London: Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden accepts there is a growing sense of frustration at the ban on live crowds at sporting events, but insists there can be no change until the spread of coronavirus is curbed.Speaking at an appearance in front of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, Dowden was asked by Conservative MP […]
Read MoreTahir Alhamzah Kuala Lumpur: With an estimated net worth of nearly 450 billion Indonesian rupiah (RM12.7 million), singer Agnez Mo is the republic’s wealthiest celebrity.The Matahariku singer did not only accumulate her wealth as an artiste, but also from her fashion and food business.Agnez, 34, started earning an income through singing and later hosting, at […]
Read MoreTahir Alhamzah Kuala Lumpur: After a recent photo of her kissing a Caucasian caused a stir among Netizens, singer Hunny Madu has come forward to clarify that the man in question is her Italian chef husband whom she married in May.Hunny, 36, admitted to having tied the knot with Fedrighi Francesco on May 2, in […]
Read MoreCaroline Hallemann London: Royal weddings are full of time-honoured traditions, from the myrtle in the bride’s bouquet to the sparkling tiara atop her head – and one of the most special, but lesser-known customs involves the wedding rings.Since Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s marriage to the future King George VI in 1923, many Royals (including the Duchess […]
Read MoreLondon: Ever since welcoming their son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, last May, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have made it known how much they adore being parents. That said, they also make sure not to sugarcoat anything, with the couple only recently speaking out about how tough it was having a small baby while on a […]
Read MoreLondon: More than 90,000 vulnerable pensioners in Scotland will receive a winter windfall of £140 off their fuel bills thanks to UK Government efforts working with energy firms to cut their costs.Eligible Pension Credit customers who qualify for the discount were identified after the Department for Work and Pensions cross-checked its records with energy suppliers. […]
Read MoreGwadar Pro Beijing: With a new guideline aimed at improving the quality of listed companies, China is reinforcing efforts to better leverage the role of the capital market to support the real economy.The guideline, recently unveiled by the State Council, provides “comprehensive, systematic and targeted arrangements” for improving the quality of listed companies, said Yan […]
Read MoreWang Lei As China’s Shenzhen Special Economic Zone embraces its 40th birthday this year amid a raging coronavirus pandemic, a bleeding global economy and profound global transformations rarely seen in a century, decoding the secret formula of the rapid rise of a small Chinese fishing village bears a special global significance.In just four decades, Shenzhen […]
Read MoreKhurshid Ahmed Karachi: Motorcycles production and sales in Pakistan increased by over 70 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the highest ever quarterly output recorded in Pakistan, manufacturers and analysts said.“Motorcycle production and sales during the July-September 2020 period of the current financial year FY21 were recorded at 8,05,408 units, which […]
Read MoreIslamabad: Representatives of TikTok have held a virtual meeting with officials at the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority and resolved to arrive at a “mutually acceptable mechanism” to provide a safe internet experience for Pakistani users and pave the way for the app to be unbanned in Pakistan.Pakistan’s telecom regulator blocked TikTok last week for what it […]
Read MoreUnited Nations: China and Russia were elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council last week, but support for Beijing dropped by more than 20 percent compared with a 2016 vote and Pakistan was re-elected for a second three-year term.The 193-member UN General Assembly also elected Ivory Coast, Gabon, Malawi, Cuba, Bolivia, Uzbekistan, France and […]
Read MoreZahid Hussain President Trump’s decision to pull out residual American troops from Afghanistan by end of year may have pleased the Taliban, but not the Afghan government and regional countries. There is a worry that a complete withdrawal of US troops before the Afghan government and Taliban agree on a viable political setup could leave […]
Read MoreDr Zafar Nawaz Jaspal Islamabad has been struggling to get off the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list since 2018. However, internal and external environments have not been conducive.Opposition parties censured and attempted to obstruct or at least delay the government’s legislative process to promulgate laws– an FATF precondition. Besides, Pakistan’s archrival India has […]
Read MoreAlexander Gabuev and Temur Umarov The situation in Kyrgyzstan is in some ways similar to the last two revolutions. At the heart of it is not the revolt of a liberal opposition against a corrupt regime, but a brutal fight for power between regional and tribal groups disguised as political parties. The difference this time […]
Read MoreIslamabad: A team of scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has made the most detailed global map yet of the glow from a planet orbiting another star, revealing secrets of air temperatures and water.The map provides information about temperatures at different layers of the world’s atmosphere and traces the amount and distribution of water vapor […]
Read MoreZhu Feng – Global Times Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asian Review that, “It will be very difficult for the US and China to coexist peacefully in the Indo-Pacific.” But she also pointed out that, “It’s not impossible, but […]
Read MoreIslamabad: Scientists using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced new maps of Jupiter that show the continuing changes in its famous Great Red Spot. The images also reveal a rare wave structure in the planet’s atmosphere that has not been seen for decades.The new image is the first in a series of annual portraits […]
Read MoreAbdullah Sarohi Hyderabad: Ranikot, one of the largest forts of the world, has the potential to become a beautiful and scenic site for the local as well as international if developed in proper direction with availability of required facilities.Ranikot, popularly known as the Great Wall of Sindh, had been declared as a world heritage site […]
Read MoreTaj Nabi Khan Islamabad: Implementation of the health guideline protocols under the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) is significant measure to help protect the masses from the ‘re-emergence spike’ or what may be called as ‘the second wave’ of coronavirus, particularly in wake of the changing weather conditions of Pakistan. The famous old proverb of “prevention […]
Read MoreChina Economic Net Beijing: Italian and Chinese trade representatives have presented the 128th edition of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, to Italian companies.The online presentation was organized by the Italy China Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the China Foreign Trade Center and with the support of the […]
