Urdu News

It will take months to develop a new shot of COVID-19 vaccine that works against the Omicron variant as the existing vaccines may be less effective against the new strain, the head of US vaccine manufacturer Moderna has told Financial Times. Stephane Bancel told the newspaper in an interview published Tuesday that data would be available on the effectiveness of the current vaccines in the next two weeks but scientists were not optimistic. "All the scientists I've talked to ... are like 'this is not going to be good'," he told the newspaper. Bancel's warning came as G7 health ministers held emergency talks on the new variant, which is spreading around the world and prompting nations to close their borders once again or impose fresh travel restrictions. The World Health Organization has called the risk from Omicron "very high". Bancel said researchers were concerned because 32 of 50 mutations found in the Omicron variant were on the spike protei...

Automaker Volvo Cars (VOLCARb.ST) said on Tuesday the supply situation had improved going into the fourth quarter, as it posted its first quarterly report after listing its shares on the stock exchange last month. The Gothenburg-based manufacturer, majority owned by China's Geely Holding (GEELY.UL), confirmed a previously announced third-quarter operating profit figure of 3.3 billion Swedish crowns ($362.6 million), versus 4.6 billion in the year-ago period. "The supply situation has improved going into the fourth quarter, but we expect the industry-wide shortage of semi-conductors to remain a restraining factor,” admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) from Science & Technology - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3pfRfDs https://ift.tt/3I4QNAC

Meta-owned WhatsApp has released a new option through which users can quickly sticker packs to their contact and groups, WABetaInfo reported. WABetaInfo said WhatsApp, in the beta for Android 2.21.13.15 update, had released a new way to forward official sticker packs to your contacts and groups. After installing some recent updates, WhatsApp is now adding a shortcut to quickly forward a sticker. Explaining the need for the shortcut, WABetaInfo said it was "very useful" when a user wants to send a sticker to their contacts without first saving it or viewing the message option to forward the sticker. "Note that the feature is available for beta testers and for people that install the latest WhatsApp for Android – Web Release," it added. admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) from Science & Technology - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3d1byz0 https://ift.tt/3E0bETn

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is stepping down as chief executive office (CEO) of the social media platform, the company announced. He will be succeeded by Twitter's current chief technology officer (CTO), Parag Agrawal. Dorsey will remain on the board until his term expires in 2022. Agrawal joined Twitter in 2011 and has been CTO since 2017. In a letter posted on his Twitter account, Dorsey said he was "really sad [...] yet really happy" about leaving the company and that it was his decision. On Sunday, Dorsey had sent a cryptic tweet reading only "I love Twitter". Twitter shares rose five per cent to $49.47 in morning trading after the announcement. Twitter was caught up in the heated political atmosphere leading up to the 2020 election, particularly when it banned former president Donald Trump following his incitement of the Jan 6 riot at the US Capitol. Dorsey defended the move, saying Trump's tweets after the event resulted in a risk to public ...

BioNTech said on Monday it had started work on a vaccine tailored to Omicron, the worrying new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, though it was not yet clear if it would have to rework its established COVID-19 shot. The development of an adapted vaccine is part of the company's standard procedure for new variants, BioNTech, which makes vaccines together with Pfizer (PFE.N), said in a statement. "The first steps of developing a potential new vaccine overlap with the research necessary in order to evaluate whether a new shot will be needed," it added. The Omicron variant carries a very high global risk of surges, the WHO warned on Monday as more countries reported cases, prompting border closures BioNTech had said on Friday it expects more lab data over the next two weeks to help determine if there is need for an Omicron-specific vaccine. Rival Moderna (MRNA.O) has said it was working on a redesign of its COVID-19 vaccine for future booster shots. from ...

As scientists race to understand the consequences of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, one of the most important questions is whether this new version of the coronavirus can outrun the globally dominant Delta variant. The World Health Organization on Friday designated Omicron a "variant of concern" just days after the variant was first reported in southern Africa. The WHO said it is coordinating with many researchers worldwide to better understand how the variant will impact the COVID-19 pandemic, with new findings expected within "days and weeks." Many questions remain, including whether Omicron will evade vaccine protection and whether it will cause more serious illness. But such characteristics would be far less concerning if the new variant remains relatively contained. Several disease experts interviewed by Reuters said there are strong grounds already for believing that Omicron will render vaccines less effective. Omicron shares several key mutations with two...

