International

WASHINGTON: Pakistanis in the United States have stepped up efforts to maintain a close relationship between their adopted homeland and the country of their origin amid apprehensions that the US exit from Afghanistan can also jeopardise bilateral ties. Recently, a Washington public relations firm Fenton/Arlook registered for a Pakistani American group under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) to “inform …

Israel reported on Monday a decrease in the effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in preventing infections and symptomatic illness but said it remained highly effective in preventing serious illness. The decline coincided with the spread of the Delta variant and the end of social distancing restrictions in Israel. Vaccine effectiveness in preventing both infection and symptomatic disease fell to …

SURFSIDE: Rescuers searched for victims of a collapsed South Florida condo building through fresh rubble on Monday after crews set off a string of explosives that brought down the last of the structure and allowed search efforts to resume. Three more victims were discovered in the newly accessible pile, Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah told family members, raising the …

PARIS: Hackers were on Monday demanding $70 million in bitcoin in exchange for data stolen during an attack on a US IT company that has shuttered hundreds of Swedish supermarkets. Researchers believe more than 1,000 companies could have been affected by the attack on Miami-based firm Kaseya, which provides IT services to some 40,000 businesses around the world. The FBI …

Contact has been lost with a passenger plane carrying more than two dozen people in Russia’s Far Eastern peninsula of Kamchatka, local officials said on Tuesday. The An-26 was flying from Kamchatka’s main city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the town of Palana when it disappeared and failed to land as scheduled, Valentina Glazova, a spokeswoman for the local transport prosecutor’s office, …

WASHINGTON: As he prepares to blast off into a new career stage, Jeff Bezos leaves an enduring legacy after transforming Amazon from a modest online bookseller into one of the world’s most powerful corporations. Bezos, 57, was set to hand over the job of Amazon chief executive on Monday to Andy Jassy and turn his attention to his private space …

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates on Sunday criticised the current oil output deal among Opec+ alliance members as unjust, escalating a row that could derail the energy market’s post-pandemic recovery. The UAE’s push to increase its production baseline is reported to have derailed last week’s meeting of the alliance of oil-producing countries, and also sets it against its ally, Saudi …

WASHINGTON: Hindus are more likely than Muslims in India to say the 1947 Partition was good for Hindu-Muslim relations, reveals a US survey released this week. The surveyors — Pew Research Center survey, Washington — also found that the majority of Hindus “think it is very important to be Hindu and to speak Hindi to be truly Indian”. The study is based …

PROVIDENCE: As shockwaves spread across the country from the Jan 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, corporate America took a stand against the lies that powered the mob. Or so it seemed. Dozens of big companies, citing their commitment to democracy, pledged to avoid donating money to the 147 lawmakers who objected to Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s victory on the false …

NEW YORK: Americans marked their nation’s 245th birthday on Sunday with fireworks that may look brighter, hotdogs that may taste juicier and marching bands that may sound jauntier after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of nearly all celebrations last year. As always, fireworks displays are the highlight of the July Fourth holiday. Two of the biggest pyrotechnic shows in …