Shanghai will launch a Covid-19 nucleic acid testing campaign in areas west of the Huangpu River starting from Friday amid the second phase of the city's nine-day lockdown, an official announced on Thursday. ....

The new Portuguese government headed by Prime Minister Antonio Costa was sworn into office by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. ....

Even as some high-income countries have rolled out fourth and fifth Covid vaccine doses, one-third of the world's population is yet to receive a single dose, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. ....

A former Pakistani Minister has claimed that a "plot is being hatched to assassinate Prime Minister Imran Khan" as political tensions escalate in the country, Geo News reported. ....

The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said that Kiev was seriously considering the possibility of using biological weapons against the population of Donbass and the Russian Federation. ....

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has postponed his address to the nation as he discusses the "foreign threat" letter with journalists and military leadership while ministers ruled out the possibility of him stepping down before a vote of no-confidence, media reports said. ....

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has played down any hopes of a breakthrough in the talks held with Ukraine in Turkey, BBC reported. ....

Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan is likely to address the nation today, fuelling rumours of his resignation amid members of ally Muttahida Qaumi Movement quitting the federal cabinet. ....

Sri Lanka's Public Utilities Commission announced that there will be 10-hour daily power cuts from Wednesday. ....

Three Pakistan security personnel were killed and 18 others injured in an overnight attack on a Frontier Corps (FC) fort in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Tank district, Dawn reported. ....