Live: 60 feared dead in Ukraine school bombed by Russia, governor says

Live news updates: Group of Seven leaders plan to discuss potential new penalties against Russia on Sunday.

12:33 PM

Patriotism, unease mix as Russia marks Victory Day in WWII

Red Soviet flags and orange-and-black striped military ribbons are on display in Russian cities and towns. Neighbourhoods are staging holiday concerts. Flowers are being laid by veterans' groups at monuments to the Great Patriotic War, as World War II is known in the country.

At first glance, preparations for Monday's celebration of Victory Day, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, seem to be the same as ever.

But the mood this year is very different, because Russian troops are fighting and dying again.

And this battle, now in its 11th week, is going on in neighboring Ukraine, against what the government has falsely called a campaign against Nazis.

12:11 PM

Sri Lanka's Opposition rejects President Rajapaksa's offer to form interim govt

Sri Lanka's main Opposition SJB said on Sunday that it has rejected an offer by embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to its leader Sajith Premadasa to head an interim government, amid continued political uncertainty in the country which is now under a state of emergency.

Our leader refused to accept the president's offer," Tissa Attanayake, the national organiser for Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) told reporters.

Rajapaksa had called over the telephone both Premadasa and Harsha de Silva, the SJB economic guru, on the prospect of forming an interim government which had been a demand endorsed by the powerful Buddhist clergy as well as the group which had broken away from the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) coalition.

12:10 PM

New Zealand reports first Omicron BA.5 variant amid 12,392 community cases

New Zealand reported its first case of Omicron BA.5 variant at the border amid 12,392 community cases during the weekend, said the Ministry of Health in a statement on Sunday.

A person who has travelled from South Africa to New Zealand has been confirmed as having the BA.5 variant of Omicron. This is the first known detection of the variant in New Zealand, said the ministry.

According to the ministry, this follows the detection of BA.4 on May 1, also in a person who had travelled from South Africa.

11:30 AM

Only Congress governs for welfare of poor, middle class families: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday stepped up his attack on the government over the hike in price of domestic LPG cylinder, and said only his party governs for the welfare of poor and middle class families.

Cooking gas LPG prices were on Saturday hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder, the second increase in rates in just over six weeks following the firming of international energy rates.

Non-subsidised LPG now costs Rs 999.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder in the national capital, up from Rs 949.50 previously, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

10:30 AM

Bay of Bengal cyclone to intensify into storm "Asani", to move parallel to east coast

The deep depression over Southeast Bay of Bengal Sunday moved west-northwestwards with a speed of 16 kmph during past 6 hours and intensified into a cyclonic storm Asani' (pronounced as Asani) , IMD said.

The system lay centered at 5.30 AM over Southeast Bay of Bengal, about 450 km west-northwest of Car Nicobar (Nicobar Islands), 380 km west of Port Blair (Andaman Islands), 970 km southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 1030 km south-southeast of Puri (Odisha). It is very likely to move northwestwards and intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm over east central Bay of Bengal during next 24 hours, the India Meteorological Department said adding that the system is very likely to continue to move northwestwards till May 10th evening and reach West-central and adjoining Northwest Bay of Bengal off North Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coasts.

Thereafter, it is very likely to recurve north-northeastwards and move towards Northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha coast.

10:18 AM

China-Backed Lee Chosen as Hong Kong Leader in Uncontested Vote

Hong Kong formally confirmed John Lee as its next top leader after an uncontested election, solidifying an era of more direct Chinese political control over the once-freewheeling financial hub. 

 

Lee, 64, won 1,416 votes from some 1,460 electors on Sunday, according to the returning officer at the election venue, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. That is more than the simple majority needed to confirm his appointment. He will start his five-year term as Chief Executive on July 1, succeeding Carrie Lam, who last month announced her decision not to run. 

 

Lee, who earlier served as chief secretary for administration, the city’s No. 2 position, was the only candidate put forward to an election committee reformed by Beijing in 2021 to stack more pro-establishment members. Vote counting was completed in an hour on Sunday, with almost 98% turnout. 

 

10:04 AM

India logs 3,451 new COVID cases, 40 deaths in last 24-hour

India witnessed a slight decrease in COVID-19 cases with the country reporting 3,451 fresh infections in a day, pushing the active cases of the disease to 20,635, according to Union Health Ministry data.

On Saturday, the country logged 3,805 new COVID-19 cases.

The active cases now constitute 0.05 per cent of the total infections, the health ministry said, adding that the country's COVID-19 recovery rate is at 98.74 per cent.