The British scientist who led the research underpinning AstraZeneca’s coronavirus jab said on Saturday a new vaccine could be developed against the emerging Omicron variant “very rapidly” if needed. Professor Andrew Pollard, the director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, also said existing vaccines should work against the new strain, but that would only become apparent after more research in the coming weeks. “It’s extremely unlikely that a reboot of a pandemic in a vaccinated population like we saw last year (with the Delta variant) is going to happen,” he told BBC radio. But if required, “The processes of how one goes about developing a new vaccine are increasingly well-oiled, so if it’s needed that is something that could be moved very rapidly.” The UK government announced new travel restrictions affecting inbound passengers from six African countries including South Africa. The United States and European countries have followed suit on the restrictions, and the variant has been c...

Global authorities reacted with alarm on Friday to a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, with the EU and Britain among those tightening border controls as researchers sought to find out if the mutation was vaccine-resistant. Hours after Britain banned flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries and asked travellers returning from there to quarantine, the World Health Organisation (WHO) cautioned against hasty measures. One South African scientist expert labelled London’s decision a symptom of "vaccine apartheid", though European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU also aimed to halt air travel from the region and several other countries including India, Japan and Israel toughened curbs. In Washington, top US infectious disease official Anthony Fauci said no decision had been made on a possible US travel ban. There was no indication that the variant was in the United States, and it was unclear whether it was resistant to current vacci...

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Friday reduced the Mobile Termination Rate (MTR) from Re0.70 per minute to Re.50 per minute from January 1, 2022, an official statement said. It added that the rates shall be further reduced to Re0.40 per minute from July 1 next year. The official statement said that the reduction in the MTR has been made after thorough consultation with the telecom industry. "The PTA is of the view that lowering of MTR would allow more competitive and innovative offerings such as free minute off-net bundles for the consumers." The telecommunication authority said that it expected the move will make the market "healthier and beneficial" in terms of lower tariffs for making off-net calls, adding that it would also benefit smaller operators in terms of reduced net payments to be made to the bigger operators. In July, the statement said, the PTA issued a consultation paper wherein it was observed that the current MTR of Re0.70 pe...

Amazon workers in 20 countries including the US, UK, and several in the EU - are planning protests and work stoppages on Black Friday. The shopping-centric day is among Amazon's busiest all year. The Make Amazon Pay group says: "Amazon takes too much and gives back too little." It is backed by a coalition of labour groups, trade unions, grassroots campaigns and non-profit-making organisations in individual countries. In the UK, that includes the GMB Union, Trades Union Congress, Momentum, War on Want, International Transport Workers' Federation and Labour Behind the Label. Many employees will be working on the day, but campaign groups which include Amazon workers will be staging protests at Amazon buildings in Coalville, Leicestershire, Coventry, Peterborough and at its London headquarters. But strikes are being encouraged elsewhere.  "This company is a pandemic profiteer can afford to do better," said Mick Rix, from the GMB Union. "It's time ...

Europe has once again become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic amid a "false sense of security" over the protection offered by vaccines, said World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Wednesday. WHO officials warned that the SARS-CoV-2 virus would keep spreading intensely as societies return to the social mixing and mobility of a pre-pandemic period in the run-up to the year-end holidays. Last week, more than 60% of all reported cases and deaths from COVID-19 globally were in Europe, Tedros told a news conference. "In many countries and communities, we are concerned about a false sense of security that vaccines have ended the pandemic, and that people who are vaccinated do not need to take any other precautions," he said. Vaccination, wearing masks and social distancing remain key to halting transmission, WHO officials said. "We are back to pre-pandemic levels of social mixing (in Europe)... even in the midst of ver...

The World Health Organization (WHO) has extended travel restrictions on Pakistan by three months due to it being the last polio-endemic country, along with Afghanistan. The WHO deemed Pakistan and Afghanistan to be dangerous countries in a recent statement by the Thirtieth Polio IHR Emergency Committee, stating that the two countries have failed to eradicate polio fully and may be responsible for the virus's global spread. Pakistan, on the other hand, has made remarkable strides against polio, as the incidence of Wild Polio Virus (WPV1) cases has decreased to zero in the previous ten months, down from 84 reported cases in 2020. The Committee observed that Pakistan's primary problem continues to be the 'persistently overlooked children' in core reservoirs, as well as dealing with parental refusals and troubling polio vaccination programmes in sensitive areas. However, the committee noted that the viral presence in Pakistan's sewerage systems has diminished, whi...