Read MoreChina Economic Net Wuyishan: Sitting cozily in his burlywood house, tea grower Wu Erlong spooned up some tea, took a small sip, and sniffed the aroma on the spoon.“These are freshly-made tea leaves. The quality is quite good,” said Wu, a resident of Xiamei Village in the city of Wuyishan, east China’s Fujian Province.Wuyi Mountains […]
Read MoreS. Ali Islamabad: A combination of youth and experience, Ambassador of Italy to Pakistan Andreas Ferrarese is optimistic about taking the Pakistan-Italy ties to new heights during his stay in Pakistan as the top diplomat.Speaking to Covert here at his official residence, the envoy pledged to cement the Pakistan-Italy ties further. “Pakistan and Italy are […]
Read MoreNükhet Varlik Columbia: When will the pandemic end? All these months in, with over 37 million COVID-19 cases and more than 1 million deaths globally, you may be wondering, with increasing exasperation, how long this will continue.Since the beginning of the pandemic, epidemiologists and public health specialists have been using mathematical models to forecast the […]
Read MoreIslamabad: One year on from their visit to Pakistan, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have spoken to two organisations they visited in October 2019 to hear how they have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.They first spoke to teachers from the Islamabad Model College for Girls via video call to hear how the school’s […]
Read MoreAuckland: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has declared victory in New Zealand’s general election, securing a second leadership term.The Prime Minister said New Zealand had shown the Labour Party its greatest support in at least 50 years and it was clear they would lead the government for the next three years.“We will not take […]
Read MoreNewswire Gujranwala: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is leading a mass campaign against the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government.The popular leader said Prime Minister Imran Khan had no solution for any problem.“All the democratic parties in the country are on one page and that is the page of real democracy and everybody will […]
Read MoreNewswire Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that attempts to humiliate US President Donald Trump by accusing him of ties with “uninvolved onlooker” Russia just upgrades Moscow’s status.In an interview with Rossiya-24 TV channel, President Putin said: “When someone is trying to humiliate or insult the incumbent head of state they anyway elevate you […]
Read MoreLiu Hongjie and Prime Sarmiento Beijing: President Xi Jinping’s call for elimination of violence, discrimination and other forms of inequalities against women will consolidate global consensus on promoting gender equality and boost global action to further buttress the well-being of women, international experts said.Xi made the remark in a video address at the High-Level Meeting […]
Read MoreIslamabad: British High Commissioner Dr Christian Turner has said that Pakistan’s Northern Areas landscapes were some of the most beautiful in the world. In a video message, he said: “This is my first visit to Pakistan’s Northern Areas. The landscapes are some of the most beautiful in the world. But climate change is also impacting […]
Read MoreNewswire Islamabad: Former Interior Minister and Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Senator Rehman Malik has decided not to pursue criminal and civil cases against Cynthia Dawn Ritchie after his vindication from the competent court from alleged charges.He made the announcement after complete exoneration from the “fake, fabricated and malicious” charges of rape by Cynthia […]
Read MoreQuetta: The Balochistan Assembly has established a separate nursing corner and feeding room inside its building, becoming the first assembly in Pakistan to do so.A similar corner has also been built inside Quetta’s city court and other places in the city. Parliamentary Health Secretary Dr Rubaba Buledi visited the assembly and oversaw at the arrangements […]
Read MoreXinhua Hong Kong: Holding high a national flag, Carey Chan jogged down the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui on the afternoon of October 1 to celebrate the National Day of the People’s Republic of China, something he dared not do last year.“I would have been ‘lynched’ by black-clad rioters then,” he said. “But […]
Read MoreChina Economic NetBeijing: China has refuted some Western countries’ slanders on issues related to its Hong Kong and Xinjiang, saying it would never accept “an instructor” on human rights and opposes double standards.As some Western countries have behaved badly in their own human rights situation, “What right do they have to make carping comments on […]
Read MoreStockholm: Three scientists shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discoveries about the black hole, one of the most exotic phenomena in the universe, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm announced last week.The prize has been awarded with one half to Roger Penrose and the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel […]
Read MoreKabul: Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo is playing the role of the NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan at a critical juncture for Afghanistan’s future.When Ambassador Pontecorvo assumed the office this year, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “Ambassador Pontecorvo brings a long-standing diplomatic experience, including on Afghanistan and the broad regional context. I look forward to […]
Read MoreTim Korso Washington: Bill Gates, founder of tech giant Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has projected that wealthy countries will return to normal life by the end of 2021, should the vaccines, currently being developed by western countries, work and be deployed in a timely manner. He added, however, that this is […]
Read MoreFakhar Alam Peshawar: Gone are the days when joy of small kids was boundless while seeing colourful butterflies hovering over flowers and dense trees in the Mughal era Wazir Bagh garden where greenery has started dying due to improper up keeping and increased urbanization.Chasing butterflies and hide and seek of small children among the thickly […]
Read MoreCovert Report Islamabad: Humans worry about greenhouse gases, but between 1.8 billion and 800 million years ago, microscopic ocean dwellers really needed them.The sun was 10 to 15 percent dimmer than it is today – too weak to warm the planet on its own. Earth required a potent mix of heat-trapping gases to keep the […]
Read MoreCovert Report Islamabad: About one fifth of Earth’s atmosphere is oxygen, pumped out by green plants as a result of photosynthesis and used by most living things on the planet to keep our metabolisms running.But before the first photosynthesizing organisms appeared about 2.4 billion years ago, the atmosphere likely contained mostly carbon dioxide, as is […]
Read MoreCovert Report Jamaica: Crocodiles were once so abundant along the salty rim of southern Jamaica that images of their toothy jaws and spiny armor crown the tropical island’s coat of arms and are stenciled on the bumpers of military vehicles.Now, the big reptiles are increasingly difficult to spot, and not just because they blend into […]
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