• Minister warns of tougher restrictions • NCOC reports highest cases in last nine months • British variant affects subcontinent • Vaccinated citizens can obtain certificates ISLAMABAD: As the British variant of Covid-19 rages across the subcontinent, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Saturday warned that the country could soon surpass the peak witnessed in the first wave …

ISLAMABAD: The government on Saturday removed Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman Dr Tariq Banuri. The notification removing the HEC head was issued after the promulgation of a presidential ordinance. Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman criticised the removal of the HEC chairman and asked the government to end ad hocism in the education sector. “Tabahisarkar continues its demolition …

ISLAMABAD: The chairman of parliament’s Kashmir Committee, Shehryar Khan Afridi, on Saturday sought the international community’s intervention to help bring “genocide of Kashmiris” to an end. Addressing a seminar titled ‘Human security discourse in 21st century’ held here under the aegis of The Human Security Institute (THSI), he said: “Six hundred days of the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A …

KARACHI: The city would get an additional 450 megawatts of electricity this summer as the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) has completed upgrade of 130km-long 220-kilowatt double-circuit transmission line between Jamshoro and KDA Scheme-33 of Karachi, an official announcement said on Saturday. Federal Minister for Power, Petroleum and Nat­u­ral Resources Omar Ayub Khan took to Twitter to share the …

UNITED NATIONS: A UN human rights panel has expressed its concerns over “an alarming pattern of restrictions” on freedom of expression in Pakistan, urging the government to allow journalists to exercise this right. In two documents sent to the government of Pakistan, the panel informed Islamabad that it has received information concerning a series of “alleged meritless charges” brought against …

News travels fast in a retirement community. And for the past year, there hasn’t been a lot of good news swirling around The Legacy Willow Bend: Family visits suspended. Knitting club and movie nights canceled. Possible COVID-19 exposure among some residents with Alzheimer’s. This week, though, the news making its way through the rumor mill was exciting. “Hey,” an octogenarian …

The family of a man who died during the winter storm in February, has sued ERCOT and Oncor Energy Delivery for $1 million, accusing the agency and the electricity provider of gross negligence for failing to keep the power on. Leobardo Torres Sánchez, a beloved paletero and cotton candy vendor, was found dead Feb. 23 in a room he rented …

Ines Garcia Sr. doesn’t own a computer. And even if he did, he says he wouldn’t know how to register online for a COVID-19 vaccine. So his stepdaughter and daughter-in-law each registered him for the shot in January with Dallas County. Garcia said after he was invited to schedule a vaccine appointment, his son drove him the next day to …

AUSTIN — Texas House GOP leaders have set a Monday hearing in a key committee on proposals to weaken the COVID-19 safety precautions the chamber approved in January, including a face-covering edict. The scramble is underway because top lieutenants to Republican Speaker Dade Phelan are trying to handle a tea party-style freshman’s push to eliminate not just the mask requirement …

Authorities on Saturday were looking for a man accused of shooting a Texas state trooper the day before near Mexia. DeArthur Pinson Jr., 36, was being sought in connection with the shooting, which happened near U.S. Highway 84 just west of Mexia in Limestone County, about 80 miles southeast of Dallas, according to the DPS. DeArthur Pinson Jr.(Texas Dept. of …