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.

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.

President Biden, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris attend a reception to celebrate Diwali in the East Room.

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.

Rishabh Mathur/Wikimedia(CNN) - Flights to and from New Delhi's international airport were delayed and diverted on Sunday as pollution reached "unbearable" levels, leaving the Indian capital blanketed with heavy smog. Visibility was so poor that 37 flights -- including at least one international journey -- were diverted from the city's Indira Gandhi International Airport, a senior airport official told CNN. Pollution indexes saw air quality in the Indian capital climb to "hazardous" levels in the city on Sunday. On Sunday, major airlines including Air India and SpiceJet warned of delays and cancellations to flights to and from the international airport. New Delhi is home to more than 18 million people and 8.8 million registered motor vehicles -- more than any other Indian city, according to Indian government figures from 2016.

NEW DELHI - Five million New Delhi children will be given face masks by the government as the city battles heavy smog so toxic that it threatens to force schools to shut. On Friday, Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that authorities had started to distribute 5 million face masks to schoolchildren in the city, which is home to over 18 million people. Earlier in the day, Kejriwal hit out at the governments of Punjab and Haryana, which he said contributed to New Delhi's pollution as farmers in those areas burned crops despite bans. A 2006 study -- which was quoted by an official government report released in 2016 -- found that cars contributed to 72% of New Delhi's pollution. Although there had been some public push back to the odd-even rule, Bhardwaj said it wouldn't change the party's stance.

Air quality in some Indian cities is ranked among the worst in the world. In the capital city New Delhi, residents are also preparing -- by scrambling to buy air purifiers and protesting the use of firecrackers. "We definitely have more sales during Diwali time when the pollution levels are high," said Subhangi Soni, a sales representative at a New Delhi store that sells air purifiers. New Delhi authorities have this year only granted licenses to pyrotechnic vendors that are selling so-called "green" firecrackers, according to CNN affiliate CNN-News18. Researchers in India have warned that unless authorities take action, air pollution deaths nationwide could rise to as many as 1.6 million by 2030.