International

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Sunday vowed Russia will “firmly” defend national interests and denounced the return of “Russophobia”, as the country marked the 76th anniversary of victory in World War II. His speech to thousands of soldiers and veterans on Red Square came as recent tensions between Moscow and the West have recalled the Cold War over the conflict …

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump encouraged the Capitol rioters and so earned his Facebook ban, but the social media giant’s rules are in “shambles” and need fixing, the co-chair of the network’s oversight panel said on Sunday. The panel agreed just days ago that Facebook was right to oust the ex-US president for his comments regarding the deadly Jan 6 rampage, though …

EDINBURGH: The Scottish National Party on Sunday said its landslide victory in Edinburgh’s devolved parliament was grounds for a fresh independence referendum, despite opposition from London. While the SNP campaigned on promises to hold a new vote, the UK government — which would need to give formal legal permission — is opposed, raising fears of a protracted political and legal …

LONDON: Sadiq Khan was elected mayor of London for a second term in a tighter-than-expected race, providing a boost to the opposition Labour party after a series of disappointing results in Thursday’s local elections, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday. Khan, who became the first Muslim to head a major Western capital after his victory in 2016, won 55.2 per cent …

GENEVA: A Covid-19 variant spreading in India is more contagious and it is feared it could be dodging some vaccine protections, contributing to the country’s explosive outbreak, the World Health Organisation’s chief scientist said. In an interview, Soumya Swaminathan warned that “the epidemiological features that we see in India today do indicate that it’s an extremely rapidly spreading variant”. India …

Calls grew for India to impose a nationwide lockdown as new coronavirus cases and deaths held close to record highs on Monday, increasing pressure on the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 366,161 new infections and 3,754 deaths reported by the health ministry were off a little from recent peaks, taking India’s tally to 22.66 million with 246,116 deaths. …

Hundreds of people were wounded on Monday in renewed violence at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque compound, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. “There are hundreds of people injured from the attacks” and about 50 of them were hospitalised, the Red Crescent said in a brief statement to journalists. However, the number of hospitalised turned out to be much higher, according to …

The United Arab Emirates will bar entry for travellers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka starting from May 12 (Wednesday) as part of measures to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the country’s National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority said on its website on Monday. “Flights between the four countries will continue to allow the transport of passengers from …

Iran confirmed publicly for the first time on Monday that it is in talks with its regional arch-rival Saudi Arabia, saying it would do what it could to resolve issues between them. “De-escalation of tensions between the two Muslim countries in the Persian Gulf region is in the interest of both nations and the region,” foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to give strategic direction to their ties through the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council (SP-SCC) by strengthening and diversifying existing bilateral cooperation in different fields. For this purpose, the Saudi Development Fund will finance projects worth $500 million, according to the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The projects to be launched under …