A global licence for serological technology that detects COVID-19 antibodies will be provided royalty-free to poor and middle-income countries under a first of its kind agreement to boost production, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday. The existing four tests, which check for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies developed after either an infection or a vaccine dose, could also inform decisions on the need for boosters to protect against the disease, it said in a statement. The non-exclusive licensing agreement reached with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), a public research institute offering the technology as a global public good, is the first test licence signed by the WHO’s Medicines Patent Pool (MPP). “The aim of the licence is to facilitate the rapid manufacture and commercialisation of CSIC’s COVID-19 serological test worldwide,” the WHO said. “The licence will be royalty-free for low- and middle-income countries and will remain valid until the date ...

A Nasa mission to deliberately smash a spacecraft into an asteroid — a test run should humanity ever need to stop a giant space rock from wiping out life on Earth — blasted off on Tuesday from California. It may sound like science fiction, but the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) is a real proof-of-concept experiment, which lifted off at 10:21pm Pacific Time on Tuesday aboard a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base. “Asteroid Dimorphos: we're coming for you!” Nasa tweeted after the launch. The goal is to slightly alter the trajectory of Dimorphos, a “moonlet” around 525 feet wide that circles a much larger asteroid called Didymos (2,500 feet in diameter). The pair orbit the sun together. The impact should take place in the fall of 2022, when the binary asteroid system is 11 million kilometers from Earth, almost the nearest point they ever get. “What we're trying to learn is how to deflect a threat,” Nasa's top scientist Thomas Zuburchen said of the $3...

A further 700,000 people could die of Covid by March in Europe and parts of Asia, the World Health Organization has warned. The death toll already exceeds 1.5 million in the 53 countries of what the WHO terms as its Europe region. The WHO warned of "high or extreme stress" in intensive care units in 49 of the nations by March 2022. Europe is facing a surge in cases, prompting Austria to return to lockdown and others to consider fresh measures. A number of countries - including France, Germany and Greece - could also soon make booster jabs a requirement for their citizens to be considered fully vaccinated. But several countries have seen fierce protests against new measures. The Netherlands saw several nights of rioting over a partial lockdown. The WHO warned Covid was the top cause of death in its Europe region. According to WHO cumulative reported deaths are projected to reach over 2.2 million by spring next year, based on current trends. Confirmed Covid-related death...

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk has sold another 934,091 shares of the electric vehicle maker worth $1.05 billion and exercised option to buy 2.15 million shares, U.S. securities filings. remember, Shares in Tesla were set to plunge into the red for the year, hit by a broad selloff of high-flying technology stocks and the fall of bitcoin, in which the electric carmaker were invested $1.5 billion. At 1121 GMT, Tesla was down over 6% in U.S. premarket deals after a 8.5% drop during the previous session. The firm led by Elon Musk has had a stellar ride since 2020, which it began at about $85 per share, before reaching the $900 mark on Jan 25. Currently trading at about $673 in pre-market transactions, the stock has lost 25% from its peak, which is above the 20% level which technically defines a bear market. Bitcoin has also swung into a bear market, falling from a peak of $58,354 on Feb. 21 to a low of $45,000 earlier. A Germany-based trader said he was “taking chips ...

India's government will introduce a bill to ban private cryptocurrencies and create a framework for a central bank-backed digital money, its parliament said in a shock announcement late Tuesday. The proposed bill “seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India”, the Lok Sabha said, and comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned last week that Bitcoin presents a risk to younger generations and could “spoil our youth” if it ends up “in the wrong hands”. It is the latest such move by a major emerging economy, after China declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal in September. India's crypto market has boomed since the country's Supreme Court overturned a previous ban in April last year, growing more than 600 per cent over the past year according to research by Chainalysis. Between 15 and 100 million people in Asia's third-largest economy are estimated to own cryptocurrencies, with total holdings in the billions of dollars. Their investments will ...

