Afghanistan has postponed parliamentary elections until September because of a lack of funding - a move likely to be welcomed by Western countries pressing for reforms after a fraud-marred presidential poll.
The Independent Election Commission has said it still needs about $50 million from the international community to meet the vote's estimated budget of $120m. That funding has not been forthcoming, according to commissioner Fazel Ahmed Manawi. He also attributed the delay to security concerns and logistical challenges at a news conference to announce the decision.
The vote, which had been scheduled for May 22, will be held on September 18 instead, Mr Manawi said. US lawmakers and other critics had pressed for a postponement in the wake of last August's disputed poll that re-elected President Hamid Karzai, warning that holding the vote without substantive electoral reform could undermine support for US aid to the insurgency-wracked country.
The chief UN envoy Kai Eide also said earlier this month that there is a provision in Afghan law that permits the elections to be postponed for a few months. Mr Karzai had insisted the constitution, which specifies the elections be held by May, must be observed. But Mr Manawi today said the government would not be able to provide all the funding for the vote and needed more help from donor countries. The August presidential vote was so tarnished that UN-backed fraud investigators threw out more than a million ballots - enough to force Mr Karzai into a second-round vote. The run-off was later canceled when Mr Karzai's top challenger, the former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out.
*AP
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
Racecard
5.25pm: Etihad Museum – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,200m
6pm: Al Shindaga Museum – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (Dirt) 1,200m
6.35pm: Poet Al Oqaili – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m
7.10pm: Majlis Ghurfat Al Sheif – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,600m
7.45pm: Hatta – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m
8.20pm: Al Fahidi – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 2,200m
8.55pm: Zabeel Trophy – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (T) 1,600m
9.30pm: Coins Museum – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m
10.05pm: Al Quoz Creative – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,000m
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5