This comes as 3,079 recoveries were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the count of total recoveries from coronavirus to 4,25,57,495.

The country also reported 40 fatalities due to COVID-19 infection in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.

In India, the daily positivity rate is 0.96 per cent while the weekly positivity rate is 0.83 per cent.

10:02 AM

Cyclone Asani rages in Bay of Bengal, unlikely to make landfall

The storm in the Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclone on Sunday, packing wind speed of more than 75 kmph, and is expected to get stronger, the weather office said.

However, it is expected to fizzle out next week without making a landfall.

Under the influence of the cyclone, northern Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coasts are expected to experience heavy winds and rains from Tuesday, the weather office said.

The cyclonic storm 'Asani', Sinhanlese for 'wrath', lay centred over southeast Bay of Bengal 380 km west of Port Blair in the Andaman Islands at 5:30 am on Sunday, the weather office said.

9:35 AM

Hong Kong kicks off leadership polls with sole candidate

A Hong Kong election committee is voting Sunday for the city's only leadership candidate, John Lee, who is expected to win and become Hong Kong's next chief executive.

The committee, comprised of nearly 1,500 largely pro-Beijing members, is voting in a secret ballot that will last 2 1/2 hours. Lee needs more than 750 votes to win the election.

As of 11 a.m., more than 96% of Election Committee members had cast their votes.

9:27 AM

With surge in fresh infections, China logs 319 new local COVID-19 cases

Witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases, China on Saturday reported 319 confirmed local COVID-19 cases, of which 215 were in Shanghai, the National Health Commission said on Sunday.

Apart from Shanghai, 11 other provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland saw new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, including 44 in Beijing and 25 in Henan, Xinhua reported.

Shanghai also reported 3,760 locally transmitted asymptomatic infections Saturday, out of a total of 4,065 such cases newly identified on the mainland.

9:27 AM

Devotees throng Badrinath Temple amid opening day rituals

The doors of Badrinath Dham opened on Sunday amid the customary rituals and chanting of mantras.

Devotees thronged the temple. They were seen dancing at the opening of the portals.

The Badrinath Temple has been decorated with flowers and lights.

Located in Garhwal hill tracks in Chamoli district along the banks of Alaknanda River, Badrinath Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

The shrine is one of the four ancient pilgrimage sites referred to as 'Char Dham' which also includes Yamunotri, Gangotri and Kedarnath.

It is situated in the town of Badrinath in Uttarakhand. It remains open for six months every year (between the end of April and the beginning of November).

Earlier on Friday, the Kedarnath Temple opened its doors for pilgrims.

9:17 AM

IMF to discuss subsidies on petroleum products, electricity and gas on arrival in Pakistan: Reports

International Monetary Fund's special delegation is all set to arrive in Pakistan to discuss the budget recommendations alongside subsidies on petroleum, electricity and gas with the federal government.

This comes after Finance Minister, Miftah Ismail held a meeting with the executive directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington for the revival of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme last month and agreed upon IMF's recommendations to reduce fuel subsidies phase-wise.

The global financial institution's delegation will stay in Pakistan for 10 days to hold talks with the Pakistani officials, Ary News reported.

8:59 AM

Global Covid caseload tops 517 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 517 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.25 million and vaccinations to over 11.33 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Sunday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 517,069,385 and 6,250,536, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered increased to 11,336,745,130.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 81,858,744 and 997,503, respectively, according to the CSSE.

India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,098,743.

8:43 AM

UK to allocate additional USD 1.6 billion in aid to Ukraine: Reports

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has confirmed an additional funding package for Kyiv in the amount of 1.3 billion pounds (USD 1.6 billion), The Sunday Times reports.

The funds will be taken from the Treasury's emergency reserves and will come in addition to the United Kingdom's existing 1.5 billion-pound support to Ukraine, the newspaper said on Sunday.

Sunak confirmed the additional aid following pressure from UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, The Sunday Times said.

8:43 AM

Amit Shah's eventful Bengal visit may help revive BJP state unit

The two-day West Bengal tour of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on May 5-6 begs the question whether it will help the state unit of the BJP to restructure its scattered organisational network.

The question also arises on whether Shah gave a clear message to the state party leaders to stop the infighting and work unitedly to boost the falling morale of the party workers.

Political observers feel that only time can tell whether the minister's visit will ultimately help the Bengal unit of the BJP or not. However, these observers admit that Shah utilized these two days as a seasoned politician in giving clear messages to his party workers in the state.