International

The variant from India is perhaps the most contagious coronavirus mutation on the planet, according to Tom Wenseleers, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Leuven in Belgium. Wenseleers was the first scientist to claim that the UK variant was more transmissible than other versions of the virus, a claim first disputed but later affirmed by other experts. “The new …

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday condemned Israel’s plans to evict Palestinians from homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers, following a night of violence in Jerusalem. Israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades towards rock-hurling Palestinian youth at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque late on Friday. The clashes at Islam’s third holiest site and around East …

ROME: The fossil remains of nine Neanderthal men have been found in a cave in Italy, the culture ministry announced on Saturday, a major discovery in the study of our ancient cousins. All the individuals found in the Guattari Cave in San Felice Circeo, located on the coast between Rome and Naples, are believed to be adults, although one might …

MALE: Maldives police said on Saturday that “religious extremists” staged the attempt to assassinate former president Mohamed Nasheed, who has been taken off life support in hospital. They said two men had been arrested for the bomb attack on the 53-year-old democracy pioneer and climate activist in the capital, Male, on Thursday night. Nasheed underwent 16 hours of surgery to …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Satur­day expressed serious concern over illegal possession of a large quantity of uranium by two unauthorised persons in India and pointed to gaps in state control mechanisms there. “We have noted with serious concern the reports about seizure of more than 7kg natural uranium from unauthorised persons in India,” Foreign Office Spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said. Indian authorities had …

YANGON: Myanmar’s junta declared on Saturday night that a group of ousted lawmakers running a shadow government would now be classified as “terrorists”, as the military moves to tighten its grip over a country in turmoil. Since the military seized power in a Feb 1 coup, detaining and ousting civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a nationwide uprising has refused …

GLASGOW: Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon vowed on Saturday to press ahead with plans for a new referendum on leaving the United Kingdom after saying there was no doubt elections to the Scottish parliament would return a pro-independence majority. In a rebuke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who has said he would block a secession vote, Sturgeon said it …

The death toll from bombs planted outside a girls’ school in an area of the Afghan capital populated largely by Shia Hazaras rose to 50 on Sunday as the Taliban denied government accusations that they were behind the bloody attack. Saturday’s blasts — the deadliest in more than a year — rocked the west Kabul district of Dasht-e-Barchi, a regular target …

• Joint statement also urges Afghan parties to realise historic opportunity for political settlement • PM, Saudi crown prince back political solutions to conflicts in Libya, Syria, Yemen ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Saturday expre­ssed desire for resolution of Kas­hmir dispute through dialogue and Afghan conflict through political settlement. A joint statement, which is being considered a significant development …

Scores of people were injured on Saturday as Israeli forces targeted Palestinians outside the Old City of Jerusalem for the second night as tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers prayed at the nearby Al-Aqsa Mosque on Lailatul Qadr. Palestinian youth threw stones, lit fires and tore down police barricades in the streets leading to the walled Old City gates as …