Category: World

  • Russia has developed ‘first’ coronavirus vaccine “Sputnik V”

    Putin’s Daughter Inoculate

    “This morning, for the first time in the world, a vaccine against the new coronavirus was registered” in Russia, Vladimir Putin said during a televised video conference call with government ministers.

    Agence France-Presse

    Highlights

    • Russia claims to have developed vaccine offering “sustainable immunity”
    • “This morning, a vaccine was registered,” Vladimir Putin said
    • Putin said one of his daughters has already been inoculated

    Moscow: Russia on Tuesday declared itself the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine with President Vladimir Putin saying one of his daughters had been inoculated.

    Dubbing the vaccine “Sputnik V” after the Soviet-era satellite that was the first launched into space, Russian officials said it provided safe, stable immunity and denounced Western attempts to undermine Moscow’s research.

    Scientists in the West have raised concerns about the speed of development of Russian vaccines, suggesting that researchers might be cutting corners and coming under pressure from authorities to deliver.

    The World Health Organization said any WHO stamp of approval on a COVID-19 vaccine candidate would require a rigorous safety data review.

    “We are in close contact with the Russian health authorities and discussions are ongoing with respect to possible WHO pre-qualification of the vaccine,” said the UN agency’s spokesman Tarik Jasarevic in Geneva.

    Putin had told a televised video conference call with government ministers, “This morning, for the first time in the world, a vaccine against the new coronavirus was registered.

    “I know that it is quite effective, that it gives sustainable immunity,” he said.

    The president said one of his daughters had been inoculated with the vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya research institute in coordination with the Russian defence ministry and other government bodies.

    “In this sense she took part in the experiment,” Putin said, adding that she had a slight temperature after a second injection and “that’s all”.

    The chief of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is financing and helping to coordinate the vaccine efforts, told reporters that Phase 3 trials on a large group of people would start on Wednesday.

    Kirill Dmitriyev, who heads the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said industrial production was expected from September and that 20 countries had made “preliminary applications for over one billion doses” of the vaccine.

    He said that along with foreign partners Russia was ready to manufacture 500 million doses of vaccine per year in five countries.

    Dmitriyev denounced “coordinated and carefully orchestrated media attacks” designed to “discredit” Russia’s vaccine.

    “We should leave politics behind and enjoy this moment,” he said. “We are not forcing this vaccine on anyone.”

    “Little detail’ available”

    The pandemic has seen an unprecedented mobilisation of funding and research to rush through a vaccine that can protect billions of people worldwide.

    Russia has been pushing hard to quickly develop a coronavirus vaccine and said earlier this month it hoped to launch mass production within weeks and turn out “several million” doses per month by next year.

    The WHO had last week urged Russia to follow established guidelines and go “through all the stages” necessary to develop a safe vaccine.

    Spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters at the time that the WHO had not been officially notified of any Russian vaccine on the verge of being deployed.

    Experts said they were concerned that not enough was known about Russia’s research.

    “There seems to be rather little detail thus far on Russian (vaccine) candidates,” said Danny Altmann, a professor of Immunology at Imperial College London.

    “The collateral damage from release of any vaccine that was less than safe and effective could exacerbate our current problems insurmountably.”

    The vaccine developed by Russia is a so-called viral vector vaccine, meaning it employs another virus to carry the DNA encoding of the needed immune response into cells.

    Gamaleya’s vaccine is based on the adenovirus, a similar technology to the coronavirus vaccine prototype developed by China’s CanSino.

    The state-run Gamaleya institute came under fire after researchers and its director injected themselves with the prototype several months ago, with specialists criticising the move as an unorthodox and rushed way of starting human trials.

    Moscow has dismissed allegations from Britain, the United States and Canada that a hacking group linked to Russian intelligence services tried to steal information about a coronavirus vaccine from labs in the West.

    With more than 897,000 confirmed infections, Russia’s coronavirus caseload is currently fourth in the world after the United States, Brazil and India.

    (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

  • ‘Turkey 3rd in world in developing local vaccines’: Erdogan

    Turkey has made great progress in developing vaccines, drugs against COVID-19, says Erdogan

    ANKARA: After the US and China, Turkey has become the 3rd country to develop vaccines locally, according to the World Health Organization data, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday.

    Speaking at the opening of TUBITAK (Turkey’s Scientific and Technological Research Council) Excellence Centers in the Gebze district of the northwestern Kocaeli province, Erdogan said Turkey has made great progress in developing vaccines and drugs against COVID-19 in collaboration with state, private sectors and universities.

