frances Craigie, chief director of enforcement at the environmental ministry told Reuters.
But relentless poaching and a drought in the North-East region has hit the rhino population hard. In the Kruger National Park, the number of rhinos has plummeted almost more than two thirds in the last decade to around 3,800 in 2019 from 11,800 rhinos in 2008, a South African National Parks report showed. ($1 = 14.3015 rand) (Reporting by Akhona Matshoba in Johannesburg and Shafiek Tassiem in Hoedspruit Editing by Tanisha Heiberg, Raissa Kasolowsky and Giles Elgood)
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REFILE-Rhino poachers are back after South Africa eases lockdown restrictions

NEW DELHI, May 3 (Reuters) &#8211; India&#8217;s Nayara Energy, which is partly owned by Russian oil major Rosneft, imported 10.6% less oil in March than in the same month of the previous year, according to shipping industry data and sources. The company imported 376,200 barrels per day (bpd) of oil in March, up 54.3% from the previous month, the data showed. Nayara operates the 400,000 bpd Vadinar oil refinery in western Gujarat state. The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak with media. Following are details of Nayara&#8217;s crude and condensate imports. Volumes are in 1,000 bpd. Country/Regio March Feb %Chg March %Chg Jan-March Jan-March %Chg n 2021 2021 mth/mth 2020 yr/yr 2021 2020 yr/yr Latin America Brazil 33.3 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 11.5 0.0 &#8212; Colombia 67.9 74.1 -8.3 0.0 &#8212; 58.7 0.0 &#8212; Ecuador 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 48.8 -100.0 0.0 16.6 -100.0 Venezuela 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 136.6 -100.0 0.0 128.1 -100.0 TOTAL 101.3 74.1 36.7 185.3 -45.4 70.2 144.7 -51.5 Middle East Neutral zone 27.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 9.3 0.0 &#8212; Oman 15.7 0.0 &#8212; 32.2 -51.0 27.2 11.0 148.2 Iraq 70.0 74.8 -6.4 102.4 -31.6 70.7 102.9 -31.3 S. Arabia 31.2 28.2 10.5 0.0 &#8212; 30.1 1.1 2588.6 U.A.E. 87.3 66.6 31.1 0.0 &#8212; 83.2 17.1 386.0 TOTAL 231.3 169.6 36.3 134.5 71.9 220.4 132.1 66.9 C.I.S. Kazakhstan 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 63.9 -100.0 0.0 53.8 -100.0 Russia 28.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 20.8 10.9 90.5 TOTAL 28.0 0.0 &#8212; 63.9 -56.2 20.8 64.7 -67.8 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 0.0 &#8212; Africa 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 0.0 &#8212; Egypt 15.6 0.0 &#8212; 18.8 -16.9 16.1 27.5 -41.6 TOTAL 15.6 0.0 &#8212; 18.8 -16.9 16.1 27.5 -41.6 Canada 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 18.1 -100.0 12.3 6.2 98.6 TOTAL ALL 376.2 243.7 54.3 420.8 -10.6 339.8 375.2 -9.4 The total may not tally as numbers in tonnes have been rounded after converting them into barrels per day, using a conversion factor of 7.2 barrels per tonne divided by the number of days. Numbers for previous months have been revised. Data also includes some crude parcels that arrived in February but discharged in March. It also includes some parcels that arrived in March and were discharged in April. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Jan Harvey) 
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TABLE-India’s Nayara Energy oil imports down 10.6% y/y in March – trade sources

NEW DELHI, May 3 (Reuters) &#8211; India&#8217;s Reliance Industries, owner of the world&#8217;s biggest refining complex, imported 10.3% less oil in March than in the same month of the previous year, according to data from shipping and industry sources. The March imports, at about 1.12 million barrels per day, were 10.8% above the previous month, the data showed. Reliance shipped in about 11% of its imports from Latin America, compared with 43% a year ago, as the private refiner has stopped buying Venezuelan oil under pressure from U.S. sanctions, the data showed. Middle Eastern oil accounted for about 59% for Reliance&#8217;s overall purchases, compared with about 43% a year ago, while the share of U.S. oil rose to about 12% from 10%, the data showed. The share of African oil rose to about 12% from 1.4%. Following are the details of Reliance&#8217;s crude and condensate imports, according to the data. Volumes are in 1,000 bpd: Region/Countr March Feb %Chg March % Chg Jan-March Jan-March % Chg y 2021 2021 mth/mth 2020 yr/yr 2021 2020 yr/yr Latin America Brazil 63.7 0.0 &#8212; 61.1 4.3 33.6 50.1 -33.0 Colombia 0.0 113.9 -100.0 0.0 &#8212; 35.4 0.0 &#8212; Mexico 65.6 72.5 -9.4 198.7 -67.0 90.3 159.0 -43.2 Venezuela 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 274.6 -100.0 0.0 266.9 -100.0 TOTAL 129.3 186.3 -30.6 534.4 -75.8 159.3 476.1 -66.5 Asia Indonesia 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 22.2 0.0 &#8212; TOTAL 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 22.2 0.0 &#8212; Middle East Neutral Zone 26.8 30.9 -13.2 0.0 &#8212; 25.4 0.0 &#8212; Oman 31.6 0.0 &#8212; 31.8 -0.8 10.9 10.8 0.3 Iraq 368.3 143.3 156.9 151.0 144.0 273.7 217.0 26.2 Qatar 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 59.5 -100.0 0.0 38.9 -100.0 Kuwait 18.7 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 6.4 7.7 -16.4 S. Arabia 151.7 103.7 46.3 120.4 26.0 157.5 163.1 -3.5 U.A.E. 62.1 16.5 275.9 175.2 -64.6 56.5 155.7 -63.7 Dubai 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 5.4 0.0 &#8212; TOTAL 659.1 294.4 123.9 537.9 22.5 535.8 593.1 -9.7 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 0.0 &#8212; Europe 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 0.0 &#8212; North sea 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 20.5 0.0 &#8212; TOTAL 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 20.5 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 0.0 &#8212; C.I.S. 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 0.0 &#8212; Kazakhstan 31.0 101.5 -69.4 30.7 1.2 61.8 74.0 -16.4 TOTAL 31.0 101.5 -69.4 30.7 1.2 61.8 74.0 -16.4 Africa Angola 63.1 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 21.7 8.6 153.5 Ivory Coast 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 11.5 0.0 &#8212; Chad 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 21.1 -100.0 Egypt 34.4 34.6 -0.7 18.1 90.5 28.0 11.4 145.1 Sudan 35.1 20.2 73.8 0.0 &#8212; 24.6 0.0 &#8212; Eq Guinea 0.0 24.3 -100.0 0.0 &#8212; 14.8 14.6 0.9 Algeria 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 10.6 -100.0 TOTAL 132.6 79.1 67.6 18.1 634.2 100.6 66.4 51.6 Canada 35.0 74.3 -52.9 0.0 &#8212; 71.1 0.0 &#8212; USA 130.6 272.6 -52.1 124.4 5.0 172.4 106.6 61.8 TOTAL ALL 1117.6 1008.2 10.8 1245.4 -10.3 1143.8 1316.1 -13.1 NOTE: The total may not tally as numbers in tonnes have been rounded after converting them into barrels per day using a conversion factor of 7.2 barrels per tonne divided by the number of days. Numbers for previous months have been revised. Data also includes some crude parcels that arrived in February, but discharged in March. It also includes some parcels that arrived in March and were discharged in April. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Pravin Char) 
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TABLE-Indian refiner Reliance’s March oil imports down 10.3% y/y – trade

