MOSCOW: Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and Indian pharmaceutical company Hetero have agreed to produce over 100 million doses per year in India of the Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19, according to a statement on the Sputnik V Twitter account on Friday. Hetero and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which has been backing the vaccine […]
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday ordered the armed forces to strengthen training under real combat conditions and raise their capability of winning wars as the ruling Communist Party laid out plans to make the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on par with the US military by 2027. After stressing recently that the PLA must […]
Washington: US President-elect Joe Biden has said democracy was tested this year when coronavirus hit and the people of the country showed that they were up to the task by voting in record numbers in the presidential elections amid the pandemic. He also said the country is at war with the coronavirus and called for […]
BEIJING: China criticized Pope Francis on Tuesday over a passage in his new book in which he mentions suffering by China’s Uighur Muslim minority group. Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Francis’ remarks had “no factual basis at all.” “People of all ethnic groups enjoy the full rights of survival, development, and freedom of religious […]
WASHINGTON,: US President Donald Trump on Monday asked officials to begin the transition process for President-elect Joe Biden, after the head of the federal agency responsible for this said she would provide him the necessary government resources to move in to the White House. Trump, however, insisted that he would “continue to fight and will […]
LONDON: Indian para-athlete and current para-badminton world champion Manasi Joshi and climate activist Ridhima Pandey are among four Indian women to be included in the ‘BBC 100 Women 2020’ list released on Tuesday. The list, which celebrates inspirational and influential women across the globe – from high profile names to unsung heroes, also includes 82-year-old […]
London: Pharma major AstraZeneca said on Monday that an interim analysis of clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in the UK and Brazil showed that it was 70 per cent effective on average, becoming the latest firm to post the vaccine trials results raising hope to contain the deadly virus. The vaccine, developed with the […]
JERUSALEM: Israeli media reported Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which would mark the first known encounter between senior Israeli and Saudi officials. Hebrew-language media cited an unnamed Israeli official as saying that Netanyahu and Yossi Cohen, head of Israel’s Mossad […]
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia expects no major change in its relationship with the US under Joe Biden, a senior official told CNN, despite the president-elect pledging to turn the kingdom into a “pariah”. OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has appeared wary of Biden after he promised a stern stance against […]
WASHINGTON: President-elect Joe Biden is moving quickly to fill out his administration and could name top leaders for his Cabinet as early as next week. Biden told reporters on Thursday that he’s already decided on who will lead the Treasury Department. That pick, along with his nominee for secretary of state, may be announced before […]