    “COVID-19 Turkey Platform, founded by TUBITAK, is currently working on eight different vaccines and 10 different medicine projects [for COVID-19],” he added.

    Trials on animals for two candidate vaccines have been completed. One of them even received ethical clearance and started its clinical phase on humans, the president further said.

    Turkey has so far confirmed 239,622 cases and 222,656 recoveries from the novel coronavirus, with the death toll standing at 5,829.

    Since it originated in China last December, the coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 727,700 lives in 188 countries and regions.

    More than 19.68 million COVID-19 cases have been reported around the world so far, with over 11.96 million, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

    The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries in the world.

    With inputs from AA News

    (This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

  • China-Turkey-Pakistan Alliance Dangerous For India Diplomatically, Economically & Militarily

    While all eyes have been on India and China after the recent scuffle in Ladakh, experts have warned that Indian must be prepared to counter China-Turkey-Pakistan alliance.

    By: EurAsian Times

    Over the years China and Turkey have been cementing their ties which have often been constrained by Turkey’s NATO membership. However, the bilateral ties got a fillip ever since China launched its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013.

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seized the opportunity as he struggles to consolidate his AKP Party and reclaim the glory of Turkey’s Ottoman past. Another reason was that Erdogan’s ambitions to anoint himself as the leader of the Muslim world saw Turkey embroil itself in wars in foreign lands, thus putting Ankara in financial difficulties.

    Straddling two continents, Turkey is strategically important for China’s BRI, as a trade and transport hub, significantly cutting down freight transportation time from China to Europe and Africa. Turkey had also launched its own connectivity project to access the Caucasus and Central Asia through the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway, known as the Middle Corridor.

    Turkey is also a priority country with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The bank is helping in the construction of the Salt Lake underground gas storage facility project, said to be the world’s largest storage project. Turkey is also an observer at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

    So eager is Turkey for its partnership with China, that Erdogan who is positioning himself as the modern-day Caliph of the Muslims, has turned a blind eye to China’s oppression of its Uighur Muslim community.

    While Erdogan has turned a blind to the plight of Uighur Muslims, he has voiced support for Indian Muslims living in Kashmir. In fact, Turkey was one of the three countries, besides China and Pakistan, to condemn India’s decision to revoke J&K’s special status.

    Erdogan raised the issue in the UN General Assembly. During his February visit to Pakistan, he compared the struggle of Kashmiris with the Ottoman Empire’s fight during World War I.

    Turkey provides Pakistan with emotional, ideological, and political support, while China is providing both material and political support. With China’s support, the Kashmir issue has thrice been discussed in the UN Security Council since August 5, 2019.

    Pakistan’s insistence and Turkey’s focus has also seen the Organization of Islamic Cooperation raising the Kashmir issue more than it normally would have.

    Considering Erdogan and his party’s Islamist orientation and well-documented support to radical and terror groups, together with Pakistan’s support and sponsor of cross-border terror, and China’s expansionist tendencies, the China-Pakistan-Turkey nexus is one India needs to watch out for.

    With inputs from the EurAsian Times

    (This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

  • In Iran-China deal, Pakistan most interested in this clause — Delhi’s alienation from Tehran

    Want to know more about the proposed China-Iran deal? You can’t. The CPEC, which lacks transparency and is secretive to the core, is its blueprint.

    By: AYESHA SIDDIQA

    Chinese President Xi Jinping seems ready to take on the US. The proposed draft of an economic and military agreement with Iran lays out Beijing’s plan to expand its footprint in the Middle East, just like it has done in South Asia. Incidentally, China looks keen to occupy areas that the US is either vacating or where it has shown diminished interest. But this expansion may have its own complications due to the inherent tensions and competitive nature of regional players.

    For India, though, the immediate concern would be the expectation in Islamabad that China will help iron out the bilateral differences between Iran and Pakistan. There is certainly a view that China will ensure greater distance between Delhi and Tehran. However, it’s worth reiterating that a lot will depend on China’s capacity to intervene in regional and domestic issues, and steer its Belt and Road (BRI) project clear of conflicts that it is not a part of or has no experience to handle. The economic competition within the BRI could also exacerbate internal tensions that various players have not thus far considered.