By Ben Blanchard and Stanley Widianto
TAIPEI/JAKARTA, May 3 (Reuters) &#8211; Taiwan became the latest place to ban arrivals from coronavirus-stricken India on Monday, as it moves to prevent new infections, with more nations reporting cases of a variant first identified in the subcontinent.
The variant, B.1.617, has reached at least 17 countries, from Britain and Iran to Switzerland, sparking global concern and spurring several to close their borders to people travelling from India.
Scientists are studying whether the variant, resulting from two key mutations to the outer &#8220;spike&#8221; portion of the virus that attaches to human cells, is driving an unexpected explosion in cases in India.
The south Asian nation&#8217;s tally of infections was just shy of 20 million on Monday, after it reported more than 300,000 new coronavirus cases for a 12th straight day.
Last week, Indonesia, which has been battling one of Asia&#8217;s worst COVID-19 outbreaks, stopped issuing visas for foreigners who had been in India in the previous 14 days.
&#8220;We need to contain these cases, while there are still only a few of them,&#8221; said Indonesian health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, after the first two cases of the variant reported in the southeast Asian nation on Monday.
Neighbouring Malaysia said on Sunday it had detected its first case of the Indian variant, days after imposing a ban on flights from the country.
On Monday, Taiwan said that except for its citizens, all those who had been in India in the 14 days prior would be barred from entering its territory, while returning Taiwanese face 14 days in centralised quarantine facilities.
The move comes after Australia took a more drastic measure last week, banning the entry of residents and citizens who have been in India in the previous two weeks, threatening fines and jail for any who disobey.
It was the first time Australia has branded citizens&#8217; return home a criminal offence.
Australia defended the ban, which took effect on Monday, saying it had a &#8220;strong, clear and absolute&#8221; belief that the move was legal.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a high-risk situation in India,&#8221; Health Minister Greg Hunt told a televised news briefing.
&#8220;The strong, clear view is that there has been no doubt in any of the Commonwealth advice about this.&#8221;
Philippine officials warned that they could not rule out the possibility of an India-like COVID-19 crisis, saying last week&#8217;s decision to ban entry of arrivals from India aimed to keep it from becoming a reality.
&#8220;It is possible for it to happen here if we don’t intensify responses,&#8221; Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire said.
&#8220;When we look at what is happening in India, it is happening across the globe&#8230; What’s different is the intensity of it.&#8221;
The World Health Organisation designates the variant as being &#8220;of interest&#8221;, suggesting it may have mutations that would make the virus more transmissible, cause more severe disease or evade vaccine immunity.
Other strains with known risks, such as those first detected in the Brazil, Britain and South Africa, have been categorised as &#8220;variants of concern,&#8221; a higher threat level.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei, Stanley Widianto in Jakarta and Neil Jerome Morales in Manila; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Clarence Fernandez)
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WRAPUP 1-Taiwan bars arrivals from India as Indonesia reports first cases of Indian COVID-19 variant

