Aqeel Ahmed

  The countries with the recent highest rate of deaths are Russia with 1,241, followed by the US with 832 and Ukraine with 695 - First foreign tourists return to Vietnam - After almost 20 months without international travellers, more than 400 tourists touch down in Vietnam from South Korea and Japan, with arrivals required to show a vaccine certificate and a negative test. The flights to the southern resort city of Nha Trang come ahead of Vietnam's plans to reopen the resort island of Phu Quoc to vaccinated foreign visitors on November 20 -- with hopes to welcome at least 5,000 travellers in coming months. - 'National effort' for Germany - Chancellor Angela Merkel calls for a "national effort" to break a fourth wave of coronavirus that is sweeping Germany and again urged people to get vaccinated. "If we show solidarity, if we think about protecting ourselves and taking care of others, we can spare our country a great deal this winter," she said, pushing

  Russia's President Putin and his French counterpart Macron voiced dissatisfaction over the worsening situation in Black Sea MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin told French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Monday that "provocative" US-led exercises in the Black Sea were "increasing tensions" between Moscow and NATO, the Kremlin said. Both leaders expressed "dissatisfaction" with what Moscow called a "worsening" situation in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin statement said. Putin "drew attention to the provocative nature of the large scale exercises led by the United States and its allies in the Black Sea which are increasing tensions between Russia and NATO," the Kremlin said. Putin's comments came after Western countries raised alarm over Russian military activities near Ukraine. According to the Elysee, Macron told Putin that France was ready to defend Ukraine's territorial integrity. Last week, Putin said that the Kremlin

  Pakistani batter-wicket keeper explains what happened at hospital during his treatment before crucial match Pakistani record holder batter-wicket keeper Mohammad Rizwan, who reportedly developed a severe chest infection just before the T20 World Cup semi-final, narrated his journey from the hotel to the hospital and then to the cricket ground. According to his doctor, Rizwan made a "miraculous recovery" last week after staying two days in the hospital to turn in a headline-grabbing performance in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in the UAE where he top-scored with 67 in the semi-final against Australia. In a conversation with the Pakistan Cricket Board, Rizwan said that though he had told his family in the hotel that he is just going to have an ECG done downstairs to keep them calm, he had lost his breath by the time he reached the hospital. "My condition was not well," said Rizwan. He said that the doctors told him that both his oesophagus and respiratory tract were bl

  Details of the "decisive" anti-government long march to be finalised on November 23 LAHORE: In a bid to mount pressure on the government, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has decided to take up the government's "controversial" bills in the country's top court and ramp up the protests. In a virtual meeting held today, with PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in the chair, the alliance tasked JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza, PML-N Deputy Secretary Atta Tarar, and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to prepare legal grounds for challenging the bills in the Supreme Court, a statement said. The "controversial" bills include The National Accountability (Third Amendment) Ordinance 2021, electronic voting machine, and the bill which seeks to "curtail" the State Bank of Pakistan's powers and "handing it over to the International Monetary Fund". The Opposition leaders have been tasked to consult with lawyers and draft a strate

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday turned down the Oil and Regulatory Authority’s proposal to increase petroleum products’ prices and announced that the prices would remain unchanged till end of this November. Reports said the OGRA had suggested an increase of Rs5/litre in petrol and diesel prices. The Finance Division said in a statement that despite rising petroleum product prices globally, the prime minister has rejected the proposal for increase in the prices and said the POL prices would remain same from November 16, 2021 to providing maximum relief to the people. It is pertinent to mention that on November 4, the government announced a massive increase in POL prices, bifurcating as petrol up by Rs8.14/litre, diesel 8.14/litre, kerosene 6.27/litre, and light diesel oil by Rs5.72/litre. The current ex-depot price of petrol is Rs145.82 per litre, high-speed diesel Rs142.62 per litre, kerosene Rs116.53 per litre, and LDO is Rs114.07 per litre. It is decided that these pri

KANDAHAR: The Taliban have launched a crackdown on suspected Islamic State (IS) or Daesh hideouts in Kandahar, officials said Monday, following an increase in bloody attacks by the group in recent weeks. The operation against Islamic State-Khorasan -- the local chapter of the jihadist group -- started around midnight in at least four districts of Kandahar province and continued through Monday morning, Taliban provincial police chief Abdul Ghafar Mohammadi said. "So far, four Daesh (IS) fighters have been killed and ten arrested, one of them blew himself up inside a house," he said. A member of the Taliban intelligence agency who declined to be named said at least three civilians were killed in the operation. Local media quoted a Taliban official as saying there had also been a blast in a western suburb of Kabul Monday morning with no casualties. In the three months since the Taliban came to power, IS-K has been active in Jalalabad, Kunduz, Kandahar and Kabul. Last month the g