Afghan govt refuses to release 600 ‘too dangerous’ militants
KABUL: Afghan authorities said on Wednesday they will not release hundreds of Taliban captives deemed “too dangerous” despite planned peace talks that hinge on the prisoner exchange. Violence, meanwhile, continued to rack the war-torn country as a suicide bomber killed three security personnel near the governor’s residence and police headquarters in the province of Kandahar. […]
US warned against hasty troops withdrawal from Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, Afghanistan and China on Tuesday warned the United States against precipitous withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, saying terrorist groups could take advantage of it. A joint communique issued at the end of the meeting between representatives of the three countries held through video link said: “The three sides urged for an orderly, […]
Covid-19 imperils AIDS progress, warns UN
PARIS: Covid-19 could cause an additional half a million AIDS deaths if treatment is disrupted long term, the United Nations said on Monday in a warning that the pandemic was jeopardising years of progress against HIV. At the start of a week of virtual International AIDS Conferences, the UN said the world was already way […]
In a first in 100 years, Australia shuts state borders to check Covid-19 spread
Australian officials are closing the border between Australia’s two most populous states from Tuesday for an indefinite period as they scramble to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus in the city of Melbourne. The decision announced on Monday marks the first time the border between Victoria and New South Wales has been shut in 100 […]
WHO says first alerted to coronavirus by its office, not China
The World Health Organization has updated its account of the early stages of the Covid crisis to say it was alerted by its own office in China, and not by China itself, to the first pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The UN health body has been accused by US President Donald Trump of failing to provide […]
WHO urges focus on first wave of coronavirus
The World Health Organisation’s emergencies chief says “we need to put up a fight now” during a peak in the current wave of the coronavirus pandemic rather than focusing on when a second wave might come. Dr. Michael Ryan said the world will be much better at fighting a second wave, if people can learn the lessons of […]
New Strain Of Coronavirus More Infectious, Dominating Global Cases: Study
Scientists have shown that a variation in the genome of the novel coronavirus has improved its ability to infect human cells, and has helped it become the dominant strain circulating around the world. According to the research, published in the journal Cell, a variant of the novel coronavirus, named ‘D614G’, is more infectious in cell […]
Fire at Iran nuke site hit new centrifuge facility, say analysts
US-based analysts have told The Associated Press that they believe a fire at an Iran nuclear site struck a new centrifuge production facility. The fire happened early on Thursday at Natanz, an underground facility where Iran enriches uranium. Two analysts say they believe the fire struck the production, based on a photo released by Iran, […]
WHO says smoking linked to higher risk of virus
The World Health Organisation says smoking is linked to a higher risk of severe illness and death from the coronavirus in hospitalised patients, although it was unable to specify exactly how much greater those risks might be. In a scientific brief published this week, the U.N. health agency reviewed 34 published studies on the association between smoking […]
Taliban maintain ties to Al Qaeda affiliate, says Pentagon
WASHINGTON: Al Qaeda’s regional affiliate in Afghanistan maintains close ties to the Taliban and has an “enduring interest” in attacking US and foreign troops, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. Under a deal the Taliban signed with the United States in February, the insurgents agreed to stop Al Qaeda from using Afghanistan as a safe haven to plot […]