May 3 (OPTA) &#8211; Scores from the European Tour Tenerife Open on Sunday -25 Dean Burmester (South Africa) 63 68 66 62 -20 Nicolai Von Dellingshausen (Germany) 64 62 70 68 -19 Adrian Meronk (Poland) 68 65 65 67 Kalle Samooja (Finland) 64 66 66 69 -18 John Catlin (USA) 63 69 67 67 -17 Yikeun Chang (Korea Republic) 67 64 67 69 Pedro Oriol (Spain) 69 65 64 -16 Adri Arnaus (Spain) 65 71 66 66 Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez (Spain) 66 68 64 70 Scott Hend (Australia) 66 64 71 67 Garrick Higgo (South Africa) 63 70 66 69 -15 Alexander Björk (Sweden) 63 69 69 68 Louis De Jager (South Africa) 66 66 69 68 Jamie Donaldson (Wales) 69 67 68 65 Justin Harding (South Africa) 66 69 66 68 Pablo Larrazábal (Spain) 66 70 69 64 Thorbjørn Olesen (Denmark) 62 69 72 66 -14 Sean Crocker (USA) 67 64 68 71 Sihwan Kim (Korea Republic) 67 65 68 70 Joakim Lagergren (Sweden) 67 70 66 67 Eduard Rousaud Sabate (Spain) 64 66 70 70 -13 Nino Bertasio (Italy) 67 67 69 68 Joachim B. Hansen (Denmark) 69 66 67 Scott Jamieson (Scotland) 69 61 71 70 Richie Ramsay (Scotland) 69 67 68 67 Robin Sciot-Siegrist (France) 64 73 67 67 Sami Valimaki (Finland) 67 70 68 66 -12 Alejandro Cañizares (Spain) 68 65 70 69 Eduardo De La Riva (Spain) 67 69 68 68 Masahiro Kawamura (Japan) 65 72 64 71 Edoardo Molinari (Italy) 69 65 66 72 Paul Waring (England) 67 65 70 70 -11 Pep Angles (Spain) 65 64 73 71 Grant Forrest (Scotland) 68 66 75 64 Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spain) 69 64 66 74 Francesco Laporta (Italy) 68 67 67 71 Guido Migliozzi (Italy) 70 65 70 Eddie Pepperell (England) 68 68 72 65 Marcel Schneider (Germany) 67 69 71 66 Matthias Schwab (Austria) 68 69 67 69 Jordan L Smith (England) 67 67 68 71 -10 Maverick Antcliff (Australia) 66 69 69 70 Jonathan Caldwell (Northern Ireland) 66 68 66 74 Andrew Johnston (England) 67 67 70 70 Alexander Levy (France) 67 69 69 69 Zander Lombard (South Africa) 71 64 68 71 Richard Mansell (England) 68 67 69 -9 Laurie Canter (England) 65 70 67 73 Aaron Cockerill (Canada) 69 68 71 67 Alvaro HERNANDEZ CABEZUELA (Spain) 72 65 69 69 James Morrison (England) 68 69 69 69 Justin Walters (South Africa) 68 65 72 Ashun Wu (China PR) 70 66 70 69 -8 Kristoffer Broberg (Sweden) 68 70 68 Dale Whitnell (England) 71 66 70 69 -7 Ross Fisher (England) 69 69 70 Matthew Jordan (England) 68 69 72 68 Mikko Korhonen (Finland) 68 67 72 Sebastian Soderberg (Sweden) 70 69 70 -6 Niall Kearney (Republic of Ireland) 69 72 68 Adrian Otaegui (Spain) 69 67 70 72 Julian Suri (USA) 66 70 68 74 -5 Ben Evans (England) 70 67 71 71 Raphaël Jacquelin (France) 69 68 73 69 Matthieu Pavon (France) 70 70 71 Haydn Porteous (South Africa) 68 71 70 Callum Shinkwin (England) 71 65 69 74 Darius Van Driel (Netherlands) 68 69 74 68 -4 Rhys Enoch (Wales) 72 70 72 Matt Ford (England) 69 66 71 74 Toby Tree (England) 65 69 73 73 -3 Tapio Pulkkanen (Finland) 69 68 74 70 Lars Van Meijel (Netherlands) 69 68 70 74 -2 Nicolai Hojgaard (Denmark) 69 68 70 75 -1 Jake McLeod (Australia) 68 69 71 75 Oliver Wilson (England) 73 62 73 75 23 Joost Luiten (Netherlands) 65 70 72 
(c) Copyright Opta Sports Data 2021. All Rights Reserved
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European Tour Tenerife Open Scores

By Akhona Matshoba and Shafiek Tassiem
HOEDSPRUIT, South Africa, May 3 (Reuters) &#8211; Rhino poaching is on the rise again in South Africa since the government loosened coronavirus restrictions, following a year-long lull due to the pandemic, wildlife parks say.
The strict limits on travel, including international travel, imposed in March last year had the happy side effect of keeping poachers at bay. In 2020, 394 rhinos were poached, 30 percent fewer than the year before and the lowest yearly tally since 2011.
But then South Africa began easing international travel restrictions in November.
&#8220;Since November, December last year and into 2021, this landscape and particularly Kruger National Park has been experiencing serious numbers of rhino poaching incidents,” said Jo Shaw, the Africa Rhino Lead for WWF International Network.
She declined to say how many incidents had occurred.
&#8220;There is a very real and realised threat as poaching pressure has increased since lockdown perhaps to meet the demand from the international markets,&#8221; she said.
Rhino poaching often involves both local poachers and international criminal syndicates that smuggle the high value commodity across borders, often to Asia where demand is high.
Their methods are cruel: The rhinos are usually shot with a tranquiliser gun before the horn is hacked off, resulting in the animal being left to bleed to death.
Reserves, which have been battling tighter budgets amid a coronavirus-induced lull in tourism, have also been forced to cut back on anti-poaching patrols, compounding the threat to rhinos.
Some reserves use dehorning as one of the methods to prevent armed poachers from taking advantage of easier cross-border travel.
Veterinarians cut the horn at the stub, rather than removing it all, which prevents the rhino from bleeding to death. Balule Nature Reserve, located in the greater Kruger system has de-horned 100 rhinos since April 2019.
The country&#8217;s environmental ministry is expected to release its 2021 half-year poaching figures at the end of June.
&#8220;As restrictions over time have become less, there has been an uptick in poaching as a result,&#8221; said Julian Rademeyer, director of the organised crime observatory for East and Southern Africa at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime.
South Africa has about 16,000 rhinos located within its borders, Frances Craigie, chief director of enforcement at the environmental ministry told Reuters.
But relentless poaching and a drought in the North-East region has hit the rhino population hard. In the Kruger National Park, the number of rhinos has plummeted almost more than two thirds in the last decade to around 3,800 in 2019 from 11,800 rhinos in 2008, a South African National Parks report showed. ($1 = 14.3015 rand) (Reporting by Akhona Matshoba in Johannesburg and Shafiek Tassiem in Hoedspruit Editing by Tanisha Heiberg and Raissa Kasolowsky)
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Rhino poachers are back after South Africa eases lockdown restrictions

