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Tag: USA

  • UN chief António Guterres gets re-elected for second term

    UN chief António Guterres gets re-elected for second term

    United Nations (UN) SecretaryGeneral, António Guterres has been re-elected for a second five-year term, on Friday by the 193 state members of the UN general assembly.

    As per reports, earlier this month, a 15-membered Security Council body unanimously recommended his name for the re-appointment. His official tenure will start from January 1, 2022, which lasts to 2026.

    This announcement was made by the President of the UN General Assembly Volkan Bozkir, after that he took oath from Guterres at the podium of the UN General Assembly hall.

    He expressed his gratitude by saying that serving in UN is an immense privilege and noble duty to him.

    Guterres’s major focus throughout his tenure has always been uniting the world behind efforts to combat climate change and environmental collapse. In 2017, he succeeded Korean diplomat, Ban Ki Moon who also served twice as the UN Eighth Secretary General.

    António Guterres, a Portuguese National currently is 72 years old. In the past, he also had served twice as the Prime Minister of Portugal.

  • PM Imran expresses grief over killing of Muslim family in Canada in a suspected Islamophobic attack

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed his grief over the killing of four members of a Muslim Pakistani-origin Canadian family in London, Ontario.

    “Saddened to learn of the killing of a Muslim Pakistani-origin Canadian family in London, Ontario,” wrote PM Imran.

    “This condemnable act of terrorism reveals the growing Islamophobia in Western countries. Islamophonia needs to be countered holistically by the international community,” he added.

    Police in London, Ontario, citing witnesses, said that 20-year-old Nathaniel Veltman jumped the curb in his vehicle on Sunday, struck five members of the same family ranging in age from 9 to 74, and then drove off at high speed, Reuters has reported.

    Police have not released the victims’ names, but the London Free Press said that among the dead were Syed Afzaal, 46, his wife, Madiha Salman, 44, and their 15-year-old daughter, Yumnah Afzaal. Syed Afzaal’s 74-year-old mother, whose name has not been confirmed, also died. Their 9-year-old son, Faez Afzaal, is in the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

    As per media reports, the family immigrated from Pakistan about 14 years ago.

    “We believe this was an intentional act and that the victims of this horrific incident were targeted,” Police Chief Steve Williams said. “We believe the victims were targeted because of their Islamic faith.”

    “I’m horrified by the news from London, Ontario. To the loved ones of those who were terrorised by yesterday’s act of hatred, we are here for you. We are also here for the child who remains in hospital – our hearts go out to you, and you will be in our thoughts as you recover,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote on Twitter.

    “To the Muslim community in London and to Muslims across the country, know that we stand with you. Islamophobia has no place in any of our communities. This hate is insidious and despicable – and it must stop.”

  • Reema gets her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine

    Reema gets her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine

    Reema Khan has received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the US.

    Taking to Instagram, Reema shared a video of herself getting the first shot. When asked that how is she feeling, Reema replied: “I’m fine.”

    “Finally got the first COVID-19 vaccine dose,” she captioned the post.

    Earlier, the film star also shared a video in which she said that she is going to get her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and prayed that the vaccine is available in Pakistan soon.

    “This is very important,” she said.

    In the video, she also urged her followers to get vaccinated, not only for themselves, but for their loved ones as well.

    Meanwhile, Imran Abbas lauded Reema for getting the vaccine, calling her a “pioneer”.

    Reema lives in Washington DC with her husband Dr Tariq Shahab and son Ali Shahab. Due to coronavirus lockdown, Reema and her son were stuck in Pakistan. As soon as flight operations resumed, the two flew back to the USA in August.

    According to Reuters, the first vaccine was administered in the United States in mid-December. Since then till the filing of this report, nearly 12.3 million doses have been given, out of 31.2 million doses distributed. The total includes 1.6 million people who have received both doses.

  • US could have saved trillions had it handled COVID-19 like Pakistan: American economist

    Economist and the former United States (US) Treasury secretary, Lawrence H Summers, while admiring Pakistan’s COVID-19 pandemic strategy, has said that Washington could have saved trillions had it handled the outbreak like Islamabad.

    In a conversation with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, he said, “America’s failure on COVID-19 is almost unimaginable. Heck, if the US had handled the pandemic as well as Pakistan, we would have saved in the neighbourhood of $10 trillion.”

    “The costs of an expanded testing system are trivial compared to the costs of tens of thousands of early deaths. Expanding testing should be a matter of utmost urgency,” tweeted.

    The US has recorded more than 8.35 million cases, 224,389 deaths, and over five million recoveries from the virus. US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump also tested positive for coronavirus on October 2.

  • US man gets COVID-19 twice with a severe second infection

    US man gets COVID-19 twice with a severe second infection

    A man from the US state of Nevada has caught COVID-19 twice with the second hit more serious.

    According to the details, the 25-year-old, had no known health conditions or immune problems that would have made him particularly vulnerable.

