Features

Afghanistan: Have things improved since the Taliban?

Shawdesh desk: The US says its forces will leave Afghanistan by 11 September, almost 20 years after it invaded the country and ousted the Taliban leadership. The UK’s chief of

Day workers leaving India’s Mumbai as virus dries up jobs

Migrant workers are piling into rail stations in India’s financial capital Mumbai to head back to their home villages now that virus-control measures have dried up work in the hard-hit

What is Ramadan and when is it?

Shawdesh Desk: Millions of Muslims around the world will be celebrating the start of Ramadan on 13 April. The festival involves a month of fasting – believers taking part will

AstraZeneca vaccine: How do you weigh up the risks and benefits?

Shawdesh desk: For most people currently being offered the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, the benefits clearly outweigh the risks. But the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended that

India Covid-19: ‘No end in sight’ as doctors battle second wave

It was the middle of January when Dr Lancelot Pinto realised he would be able to spend some quality time with his family after nearly a year. The pulmonologist had

What we know about India’s coronavirus vaccines

Shawdesh Desk: India’s Covaxin, the homegrown government-backed vaccine, has an efficacy rate of 81%, preliminary data from its phase 3 trial shows. India’s regulators gave the vaccine an emergency approval

Russia and China hit back at Western sanctions

Shawdesh Desk: Russia and China have jointly condemned Western sanctions, a day after the EU, UK, US and Canada blacklisted some senior Chinese officials for rights abuses against ethnic Uighurs.

Covid vaccines: EU tussle with UK over AstraZeneca escalates

“This is not about EU v UK. This is a problem with AstraZeneca,” claimed an EU diplomat this morning. He and I were discussing the latest thorny chapter in EU