LONDON, May 3 (Reuters) &#8211; Foreign ministers of the G7 rich countries gather in London on Monday for their first in-person meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic began, with British host Dominic Raab opening with talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The week is billed by Britain, which holds the group&#8217;s rotating presidency, as a chance to reassert the West&#8217;s influence and address issues such as the coronavirus recovery, climate change and how to deal with China and Russia.
The ministers will lay groundwork for U.S. President Joe Biden&#8217;s first scheduled trip abroad since taking office: a G7 summit in Britain next month meant to revive cooperation with traditional allies after years of friction under Donald Trump.
In addition to the G7 members Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, Britain has also invited ministers from Australia, India, South Africa and South Korea this week. Meetings will kick off with dinner on Monday evening.
Before that, Raab and Blinken will meet to discuss shared goals. Britain is keen to capitalise on Biden&#8217;s willingness to re-engage with global efforts to fight climate change, and to restore a nuclear deal with Iran repudiated by Trump.
Raab said on Sunday the G7 would look at a proposal to build a rapid response mechanism to counter Russian disinformation, and, in a reference to China, spoke of the need to stand up for open markets and democracy.
&#8220;On all of these areas we want to be absolutely firm, and standing shoulder to shoulder not just with Americans, as important as they are, but also with our wider allies &#8211; that&#8217;s why the G7 is so important,&#8221; Raab said.
Raab and Blinken are also expected to discuss ongoing trade talks with the United States as Britain seeks a so-far elusive deal, touted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as one of the biggest opportunities opened by quitting the European Union. (Reporting by William James Editing by Peter Graff)
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Britain hosts first G7 foreign ministers meeting since start of pandemic

