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Committed to countering terror groups: Pak army chief assures US

[email protected] (Agencies)
February 10, 2017

Washington/Islamabad, Feb 10: Pakistan is committed to countering "all militant groups" operating within its territory, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has assured US Defence Secretary James Mattis during their first telephonic conversation.armii

Gen (retd) Mattis reaffirmed the importance of bilateral military relationship during his conversation with Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, the Pentagon said. "Gen Bajwa reiterated Pakistan's commitment to counter all militant groups operating in its territory," Pentagon Spokesman Capt Jeff Davis said.

"Mattis recognised the significant sacrifices the Pakistan military has made in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and expressed appreciation for the Pakistan military's recent support for efforts to defeat ISIS-Khorasan Province," he said.

"Both leaders reaffirmed the importance of the bilateral military-to-military relationship, and highlighted the importance of continuing to work together on counter-terrorism and regional stability," Davis said.

Pakistan Army spokesman Major Gen Asif Ghafoor said in a statement that General Bajwa and Secretary Mattis "had a twenty minutes telephone conversation".

He said they reaffirmed the commitment towards the common goal of peace and stability in the region and discussed measures towards that end. Bajwa and Mattis also agreed on continued engagement at multiple levels.

"Secretary Mattis commended the sacrifices and resilience of the people and armed forces of Pakistan and appreciated the role Pakistan Army has played in battling the scourge of terrorism," Ghafoor said.

The army chief also congratulated the Secretary on his assumption of new responsibility and expressed the hope that his vast experience in the field will be of great value to the region, Ghafoor said.

Pakistan has been trying to establish a rapport with the new administration but so far without much success.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's close foreign policy aide Tariq Fatemi had visited Washington in December but could not meet any top official of then president-designate.

The only high-level contact so far between the two sides was a brief telephonic talk between Trump and Sharif, who had called the former to congratulate him after his electoral triumph.

The call became controversial after its transcript was issued by Pakistan. It is believed that Mattis knows Pakistan well as he served as head of the US Central Command and has been to the country many times.

In his confirmation hearing before the Senate, Mattis had emphasised on remaining engaged with Pakistan.

General John Nicholson, who leads the US and international forces in Afghanistan, has called for a "holistic review" of the relationship with Islamabad.

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Agencies
July 29,2020

If everything goes as Russia’s expectation, it will be world’s first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine for widespread in the second week of August despite safety and efficacy concerns, according to a report. The adenoviral vector-based vaccine developed by Russian military and government researchers is currently in phase 2 trials.

According to a report from CNN, Russian officials are hoping to get approval for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute on Agust 10 or even before that. The officials told the outlet that the vaccine will be approved for public use with frontline healthcare workers receiving it first.

“It’s a Sputnik moment,” said Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is financing Russian vaccine research, referring to the successful 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite by the Soviet Union, according to CNN.

“Americans were surprised when they heard Sputnik’s beeping. It’s the same with this vaccine. Russia will have got there first,” he was quoted as saying.

However, Russia is yet to release the scientific data on its coronavirus vaccine trials, hence, questions remain about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, said the report. The vaccine is in the second phase of testing with developers planning to launch the phase 3 trials sometime after August 3.

Earlier, Interfax reported, citing Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, that the vaccine will be widely used in parallel with phase 3 trials. He said the country plans to vaccinate medics who are at high-risk for COVID-19 next month before clinical trials are completed.

Murashko added that individuals at higher risk of getting infected with the coronavirus such as older people or those with health conditions will also be prioritised for the vaccine, although he did not estimate or reveal when that would happen. The minister added 800 people will be recruited for the phase 3 trials.

Meanwhile, health officials were more cautious considering the fact that human testing of the vaccine is incomplete, and the state registration is expected to begin after August 3, reported The Moscow Times.

On Monday, Moderna and Pfizer announced the commencement of the final phase 3 trials of their candidate vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has so far claimed at least 654,477 lives and infected 16,514,500 people worldwide. 

Researchers will recruit up to 30,000 volunteers in separate trials both backed by the US government. India's first indigenous coronavirus vaccine, COVAXIN, is undergoing phase 1 human clinical trials across the country. More than 150 COVID-19 vaccines are being developed all over the world with at least six candidates already in late-stage clinical trials.

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News Network
May 23,2020

Karachi, May 23: Ninety-seven people were killed and two survived when a passenger plane crashed into homes in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, health officials said Saturday.

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane had made multiple approaches to land at the city's airport when it came down in a residential area, damaging buildings and sparking a rescue operation that lasted into the night.

All passengers and crew had been accounted for and the bodies of those killed had been recovered from the crash site, the Sindh Health Ministry said, adding that 19 had been identified.

A local hospital earlier reported it had received the bodies of people killed on the ground.

The site remained cordoned off on Saturday morning.

The crash sent plumes of smoke were into the air as rescue workers and residents searched the debris for people and as firefighters tried to extinguish the flames.

An AFP reporter witnessed charred bodies being loaded into ambulances.

PIA said the plane lost contact with air traffic control just after 2:30 pm (0930 GMT) travelling from Lahore to Karachi.

The disaster comes as Pakistanis prepare to celebrate the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid al-Fitr, with many travelling back to their homes in cities and villages.

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News Network
February 11,2020

Feb 11: China reported 108 new coronavirus deaths on February 10, the highest daily toll since the outbreak began in Wuhan late last year, as two senior officials in the hard-hit province of Hubei were removed from their jobs.

The total number of deaths on the mainland reached 1,016 in the 24 hours until midnight, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday.

Some 2,478 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 42,638.

Of the new deaths, 103 were in the province of Hubei, including 67 in the provincial capital of Wuhan. The virus is thought to have originated there in a market that sold seafood as well as wild animals.

Two senior health officials in the province - Zhang Jin who was Party Secretary of the health commission for Hubei and Ling Yingzi who was director of the Hubei Provincial Health Commission - were both removed from their posts, state media reported on Tuesday,  a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited health facilities in Beijing.

In his first public appearance since the outbreak began, Xi donned a face mask and had his temperature checked while visiting medical workers and patients in the capital.

"We have seen very little of Xi Jinping since the outbreak began but he was out and about in Beijing on Monday," Al Jazeera's Katrina Yu said from Beijing. "He has been trying to rally the troops saying: 'We can win this battle.' But it's also a sign that the battle is far from over."

The other fatalities on Monday were in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Anhui and Henan and the cities of Tianjin and Beijing, the National Health Commission said.

During a meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Monday, a group of leaders tasked with beating the virus said it would work to solve raw material and labour shortages and boost supplies of masks and protective clothing.

They said nearly 20,000 medical personnel from around the country had already been sent to Wuhan, and more medical teams were also on the way.

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