Whitening your teeth is an easy way to freshen up your appearance and can even make you look younger. More people are looking for a natural approach to dental care and may try out some “natural home remedies,” many of which have been passed down from generation to generation. Here we will share a simple home remedy with you that how you can whiten your teeth without paying heavy fees of the dentist. Remedy: First of all, you have to take half a cup of fenugreek seeds, six cloves and grind them until it becomes thin powder. After grinding both ingredients, you have to mix half a cup of pink or white salt in it and mix a bit of water in it. Your teeth whitening paste is ready. Usage: Take one tablespoon of the paste and brush your teeth for 10 to 15 minutes in the morning after waking up. This practice will turn your teeth crystal white no matter what you drink too much coffee, paan, chalia, smoking and you don’t even need to visit a dentist and pay heavy fees for the treatmen...

Pfizer said on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine provided strong long-term protection against the virus in a late-stage study conducted among adolescents aged 12 to 15 years. A two-dose series of the vaccine was 100% effective against COVID-19, measured seven days through over four months after the second dose, the company said. The long-term data will support planned submissions for full-regulatory approval of the vaccine in the age group in the United States and worldwide. Pfizer and BioNTech will seek clearance for a 30 micrograms dose of the vaccine for those aged 12 and above. The vaccine was authorized for emergency use in people aged 12-15 years by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in May, and granted full approval for use in people aged 16 and above in August. from Health - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3FFnxyl https://ift.tt/30PnJMs admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) https://ift.tt/3FFnxyl

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Tuesday it had not made a final decision on the location of a new $17 billion chip plant in the United States, after the Wall Street Journal reported it would be Taylor, Texas. The WSJ said Texas Governor Greg Abbott was scheduled to make an "economic announcement" on Tuesday at 5 p.m. According to reuters report a site in Texas's Williamson County, near the city of Taylor, offered the best incentives package of the sites Samsung was considering. The new plant is set to make advanced logic chips used to power mobile devices and autonomous vehicles, as the global auto industry faces a significant semiconductor shortage. The factory would mark Samsung's second chip factory in Texas, where it already manufactures chips at a plant in Austin. Samsung is joining rivals TSMC (2330.TW) and Intel (INTC.O) in the race to expand chip contract manufacturing in the United States, where the sector is seen as an area o...

A spacecraft is set to launch and test technology that may one day be needed to tip a dangerous asteroid off course. Nasa's Dart mission will evaluate a longstanding proposal for neutralising a sizeable space rock headed for Earth. The spacecraft will crash into an object called Dimorphos to see how much its speed and path can be altered. If a chunk of cosmic debris measuring a few hundred metres across were to collide with our planet, it could unleash continent-wide devastation. It's the first attempt to deflect an asteroid for the purpose of learning how to protect Earth, though this particular asteroid presents no threat. "Dart will only be changing the period of the orbit of Dimorphos by a tiny amount. And really that's all that's needed in the event that an asteroid is discovered well ahead of time," said Kelly Fast, from Nasa's planetary defense coordination office, At 06:20 GMT on Wednesday, a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dart spacecraft will ...

Dutch coronavirus demonstrators held fresh rallies on Saturday, a day after 51 people were arrested in an "orgy of violence" in Rotterdam that left two people in hospital with bullet wounds. The Netherlands went back into Western Europe's first partial lockdown of the winter last Saturday with at least three weeks of curbs, and is now planning to ban unvaccinated people from entering some venues. A few hundred protesters angered at the latest measures gathered in Amsterdam on Saturday and a similar number marched through the southern city of Breda. It followed the Rotterdam unrest where police said they had fired both warning and targeted shots and used water cannon. "Fifty-one people were arrested during the major disturbances on Friday evening and night on Coolsingel (street) in Rotterdam . About half of them were just underage," Rotterdam police said in a tweet. The rioters came from different parts of the country, they said. Police were still searchin...

