Antibodies triggered by two Chinese Covid-19 vaccines are less effective against the Delta variant compared with other strains, but the shots still offer protection, a Chinese disease control researcher has told state media. The Delta variant of the coronavirus, first detected in India, is becoming the globally dominant variant of the disease with its increased transmissibility, the World Health Organisation’s …

KUNDUZ: Fear stalked Kunduz on Thursday as residents prepared for a lengthy siege, with Afghan forces patrolling the streets and Taliban surrounding the northern city. The Taliban have held the city twice in recent years — both times briefly — but have now captured the surrounding districts and the main border crossing with Tajikistan. “The Taliban have besieged our city,” …

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday said Brazil never paid for or received any doses of a coronavirus vaccine developed by Indian company Bharat Biotech, in response to allegations of irregularities in a deal that is under investigation. Federal prosecutors and a special Senate committee are investigating the deal for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin shot, citing the fact that the government …

For two days the fighting was blistering. Rockets and heavy machine gun fire pounded Imam Sahib, a key district on Afghanistan’s northern border with Tajikistan. When the explosions died down and Syed Akram finally emerged from his home earlier this week, three of his neighbour’s children had been killed, and a tank was burning on a nearby street corner. Several …

ISLAMABAD: Planning and Deve­lopment Minister Asad Umar on Thursday said that health and well-being of people should not become hostage to global geostrategic rivalries. He said vaccine acceptability decisions should be taken by a global institution like the World Health Organisation amid reports that thousands of Pakistanis could not go to Saudi Arabia and some other countries as their governments …

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Thursday said the mushroom growth of public sector universities in the province was collective failure of both the government and opposition. Concluding general discussion on the 2021-22 budget in the provincial assembly, finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra said universities were allowed to spread without quality checks and control. He said the universities had also …

RAWALPINDI: Special Assistant to Punjab Chief Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Thursday said 38-km-long Rawalpindi Ring Road project from G.T. Road to Thulian near Motorway had been approved and the work on this important project will be started by August. She said that 67 audit paras of irregularities detected in the previous plan of the project by …

ISLAMABAD: The examination regulation for the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) has puzzled many students as they have lost the right of rechecking or questioning the authenticity of questions. Moreover, as students have been allowed to appear in the exam prior to announcement of results, it is expected that over 500,000 students will take the exam and will …

MUZAFFARGARH: An elderly couple of Muzaffargarh has invoked the Parental Protection Ordinance, 2021, and got their son punished. Additional Deputy Commissioner General Ehsanul Haq told reporters on Friday it was a tragedy of our society that some people misbehaved with their parents, tortured them and evicted them from their homes. On which the government issued Parental Protection Ordinance 2021, for …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) secretary general Farhatullah Babar has said the bill recently introduced by the government in the National Assembly to curb the practice of enforced disappearances would not end the menace as it requires further deliberation and amendment. In a statement here on Thursday, the PPP secretary general cautioned against rushing through the bill and called for …