SRINAGAR: An alliance of political parties opposed to India’s policies in Occupied Kashmir has almost won a majority of seats in local elections, the first since New Delhi revoked the disputed region’s semi-autonomous status and took direct control last year. The alliance, which is pro-India but favours self-governance in held Kashmir, won 112 out of a total of 280 seats …

PARIS: Face masks reduce the risk of spreading large Covid-linked droplets when speaking or coughing by up to 99.9 percent, according to a lab experiment with mechanical mannequins and human subjects, researchers said on Wednesday. A woman standing two metres (yards) from a coughing man without a mask will be exposed to 10,000 times more such droplets than if he …

WASHINGTON: Americans faced the prospect of a government shutdown on Wednesday as outgoing President Donald Trump, angry at his fellow Republicans in Congress, demanded dramatic changes to a $2.3 trillion government funding and coronavirus aid package. He called the package disgraceful. The package, which includes $892 billion for relief from the coronavirus crisis, passed both chambers of Congress on Monday …

JERUSALEM: Israel is working towards formalising relations with a fifth Muslim country, possibly in Asia, during US President Donald Trump’s term, an Israeli cabinet minister said on Wednesday. The White House has brokered rapprochements bet­ween Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco this year. Rabat hosted an Israeli-US delegation on Tuesday to flesh out the upgrade in relations. Asked if …

KARACHI: Amid a growing number of Covid-19 cases and serious pressure on hospitals across Pakistan because of them, the country’s health system faces yet another crisis as dozens of cost-effective medicines used for treatment of psychiatric illnesses, neurological disorders and mental sicknesses are no longer available in the market after several pharmaceutical companies have stopped their production either due to …

The world stocked up on laptop and desktop computers in 2020 at a level not seen since the iPhone debuted in 2007, and manufacturers still are months away from fulfilling outstanding orders, hardware industry executives and analysts said. Remote learning and working has upturned the computer market during the coronavirus pandemic, zapping sales of smartphones while boosting interest in bigger …

Singapore has confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus variant found in the United Kingdom, the city-state said, while 11 others who were already in quarantine had returned preliminary positive results for the new strain. All the cases, which were imported from Europe, had been placed in 14-day quarantine at dedicated facilities or isolated upon arrival, and their close contacts had …

KARACHI: An accountability court on Wednesday recorded the statement of a prosecution witness and summoned two others to testify on the next date of hearing in a case pertaining to alleged illegal amalgamation of commercial land to Bahria Town for a multistorey building in Karachi. Then mayor Mustafa Kamal, then district coordination officer Fazlur Rehman, then executive district officer Iftikhar …

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday emphasised true implementation of pro-women laws by doing away with the cultural taboos. Addressing the Brainstorming Session on Gender-Based Discrepancies and Promotion of Legal, Economic and Social Empowerment of Women hosted by the Aiwan-i-Sadr here, the President said his office had been actively engaged in addressing the issues like rights of women and …

ISLAMABAD: The appointment of renowned lawyer Naeem Bokhari as chairman of Pakistan Television (PTV) board of directors has been challenged in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah will take up the petition on Thursday (today). Arsalan Farrukh filed the petition through his counsel Raja Mohammad Shakeel Abbasi. The petition termed the appointment of Shahzada Naeem Bokhari …