Fallen biotech star Elizabeth Holmes testified at her US fraud trial in a risky defence bid, depicting herself as a committed innovator who spent her savings and quit an elite college to pursue her vision. Holmes faces potentially decades behind bars if convicted of allegations that she scammed investors in her much-hyped blood test start-up Theranos — once valued in the billions but which collapsed under fraud claims. “I started with talking to my parents, they let me take the money saved for my college to work on my patent, then I went to raise or borrow money,” she told a federal court in San Jose, California, the heart of Silicon Valley. Holmes launched Theranos in 2003 at age 19, eventually promising self-service testing machines that could run an analytical gamut cheaply and on just a few drops of blood. She dropped out of Stanford University in 2004, saying she “spent all her time on research”, a portrayal that runs counter to prosecutors' charges that she simply sold ...

Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp is working on message reaction notifications, WABetaInfo, the WhatsApp news tracker has said. The option has been introduced in the new update — 2.21.24.8 — which WhatsApp has submitted in the Google Play Beta Programme, WABetaInfo said. Through the reaction notification, users will be able to receive alerts when someone reacts to their messages. In this screenshot, it can be seen that when the option is available, users can manage reaction notifications for individual chat threads and group chats as well. "Unfortunately, there isn’t a known release date but we will inform you when there is news about this feature," WABetaInfo added. admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) from Science & Technology - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3DEc5m8 https://ift.tt/3DBBj4r

Pfizer Inc said on Thursday the US government would pay $5.29 billion for 10 million courses of its experimental Covid anti-viral drug. The deal is for around twice as many treatment courses as Merck & Co Inc has agreed to supply the United States under its contract. The price for the Pfizer pill is nearly 25 percent lower at roughly $530 per course, compared with about $700 for Merck’s. Pfizer applied for emergency authorisation of the drug, branded as Paxlovid, this week after reporting data showing that it was 89 percent effective at preventing hospitalisation or death in at-risk people. “While this pill still requires a full review by the Food and Drug Administration, I have taken immediate steps to secure enough supply for the American people,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. He added that his administration was making preparations to ensure the treatment is easily accessible and free. Getting vaccinated should still be the priority for Americans but having pill...

A group of US states is investigating how Instagram targets children, despite it posing potential risks to them. The group made up of both Democrat and Republican states is investigating Instagram and Facebook's parent company Meta to determine if consumer protection laws were broken. It comes after a company whistleblower testified in the US that the company knew its products can harm children. A Meta spokesman on Thursday denied that their platforms are unhealthy. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat who first announced the inquiry, tweeted: "Facebook, or Meta, has known Instagram is linked to depression, eating disorders & suicide among young people." "We will identify if any laws were broken and end the abuse for good." Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, a Republican, said that the companies "treat our children as mere commodities to manipulate for longer screen time engagement and data extraction". "These ...

Ireland said Tuesday it was asking people to work from home again while expanding its Covid-19 vaccination booster programme and certification scheme, as case rates and hospitalisations rise nationwide. In a televised broadcast, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said it was increasingly clear the country was experiencing "another surge of Covid infection" and that he needed "to act now". "Our advice is now that everyone should work from home unless it is absolutely necessary that they attend in person," he added. Martin noted Ireland's Covid passes scheme, based on vaccination or recovery from the virus, would now legally include cinemas and theatres, while bars and pubs would now be required to close by midnight. He also said vaccine boosters would be extended to everyone with an underlying condition and everyone over the age of 50. The last week has seen the second-highest rate of hospital admissions from coronavirus this year, according to Martin...

The experts suggested biological method to reduce population of mosquitoes as 150 more people were affected by dengue virus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday. The new method has successfully been used in many countries for reduction in mosquitoes’ population and applying brakes on the vector-born ailment on durable basis. “The new method has successfully been implemented by Brazil and Singapore through Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes. Both the countries have significantly reduced the population of mosquitoes biologically,” said Dr Asif Ali, the director of Institute of Pathology and Diagnostic Medicine at Khyber Medical University. Dr Asif was part of the five-member team that visited WHO Collaborating Centre for Dengue Management in Singapore in 2018 following outbreak of dengue in 2017 that killed more than 70 people and infected more than 100,000. He said that not only dengue virus but other vector-borne diseases like yellow fever, zika virus and chikungunya could be also prevente...

Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp has released a beta version for Android — the 2.21.24.3 update — which doesn’t bring new features, but there is a very small, but interesting, change for the group icon, WABetaInfo reported. In the new update, the icon has been changed from a group of three people to two. The old icon will be used for "Communities" — a feature that is yet to be rolled out. The new icon is already visible for beta testers. admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) from Science & Technology - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3nk5ozS https://ift.tt/3ckwtNg

A customised drone was used on Friday to test food delivery by Pakistan’s leading food delivery company. The test flight of the drone conducted in association with the office of the deputy commissioner Islamabad — named ‘Pandafly’ — took place in the F-9 Park. The use of disruptive technology by Foodpanda means faster deliveries over longer distances. Customers living in peri-urban and remote areas will especially benefit from this initiative as they have limited food delivery options in their local area so with drone delivery they will be able to order food from main urban centres as well. The last mile of delivery by drone will be completed by a Foodpanda rider. It must be noted that this is the first of its kind commercial drone made in Pakistan for this purpose. Expressing his views, Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat said: “E-commerce and the use of technology to serve the citizens is definitely the future and the Islamabad civil administration stands committed to...

Well known TV actor Sohail Asghar passed away on Saturday after prolonged illness. As per the actor's family, Asghar had been ailing for more than 1.5 years and was hospitalised in the past week due to deteriorating condition. The actor's funeral prayers will be held on November 14, after namaz-e-asr. Asghar began his career with theater in Lahore and later joined TV. He was famously known for his roles in Khuda Ki Basti, Chand Girhan, Khafa Khafa Zindagi (2018),Teri Meri Love Story (2016), Aap ki Kaneez (2014), Aashti (2009) and more. from Entertainment - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3c8oRND https://ift.tt/3c8bfBX admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk)

Pakistan approved on Thursday two Chinese vaccines — Sinopharm and Sinovac — for children above 12 years of age, as the country continues its battle against COVID-19. So far, the country has administered more than 5.5 million vaccines to students between the ages of 12-18 years. The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), in a tweet, said the forum's expert committee had approved administering the vaccines — in addition to Pfizer — to the age group from November 15 onwards. In a parallel development, NCOC chief Asad Umar said more than half the students between the ages of 12 and 18 had been vaccinated with at least one dose. "Total students vaccinated so far exceeds 5.5 million. GB leads the way with 68% and Punjab is second with 62%," Umar, who is also the federal minister for planning, development, and special initiatives, said. Pakistan has so far fully vaccinated more than 46 million people, while 76 million citizens have been partially inoculated. The t...

Instagram is testing a new feature that encourages users to take a break from the app. Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, announced the feature in a video. "Take a Break" feature is being tested on a hanful of users at the moment. The opt-in feature will remind you to take a break from Instagram for 10, 20, or 30 minutes after spending some time on the app and is 'part of a broader effort to try and give people more control over their experience of Instagram' according to Mosseri. After Whistleblower, Frances Haugen testified against Facebook over its negative impact on the mental health of young people, companies felt under pressure to release new features that would deal with the problem. Teenagers had admitted to Facebook researchers that they felt addicted to Instagram and didn't have any self-control to reduce their usage of the app. Nick Clegg, the company's vice president of Global Affairs, states on CNN, that the company was working on features like...

Four astronauts returned to Earth on Monday in a SpaceX craft after spending six months on the International Space Station, a Nasa live broadcast showed, marking the end of a busy mission. The international crew conducted thousands of experiments in orbit and helped upgrade the solar panels on the ISS during their “Crew-2” mission. Its descent slowed by four huge parachutes, their Dragon spacecraft — dubbed “Endeavour” — splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico at 10:33pm before it was lifted onto a recovery ship. Nasa astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, Akihiko Hoshide of Japan and Frenchman Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency were then taken out of the capsule and placed on stretchers as a precautionary measure — human bodies need to re-adjust to gravity after extended periods in space. “It’s great to be back to Planet Earth,” Kimbrough was heard saying on the Nasa live broadcast after Dragon splashed down. The ISS activities of the Crew-2 astronauts included d...

