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: A Pakis­tan Navy Ship (PNS) Saif participated in the focused operation Chinook Archer along with ships and aircraft of the United States and Canada in Arabian Sea. According to a PN press release issued on Sunday, Pakistan Navy ships are regularly deployed for its initiative of regional maritime security patrol to ensure maritime secu­rity in the Indian Ocean region. …

ISLAMABAD: While the positivity graph has further declined in the federal capital, 290 more people were found infected and two patients succumbed to the deadly virus on Sunday. Moreover, the District Health Office has decided to open a mass vaccination centre at F-9 Park after the Eid holidays which will cater to 6,000 to 9,000 people daily. According to documents …

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) is optimistic about receiving funds in the upcoming budget for its mega project, aimed at provision of basic facilities in 189 educational institutions of the federal capital. A senior officer of FDE said that the project, ‘Provision of basic educational facilities in educational institutions of ICT’ worth Rs6.9 billion will be placed before …

ISLAMABAD: The Directorate General of Religious Education (DGRE) established by the Ministry of Federal Education in September 2019 has so far registered 5,000 seminaries across the country. The directorate has 16 regional offices set up to register the seminaries. There are an estimated 35,000 seminaries in the country. “Around three million students are enrolled in the 35,000 seminaries out of …