India Star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Coronavirus-Positive, Joining Father in Law, Husband

Indian film actor Abhishek Bachchan, his wife Aishwarya Rai and their daughter Aaradhya in a 2019. (Reuters)
Indian film actor Abhishek Bachchan, his wife Aishwarya Rai and their daughter Aaradhya in a 2019. (Reuters)
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India Star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Coronavirus-Positive, Joining Father in Law, Husband

Indian film actor Abhishek Bachchan, his wife Aishwarya Rai and their daughter Aaradhya in a 2019. (Reuters)
Indian film actor Abhishek Bachchan, his wife Aishwarya Rai and their daughter Aaradhya in a 2019. (Reuters)

Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her daughter tested positive for the new coronavirus on Sunday, a day after her father-in-law and top Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan and her husband and actor Abhishek were hospitalized for COVID-19.

Maharastra state health minister Rajesh Tope said in a tweet that Aishwarya and her eight-year-old daughter had tested positive for the virus that causes the disease.

It was not clear whether had been admitted to hospital, as Amitabh and Abhishek were on Saturday, when they said they had mild symptoms.

Hospital officials and government health authorities said earlier on Sunday that Amitabh and his Abhishek were in stable condition.

Aishwarya, 46, a former Miss World who often features on “most beautiful” lists, has worked on several Bollywood and Hollywood films. She is a brand ambassador for several multinational companies.

India on Sunday registered a record increase in the number of novel coronavirus cases taking the total number of affected people in the country to nearly 850,000 forcing authorities to re-impose partial lockdown in some densely populated areas.

Federal health ministry data showed that more than 27,100 new cases reported in the last 24 hours while the death toll increased to 22,674, after 551 people succumbed in a day.

The 77-year-old legendary actor Amitabh said in a tweet on Saturday night that he had tested positive for the infectious virus.

Within minutes, his actor son Abhishek Bachchan, 44, tweeted that he had also tested positive.

Both were moved to the Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai despite showing only mild symptoms and the father-son duo appealed to their millions of fans to stay calm.

Authorities launched a massive sanitizing drill at Bachchan’s upscale residence in Mumbai, spraying disinfectant in the large compound and on cars parked there.

Amitabh Bachchan has been a prominent figure in the fight against the coronavirus by appearing in public service advertisements in which he urges people to wear a mask, wash hands frequently and maintain social distance in his trademark baritone.

India’s film industry recently resumed film shoots after a months-long hiatus following the imposition of a nationwide lockdown in late March.

But actors over 65, such as Amitabh, are banned from the sets because of their vulnerability to the virus.



Actor Theo James Urges More Support for Refugees Hit by Climate Crisis

 Actor and UNHCR goodwill ambassador Theo James looks on during a visit to Aghor, while on a trip with the United Nations refugee agency, in Mauritania, October 9, 2024. (UNHCR/Caroline Irby/Handout via Reuters)
Actor and UNHCR goodwill ambassador Theo James looks on during a visit to Aghor, while on a trip with the United Nations refugee agency, in Mauritania, October 9, 2024. (UNHCR/Caroline Irby/Handout via Reuters)
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Actor Theo James Urges More Support for Refugees Hit by Climate Crisis

 Actor and UNHCR goodwill ambassador Theo James looks on during a visit to Aghor, while on a trip with the United Nations refugee agency, in Mauritania, October 9, 2024. (UNHCR/Caroline Irby/Handout via Reuters)
Actor and UNHCR goodwill ambassador Theo James looks on during a visit to Aghor, while on a trip with the United Nations refugee agency, in Mauritania, October 9, 2024. (UNHCR/Caroline Irby/Handout via Reuters)

Refugees should be included in climate policy, actor and UNHCR goodwill ambassador Theo James has said as he heads to COP29 to call for greater support for those affected by the impact of climate change.

James, whose grandfather was a refugee who fled Greece for Syria during World War Two, will join the UN refugee agency and refugee advocates at the climate summit in Baku.

"The Gentlemen" and "Divergent" actor travelled to Mauritania's southeastern Hodh Chargui region last month, meeting refugees who had fled conflict in Mali for an area already facing poverty, limited access to basic services and climate shocks.

The semi-arid Sahel has been hit by increasing weather extremes including higher temperatures and drought.

"Refugees do not contribute to the vast majority of rising global temperatures and carbon emissions but they are on the frontline of suffering," James told Reuters.

In its first climate report released on Tuesday, the UNHCR said three out of four forcibly displaced people worldwide - 90 million out of 120 million - lived in countries exposed to high to extreme climate change impacts.

“Now the UNHCR has ... specific data which links the climate crisis to forcibly displaced people and the refugee crisis, we need to amplify the message that those two things are intimately interlinked," James said. "They will forever be hand in hand and more so in the future."

The summit has been dubbed the "climate finance COP" for its central goal: to agree on how much money should go each year to helping developing countries cope with climate-related costs.