NEW DELHI, May 3 (Reuters) &#8211; Saudi Arabia was India&#8217;s second biggest oil supplier again in March, after ceding the position for a month to the United States, which slipped to fourth place behind the United Arab Emirates, according to preliminary tanker arrival data obtained from shipping and industry sources. Iraq remained the top oil supplier. India imported 4.39 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in March, about 12% more than the previous month but a decline of about 0.5% from a year earlier, the data showed. Overall India&#8217;s oil imports in fiscal year 2020/21 fell to a six year low of 3.97 million bpd as refiners cut crude processing after the spread of COVID-19 destroyed fuel demand, the data compiled by Reuters showed. The following table shows India&#8217;s imports by country. The imports include condensate. Volumes are in &#8216;000 bpd. Region/Countr March Feb %Chg March %Chg Jan-Mar Jan-Mar %chg Apr-Mar Apr-Mar %Chg y 2021 2021 m/m 2020 yr/yr 2021 2020 yr/yr 2020/21 2019/2020 yr/yr Latin America Brazil 98.4 0.0 &#8212; 93.0 5.8 45.7 93.7 -51.2 62.3 51.3 21.3 Colombia 68.9 190.6 -63.9 0.0 &#8212; 95.4 0.0 &#8212; 67.9 2.9 2213.6 Ecuador 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 49.5 -100.0 0.0 16.8 -100.0 9.5 13.0 -26.7 Mexico 136.2 148.6 -8.3 270.0 -49.5 173.6 231.5 -25.0 147.5 196.3 -24.8 Venezuela 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 416.8 -100.0 0.0 400.5 -100.0 87.8 351.4 -75.0 TOTAL 303.5 339.2 -10.5 829.3 -63.4 314.8 742.5 -57.6 375.1 615.0 -39.0 Asia Brunei 26.2 42.0 -37.6 36.3 -27.8 28.3 24.6 15.0 20.3 20.4 -0.7 Malaysia 58.4 41.5 40.7 39.3 48.5 45.9 46.3 -0.8 46.9 59.3 -20.8 Indonesia 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 22.5 0.0 &#8212; 14.0 3.4 308.3 Australia 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 6.3 0.0 &#8212; 3.2 0.0 &#8212; TOTAL 84.6 83.5 1.4 75.6 11.9 103.1 70.9 45.3 84.3 83.1 1.5 Middle East Neutral zone 54.6 31.3 74.4 0.0 &#8212; 53.6 0.0 &#8212; 41.3 0.0 &#8212; Oman 146.3 72.6 101.4 64.9 125.5 125.3 33.1 278.5 79.1 37.6 110.7 Iran 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 33.9 -100.0 Iraq 1185.2 867.5 36.6 934.1 26.9 1067.9 1122.2 -4.8 938.9 1055.5 -11.0 Qatar 31.4 34.7 -9.7 93.1 -66.3 21.6 88.8 -75.6 75.3 59.5 26.7 Kuwait 192.0 205.7 -6.7 209.9 -8.5 199.7 226.5 -11.8 178.8 214.7 -16.7 S. Arabia 567.6 445.2 27.5 681.9 -16.8 599.2 770.3 -22.2 694.9 839.8 -17.3 U.A.E. 473.5 421.7 12.3 611.8 -22.6 489.0 592.2 -17.4 441.8 442.8 -0.2 Dubai 16.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 11.0 0.0 &#8212; 10.9 1.4 699.0 TOTAL 2666.6 2078.8 28.3 2595.6 2.7 2567.3 2833.0 -9.4 2461.1 2685.1 -8.3 Europe North sea 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 20.8 0.0 &#8212; 14.0 4.8 193.0 Norway 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 1.1 -100.0 TOTAL 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 20.8 0.0 &#8212; 14.0 5.8 139.2 C.I.S. Azerbaijan 31.3 36.3 -14.0 88.9 -64.8 44.6 37.7 18.1 38.6 45.0 -14.2 Kazakhstan 31.5 137.6 -77.1 95.9 -67.2 84.1 129.5 -35.1 77.9 93.3 -16.6 Russia 84.1 36.5 130.7 56.4 49.1 62.8 71.3 -11.9 32.0 65.1 -50.8 TOTAL 146.8 210.4 -30.2 241.2 -39.1 191.5 238.5 -19.7 148.5 203.4 -27.0 Africa Nigeria 397.4 472.2 -15.9 280.1 41.9 406.9 293.0 38.9 325.3 344.1 -5.5 Angola 159.9 0.0 &#8212; 61.2 161.5 87.5 80.8 8.4 76.6 117.1 -34.6 Ivory coast 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 11.6 0.0 &#8212; 4.7 5.5 -13.7 Cameroon 0.0 33.1 -100.0 0.0 &#8212; 10.3 10.3 0.0 4.5 10.7 -58.3 Congo 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 23.4 22.7 3.2 Chad 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 21.4 -100.0 2.8 13.5 -79.3 Egypt 50.7 35.1 44.4 53.0 -4.2 44.7 50.2 -10.9 59.6 55.7 6.9 Gabon 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 6.9 0.0 &#8212; Ghana 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 5.2 12.7 -59.0 Sudan 35.6 20.5 73.8 0.0 &#8212; 25.0 0.0 &#8212; 10.9 8.4 28.8 Eq Guinea 0.0 24.6 -100.0 0.0 &#8212; 15.0 14.8 0.9 18.9 27.0 -29.9 Algeria 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 31.3 -100.0 10.7 49.3 -78.2 15.9 61.1 -74.0 Libya 0.0 0.0 &#8212; 0.0 &#8212; 11.4 0.0 &#8212; 5.5 2.7 108.0 TOTAL 643.6 585.6 9.9 425.5 51.3 623.1 519.8 19.9 560.2 681.1 -17.8 CANADA 71.6 75.3 -4.9 18.4 289.1 97.0 6.3 1446.9 50.7 26.6 90.9 USA 470.2 545.3 -13.8 225.0 108.9 458.6 228.2 101.0 278.8 204.7 36.2 TOTAL ALL 4386.8 3918.0 12.0 4410.6 -0.5 4376.1 4639.2 -5.7 3972.6 4504.8 -11.8 NOTE: The total may not tally as numbers in tonnes have been rounded after converting them into barrels per day using a conversion factor of 7.3 barrels per tonne divided by the number of days. Numbers for previous months have been revised. Data also includes some crude parcels that arrived in February but discharged in March. It also include some parcels that arrived in March and were discharged in April. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) 
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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TABLE-Indian oil imports: Saudi claws back No.2 supplier status from U.S.

* Indian oil imports slump to 6-year low
* OPEC&#8217;s share lowest in at least 20 yrs in 2020/21
* March imports up 12% vs Feb, down 0.5% on year
By Nidhi Verma
NEW DELHI, May 3 (Reuters) &#8211; OPEC&#8217;s share of India&#8217;s oil imports fell to the lowest in at least two decades in the year to the end of March as overall purchases by Asia&#8217;s third largest economy fell to a six-year low, data obtained from industry and trade sources showed.
Total crude imports by the world&#8217;s third-biggest oil importer fell to 3.97 million barrels per day (bpd) in the 2021 fiscal year to March 31, down 11.8% from a year earlier, the data showed.
India bought more U.S. and Canadian oil at the expense of that from Africa and the Middle East, reducing purchases from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to around 2.86 million barrels per day and squeezing the group&#8217;s share of imports to 72% from around 80% previously.
That is the lowest share since at least the 2001/02 fiscal year, before which crude import data is not available.
India&#8217;s refiners are diversifying purchases to boost margins, having upgraded plants to process cheaper tougher crude grades, but refinery runs were hit as the pandemic curbed fuel consumption.
The country&#8217;s annual fuel demand in 2020/21 fell for the for the first time in at least 23 years, according to government data released last month, hitting its lowest since 2016/2017.
The share of Middle East producers rose to about 62% in the 2020/21 year from 60% in the previous year as refiners took committed volumes under annual oil contracts, the data showed.
U.S. and Canadian oil accounted for about 7% and 1.3% respectively of India&#8217;s imports compared to 4.5% and 0.60% a year earlier.
The United States emerged as the fifth biggest supplier to India, up two places from the 2019/20 year.
Iraq remained India&#8217;s top oil supplier followed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Nigeria replaced Venezuela as the fourth biggest supplier.
In March, India imported 4.39 million bpd, 12% more than in February as refineries ramped up output, the data showed. However that was still a drop of around 0.5% from March 2020.
Iraq was the top supplier for the month, followed by Saudi Arabia, which pushed the U.S into fourth place behind the United Arab Emirates.


