From the editors: UAE vaccination progressing at a rapid pace

UAE vaccination progressing at a rapid pace: The mass vaccination programme of the UAE is progressing at a rapid pace, with the latest statistics showing that a total of 11,45,680 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered so far in the country. The country has achieved a rare milestone of 115.73 doses per 100 people. This means that the entire eligible population of the UAE has received at least one dose. This rapid progress is also reflected in the steadily declining number of daily cases, showing that we are well on the way to winning the war. [Comment by: Somshankar Bandyopadhyay, Assistant Editor]

India COVID-19 variant to dominate in UK: England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has said that the Indian coronavirus variant will surpass the so-called ‘Kent’ variant and become dominant in the UK. Scientists say the B.1.617.2 variant is more transmissible than the B.1.1.7. "We expect over time this variant will overtake and come to dominate in the UK, in the way that B.1.1.7 took over," Witty said. This obviously is bad news for the country - which will be reducing some restrictions on Monday - but now Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that due to high rates of infections in the North West, the further easing of restrictions on 21 June may be delayed. We are all still in the midst of the battle to eradicate COVID-19 from the world and cannot afford to let our guards to drop or we could end up back at square one. [Comment by: Imran Malik, Assistant Editor]

No pressure as City and Newcastle serve up a classic: With the pressures of league demands now off their shoulders, Manchester City and Newcastle showed just how thrilling a ‘meaningless’ English Premier League match can be on Friday night as they served up a 4-3 classic at St James’ Park. Newly crowned champions City rested a number of key players, while Newcastle, with the threat of relegation now gone, had a point to prove to their critics. While Steve Bruce’s side ultimately went down to the champs, they will take confidence from this showing going into next season. An added bonus for Pep Guardiola’s City was the hat-trick from young Ferran Torres, giving hope that they may have discovered a long-term solution to all-time goalscorer Sergio Aguero’s imminent departure. [Comment by: Matt Smith, Sports Editor]

‘Friends’: The one with the reunion - If you can get past the random, almost bizarre slew of celebrity guests that will share the spotlight with the stars of ‘Friends’, the much-anticipated reunion of the cast of the hit sitcom is just the good news the world needs today. After several delays on account of the pandemic, the HBO Max special will be broadcast on May 27, reuniting Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry, who played 20-somethings living it up in New York. Only this time, they will return 17 years later with the likes of Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, David Beckham, BTS, Reese Witherspoon and Malala Yousfzai. While we await a UAE broadcast date for the special, there is always Netflix to relive the good times on reruns with Joey, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Monica and Phoebe. [Comment by: Bindu Rai, Entertainment Editor]