    The geo-political ambitions

    The China-Iran agreement, unlike the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), includes conversations about shared geo-political ambitions such as joint investment in Iraq and Syria. This indicates both Iran’s ambitions and China’s willingness to bankroll or simply use Tehran’s expertise in the Middle East from where the US seems to be cautiously withdrawing. But then Tehran may be expected to harness some of its ambitions, especially regarding Isreal with whom Beijing has independent relations. If China believes that its money can rid the Middle East of its historic biases and differences, it may be dreaming of another planet.

    There are also plans to establish joint defence research and development, and production ventures — a partnership similar to what Beijing has with Islamabad. In fact, there is talk of building relations between strategic communities of China and Iran. This could mean China actively trying to retrain Iranian mind — weaning it away from the West to the East. It will also mean re-shaping the strategic community, like it’s been done in Pakistan, to quell any alternative ideas and parrot a linear narrative suited only to the governments in Tehran and Beijing. It is noteworthy that a strict disciplining of the security discourse in Pakistan, which has an older defence relationship with China, began much later after initiation of CPEC which is a new economic-strategic linkage. The Iranian plan, on the other hand, is drawn out to be more geo-politically intense.

    The proposed $400 billion investment plan in Iran, spread over 25 years, will allow China to tap into Iran’s oil and gas resources in return for cooperation in the field of defence, information technology, agriculture, industry, tourism and telecom.

    The CPEC parallels

    Similar to the CPEC deal, which was signed in 2016, there appears to be a plan to develop communication infrastructure, linking Iran with Central Asia and creating linkages that will then be accessible to Beijing. The draft agreement is more of a vision statement spread over 18 pages rather than a detailed roadmap that one can see in the 234-page-long CPEC execution plan. The common element between the two plans is secrecy and lack of transparency. Little was known about the CPEC’s terms of business and loans given by China to the Pakistani government. Much of the details on CPEC are still not known.

    Furthermore, in Pakistan’s case, the Imran Khan government seems willing to get approval for a supra-powerful CPEC Authority, headed by Lt. Gen. (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa. The draft proposal stipulates the creation of an extremely centralised body that will have the authority to procure land and pass it on to the Chinese, be free from reprimand of the country’s judiciary, its decisions will not be challanged,and have a highly secretive structure in which even outsiders could be punished for sharing CPEC-related information with anyone, the same way as people working inside. The Authority definitely looks more like a military rather than a civilian or business-oriented institution.

    The proposed formation of the CPEC Authority may not be on China’s insistence but it certainly signals Beijing that the CPEC will continue irrespective of any change in Pakistan’s political landscape. Governments may come and go but the bilateral cooperation would continue. Beijing does tend to get irritated with domestic political squabbling in partner states, resulting in slowdown of the initiative, which is what happened with the CPEC. An approximately $60 billion investment plan slowed down to about $26 billion due to disagreement between different sectors of the state and between the old and new governments regarding the direction of the CPEC. An Iran eager to find a market for its oil and gas, and hungry for investment may consider a similarly centralised formula. It would definitely, as in Pakistan’s case, set up a force for physical security of Chinese investment. The grapevine is already talking about China deploying some 5,000 troops inside Iran for security of the projects. Pakistan, in fact, secured itself from Chinese pressure by establishing a 10,000-strong personnel force. Beijing, as sources say, was keen to use its own security force to secure the projects.

    Both in the case of CPEC and the prospective Iran agreement, China has used its deep pockets to seek out partnership with countries troubled with financial issues and a bleak economic future. The diminishing price of oil and American sanctions clearly leave little option for Iran but to move towards China. The dire conditions exacerbated further due to Covid-19, when procuring PPEs  became a major challenge for Tehran due to restrictions imposed on it.

    For China, political engagement needed too

    Notwithstanding that the Iran agreement gives a broader geo-political roadmap as well, However, China is considered as more ‘independent’ because of its policy of minimal intervention, like in Pakistan’s case where Beijing did not really interfere with Islamabad’s dealings with the Taliban unless it impinged upon China’s security interests. A similar formula may be applied to the Middle East. In any case, China’s footprints in the Middle East are likely to increase due to America’s receding interest, or lack of willingness to finance and support or take position on internal conflicts.

    One of the issues, however, is that no matter how hard China tries, it cannot maintain economic objectivity of its regional plans without building its own capacity to engage in these territories politically. The investment of $400 billion in Iran is also dependent upon the country’s absorption capacity, which, in turn, is linked with deep political issues. One of the reasons that the CPEC slowed down was due to Pakistan’s domestic capacity.