The World Health Organisation reported on Wednesday that coronavirus deaths rose by 10pc in Europe in the past week, making it the only world region where both Covid-19 cases and deaths are steadily increasing. It was the sixth consecutive week that the virus has risen across the continent. In its weekly report on the pandemic, the UN health agency said there were about 3.1 million new cases globally, about a 1pc increase from the previous week. Nearly two-thirds of the coronavirus infections — 1.9 million — were in Europe, where cases rose by 7pc. The countries with the highest numbers of new cases worldwide were the United States, Russia, Britain, Turkey and Germany. The number of weekly Covid-19 deaths fell by about 4pc worldwide and declined in every region except Europe. Out of the 61 countries WHO includes in its European region, which includes Russia and stretches to Central Asia, 42pc reported a jump in cases of at least 10pc in the last week. In the Americas, WHO said th...

Pakistan approved on Thursday two Chinese vaccines — Sinopharm and Sinovac — for children under 12 years of age, as the country continues its battle against COVID-19. So far, the country has administered more than 5.5 million vaccines to students between the ages of 12-18 years. The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), in a tweet, said the forum's expert committee had approved administering the vaccines — in addition to Pfizer — to the age group from November 15 onwards. In a parallel development, NCOC chief Asad Umar said more than half the students between the ages of 12 and 18 had been vaccinated with at least one dose. "Total students vaccinated so far exceeds 5.5 million. GB leads the way with 68% and Punjab is second with 62%," Umar, who is also the federal minister for planning, development, and special initiatives, said. from Health - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3n5XNou https://ift.tt/3F79GRa admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) https://ift.tt/3n5XNou

YouTube is removing public dislike counts, getting rid of the visible tallies of how many people have clicked to "thumbs down" a video. Google's video site, the largest source of online video on the planet with more than 2 billion monthly users, said the move was designed to impede "dislike attack" harassment campaigns. The change "will start gradually rolling out" Wednesday, YouTube said. The dislike button itself is staying, so viewers can still dislike videos to tune their recommendations and privately express displeasure with a video. And creators can privately track the number of dislikes on their videos, alongside all their private metrics. But the public count of dislikes will be gone soon. After experimenting earlier this year with changes to the dislike button, YouTube said it found that smaller creators and those just getting started are disproportionately the targets of dislike attacks. "We heard during the experiment that some of...

The World Health Organization’s chief scientist said Tuesday she was looking forward to the "second generation" of COVID-19 vaccines, which could include nasal sprays and oral versions. Soumya Swaminathan said such vaccines could have advantages over the current crop as they would be easier to deliver than injections and could even be self-administered. Swaminathan said there were 129 different candidate vaccines that have got as far as clinical trials -- being tested on humans -- while a further 194 are not yet that advanced in their development and are still being worked on in laboratories. "This covers the entire range of technologies," she told a live interaction on WHO social media channels. "They’re still in development. I’m sure some of them will prove to be very safe and efficacious and others may not. "There could be advantages to some of the second generation vaccines... clearly if you have an oral vaccine or an intra-nasal vaccine this is...

WhatsApp has rolled out updated group and contact info for specific beta users in the new 2.21.23.12 version, which it has submitted in the Google Play Beta Programme, WABetainfo reported. In an earlier version, according to WABetainfo, WhatsApp had released a new interface for viewing business Info, but it was not available for contact Info. To confirm whether you have the updated interface, open contact or group info -- make sure it's not business info. "Note that the new interface does not allow viewing status updates for non-business accounts: this feature is available only in Business Info and there are no details about the availability for Contact Info right now," the report said. WhatsApp is rolling out this interface for specific beta testers today, so don’t worry if your WhatsApp account didn’t receive the feature, it added. admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) from Science & Technology - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3oaIt9s https://ift.tt/3oyzGhZ

A group of doctors from Sweden along with researchers have signed a petition demanding the suspension of vaccination with Pfizer jabs over reports of violations in the trial of the vaccine. In the petition, a group of 16 Swedish medical practitioners have expressed grave concern over what they call “gigantic” side effects of the Pfizer vaccine amid reports of a suspected research fraud. It comes as the British Medical Journal (BMJ), a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal from the UK, last week cited a whistleblower as saying that a subcontractor to Pfizer falsified data and failed to promptly follow up on adverse events reported during the crucial phase III trial of the vaccine last autumn. Brook Jackson, who served as the regional director at the Ventavia Research Group, told the BMJ that the company unblinded patients, and employed inadequately trained vaccinators. According to the report, staff members who conducted quality control checks were “overwhelmed by the volume of pro...