Author: News Desk

South Africa’s health ministry said on Saturday it had detected the first 4 cases of a new coronavirus variant that emerged in India and was responsible for a surge of infections and deaths in the Asian country. Testing had also picked up 11 cases of the variant B.1.1.7 first detected in the UK, the health ministry said in a statement. “The Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa confirmed today that two variants of concern, other than the B.1.351 already dominating in South Africa, have been detected,” Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said. The four positive cases were detected in Gauteng…

Over 317 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administrated in China as of Saturday, the National Health Commission said on Sunday. That figure is up 9 million doses from the 308 million reported on Friday. More than 308 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered across China as of Friday, the National Health Commission said Saturday. The new tally came as worldwide COVID-19 cases passed 150 million and Asia emerges as the hardest-hit region. China has been promoting vaccination among the public to build an immune barrier. During the five-day May Day holiday, which ended on Wednesday, the…

The 2021 edition of the Arabian Travel Market will see Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) pull out all stops to ensure that the destination remains in the global spotlight with unique events, projects and initiatives designed to further accelerate tourism momentum in this landmark year for Dubai. Over 70 representatives from government bodies, hotels, destination management companies and tour operators will join Dubai Tourism at the Dubai stands in Hall 3 of the Dubai World Trade Centre to safely welcome stakeholders, partners and visitors to a key industry event within a physical setting, as part of…

Remnants of China’s biggest rocket landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, with most of its components destroyed upon re-entry into the atmosphere, ending days of speculation over where the debris would hit but drawing U.S. criticism over lack of transparency. The coordinates given by Chinese state media, citing the China Manned Space Engineering Office, put the point of impact in the ocean, west of the Maldives archipelago. Debris from the Long March 5B has had some people looking warily skyward since it blasted off from China’s Hainan island on April 29, but the China Manned Space Engineering Office said…

A ceremony was held today remotely marking the conclusion of the 25th Bahrain Quran Grand Prize under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments held the ceremony online in the presence of Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA) President Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Khalifa, Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, scholars, officials and participants. (SCIA) President Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Khalifa delivered a speech thanking HM the King for patronizing the annual ceremony. He praised the efforts of…

The death toll following a police raid in a favela in Rio de Janeiro rose to 29 on Saturday, two days after a shootout between officials and alleged members of a drug gang. One officer from an anti-drug unit and 28 suspects died after the raid in the Jacarezinho favel, G1 news portal reported, citing the police, according to Deutsche press agency (dpa). All of the suspects were involved in drug deals, police secretary Allan Turnowski said at the funeral of the slain officer. Three of the suspects had been charged with drug trafficking by the prosecutor’s office and were…

The death toll in a horrific bombing at a girls’ school in the Afghan capital has soared to 50, many of them pupils between 11 and 15 years old, the Interior Ministry said Sunday. The number of wounded in Saturday’s attack has also climbed to more than 100, said Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian. Three explosions outside the school entrance struck as students were leaving for the day, he said, according to The AP. The blasts occurred in a mostly Shiite neighborhood in the west of the capital. The Taliban denied responsibility, condemning the attack. The first explosion came from a…

The National Medical Taskforce for Combatting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) highlighted the importance of following all precautionary guidelines, including being vaccinated against COVID-19, to increase shared immunity and community protection, and reduce the severity of symptoms for those infected. The Taskforce noted that 78% of the 1706 active COVID-19 cases recorded on Friday, 7 May, have not received a vaccine, while the percentage of those unvaccinated in intensive care was 94% of 119 cases. The Taskforce further added that all 4 of the deaths recorded on 7 May were of persons not vaccinated. The Taskforce reiterated the dangers of not following…

India’s COVID-19 deaths rose by more than 4,000 for a second consecutive day on Sunday as calls for a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the virus mounted. India’s health ministry reported 4,092 fatalities over the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 242,362. New cases rose by 403,738, just shy of the record and increasing the total since the start of the pandemic to 22.3 million. India has been hit hard by a second COVID-19 wave with cases and deaths hitting record highs every other day. With an acute shortage of oxygen and beds in many…

The value of dogecoin dropped sharply in early U.S. hours on Sunday, after Tesla chief and cryptocurrency supporter Elon Musk called it a ‘hustle’ during his guest-host spot on the “Saturday Night Live” comedy sketch TV show. Dogecoin was quoted as low as $0.47 on crypto exchange Binance, down 28% from levels around $0.65 before the show. The billionaire Tesla Inc chief executive hosted the show at 11:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday (0330 GMT on Sunday). Cryptocurrency enthusiasts had for days been eager to see what he would say, after his tweets this year turned the once-obscure digital currency into a…