Author: News Desk

Speaker Fawzia bint Abdullah Zainal will participate on Wednesday, in the emergency session of the Arab Parliamentary Union to discuss the situation in Jerusalem (Al-Aqsa Mosque). The virtual meeting is scheduled to be attended by heads of councils and parliaments in the Arab countries, will be held to discuss developments in the situation regarding the Palestinian issue. Read More: Zoho plans to open office in Bahrain Bahrain Youth Minister receives EDB Advisor Gulf Air to support airlift of urgent medical supplies to India

The UAE tourism sector has continued to recover during Q1, 2021, with the average hotel occupancy rates across the country nearing 63 percent, according to initial data released by the local tourist authorities. Average length of stay in hotels during Q1 increased 27.6 percent to 4.3 nights as compared to the same period last year, with March recording a growth of 34 pct in the number of hotel guests comparatively with March 2020, Emirates News Agency reported. UAE nationals accounted for 25.6 percent of total guests in the reference period -one million guests- with March seeing a thumping 112 pct…

China’s weak population growth is falling closer to zero as fewer couples have children, government data showed Tuesday, adding to strains on an ageing society with a shrinking workforce. The population rose by 72 million people over the past 10 years to 1.411 billion in 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics announced after a once-a-decade census. It said annual growth averaged 0.53%, down by 0.04% from the previous decade, according to The Associated Press (AP). Chinese leaders have enforced birth limits since 1980 to restrain population growth but worry the number of working-age people is falling too fast, disrupting efforts…

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday said it expanded the emergency use authorization for the use for the BioNTech/Pfizer coronavirus vaccination to include children and adolescents aged 12 to 15. The vaccine by German vaccine maker BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer had previously only been approved in the country for people aged 16 and older. Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock called the expansion “a significant step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.” “Today’s action allows for a younger population to be protected from COVID-19, bringing us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy and to…

11 people have been killed and many more wounded after one or more gunmen opened fire in a school in the Russian city of Kazan, the RIA news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the emergency services ministry. Two children could be seen leaping from the third floor of the four-storey School Number 175 as gunshots sounded, in a video filmed by an onlooker that was circulated by RIA. Some Russian news agencies reporting two teenage gunmen were involved and others said a sole shooter took part. RIA said one 19-year-old gunman had been detained and that an explosion had been…

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will present Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s post-pandemic agenda on Tuesday in a speech written by the government that will set out the new laws that ministers intend to pass in the coming year. The grand ‘State Opening of Parliament’, a heavily choreographed and costumed ceremony led by the 95-year-old monarch, will this year involve face masks, social distancing, and fewer guests. The speech will set out Johnson’s policymaking priorities as he plans Britain’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to fulfil the promises he made to voters in 2019 on creating new opportunities for left-behind regions…

India’s coronavirus crisis showed scant sign of easing on Tuesday, with a seven-day average of new cases at a record high and international health authorities warning the country’s variant of the virus poses a global concern. India’s daily coronavirus cases rose by 329,942, while deaths from the disease rose by 3,876, according to the health ministry. India’s total coronavirus infections are now at 22.99 million, while total fatalities rose to 249,992. India leads the world in the daily average number of new deaths reported, accounting for one in every three deaths reported worldwide each day, according to a Reuters tally.…

England will further ease COVID-19 restrictions from May 17 and the plan to move beyond the pandemic has as yet not been derailed by variants, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday. “This unlocking amounts to a very considerable step on the road back to normality and I am confident that we will be able to go further,” Johnson told a news conference. Johnson has previously said nearly all restrictions could be lifted on June 21.

Genetically modified mosquitoes have been released for the first time in the United States, taking flight in the Florida Keys in a pilot program intended to reduce the spread of deadly diseases such as dengue, yellow fever and the Zika virus. After an odyssey spanning more than a decade to secure regulatory approval, British-based biotechnology firm Oxitec, along with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) launched the project in hope of reducing the Aedes aegypti species that spread the diseases. While Oxitec and local authorities have high hopes for the program, local residents and environmental groups worry that not…

The Indian government has told doctors to look out for signs of mucormycosis or “black fungus” in COVID-19 patients as hospitals report a rise in cases of the rare but potentially fatal infection. The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said at the weekend that doctors treating COVID-19 patients, diabetics and those with compromised immune systems should watch for early symptoms including sinus pain or nasal blockage on one side of the face, one-sided headache, swelling or numbness, toothache and loosening of teeth. The disease, which can lead to blackening or discolouration over the nose, blurred or double vision,…