WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that Hong Kong citizens currently in the United States who fear for their safety amid the political crackdown back home will receive temporary safe haven. Biden said the move recognises “the significant erosion” of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong by the Chinese government. “By unilaterally imposing on Hong Kong the Law of …

MANILA: Chaos overtook several Covid-19 vaccination sites in Manila on Thursday as thousands showed up hoping to receive a shot before the Philippines capital heads back into lockdown for two weeks. Movement restrictions will be reimposed across greater Manila, an urban sprawl of 16 cities that is home to 13 million people, from midnight on Thursday to try slow the …

KABUL: Infamous warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum has returned to Afghanistan as the Taliban inch closer to taking control of his longtime stronghold in the north and fight for control of a string of cities elsewhere. Ehsan Nero, a spokesman for the former army paratrooper, said that Dostum arrived in Kabul on Wednesday night and was meeting senior officials to talk …

A statement from the Israeli military said jets struck the launch sites from which the rockets were fired, as well as an additional target used to attack Israel in the past. The military blamed the state of Lebanon for the shelling and warned against further attempts to harm Israeli civilians and Israel’s sovereignty. The overnight airstrikes in southern Lebanon were …

PARIS: Germany, France and Israel will go ahead with plans to administer Covid-19 vaccine boosters, disregarding an appeal by the World Health Organisation to hold off until more people are vaccinated around the world. The decision to press ahead with booster shots despite the WHO’s strongest statement yet highlights the huge inequities in responses to the pandemic as richer nations ramp up …

MOSCOW/DUSHANBE: Russia has increased arms and military hardware supplies to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan amid fighting in Afghanistan, Interfax news agency quoted Russian military chief of staff Valery Gerasimov as saying on Thursday. Gerasimov, who was in Tashkent to attend joint Uzbek-Russian military drills near the Afghan border, provided no details such as what arms were being supplied. Russia is also carrying out …

LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to withdraw the Rawalpindi Ring Road Project from the public-private partnership authority (P3A). The decision has been taken in the public-private partnership policy and monitoring board’s 8th meeting chaired by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar at his office on Thursday. The meeting decided to start the Rawalpindi Ring Road Project in PC-I mode with the …

cj The Supreme Court on Friday censured Punjab police for failing to safeguard the Hindu temple that was attacked by a mob in Rahim Yar Khan two days ago, and ordered immediate arrests of the culprits as well as temple’s restoration. On Wednesday, hundreds of people had vandalised the temple in Bhong and blocked the Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5) after a nine-year-old Hindu …

LAHORE: Data shows that 10 per cent of the 140 Covid-19 patients in Punjab have been reinfected with the virus despite being vaccinated. Most of the reinfected vaccinated people are front-line healthcare workers of the public sector hospitals of the province. The worrisome data was shared at a meeting of the Corona Experts Advisory Group (CEAG) on Thursday. The meeting …

Newly appointed Karachi Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab on Friday expressed his commitment to end “politics of discrimination” during his tenure, adding that he was still preparing a plan to address the needs of the city. Wahab, who is also a spokesman for the Sindh government, expressed these views while speaking to the media in Karachi. He was appointed the city administrator a …