(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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OPEC’s share of Indian oil imports plunges to 2 decade low – trade

DUBAI, May 3 (Reuters) &#8211; The $2.2 trillion global Islamic finance industry is expected to grow 10%-12% over 2021-2022 due to increased Islamic bond issuance and a modest economic recovery in the main Islamic finance markets, S&amp;P Global Ratings said.
The industry continued to grow last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, although at a lower pace than in 2019, with global Islamic assets expanding by 10.6% in 2020 against growth of 17.3% the previous year.
Islamic finance, which bans interest payments and pure monetary speculation, has been on the rise for many years across markets in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, but it remains a fragmented industry with uneven implementation of its rules.
&#8220;Over the next 12 months, we could see progress on a unified global legal and regulatory framework for Islamic finance &#8230; we believe that such a framework could help resolve the lack of standardisation and harmonisation that the Islamic finance industry has faced for decades,&#8221; S&amp;P said on Monday.
The industry is expected to receive some support in the coming two years in Saudi Arabia, where mortgages and corporate lending are expected to rise as the country pushes ahead with plans to diversify the economy.
Investments in Qatar for the 2022 soccer World Cup and the Expo event in Dubai later this year are also expected to support growth.
The ratings agency forecast global issuance of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, to reach $140-155 billion this year, up from roughly $140 billion in 2020, thanks to abundant liquidity and sustained financing needs among corporates and governments.
S&amp;P also highlighted that the full impact of the coronavirus crisis has yet to materialise and more requests for sukuk restructurings and maturity extensions, as well as higher default rates, are expected this year.
&#8220;We see pressure on real estate developers, given the drop in real estate prices in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and building risks in the commercial real estate sector,&#8221; S&amp;P said.
&#8220;Similarly, companies related to aviation, tourism, travel, and hospitality &#8211; sectors that have been severely hit by COVID-19 &#8211; will take several quarters to recover to prepandemic levels.&#8221;
(Reporting by Davide Barbuscia. Editing by Jane Merriman)
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Global Islamic finance forecast to grow as main markets recover – S&P

JAKARTA, May 3 (Reuters) &#8211; Indonesia has recorded two cases of a highly infectious COVID-19 variant first identified in India in the capital Jakarta, the country&#8217;s health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Monday.
&#8220;There were two new mutations that entered. One from India, with two incidents in Jakarta and one from South Africa in Bali,&#8221; Budi told a virtual conference. Another official confirmed the two cases were the B.1.617 variant, first detected in India.
Indonesia last week stopped issuing visas for foreigners who had been in India in the previous 14 days. (Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Writing by Fathin Ungku Editing by Ed Davies)
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Indonesia says finds two cases of Indian COVID-19 variant in Jakarta

(Repeats story published on Saturday with no changes)
By Devjyot Ghoshal and Krishna N. Das
NEW DELHI, May 1 (Reuters) &#8211; A forum of scientific advisers set up by the government warned Indian officials in early March of a new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus taking hold in the country, five scientists who are part of the forum told Reuters.
Despite the warning, four of the scientists said the federal government did not seek to impose major restrictions to stop the spread of the virus. Millions of largely unmasked people attended religious festivals and political rallies that were held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and opposition politicians.
Tens of thousands of farmers, meanwhile, continued to camp on the edge of New Delhi protesting Modi’s agricultural policy changes.
The world’s second-most populous country is now struggling to contain a second wave of infections much more severe than its first last year, which some scientists say is being accelerated by the new variant and another variant first detected in Britain. India reported 386,452 new cases on Friday, a global record.
The spike in infections is India’s biggest crisis since Modi took office in 2014. It remains to be seen how his handling of it might affect Modi or his party politically. The next general election is due in 2024. Voting in the most recent local elections was largely completed before the scale of the new surge in infections became apparent.
The warning about the new variant in early March was issued by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium, or INSACOG. It was conveyed to a top official who reports directly to the prime minister, according to one of the scientists, the director of a research centre in northern India who spoke on condition of anonymity. Reuters could not determine whether the INSACOG findings were passed on to Modi himself.
Modi’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
INSACOG was set up as a forum of scientific advisers by the government in late December specifically to detect genomic variants of the coronavirus that might threaten public health. INSACOG brings together 10 national laboratories capable of studying virus variants.
INSACOG researchers first detected B.1.617, which is now known as the Indian variant of the virus, as early as February, Ajay Parida, director of the state-run Institute of Life Sciences and a member of INSACOG, told Reuters.
INSACOG shared its findings with the health ministry’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) before March 10, warning that infections could quickly increase in parts of the country, the director of the northern India research centre told Reuters. The findings were then passed on to the Indian health ministry, this person said. The health ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
Around that date, INSACOG began to prepare a draft media statement for the health ministry. A version of that draft, seen by Reuters, set out the forum’s findings: the new Indian variant had two significant mutations to the portion of the virus that attaches to human cells, and it had been traced in 15% to 20% of samples from Maharashtra, India&#8217;s worst-affected state.
The draft statement said that the mutations, called E484Q and L452R, were of “high concern.” It said “there is data of E484Q mutant viruses escaping highly neutralising antibodies in cultures, and there is data that L452R mutation was responsible for both increased transmissibility and immune escape.&#8221;
In other words, essentially, this meant that mutated versions of the virus could more easily enter a human cell and counter a person’s immune response to it.
The ministry made the findings public about two weeks later, on March 24, when it issued a statement to the media that did not include the words &#8220;high concern.&#8221; The statement said only that more problematic variants required following measures already underway &#8211; increased testing and quarantine. Testing has since nearly doubled to 1.9 million tests a day.
Asked why the government did not respond more forcefully to the findings, for example by restricting large gatherings, Shahid Jameel, chair of the scientific advisory group of INSACOG, said he was concerned that authorities were not paying enough attention to the evidence as they set policy.
&#8220;Policy has to be based on evidence and not the other way around,&#8221; he told Reuters. “I am worried that science was not taken into account to drive policy. But I know where my jurisdiction stops. As scientists we provide the evidence, policymaking is the job of the government.”
The northern India research centre director told Reuters the draft media release was sent to the most senior bureaucrat in the country, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, who reports directly to the prime minister. Reuters was unable to learn whether Modi or his office were informed of the findings. Gauba did not respond to a request for comment.
The government took no steps to prevent gatherings that might hasten the spread of the new variant, as new infections quadrupled by April 1 from a month earlier.
Modi, some of his top lieutenants, and dozens of other politicians, including opposition figures, held rallies across the country for local elections throughout March and into April.
The government also allowed the weeks-long Kumbh Mela religious festival, attended by millions of Hindus, to proceed from mid-March. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of farmers were allowed to remain camped on the outskirts of the capital New Delhi to protest against new agriculture laws.
To be sure, some scientists say the surge was much larger than expected and the setback cannot be pinned on political leadership alone. &#8220;There is no point blaming the government,&#8221; Saumitra Das, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, which is part of INSACOG, told Reuters.

