The Lahore High Court ruled that Shahbaz Sharif may travel abroad from May 8 to July 3. Sharif had petitioned the court, saying he is a cancer survivor who now needs treatment outside of Pakistan. AP | PUBLISHED ON MAY 07, 2021 10:12 PM IST A top Pakistani court on Friday granted permission to the country’s ailing opposition leader, who has been charged with corruption, to travel abroad for medical treatment.The Lahore High Court ruled that Shahbaz Sharif may travel abroad from May 8 to July 3. Sharif had petitioned the court, saying he is a cancer survivor who now…
Author: Mike Harrison
The fourth round of talks between world powers on Iran’s nuclear programme opened in Vienna on Friday, with diplomats voicing hope an agreement can be reached before the Islamic republic’s June presidential election.The remaining parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia as well as Iran, held talks for about an hour at a luxury hotel in the Austrian capital.The Russian ambassador to the UN in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, tweeted after Friday’s session that “the participants agreed on the need to intensify the process”.”The delegations seem to be ready to stay in Vienna as…
Iraq is carving out a mediating role between Iran and Gulf Arab oil producers including Saudi Arabia, a shift for a country better known as a victim of regional conflict than a conduit to defuse it.In recent weeks, Iraq convened indirect talks between its neighbors Saudi Arabia and Iran, with a focus on Yemen’s war, where the two countries back opposing sides. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, a former intelligence chief experienced in regional security issues, is seen by Saudi Arabia and its ally the United Arab Emirates as having a degree of autonomy from Iran. He’s been able to…
The Asian Development Bank will stop financing new coal power plants under a draft energy policy released Friday that was cautiously welcomed by environmental groups.The ADB, which provides loans and grants for projects in the poorest countries in the Asia Pacific region, said its current policy was “no longer adequately aligned with the global consensus on climate change”.”Coal and other fossil fuels have played a large part in ensuring access to energy for the region’s economic development, but they have not solved the energy access challenge, and their use harms the environment and accelerates climate change,” the Manila-based bank said…
The WHO has previously given emergency approval to Covid-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and, last week, Moderna. Reuters | PUBLISHED ON MAY 07, 2021 08:59 PM IST The World Health Organization announced on Friday it had approved a Covid-19 vaccine from China’s state-owned drugmaker Sinopharm for emergency use.The vaccine, one of two main Chinese shots that collectively have already been given to hundreds of millions of people in China and abroad, becomes the first Covid-19 shot developed by a non-Western country to win the WHO’s backing.It is also the first time the WHO has given emergency…
FTC (The Federal Trade Commission) accuses Apple of conducting “anti-competitive repair restrictions.” Because of this, the federal agency claimed that the giant iPhone maker is preventing some businesses and companies from having work. (Photo : Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Apple CEO Steve Jobs delivers the keynote address at the 2004 Worldwide Developers Conference June 28, 2004 in San Francisco, California. Jobs announced the 2005 release of OSX Tiger and a new line of flat panel cinema displays including the first 30-inch model designed for the personal computer. The Federal Trade Commission added that these repair restrictions affect small companies and…
The US, which has urged its citizens not to travel to India due to an unprecedented surge in the Covid-19 cases there, on Friday encouraged those in the country to book their tickets to return home through currently available flights.The United Airlines and Air India are continuing to operate numerous direct flights weekly from India to the US, a State Department health alert said.Additional flight options remain available on Air France, Lufthansa, and Qatar Airways via transfers in Paris, Frankfurt, and Doha.US citizens who wish to depart India are encouraged to book tickets through the airlines, the health alert said.It…
(Photo : Pexels/Deepanker Verma) Google app tracking transparency Beginning 2022, the apps on Google Play will show details about what data they collect, as well as other information about their privacy and security practices, in a new privacy and safety section in their listing. Google Play Store New Security Listing The announcement came a few months after Apple started displaying the same privacy information in the App Store. In the same way Apple’s policy covers both its own apps and those that third-party developers create, Google stated that its first-party apps will also need to give this information, according to TechCrunch. According to…
British health officials on Friday labelled a coronavirus variant first found in India a “variant of concern” due to evidence it spreads more easily, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the situation needed careful handling.Public Health England designated variant B.1.617.2, one of three variants identified in India that has spread to Britain, a variant of concern. Surge testing was being carried out in areas where evidence indicates community spread.Cases of the B.1.617.2 variant increased to 520 from 202 over the last week, PHE said, mainly in London and the northwest town of Bolton, with almost half the cases related to…
Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation stated that no cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed at Mount Everest. ANI | , Kathmandu PUBLISHED ON MAY 07, 2021 07:12 PM IST The Nepal government has refuted reports of the Covid-19 outbreak at Mount Everest and other mountain base camps, as the second wave of pandemic sweeps the Himalayan nation.In a press statement on Friday, Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation stated that no cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed at Mount Everest.”Concerned Communication Officers has been assigned and stationed in the area. Communication officers are in contact…