    Doctors said the man needed hospital treatment after his lungs weakened during the second infection, which was much worse than the first.

    According to the study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, the man experienced initial symptoms – a sore throat, cough, headache, nausea and diarrhoea on 25 March.

    He tested positive for the first time on 18 April and his symptoms were resolved by 27 April.

    On 9 and 26 May he tested negative on two occasions, but he developed symptoms again on May 28 including fever, headache, dizziness, cough, nausea and diarrhoea.

    On 5 June, he tested positive for the second time and went on to suffer low blood oxygen and shortness of breath.

    Scientists said that the genetic codes of the two illnesses were different, meaning it was not a case of the first infection being dormant and then reappearing.

    The study said the case was the first known COVID-19 reinfection in North America, with other single cases reported in Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Ecuador, and Belgium.

    The patients in those places showed no increase in symptom severity the second time, with the exception of the patient in Ecuador.

    It is unclear what had caused the second infection in Nevada.

    The study suggested one possibility was a “very high dose of virus (which) might have led to the second time infection and induced a more severe disease”.

    Another suggestion was that reinfection was caused by a “version of the virus that was more virulent, or more virulent in this patient’s context”.

    A third possibility was a “mechanism of antibody-dependent enhancement… a means by which specific Fc-bearing immune cells become infected with virus by binding to specific antibodies”.

    The study’s authors said: “Previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2 might not guarantee total immunity in all cases.

    “All individuals, whether previously diagnosed with COVID-19 or not, should take identical precautions to avoid infection with SARS-CoV-2.

    “The implications of reinfections could be relevant for vaccine development and application.”

    Reinfections also have implications for concepts such as herd immunity.

    It had been assumed that the body would learn to fight the virus during an initial infection, meaning that later infections would be minor or even without symptoms.

  • Google faces $5 billion lawsuit for tracking users’ incognito browsing data

    Google faces $5 billion lawsuit for tracking users’ incognito browsing data

    Google has been sued for allegedly tracking users’ internet searches of browsers set on ‘incognito mode.’

    The lawsuit has accused the Alphabet unit of secretly collecting information about what people search online and seeks at least $5 billion in damages.

    According to the complaint, filed in the federal court in San Jose, California, Google gathers data through Google marketing tools which include Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager, and other applications and website plug-ins, including smartphone apps. 

    “The data collection helps Google learn about users’ friends, hobbies, shopping habits, favourite foods, and even the most intimate and potentially embarrassing things they search online,” said the complaint.

    “Google cannot continue to engage in the covert and unauthorised data collection from virtually every American with a computer or phone,” the complaint added.

    Google’s spokesman, Jose Castaneda said that the company will defend itself against the claims. 

    “As we clearly state each time you open a new incognito tab, websites might be able to collect information about your browsing activity,” he said. 

    The complaint seeks at least $5,000 of damages per user for violations of federal wiretapping and California privacy laws.

  • US firm helps Modi govt keep social media blocked in held Kashmir

    US firm helps Modi govt keep social media blocked in held Kashmir

    The Indian government imposed communication blackout in August last year and stripped India Occupied Kashmir (IOK) of its special autonomous status.

    The administration has reached out to a US-based software firm Cisco Systems in order to prevent fixed-line internet users from accessing social media websites, reported ThePrint.

    The step has been taken to remove the restriction on a fixed-line broadband connection, however, social media platforms will still not be accessible to local residents even when internet connectivity is restored.

    Back in January, users were allowed 2G mobile internet and broadband for 1,500 individuals, including those providing essential services such as hospitals with access to only 1600 website.

    The firewall is being analysed and tested, and if it will be capable enough to sustain the blockage, it will be purchased, a senior government official said.

  • Pakistan, US trade negotiation failed.

    Pakistan, US trade negotiation failed.

    Despite United States (US) Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross’s visit to Islamabad, Pakistan and the US have failed to achieve ‘breakthrough’ for promoting trade ties between the two countries, Geo reported.

    “This high-level visit proved a non-starter because the US did not make any firm commitments on three demands put forth by the Pakistani side on the negotiating table. It can be termed just a posturing visit as a balancing act in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s visit to arch-rival India,” the report said.

    It quoted top officials as noting that the Pakistani side put forward three demands before the US delegation. Pakistan seeks a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), but the US side replied that “they would look into it” and did not make a commitment.

    The delegation also disapproved Pakistan’s proposition to expand GSP Plus list for providing concession on export items from the US side, so it can once again become a non-starting area.

    Furthermore, the Pakistani side demanded moving towards Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). However, the US authorities responded that they would see how things could proceed in future.

    Pakistani officials still seemed confident to believe that the US would respond positively on TIFA front in the coming future, but the optimism seems groundless because no commitments have been made.

    Keeping in view experience of the past many years, there have been several occasions when the US agreed to hold talks on TIFA and the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), but it always proved a futile exercise after holding sessions for several years.