The World Health Organization (WHO) does not yet have enough data on the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus to say if it is more transmissible than the Delta variant, an official said on Wednesday, almost a month after South Africa first raised the alarm about its emergence. “We have not seen this variant circulate for long enough in populations …

A three-dose course of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the rapidly-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant, the pharmaceutical company said on Thursday, citing data from an Oxford University lab study. Findings from the study, yet to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, match those from rivals Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna which have also found a third dose of their shots works …

MELBOURNE: Australian Open chief Craig Tiley is confident Rafa Nadal will be at Melbourne Park for next month’s Grand Slam despite testing positive for Covid-19, but he is still uncertain whether Novak Djokovic will be playing. Nadal caught the novel coronavirus while playing in an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi last week and said he would make a decision on his future …

LAHORE: An important meeting to resolve the issues of the Pakistan Football Federation is being held in Islamabad on Thursday between the Ministry of Inter-provincial Coordination and the chairman of the FIFA-appointed PFF Normalisation Committee Haroon Malik, Dawn has learnt through reliable sources. A high-level official in the sports ministry told Dawn that IPC minister Fehmida Mirza may not attend the meeting …

DHAKA: South Korea stamped their authority as a potent force in field hockey on Wednesday when they defeated Japan in shootout in a thrilling final of the sixth Asian Champions Trophy here at the Maulana Bhashani Hockey Stadium. This is South Korea’s maiden Asian Champions Trophy title. Arch-rivals Pakistan and India, the two erstwhile major world hockey powers, besides winning …

The United States scored a famous and deserved T20 cricket triumph over Ireland on Wednesday to get the most important series in their history off to the best possible start. A brilliant 65 from Gajanand Singh helped the hosts reach a competitive 188 for 6 in their 20 overs and some disciplined bowling from Saurabh Netravalkar and Ali Khan helped …

KARACHI: Times were so turbulent after Ramiz Raja was elected Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman that he feels he’s aged 30 years in his three months in the job. Things have calmed down since and as Pakistan looks ahead to an exciting cricketing year, the former captain vowed he will leave no stone unturned in bringing about the game’s renaissance …

ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has abolished the requirement for banks to obtain separate licence for distributing mutual funds and private pension funds to Roshan Digital Accounts (RDAs). This relaxation has been granted to facilitate overseas Pakistanis to invest in mutual funds and private pension funds managed by Asset Management Companies and comes as part of …

ISLAMABAD: The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) on Wednesday reviewed prices of essential commodities and directed relevant stakeholders to maintain prices of food items. The meeting observed prices of essential commodities tomatoes, potatoes, chicken farm, onions, eggs, gur, sugar, wheat flour bags have registered significant decline during the week. It was also informed that prices of onions and tomatoes during …