World News Headlines

The daughter of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and former president Asif Ali Zardari, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari is all set to engage with the son of business tycoon Younas Choudhry today (Friday) in Karachi reported. Arrangements have been finalized for the ceremony. Bilawal House where the engagement will take place has been sprayed with disinfectants. The future husband of Bakhtawar, Mahmood Chaudhry, his father Younas Chaudhry and their other family members have already arrived in the metropolis. The event will be held in an open area of Bilawal House. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will not be able to attend the engagement ceremony of his sister as he had been tested positive for coronavirus and is in self-isolation. The guests attending the ceremony have been asked to get tested for coronavirus ahead of the event and convey a scanned copy of the results via email. The guests are also advised not to carry their cellphones. Only the officia

Pakistan has recorded fresh 3,313 COVID-19 cases and 54 deaths due to the virus in the last 24 hours, reported on Friday. In the past 24 hours, 54 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 7,897. 1,489 patients have recovered from the virus during the last 24 hours and 2,112 patients are in critical condition. According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with fresh inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of cases now currently stands at 389,311, whereas, the active cases stood at 45,533. A total of 43,214 tests were conducted across the country during this period. 335,881 people have recovered from the deadly disease while 5,386,916 samples have been tested thus far. Earlier on Thursday, it emerged that Pakistan had decided to contact China for the availability of COVID-19 vaccine, sources told ARY News. The National Institute of Health (NIH) will communicate with the Chinese government via the foreign ministry, source

The Centre for Middle East & Africa (CMEA) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) organized a web panel discussion on “The Role of China in the Middle East & Africa.” Panel of experts included Ms. Maria German, student at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs Fudan University (China); Dr. Zahid Ahmed, Research Fellow at the Deakin University (Australia) and Dr. Talat Shabbir, Director China-Pakistan Study Centre (CPSC). Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Director General ISSI, and Ambassador Khalid Mahmood, Chairman BoG, ISSI also joined the panel for the discussion. Director CMEA, Ms. Amina Khan moderated the discussion. Director CMEA, Ms. Amina Khan opened the panel discussion by stating that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a mega-project focused on increasing connectivity by opening up avenues for diplomatic and economic activity, thereby cementing trade and commercial ties between China and partner countries. In the case of the Mi

Argentina’s Diego Maradona, one of the world’s greatest ever soccer players, was buried on Thursday amid a global outpouring of grief from the streets of Buenos Aires to Naples in Italy. The death of Maradona at the age of 60 on Wednesday, following a heart attack, has sparked both mourning and celebrations of a true sporting star, who was a genius on the soccer field but lived a life marred by struggles with addiction. In a day of high emotion, the World Cup winner was taken by hearse late on Thursday to the Bella Vista cemetery on the outskirts of Buenos Aires - where his parents are also interred - for an small private ceremony of his family and close friends. Thousands of Argentines lined the roads as the procession passed on the hour-long journey from the presidential palace in central Buenos Aires, where Maradona had lain in state during the day. Earlier, there were clashes between police and fans and a febrile atmosphere more akin to a rowdy soccer game than a wake, with f

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Dr Faisal Sultan clarified on Thursday that at present there is no evidence that coronavirus has undergone a mutation giving it an additional virulence. Responding to APP queries, he strongly dispelled the misconception about a mutant strain in the country and stressed that all viruses mutate with time and therefore it is nothing unusual. A health ministry official contacted by APP via phone said "there is no evidence that virus mutation can not be detected through PCR (testing) nor do we have evidence that transmission of the virus changes its strain". The remarks came in response to concerns that the PCR test cannot reliably detect the new supposedly "mutated" virus. Dr Zahra Hasan, a member of the Medical Microbiology and Infectious Society of Pakistan (MMIDSP), elaborating further told APP that robust diagnostic tests are designed to detect multiple target si

Almost 100 pilot whales have died in a mass stranding on New Zealand’s remote Chatham Islands, conservation officials said on Wednesday. Most of the marine mammals beached themselves over the weekend but rescue efforts were hampered by the area’s isolated location, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) east of the South Island, the Department of Conservation (DOC) said. Department biodiversity ranger Jemma Welch said 69 whales had already died by the time wildlife officers reached the beach. She said 28 pilot whales, including two that beached on Monday after the initial stranding, and three dolphins were euthanised. Welch said the animals had to be put down “due to the rough sea conditions and almost certainty of there being great white sharks in the water which are brought in by a stranding like this”. She said members of the local Maori community had performed a ceremony to honour the spirits of the whales, which would be left to decompose naturally. The Chatham Islands was the s

Despite growing confidence that an end to health pandemic is in sight, a report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has warned that a viable Covid-19 vaccine will not contain the economic damage. The report said that the after-effects of the economic damage caused by the pandemic will be felt for a long time in future especially by the poorest and most vulnerable. The UNCTAD report titled ‘Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Trade and Development: Transition to a New Normal’ provides a comprehensive assessment of the economic knock-ons, projecting that the global economy will contract by a staggering 4.3 per cent in 2020 and warning that the crisis could send an additional 130 million people into extreme poverty. The way the world economy is set up is partly to blame for the disproportionate impact on the world’s poorest who lack resources necessary to respond to shocks such as Covid-19, the report says. “Moving rapidly across borders, along