    Some segments of the security community in Pakistan have demonstrated excitement over the Iran-China agreement, which is caused by the understanding that it would allow Beijing to pull Tehran away from its agreement with India over Chabahar. There is also hope for improved relations between Tehran and Islamabad,  considering that both Muslim states are now part of the BRI roadmap. Pakistani commentators talk about the BRI purely as a grand economic initiative and not in terms of China’s broader geo-political and geo-strategic ambitions. One hears a constant reference to China’s magnanimity. Despite such rhetoric, one hopes that Islamabad is looking at the relationship cautiously. The small study group created by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s special assistant on national security to analyse relations with Iran could start from reading Alex Vatanka’s book Iran and Pakistan Security Diplomacy and American Influence.

    Beijing’s balancing act: Iran and Pakistan

    The parallel stakes in Central Asia and Afghanistan may require Beijing to undertake a more intense planning. Vatanka’s book draws out the historic underlying competition between Iran and Pakistan that has echoes throughout the course of bilateral ties between the two countries. In this respect, China may have to prepare itself for separate conversations that the Americans were privy to, especially until the end of the Iranian monarchy in 1979. Vatanka highlights archival material from the US and Iran about the tension that existed regarding both Tehran and Islamabad, vying for establishing themselves as a more critical power. In 1976, for instance, there was resentment expressed in Islamabad “of Iranian good fortune….Iranian arrogance, ultimately personified in the Shah himself.” Bhutto’s backbiting to the Americans reached the Shah of Iran’s ears resulting in troubled relations. This could repeat itself as both states will compete for China’s attention.

    Post-Iranian revolution there was more tension between Islamic Iran and Zia-ul-Haq’s Pakistan over difference of opinion regarding Islamabad’s support to America, help to Taliban and the fact that Tehran acquired responsibility for security of embattled Shias in Pakistan. Though Islamabad, in the last couple of years, seems to have struggled with controlling sectarian violence, the Shia-Sunni divide has grown serious. It could flare up if, for instance, Shia clergy and population in general seriously start disagreeing with Punjab assembly’s Tahaffuz Bunyad-e-Islam Bill. It was not too long ago that tension over Iran’s relations with India turned into a spat between Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and the Pakistan Army.

    Beijing is moving closer to Tehran even as the world is busy dealing with the scourge of the coronavirus pandemic. China beholds the ambition to dominate areas from where the US is making an exit, but Xi Jinping would do well to remember that as far as Iran is concerned, Pakistan stands on the other side of the corridor.

    Ayesha Siddiqa is research associate at SOAS, London and author of Military Inc. She tweets @iamthedrifter. Views are personal.

    With inputs from The Print

    Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this video are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the video do not reflect the views of Kashmir Today and Kashmir Today does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

    (This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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  • Pakistan finds new oil, gas reserves in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

    Pakistan has found new deposits of oil and gas in exploratory well Mamikhel South-01, located in Tal block in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

    An oil pump jack pumps oil in a field near Calgary, Alberta, July 21, 2014. Pump jacks are used to pump crude oil out of the ground after an oil well has been drilled. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
    An oil pump jack pumps oil in a field near Calgary, Alberta, July 21, 2014. Pump jacks are used to pump crude oil out of the ground after an oil well has been drilled. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE

    The discovery will slightly slash the country’s heavy reliance on energy imports and cut the import bill.

    “Well test has shown 3,240 barrels of condensate per day, 16.12 mmscf (million standard cubic feet) of gas per day and 48 barrels of water per day,” Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL) said in a notification to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)

  • Saudi Arabia Holds Back Oil to Pakistan after Imran Khan Govt Threatens to Split OIC over Kashmir

    The loan package included a provision under which Saudi Arabia granted Pakistan $3.2 billion worth of oil, a year on deferred payments.

    IANS

    Saudi Arabia has halted the provision of oil on loan for Pakistan after the Imran Khan government threatened to split the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) over Kashmir.

    Hit by a severe economic crisis, Pakistan had borrowed a $6.2 billion loan from Saudi Arabia in 2018.

    The loan package included a provision under which Saudi Arabia granted Pakistan $3.2 billion worth of oil, a year on deferred payments.

    Pakistani media on Saturday said that the provision meant for Islamabad expired two months ago and has not been renewed by Riyadh.

