London: Early evidence suggests the variant of coronavirus that emerged in the UK towards the end of last year may be more deadly, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said. Based on preliminary data briefing by scientists at the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), Johnson admitted that it would seem the new […]
UNITED NATIONS: The first-ever treaty to ban nuclear weapons entered into force on Friday, hailed as a historic step to rid the world of its deadliest weapons but strongly opposed by the world’s nuclear-armed nations. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is now part of international law, culminating a decades-long campaign aimed at […]
WASHINGTON: The US military has met its goal of reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan to about 2,500 by Friday, a drawdown that appears to violate a last-minute congressional prohibition. President Donald Trump, who ordered the reduction in November, said Thursday that troop levels in Afghanistan had reached a 19-year low, although he did […]
BEIJING: Thirteen international experts of the WHO arrived in Wuhan on Thursday for the long-awaited probe into the origins of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, while two others did not board the flight from Singapore to the central Chinese city after they tested positive for Covid19 antibodies. “The international team of 13 scientists examining the origins […]
KABUL: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who arrived here on a two-day unannounced visit, on Wednesday met the top Afghan leadership and discussed issues of strategic mutual interest as well as on synchronising efforts to combat terrorism and build the peace process. Doval, who is leading a high-level delegation, called on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani […]
JAKARTA: Indonesian divers on Sunday located parts of the wreckage of a Boeing 737-500 at a depth of 23 meters (75 feet) in the Java Sea, a day after the aircraft with 62 people onboard crashed shortly after takeoff from Jakarta. “We received reports from the diver team that the visibility in the water is […]
WASHINGTON: Outgoing US President Donald Trump has slammed Twitter for permanently suspending him, vowing that he and his support base would not be silenced. The unprecedented move by the California-based microblogging site on Friday comes after Trump tweeted that he would not attend the inauguration of his successor Joe Biden on January 20. “After close […]
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Thursday received a Covid-19 vaccine jab, more than three weeks after the kingdom kicked off a threephase inoculation programme, official media said. King Salman, 85, “received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine,” in the futuristic Red Sea city of Neom, the Saudi Press Agency said. Official media published […]
WASHINGTON: US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said the House would move ahead with the process to impeach President Donald Trump for encouraging a mob that stormed the Capitol if he did not resign “immediately”. Trump, who lost the November 3 elections, would be succeeded by Joe Biden on January 20 as mandated […]
TEHRAN: Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Friday banned Iran from importing of American Pfizer-BioNTech and Britain’s Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccines, a reflection of mistrust toward the West. In a televised speech, he said the import of American and British vaccines were “forbidden,” referring to the surging death tolls from the virus in both countries. ”I really […]