STRICT MEASURES NOT TAKEN
INSACOG reports to the National Centre for Disease Control in New Delhi. NCDC director Sujeet Kumar Singh recently told a private online gathering that strict lockdown measures had been needed in early April, according to a recording of the meeting reviewed by Reuters.
&#8220;The exact time, as per our thinking, was 15 days before,&#8221; Singh said in the April 19 meeting, referring to the need for stricter lockdown measures.
Singh did not say during the meeting whether he warned the government directly of the need for action at that time. Singh declined to comment to Reuters.
Singh told the April 19 gathering that more recently, he had relayed the urgency of the matter to government officials.
&#8220;It was highlighted very, very clearly that unless drastic measures are taken now, it will be too late to prevent the mortality which we are going to see,&#8221; said Singh, referring to a meeting which took place on April 18. He did not identify which government officials were in the meeting or describe their seniority.
Singh said some government officials in the meeting worried that mid-sized towns could see law and order problems as essential medical supplies like oxygen ran out, a scenario that has already begun to play out in parts of India.
The need for urgent action was also expressed the week before by the National Task Force for COVID-19, a group of 21 experts and government officials set up last April to provide scientific and technical guidance to the health ministry on the pandemic. It is chaired by V.K. Paul, Modi’s top coronavirus adviser.
The group had a discussion on April 15 and “unanimously agreed that the situation is serious and that we should not hesitate in imposing lockdowns,” said one scientist who took part.
Paul was present at the discussion, according to the scientist. Reuters could not determine if Paul relayed the group’s conclusion to Modi. Paul did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Two days after Singh’s April 18 warning to government officials, Modi addressed the nation on April 20, arguing against lockdowns. He said a lockdown should be the last resort in fighting the virus. India’s two-month-long national lockdown a year ago put millions out of work and devastated the economy.
“We have to save the country from lockdowns. I would also request the states to use lockdowns as the last option,” Modi said. “We have to try our best to avoid lockdowns and focus on micro-containment zones,” he said, referring to small, localised lockdowns imposed by authorities to control outbreaks.
India’s state governments have wide latitude in setting health policy for their regions, and some have acted independently to try to control the spread of the virus.
Maharashtra, the country’s second-most populous state, which includes Mumbai, imposed tough restrictions such as office and store closures early in April as hospitals ran out of beds, oxygen and medicines. It imposed a full lockdown on April 14.

‘TICKING TIME BOMB’
The Indian variant has now reached at least 17 countries including Britain, Switzerland and Iran, leading several governments to close their borders to people travelling from India.
The World Health Organization has not declared the India mutant a &#8220;variant of concern,&#8221; as it has done for variants first detected in Britain, Brazil, and South Africa. But the WHO said on April 27 that its early modelling, based on genome sequencing, suggested that B.1.617 had a higher growth rate than other variants circulating in India.
The UK variant, called B.1.1.7, was also detected in India by January, including in the northern state of Punjab, a major epicentre for the farmers’ protests, Anurag Agrawal, a senior INSACOG scientist, told Reuters.
The NCDC and some INSACOG laboratories determined that a massive spike in cases in Punjab was caused by the UK variant, according to a statement issued by Punjab’s state government on March 23.
Punjab imposed a lockdown from March 23. But thousands of farmers from the state remained at protest camps on the outskirts of Delhi, many moving back and forth between the two places before the restrictions began.
&#8220;It was a ticking time bomb,&#8221; said Agrawal, who is director of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, which has studied some samples from Punjab. &#8220;It was a matter of an explosion, and public gatherings is a huge problem in a time of pandemic. And B.1.1.7 is a really bad variant in terms of spreading potential.&#8221;
By April 7, more than two weeks after Punjab&#8217;s announcement on the UK variant, cases of coronavirus began rising sharply in Delhi. Within days, hospital beds, critical care facilities, and medical oxygen began running out in the city. At some hospitals, patients died gasping for air before they could be treated. The city&#8217;s crematoriums overflowed with dead bodies.
Delhi is now suffering one of the worst infection rates in the country, with more than three out of every 10 tests positive for the virus.
India overall has reported more than 300,000 infections a day for the past nine days, the worst streak anywhere in the world since the pandemic began. Deaths have surged, too, with the total exceeding 200,000 this week.
Agrawal and two other senior government scientists told Reuters that federal health authorities and local Delhi officials should have been better prepared after seeing what the variants had done in Maharashtra and Punjab. Reuters could not determine what specific warnings were issued to whom about preparing for a huge surge.
“We are in a very grave situation,” said Shanta Dutta, a medical research scientist at the state-run National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases. “People listen to politicians more than scientists.”
Rakesh Mishra, director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, which is part of INSACOG, said the country’s scientific community was dejected.
&#8220;We could have done better, our science could have been given more significance,” he told Reuters. &#8220;What we observed in whatever little way, that should have been used better.&#8221;
(Reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal and Krishna N. Das in New Delhi Additional reporting by Rajendra Jadhav, Aditya Kalra, Jatindra Dash and Zeba Siddiqui Editing by Bill Rigby)
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RPT-EXCLUSIVE-Scientists say India government ignored warnings amid coronavirus surge