    Instead, Islamabad has prematurely returned $1 billion Saudi loan, four months ahead of repayment period, The Express Tribune said quoting sources and Sajid Qazi, the spokesperson of the Petroleum Division.

    Recently Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during a talk show on a news channel had threatened that if the OIC headed by Saudi Arabia did not convene a foreign ministers’ meeting on Kashmir, Prime Minister Imran Khan would hold it on his own with his allies among the Islamic countries.

    “If you cannot convene it, then I’ll be compelled to ask Prime Minister Imran Khan to call a meeting of the Islamic countries that are ready to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir…,” he had threatened on Ary news channel.

    The OIC, the biggest bloc of Islamic countries in the world, has repeatedly declined Islamabad’s several requests to hold a meeting on Indian Kashmir — a region which Pakistan Army attempted to invade four times in the last seven decades and where it has been waging a proxy war against India for last three decades.

    Since August 2019 when India revoked special status of the Jammu and Kashmir state and brought it directly under the control of the Central government by bifurcating it into two Union Territories, the Imran Khan government has been seeking support of the 57-member OIC over the issue in Pakistan’s favour.

    One of the major reasons for OIC’s lack of support for Pakistan has been Riyadh’s displeasure with Islamabad’s proximity with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who nurtures the ambition of replacing Saudi Arabia as leader of all the Sunni Islamic countries.

  • Bangladesh most suitable place for investment: Chinese entrepreneur

    IANS

    Dhaka: Bangladesh is the most suitable place for investment for global enterprises as it has a large population and huge market potential, said Xu Xiaochu, Chairman of Chinas Yabang Investment Holding Group Company Limited.

    The firm is one of the top 500 Chinese companies, has already inked a land lease agreement with Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) for 100 acres land to set up textile and other chemical industries in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN) at Mirsarai, Sitakundu and Sonagazi upazillas under Chattogram and Feni districts.

    “It is the most suitable place for investment for global enterprises, especially for traditional industries. Now it is offering a historic opportunity for transferring the traditional industries from the world factory, (China),” Xu said at a recent function.

    He said the investment by Yabang Corporation in Bangladesh is a necessary choice as per the laws of global economic development.

    Ten years ago, the top executives of Yabang Group visited different countries and regions, including Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa and North Korea, to choose investment and development bases for the second entrepreneurship of the enterprise.

    Five years ago, the company set its goal in Bangladesh and permanent staffs were sent to set up an office, said Xu.

    He said Bangladesh has a large population and huge market potential which is politically democratic and has good-neighbourly friendship.

    “Its economy is developing rapidly. People aspire to live and work in peace and contentment. The country enjoys various economic policies’ support from the UN and countries with developed economies. The government and its people are united in their efforts and wish for development.

    “However, the supporting production capacities of weaving, printing and dyeing are seriously insufficient.

    “In particular, there is almost no dye production. The investment by Jiangsu Yabang Dyestuff Corporation Limited, a concern of the Yabang Investment Holdings Group Co Limited, in Bangladesh, has a great competitive advantage and advantage for development, both in providing the support for domestic needs in Bangladesh, promoting better and greater development of Bangladesh’s garment industry and in creating foreign exchange via export and increasing people’s employment,” Xu added.

  • Pakistan reopens international flights as coronavirus cases continue to decline

    A complete ban on domestic and international commercial flights was imposed in March when Pakistan enforced a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus. (AFP file photo)

    AP

    Islamabad: Pakistan has announced that it will allow the full resumption of all types of international flights to and from the country’s airports from Sunday amid a steady decline in COVID-19 deaths and infections.

    The announcement comes weeks after Pakistan partially reopened its airports for domestic and international commercial flights.

    Earlier this week authorities allowed to resumption of domestic flights from all of the country’s airports.

    A complete ban on domestic and international commercial flights was imposed in March when Pakistan enforced a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Later, the restrictions were gradually eased and Pakistan witnessed a peak in virus deaths and infections in June.

    Pakistan on Saturday reported only 14 fatalities from coronavirus in the past 24 hours, raising its total COVID-19-related fatalities to 6,068.

  • World’s first Covid-19 vaccine to be registered next week by Russia: Report

    • The vaccine has been developed jointly by the Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry
    • In an earlier report, the final check-up of volunteers testing the coronavirus vaccine showed immunity in all participants, the ministry said

    Amid the rising novel coronavirus cases and deaths across the world, Russia has been pushing extensively for a Covid-19 vaccine for quite some time now.

