JERUSALEM: Israel on Monday sent a delegation to Sudan, its first since last month’s announcement of normalisation of relations between the two countries, a senior Israeli official said. For days there have been rumours in Jerusalem that a delegation would visit Khartoum in the wake of the accord announced by US President Donald Trump on October 23. Israeli army radio …

China launched an ambitious mission on Tuesday to bring back rocks and debris from the moon’s surface for the first time in more than 40 years — an undertaking that could boost human understanding of the moon and of the solar system more generally. Chang’e 5 — named for the Chinese moon goddess — is the country’s boldest lunar mission …

LAHORE: As the PML-N on Monday sought at least a two-week parole for its president Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza to participate in the last rites of his (Shehbaz’s) mother, the deputy commissioner’s office said they could be released ‘only for 12 hours’. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif’s mother Begum Shamim Akhtar had died in London …

US President Donald Trump agreed early on Tuesday to allow the transition process to begin, ending weeks of speculation. But he did so only after certified election results also confirmed that his rival Joe Biden’s victory in the November 3 election was irreversible. Biden, a Democrat, now has 306 electoral votes against Trump’s 232 and leads his Republican rival by …

ISLAMABAD: The Punjab government is yet to provide records of 231,826 acres purportedly transferred to the capital territory of Islamabad from Rawalpindi in 1980. A source told Dawn that a letter was dispatched from the office of the additional advocate general (AAG) Punjab to the Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR) Punjab, chief settlement commissioner Board of Revenue Punjab, secretary Forest Department …

LAHORE: The Covid-19 infection is spreading at an ‘alarming’ rate in government schools all over the province. An official report unveiled that 1,004 schoolchildren of nursery to matriculation class tested positive for the virus during the last two months with a higher percentage than reported during the first wave of the infection in Punjab. According to the report, hundreds of …

ISLAMABAD: The capital administration has asked all government and private hospitals treating Covid-9 patients to increase isolation wards and arrange more beds and ventilators in the wake of rising number of cases. According to sources, representatives of some private hospitals met capital administration officials on Monday to discuss the issue and make necessary arrangements. These facilities will also be arranged …

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Monday directed the provincial authorities to appoint a female representative to ensure the welfare of underage Christian girl Arzoo, who reportedly converted to Islam and contracted a free-will marriage, at a shelter home. While disposing of the girl’s petition along with other applications, a two-judge bench headed by Justice K.K. Agha sent 13-year-old Arzoo …

KARACHI: The federal government has issued a special permit to Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, to “export” 150 falcons of rare species from Pakistan to the UAE, sources on Monday. According to the sources, the permission was issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and delivered to the UAE’s …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday directed the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination to come up with recommendations for making the country’s basic sports structure effective in consultation with stakeholders. He gave this direction during a meeting with Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Dr Fehmida Mirza who called on him here and exchanged views about administrative matters relating to sports activities …