May 2 (OPTA) &#8211; Scores from the PGA Tour Valspar Championship on Sunday -17 Sam Burns (USA) 67 63 69 68 -14 Keegan Bradley (USA) 64 66 69 71 -13 Viktor Hovland (Norway) 69 69 68 65 Cameron Tringale (USA) 69 67 67 68 -12 Abraham Ancer (Mexico) 67 70 66 69 -10 Max Homa (USA) 66 68 66 74 Vaughn Taylor (USA) 70 67 69 68 -9 Troy Merritt (USA) 68 69 68 70 Joaquin Niemann (Chile) 68 68 67 72 Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) 73 67 66 69 -8 Brandt Snedeker (USA) 69 69 67 71 Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 71 68 69 68 -7 Bronson Burgoon (USA) 71 68 68 70 Jason Kokrak (USA) 67 69 70 71 Hank Lebioda (USA) 66 69 71 71 Justin Thomas (USA) 69 71 67 70 Bubba Watson (USA) 70 67 68 72 -6 Charley Hoffman (USA) 68 66 70 74 Ted Potter Jr (USA) 67 73 63 75 Adam Schenk (USA) 71 69 71 67 -5 Paul Casey (England) 68 71 72 68 Corey Conners (Canada) 67 68 70 71 Russell Knox (Scotland) 69 70 70 70 Danny Lee (New Zealand) 70 67 70 72 Matthew NeSmith (USA) 70 69 69 71 Alex Noren (Sweden) 73 68 70 68 Ian Poulter (England) 69 71 69 70 Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 70 65 74 70 -4 Michael Gligic (Canada) 69 68 74 69 Zach Harris Johnson (USA) 68 67 74 71 Sungjae Im (Korea Republic) 68 67 74 71 Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Korea Republic) 69 69 71 71 Kevin Na (USA) 68 69 70 73 Pat Perez (USA) 68 68 72 72 Scottie Scheffler (USA) 73 67 66 74 Scott Stallings (USA) 67 69 73 71 Jimmy Walker (USA) 72 69 69 70 Vincent Whaley (USA) 69 71 70 70 -3 Scott Brown (USA) 67 72 71 71 Tyler Duncan (USA) 70 71 72 68 Beau Hossler (USA) 68 72 75 66 Charles Howell III (USA) 70 68 70 73 Denny McCarthy (USA) 72 69 68 72 Ryan Moore (USA) 66 74 71 70 Doc Redman (USA) 68 72 73 68 Kyle Stanley (USA) 68 70 72 71 Bo Van Pelt (USA) 71 67 69 74 -2 Wesley Bryan (USA) 69 71 72 70 Lucas Glover (USA) 69 65 77 71 Dustin Johnson (USA) 71 68 74 69 Tom Lewis (England) 70 65 74 73 Henrik Norlander (Sweden) 69 69 72 72 Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) 66 69 71 72 -1 Luke Donald (England) 69 72 71 71 Branden Grace (South Africa) 69 68 75 71 J.T. Poston (USA) 68 73 70 72 0 Jason Dufner (USA) 70 71 68 75 Kramer Hickok (USA) 67 74 70 73 Peter Uihlein (USA) 73 68 72 71 1 Wyndham Clark (USA) 69 72 68 76 Brandon Hagy (USA) 74 67 72 72 Patton Kizzire (USA) 66 75 76 68 2 Joseph Bramlett (USA) 71 70 74 71 Chase Koepka (USA) 68 70 72 76 Ryan Palmer (USA) 70 70 70 76 Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 71 70 72 73 5 Byeong Hun An (Korea Republic) 70 71 71 77 7 J.B. Holmes (USA) 70 71 74 76 9 Keith Mitchell (USA) 70 70 71 82 
(c) Copyright Opta Sports Data 2021. All Rights Reserved
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PGA Tour Valspar Championship Scores

May 2 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s Dean Burmester captured his first European Tour title in just over four years on Sunday as he produced a bogey-free final round of nine-under-par 62 to secure victory at the Tenerife Open.
Burmester entered the final day at Golf Costa Adeje one stroke off the lead but stormed past his rivals with five birdies on the opening seven holes.
The 31-year-old gained four more strokes on the back nine to finish at 25-under for the tournament, five clear of his nearest challenger Nicolai von Dellingshausen of Germany.
&#8220;There&#8217;s no words that can describe it,&#8221; said Burmester, who last won on the Tour at the 2017 Tshwane Open on his home soil.
&#8220;It&#8217;s four years of struggle and hard work. To go bogey-free is world class.
&#8220;I can go home and see my family, I&#8217;m so excited. With Covid and everything I didn&#8217;t know when I was going to go home possibly so this is super emotional.&#8221;
Overnight leader Von Dellingshausen eagled his final hole to grab second on his own ahead of Poland&#8217;s Adrian Meronk and Finland&#8217;s Kalle Samooja, with Austrian Open winner John Catlin a further stroke back in fifth place. (Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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South Africa allocates an extra $276 mln to fight COVID-19

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