Author: News Desk

WASHINGTON: Vice President Kamala Harris, in a visit to Singapore and Vietnam next week that aims to counter China’s growing influence, will have to contend with a new problem: the collapse of Afghanistan, which has left allies questioning the credibility of US foreign policy promises. US allies have complained they were not fully consulted on President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan by Aug. 31, which appeared at odds with his promises to recommit to global engagement With the Taliban’s rapid takeover putting their national security interests at risk, countries in both Europe and Asia are wondering whether they can…

India :  US firm Johnson and Johnson has sought approval from India’s drug regulator to conduct clinical study of its Covid-19 vaccine among adolescents. Organisation (CDSCO) to conduct a study of the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine in India in adolescents, 12–17 years, the company said on Friday. The company had earlier on August 7 received emergency use authorization from the drug regulator for its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine in the country for 18 years and above, making it the fifth vaccine to get the green light. “To ultimately achieve herd immunity, it is imperative that Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials continue to move forward…

US : Jeff Bezos flew to space late last month, but his company has lost top talent since the billionaire space founder came back to Earth. At least 11 key leaders and senior engineers have left Blue Origin this summer. Two of the engineers, Nitin Arora and Lauren Lyons, this week announced jobs at other space companies: Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Firefly Aerospace, respectively. Those departures include the following people: New Shepard senior vice president Steve Bennett, chief of mission assurance Jeff Ashby (who retired), New Glenn senior director Bob Ess, New Glenn senior finance manager Bill Scammell, senior manager of production testing Christopher…

MOSCOW  : German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday used her final official visit to Russia to tell President Vladimir Putin to free Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, but the Kremlin leader rebuffed her, saying the jailing was unrelated to politics. The talks, as Merkel prepares to step down following elections next month, coincided with the first anniversary of Navalny’s poisoning, an incident that strained Russia-Germany ties. Navalny was flown to Germany last year after being poisoned with what the West concluded was a military nerve agent. Moscow rejects that and alleges a Western smear campaign. Navalny was jailed when he flew…

US : The United States is expected to announce that its evacuation flights from Kabul will now be able to land in several locations across Europe. U.S. officials said , as its largest military base in the Middle East has reached capacity. The United States is desperately trying to evacuate thousands of people from Afghanistan as reports of Taliban reprisals against Afghans who worked with U.S.-led forces increase, forcing foreign powers to accelerate the evacuation effort. But officials said no evacuation flights left Kabul for several hours on Friday because they had nowhere to go due an overflow at Al…

Tokyo : The Tokyo Paralympics will be held under “very difficult” circumstances, organisers said on Friday, with hospitals in the host city overstretched as Japan battles its worse wave of COVID-19 infections, driven by the Delta variant. With less than a week to the start of the Paralympics, the Asahi Newspaper reported on Friday that a Tokyo hospital declined the organisers’ request to take emergency cases from the Games, putting priority on domestic COVID-19 patients, Reuters reported. “Looking at the medical situation, we cannot help but say we will hold the Paralympics in the middle of a very difficult situation,”…

Riyadh: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has directed the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) to urgently support the Republic of Tunisia with medical oxygen and its supplies, in order to contribute to meeting the needs of the Tunisian health sector to overcome the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted the Advisor at the Royal Court and KSrelief General Supervisor Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabiah as saying in a press statement that this additional aid includes 3,000 oxygen cylinders, five oxygen generators for five Tunisian hospitals,…

Detroit : The investment surge by both new and established automakers in the electric vehicle market is a bonanza for factory equipment manufacturers that supply the highly automated picks and shovels for the prospectors in the EV gold rush. The good times for the makers of robots and other factory equipment reflect the broader recovery in U.S. manufacturing. After falling post-COVID to $361.8 million in April 2020, new orders surged to almost $506 million in June, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. New electric vehicle factories, funded by investors who have snapped up newly public shares in companies such as…

Bahrain : The National Medical Taskforce for Combatting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) will conduct a study to determine the effectiveness of booster shots for individuals fully vaccinated with Sputnik V. Individuals who received the second dose of their vaccine over six months ago may participate in the trial by opting for a Pfizer-BioNTech or a Sputnik V booster shot. Eligible individuals who are interested in participating within the study can register through healthalert.gov.bh or the BeAware Bahrain application.

UK : The medicines regulator has approved use of the first treatment in the UK using artificial antibodies to prevent and fight Covid-19. The health secretary, Sajid Javid, said approval of the first drug designed specifically for coronavirus in the country is “fantastic news” and he hoped it could be rolled out for patients on the NHS as soon as possible. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the clinical trial data they had assessed had shown Ronapreve may be used to prevent infection, treat symptoms of acute Covid-19 infection and could reduce the likelihood of being admitted to…