International

National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf said on Wednesday that the sudden withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan was not ideal, adding that any shifting of blame on Pakistan for “facesaving” would be unacceptable. Speaking on DawnNewsTV show ‘Live with Adil Shahzeb’, Yusuf said international media had been biased against Pakistan in the past and it was the same today. “[The] …

MOSCOW: Russia’s third vaccine against COVID-19, CoviVac, is more than 80% effective according to preliminary data, the Interfax news agency cited the vaccine’s developer as saying on Wednesday. The Chumakov Centre could produce six times more than the previously planned 10 million doses of the vaccine a year, Interfax added. It may be noted that Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine was …

A coronavirus variant which Vietnam authorities thought was a combination of the Indian and U.K. strains is not a new hybrid but part of the existing Indian strain, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) representative in Vietnam told Nikkei. “There is no new hybrid variant in Vietnam at this moment based on WHO definition,” Kidong Park said in an online interview with …

GENEVA: The Covax vaccine programme secured another $2.4 billion from donors on Wednesday, but underlined it was still struggling to get enough doses to help poorer countries fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The scheme is trying to get enough vaccines for 30 percent of the population in 92 of the poorest participating territories — 20 percent in India — with donors …

JERUSALEM: Modest, diplomatic and with a strong political pedigree, Isaac Herzog was elected president of Israel in a landslide on Wednesday to the largely ceremonial position. It’s a fitting post for the Tel Aviv-born politician, a scion of one of Israel’s most prestigious families, sometimes referred to as Israel’s version of the Kennedys. He won easily over Miriam Peretz — …

PARIS: The French government on Wednesday announced plans to set up an agency to combat foreign disinformation and fake news that aims to “undermine the state”. The move comes as France begins preparing for a presidential election in under a year’s time. During the last such election in 2012, groups linked to Russia were blamed for a massive hacking attack …

Israel’s opposition leader moved closer to unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he officially told the country’s president that he has reached agreements with political allies to form a new government. About 35 minutes before a Wednesday midnight deadline, the centrist Yair Lapid told President Reuven Rivlin in an email: “I am honored to inform you that I have succeeded …

GENEVA: The Covax vaccine programme secured another $2.4 billion from donors on Wednesday, but underlined it was still struggling to get enough doses to help poorer countries fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The scheme is trying to get enough vaccines for 30 percent of the population in 92 of the poorest participating territories — 20 percent in India — with donors …

TEHRAN: One of Iran’s largest naval ships sank on Wednesday after catching fire while on a “training mission” off a strategic port near the head of the Gulf, the navy said. The British-built fleet replenishment vessel Kharg, which measured more than 200 metres (more than 650 feet) long, caught fire on Tuesday off the port of Jask on the Gulf …

GENEVA: The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed more than 100 million more workers into poverty, the UN said on Wednesday, after working hours plummeted and access to good-quality jobs evaporated. And the labour market crisis created by the pandemic was far from over, the UN’s International Labour Organisation warned in a report. Employment was not expected to bounce back to pre-pandemic …