While a variety of side effects after receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine may be a sign of the immune system kicking into high gear, a lack of such reactions does not mean it has failed to respond, researchers have found. They tested 206 hospital employees for antibodies against the coronavirus before and after receipt of the vaccine from Pfizer and …

ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre (ADPHC) in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Department of Health (DOH) have launched the first investigation and contact tracing system in the region – the “Contact Tracing Assistant System”. The system is designed to conduct a virtual chat with positive COVID-19 cases. The goal of this system is to expand the scope of …

Do you ever feel like mosquitoes bite you more than other people? There may be a scientific reason for that. We’re all probably familiar with the itchy red bumps that develop after we’re bitten by mosquitoes. Most of the time, they’re a minor annoyance that goes away over time. What attracts mosquitoes to certain people? A variety of factors can …

KARACHI: Stocks snapped the three-day winning streak on Friday after the KSE-100 index accumulated 808 points from 47,007 and crossed intraday the resistance of 48,000. Profit booking by investors mainly in the power, banks, E&P, cement and investment banking sectors pulled back the index. Intraday the index oscillated between the high and low of 279 and 163 points. The benchmark …

ISLAMABAD: Pressure is mounting on the government for the withdrawal of Federal Excise Duty (FED) on the cellular calls as the GSM Association that represents the interests of mobile network operators worldwide too has asked the finance minister to waive this new duty. Julian Gorman, GSMA’s head of Asia Pacific, said that the additional FED will have a negative impact …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the government will soon launch a `National Remittance Loyalty Programme’ for overseas Pakistanis to provide them incentives for their contributions to the country’s development. While presiding over a meeting on remittances on Friday, the prime minister highlighted the need for taking measures to provide more facilities to the Pakistanis living abroad. The programme …

ISLAMABAD: Through introduction of amen­dments to Income Tax Ordinance, the government has declared concealment of income a cognizable offence and withdrawn the time limitation in probing of past returns of a person having foreign income or assets as part of documentation. These and other amendments were explained in two different circulars — income tax and sales tax — released on …

ISLAMABAD: As the government conceded up to 1,500MW power cuts due to shortfall in addition to loadshedding, the power regulator on Friday approved an increase of up to Rs2.97 per unit in tariff for electricity consumers of ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos) with effect from October 1. According to an order along with schedule of tariff (SOT) released by the National …

ST PETERSBURG: Goalkeeper Unai Simon was the hero as Spain edged past 10-man Switzerland 3-1 on penalties on Friday to set up a Euro 2020 semi-final against either Belgium or Italy. After a 1-1 draw in Saint Peters­burg which saw the Swiss play for 43 minutes a man down, Simon made two saves in the shoot-out to help keep Spain’s …