    Following that, the country will register its first vaccine against the coronavirus on 12 August, Deputy Health Minister Oleg Gridnev said on Friday, according to a report.

    The vaccine has been developed jointly by the Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry.

    “At the moment, the last, third, stage is underway. The trials are extremely important. We have to understand that the vaccine must be safe. Medical professionals and senior citizens will be the first to get vaccinated,” Gridnev told reporters at the opening of a cancer centre building in the city of Ufa, according to Sputnik News.

    According to the minister, the effectiveness of the vaccine will be judged when the population immunity has formed.

    In an earlier report, the final check-up of volunteers testing the coronavirus vaccine, which is developed by Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, showed immunity in all participants, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

    Clinical trials of the vaccine began on June 18 and included 38 volunteers. All of the participants developed immunity. The first group was discharged on July 15 and the second group on July 20.

    Apart from this, volunteers who participated in a the second Covid-19 vaccine trial developed by Vektor State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology are in good health and no side effects of the vaccination are observed, the press service of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing told TASS, a Russian news agency.

    “All vaccinated volunteers are in good health. No complications after the inoculation with the EpiVacCorona vaccine against the coronavirus have been recorded,” the statement said.

    Meanwhile, the World Health Organization on Tuesday urged Russia to follow the established guidelines for producing safe and effective vaccines after Moscow announced plans to start swiftly producing COVID-19 vaccines.

    WHO stressed that all vaccine candidates should go through the full stages of testing before being rolled out.

    “There are established practices and there are guidelines out,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters at the United Nations in Geneva.

    “Any vaccine…(or medicine) for this purpose should be, of course, going through all the various trials and tests before being licenced for roll-out,” he said.

    However, Russia has not yet published any scientific data from its first clinical trials. The WHO’s list of vaccine candidates in human testing still lists the Gamaleya product as in Phase 1 trials, reported Associated Press.

    Russia has registered 5,241 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total to 877,135, the country’s coronavirus response centre said on Friday.

    This brings the total case count to 877,135, with daily increase standing at 0.6 per cent.

    With inputs from Agencies

  • US lifts global travel alert, urges citizens not to visit India, China

    The United States has lifted the highest level of its global health travel advisory for Americans due to the coronavirus pandemic and restored the previous country-specific system without changing the status of over 50 countries, including that of India and China.

    IMAGE: Air hostess wearing face masks at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata. Photograph: ANI Photo

    The US state department issued the Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory — the highest level of travel advisory — on March 19, urging American citizens not to travel overseas due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    India remains on the Level 4 of the travel advisory along with more than 50 countries, including China.

    This means that the US urges its citizens not to travel to India due to the increasing coronavirus cases.

    The state department, in its latest travel advisory on India issued on Thursday, said: “Do not travel to India due to COVID-19. Exercise increased caution in India due to crime and terrorism”.

    The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Level 3 (avoid non-essential travel) Travel Health Notice for India due to COVID-19, it said.

    Travellers to India may experience border closures, airport closures, travel prohibitions, stay at home orders, business closures and other emergency conditions within India due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.

    Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Carl Risch told reporters during a conference call that the State Department, in close coordination with the CDC, has lifted the Global Level 4 Health Advisory and has returned to the previous system of country-specific levels of travel advice, with levels from 1 to 4 depending on country-specific conditions.

    The CDC has similarly removed its Level 3 Global COVID-19 Pandemic Notice. This important change reflects the reality that health and safety conditions are improving in some countries while potentially deteriorating in others, he said.

    By returning to the country-specific travel advisory system, the US is able to give Americans detailed and actionable information to make informed travel decisions, he said.

    “The COVID-19 pandemic poses significant risks for travellers and our destination-specific advisories take into account the latest data and public health and safety analysis on COVID-related risks,” Risch said.

    Among other countries which have been put on the Level 4 of travel advisory include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Mexico, Egypt, and Brazil.

    Although the guidance from the state department has been lifted, American travellers continue to face travel restrictions in countries worldwide due to the rising cases of the deadly disease in the United States.

    According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the contagion has infected over 19 million people and killed more than 713,000 across the world.

    The US is the worst affected country with over 4.8 million cases and more than 1,60,000 deaths.

    The European Union has blocked the entry of the US tourists, and the UK requires travellers from the US to quarantine for 14 days.

    With inputs from Rediff News