Going by the trends so far, there is nothing surprising about the discovery of the new XE variant. XE variant is a slightly tuned up version of Omicron, not an all-new variant, Rajeev Jayadevan, Co-Chairman National IMA COVID task force, told IANS on Thursday. ....

The Pakistan Punjab Assembly was sealed on Wednesday, with barbed wires installed atop its boundary walls and the building's main gate locked, amid confusion over the scheduling of a crucial session for the election of the province's new chief minister, Dawn reported. ....

The President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Shehbaz Sharif, on Wednesday rejected the name of former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Gulzar Ahmed, for the post of caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan, Dunya News reported. ....

At least six people were injured in a hand grenade explosion inside a mosque in Kabul on Wednesday, sources said. ....

Two people were killed after a small plane crashed in US's Texas, authorities said. ....

With a majority support in doubt in Parliament, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday late night revoked the state of Emergency which he had imposed amid violent street protests demanding him to quit. ....

Ukraine has figured in US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's talks with India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar ahead of the ministerial-level meeting of the defence and foreign affairs leaders of the two countries in Washington on Monday, according to State Department Spokesperson Ned Price. ....

Russia will be more prudent this year in exporting food, especially to countries that are pursuing a hostile policy towards Russia, President Vladimir Putin said. ....

France has reported 203,021 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, as the country prepares for the presidential elections on Sunday. ....

 In what is likely its strongest statement on the Ukraine situation so far, India on Tuesday "unequivocally condemned" the killings of civilians in Bucha after hearing Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and UN officials giving heart-rending descriptions of the atrocities in the city. ....