Top headlines: Dubai expects to welcome tourists from countries returning to normalcy; Phase 4 of Vande Bharat mission; Covid-19 cases in India cross 500,000

UAE-India repatriation: 59 flights to be operated in July as Vande Bharat Mission enters Phase 4

Fifty-nine repatriation flights for stranded Indians in the UAE will be operated in July as the Vande Bharat Mission enters Phase 4. More private chartered flights will also be sanctioned to meet the demand from the Gulf region, the Indian government has said.

Operations between July 1 and 14 include 39 special flights to four airports in the state of Kerala and 20 for the rest of India. New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are the destinations covered apart from Kerala.

New flyover leading to Dubai Creek Harbour opens

A new 740m flyover leading to the Dubai Creek Harbour was opened on Saturday, the emirate's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced.

Part of the Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Crossing Improvement Project, the three-lane flyover links the traffic from Dubai - Al Ain Road and Al Khail Road to the Dubai Creek Harbour, a waterfront destination on the banks of the emirate's historic waterway. The harbour, where a luxury neighbourhood is taking shape, is set to be home to a host of mega projects, including Dubai's next tallest tower.

The bridge has a capacity of 7,500 vehicles per hour in the entry direction, and 3,000 vehicles per hour in the exit direction," said Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the board of executive directors of RTA.

New restrictions on heavy vehicles, trucks from tomorrow in Abu Dhabi

New restrictions on movement announced by Abu Dhabi Police on Saturday as the emirate continues to fight against the pandemic.

From tomorrow (Sunday), heavy vehicles and trucks will be banned from using the emirate's roads during peak hours of 6:30am to 9am, 3pm to 6pm in Abu Dhabi city and 6:30am to 8:30am, 2pm to 4pm in Al Ain city.

Moreover, partial travel restrictions continue in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Following the completion of the National Sterilisation Programme in Abu Dhabi, residents are allowed to move freely within the emirate. However, there is an entry ban into the emirate, except for pre-exempted categories.

Coronavirus cases in India cross 500,000 as big cities reel from surge

India reported over 17,000 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, pushing the country's total above 500,000, federal health ministry data showed on Saturday, with infections surging in major cities including the capital New Delhi.

India has the world's fourth-biggest outbreak of the virus that causes Covid-19, below only the United States, Brazil and Russia in confirmed infections, according to a Reuters tally.

Infections are expected to continue rising steadily in India. Experts advising the federal government say the authorities should now prioritise reducing mortality over containing the spread of the virus.

Dubai expects to welcome tourists from countries returning to normalcy

Dubai expects to first start receiving tourists from those countries which are already open or opening for tourism and where people are returning to their normal life, said a senior official.

"Over the last three weeks, we have seen people in many countries returning to their normal way of living - going back to work, while some schools are also opening in some places. We have seen a bit of shift in countries like Germany, Spain, France and Greece. Many of these destinations are either open or opening for tourism market. We expect to start first with the countries that are ready. Although, there are going to be challenges ahead of us, we have great confidence in the tourism sector and Dubai," said Helal Saeed Almarri, director-general of Dubai Tourism.

UAE architects offer salt as alternative to cement

Two Dubai-based architects have proposed an environmentally-friendly cement alternative, inspired by the sabkhas (salt flats) of the UAE.

Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto of waiwai design created a cement from desalination brine, after discovering that the same minerals present in the UAE's sabkhas offered the potential to develop a natural and renewable building material equivalent to the widely-used Portland cement in construction industries around the world.

Locust swarms spotted near Delhi airport, pilots urged to be cautious

Delhi Air Traffic Control (ATC) on Saturday directed pilots of all airlines to take necessary precautions during landing and take-off of aircraft in view of locust swarms seen near the airport in areas along Gurugram-Dwarka Expressway.

A team has been set up to monitor the situation. "Pilots of all airlines have been warned about the locust has seen near the airport, we have set up a team to monitor in view of the locust," a senior ATC official told ANI.

Present Delhi Airport is operational and all flight movements are as per schedule, an airport official said. After the resumption of domestic flight operation, Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport operates around 500 total aircraft in a day.

Pakistan to reopen Kartarpur Corridor for pilgrims on Monday

Pakistan on Saturday decided to reopen the Kartarpur Corridor for Sikh pilgrims on Monday on the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the 19th century leader of the Sikh empire

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi took to microblogging website Twitter to make the announcement, reports The Express Tribune.

"As places of worship open up across the world, Pakistan prepares to reopen the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for all Sikh pilgrims, conveying to the Indian side our readiness to reopen the corridor on 29 June 2020, the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh," Qureshi said in the tweet.

Residential rents in Dubai see a sharp drop, especially in these areas

Residential rents have fallen across the board in 2020 with the sharpest drops witnessed in Dubai Land and Dubai Sports City.

