For the first time, New York City’s public school students have the day off to mark the holiday of Diwali, celebrated in India and among the global Indian diaspora as the victory of light over darkness.

Indians are celebrating the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, by symbolically lighting a record 2.51 million clay oil lamps at dusk on the banks of the river Saryu in a city they believe to be the birthplace of the deity Lord Ram.

Millions of Indians are celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, with a Guinness World Record number of bright earthen oil lamps as concerns about air pollution soared in the South Asian country.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the world's population has topped 8 billion for the first time.

Masks are back on the New Delhi streets as residents grapple with the annual surge in air pollution that has engulfed the Indian capital region.

New Delhi’s government has shut primary schools and banned polluting vehicles and construction work in an attempt to reduce the worst haze and smog of the season.

Every year, Hindus, Budhists, Jains and Sikhs around the world celebrate Diwali—a festival of lights that goes back more than 2,500 years.

The news that Rishi Sunak has become Britain’s first prime minister of color was welcomed by many among Britain's large Indian and South Asian communities.

The week dawned gloomily in New York.

Indians across the country are celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival that symbolizes the victory of light over darkness.

Indians across the country are celebrating the Diwali festival amid concerns over the coronavirus pandemic and rising air pollution.

India is second in the world in total reported coronavirus cases behind the U.S., but daily infections have been on the decline since the middle of September. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)NEW DELHI – India has reported 41,100 new cases of the coronavirus, raising the country’s overall tally since the pandemic began to 8.79 million. India is second in the world in total reported cases behind the U.S., but daily infections have been on the decline since the middle of September. Sri Lankan prisons are filled with more than 26,000 inmates in facilities meant to hold 10,000. Sri Lanka has confirmed a total of 16,582 cases, including 53 deaths.

People play with fireworks during Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in Prayagraj, India, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)NEW DELHI – More than a billion Indians celebrated Diwali on Saturday amid twin concerns of a resurgence in coronavirus infections and rising air pollution that is enveloping the country’s north in a cloud of thick toxic smog. Kejriwal said last week that the pandemic was spreading fast in the capital due to the rising air pollution. The link between air pollution and worsening COVID-19 cases remains mostly theoretical at the moment. But ahead of Diwali, messages encouraging people to stay home during the festival whizzed around New Delhi via WhatsApp.

India's Health Ministry reported 44,684 new positive cases in the past 24 hours and 520 deaths. New Delhi has seen a spike in recent weeks, recording more new cases than any other Indian state. In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:— Authorities in Sri Lanka said operations at the country’s main port have been hampered after 60 port workers tested positive for COVID-19 and another 200 workers were quarantined. Colombo port officials said operations have been delayed and nearly a dozen ships are waiting outside the port to enter. The KFA said none of the five who tested positive were showing symptoms and that players and staff were currently quarantining in their rooms.

Authorities in New Delhi have banned firecrackers and are appealing to people to celebrate the Hindu festival of lights at home. Coronavirus infections have been rising in the capital and authorities are worried large festival crowds will worsen the virus situation. India has confirmed more than 8.7 million cases of coronavirus infection, second-most in the world, and more than 128,600 fatalities. India's Hindu festivals draw tens of thousands of people, packed in temples, shopping districts and family gatherings exchanging gifts. For India’s nearly 70 million traders, who employ about 400 million people, an upturn could not come fast enough.

Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker reported more than 50.2 million COVID-19 cases globally as of Sunday. Coronavirus cases and deaths also continue to soar in the U.S., as they are in many countries. Health officials also reported 1,038 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases, bringing the state’s total so far to nearly 122,000. Globally, there have been nearly 50 million positive cases and more than 1.2 million deaths from COVID-19. With those adjustments and the latest reported cases, the statewide case total reached 53,671 with 1,104 deaths.