BEIJING: China’s Shandong aircraft carrier group has recently conducted routine annual exercises in the South China Sea, the Peoples Liberation Army said on Sunday, after Beijing criticised the US for sending Navy ships into the strategic area. The Chinese Defence Ministry last week urged the US to restrain its frontline forces in the air and seas near China. US reconnaissance …

NEW DELHI: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee landed a two-thirds resounding sweep on Sunday in crucial state polls that saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi snubbed for leading the BJP’s charge in a state that has been a bastion against his divisive politics. “Bengal has saved India,” Ms Banerjee said as her Trinamool Congress (TMC) arrived at a score of …

WhatsApp is launching a new update in which photos and videos on the instant messaging app will be displayed bigger. The company lately tweeted that photos and videos on WhatsApp are now bigger, so no one will be left out of the picture, giving the users “the perfect reason to smile”. The update will make it easier for the users …

LONDON: The Group of Seven richest countries will look at a proposal to build a rapid response mechanism to counter Russian “propaganda” and disinformation, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said. Speaking ahead of a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in London, the first such in-person meeting for two years, Raab said the United Kingdom was “getting the G7 to come together …

TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday slammed as a “big mistake” remarks by the foreign minister complaining about the military’s influence on diplomacy. Mohammad Javad Zarif, a long-standing key member of moderate President Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet, made the remarks in a three-hour “confidential” conversation first published by media outlets outside Iran a week ago. On the other …

With Covid-19 restrictions preventing Barcelona’s Islamic population from celebrating Ramazan at the usual indoor venues, a Catholic church has offered up its open-air cloisters for Muslims to eat and pray together. Every evening between 50 and 60 Muslims, many of them homeless, stream into the centuries-old stone passages of the Santa Anna church, where volunteers offer a hearty meal of …

India on Monday reported more than 300,000 new coronavirus cases for a 12th straight day, taking its overall caseload to just shy of 20 million, while deaths from Covid-19 rose by 3,417. With 368,147 new cases over the past 24 hours, India’s total infections stand at 19.93 million, while total fatalities are 218,959, according to health ministry data. Medical experts …

ISLAMABAD: While six people died of Covid-19 and 394 more cases were reported in Islamabad on Sunday, the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) has decided to open another mass vaccination center in the capital. The new vaccination centre being established at Pak-China Friendship Centre will be become functional within a week. The centre will have the capacity to vaccinate …

ISLAMABAD: Protecting the most economically marginalised and vulnerable groups is the top priority of the government, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Senator Dr Sania Nishtar said. She expressed these views at the launch of a report, Mazdoor Ka Ehsaas, held by the Ehsaas Delivery Unit, Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division, in collaboration …

ISLAMABAD: Private schools in the capital, due to weak regulatory check, continue to charge full fee even when schools are closed during the pandemic. However, the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (Peira) is unmoved to protect the rights of parents. Last year, Peira had notified a 20pc fee reduction for schools charging more than Rs5,000 per month. Later, another notification …