According to market experts, the cheapest areas for rent right now are International City, Dubai Production City (IMPZ), a few projects in Dubai South and Dubai Land (Queue Point and Town Square) and Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC).

Overall the villas and townhouses have comparatively fared better than apartments as tenants look forward to upsizing. More indoor and outdoor spaces are in demand now, after an extended period of being restricted at home.

Egypt lifts restrictions, reopens mosques and places of workshop

Egypt on Saturday lifted many restrictions put in place against the coronavirus pandemic, reopening cafes, clubs, gyms and theaters after more than three months of closure, despite a continued upward trend in new infections.

Authorities also allowed the reopening of mosques and churches, and lifted the nighttime curfew.

President Abdel Fattah El Sissi's government has been keen to save the Egyptian economy that was hit hard by the virus outbreak.

Tawam Hospital in UAE declared free of Covid-19 cases on Friday

More healthcare facilities in Abu Dhabi have discharged their last Covid-19 patient, local authorities announced on Friday.

Abu Dhabi's Department of Health announced today that Al Ain's Tawam Hospital was now free of Covid-19 cases and has resumed normal healthcare services.

Earlier in the day, Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City in Abu Dhabi was also declared free of coronavirus cases.

CBSE circular to UAE schools explains how Grade 10, 12 students will be assessed

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) recently issued a circular to its affiliated schools, sharing the details of its assessment scheme for Grade 10 and 12 students.

The board has cancelled the Grade 10 and 12 board exams, which were scheduled from July 1 to 15. Instead, it would assess students based on their scores from the three previous examinations. Results are expected to be declared by July 15.

A copy of the recent circular, which Khaleej Times has seen, states: "Assessment of the performance of students in the cancelled examinations will be done based on the scheme as suggested by the competent committee of the CBSE."

Hong Kong bans annual pro-democracy rally for first time in 17 years

Police in Hong Kong announced on Saturday that the annual pro-democracy rally which takes place every year on July 1 has been banned for the first time in 17 years.

The protest rally has been taking place every year since the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, reports Efe news.

Hong Kong had been under British colonial rule until then when the control of the territory was handed back to the Chinese.

The July 1 rally this year took aim at China's national security law which human rights groups fear could smother the semi-autonomous region's freedoms.

Trump says he cancelled golf trip to protect US law and order

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday cancelled a planned weekend visit to his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, and said he was staying in Washington "to make sure LAW & ORDER is enforced."

"The arsonists, anarchists, looters, and agitators have been largely stopped," Trump wrote on Twitter. "I am doing what is necessary to keep our communities safe - and these people will be brought to Justice!"

Trump has pledged to take a hard line on anyone destroying or vandalising historical U.S. monuments and has threatened to use force on some protesters, as activism against racial injustice sweeps the country.

Coronavirus traces found in March 2019 sewage sample, Spanish study shows

Spanish virologists have found traces of the novel coronavirus in a sample of Barcelona waste water collected in March 2019, nine months before the Covid-19 disease was identified in China, the University of Barcelona said on Friday.

The discovery of virus genome presence so early in Spain, if confirmed, would imply the disease may have appeared much earlier than the scientific community thought.

The University of Barcelona team, who had been testing waste water since mid-April this year to identify potential new outbreaks, decided to also run tests on older samples.

Microsoft permanently closing all of its stores

Microsoft on Friday announced that it will permanently close its 83 retail stores and will now focus on its online store. It added that retail team members will continue to serve customers from Microsoft corporate facilities and remotely provide sales, training, and support.

Microsoft will continue to invest in its digital store fronts on Microsoft.com, and stores in Xbox and Windows, reaching more than 1.2 billion people every month in 190 markets.

Viral video shows Americans invoke God, 'devil's laws' to oppose wearing masks

Palm Beach County residents in US' Florida state say that wearing masks is creating problems for them. Some of them claim that it can kill people.

People believe that it is against the rules of breathing. The residents are coming up with reasons ranging from the norm being "devil's law" to fear God for breaking the rules. Health officails around the world are in favour of wearing masks which helps to curtail the spread of the virus.

County board of commissioners who voted to require masks in public places, were grilled by witnesses who said they were "communist dictators", people who love the devil and hate freedom. A woman said the panel members were "insane and crazy", arguing all "should be in a psych ward".

Coronavirus vaccine could come within 1 year: WHO chief

Scientists predict the world may have a Covid-19 vaccine within one year or even a few months earlier, said the Director-General of the World Health Organisation even as he underlined the importance of global cooperation to develop, manufacture and distribute vaccines.

However, making the vaccine available and distributing it to all will be a challenge and requires political will, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday during a meeting with the European Parliament's Committee for Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.