WASHINGTON: The United States is unlikely to be sent back into lockdown despite a surge in Covid-19 cases stemming from the Delta variant, top US scientist Anthony Fauci said on Sunday. America is in for “some pain and suffering in the future” but enough people have now been vaccinated to prevent a repeat of last winter’s deadly surge, the infectious …

US President Joe Biden’s administration will launch a new programme to resettle certain Afghans as refugees in the United States, an administration official and two knowledgeable sources said on Sunday. The US State Department was expected to announce the setting-up of the so-called Priority Two refugee programme on Monday, the three sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The State …

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will start providing China’s Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine to children aged between three and 17, the UAE government said on Twitter on Monday. It cited the health ministry as saying that the decision comes after clinical trials and extensive evaluations, without providing any details. Authorities said in June the trial would monitor the immune response of …

ANKARA: Dozens of villages were evacuated in tourist hotspots in southern Turkey on Sunday as wildfires that have claimed eight lives raged for the fifth day, while Greece, Italy and Spain were also hit by blazes. Fanned by soaring temperatures, strong winds and climate change — which experts say increases both the frequency and intensity of such blazes — this …

SEOUL: The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Sunday that a planned military exercise between Seoul and Washington would “becloud” relations, state-run media reported. The warning comes amid a surprise thaw on the Korean peninsula, prompted by a series of personal letters between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The two sides on Tuesday …

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has issued show-cause notices to all the five housing societies operating in E-11 over violation of building by-laws. The action was taken in the aftermath of urban flooding in the sector, which was caused by blockage of a natural stream by a housing society. “The CDA administration has taken stern notice of illegal constructions and violation …

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will start Moderna vaccination at all the centres across the province today (Monday) as Covid-19 cases have been on the rise for the last two days. Positivity rate for the virus has reached more than five per cent in Peshawar, Abbottabad, Nowshera, Swabi and Mardan districts of the province. The province reported 584 new coronavirus …

ISLAMABAD: With no let-up in Covid-19 cases, 32 streets in the capital were sealed on Sunday while health authorities recommended smart lockdowns in 17 areas of Rawalpindi district. As many as 555 people were found infected by the virus in both districts, with the positivity rate in the capital touching 10.6pc. On the other hand, while violation of standard operating …

DADU: Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh has termed Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah’s government a security risk for the country as the chief minister went ahead with his decision on lockdown against NCOC’s advice just to disrupt economic activities in Karachi, which had barely started recovering from the ill-effects of earlier protracted lockdown. …

Two states in India’s north-east have agreed to resolve their differences peacefully after their long-running border dispute erupted into deadly violence last week. Last Monday clashes on the demarcation between Assam and Mizoram left six police officers dead in a major embarrassment for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. The two regions’ chief ministers tweeted on Sunday that they would now seek …