The European Union’s finance ministers have reached a deal on a 540 billion-euro rescue plan (about $590 billion) to support the continent’s coronavirus-stricken economies. The Eurogroup, which consists of the 19 finance ministers representing the EU’s eurozone countries, approved the rescue package on Thursday after the Netherlands backtracked on its demand for economic reform and oversight. “Today, we agreed upon …
Human Rights Watch has termed India’s new citizenship law as discriminatory in a new report. The Citizenship Amendment Act along with a planned nationwide verification process to identify illegal immigrants is a threat to millions of Indian Muslims, said the report released on Thursday. The law which was approved last December accelerates citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Christians from …
UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called the coronavirus pandemic the “fight of a generation” and a threat to world peace and security when he addressed the Security Council’s first meeting on the deadly infection, which has swept the globe. The 15-member Council, which deliberated via a closed video-conference issued a brief press statement expressing “support for all efforts …
Another horror day of the coronavirus pandemic saw the global death toll pass 94,000, although there were tentative signs of hope that the crisis was peaking in the United States and Europe. The picture of the unfolding economic catastrophe also became clearer with the IMF warning of a Great Depression and data showing 17 million Americans lost their jobs, but …
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr. Zafar Mirza on Thursday said low Covid-19 deaths in Pakistan does not mean people start becoming lax about preventive measures against the virus outbreak. Speaking at a news briefing in Islamabad, Mirza said: “I am seeing reports on some media programs that Pakistan’s Covid-19 death rates are lower as compared to …
Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday arrived in Quetta, where he was welcomed by Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal. The premier toured the quarantine centre at the Bolan Medical College Hospital. He chaired a meeting where he was briefed on COVID-19 situation in Balochistan and the steps being taken to contain spread of the virus. Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to hold …
Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui Thursday said Pakistan was “deeply concerned” at the lack of medical supplies and assistance in Indian occupied Kashmir where 170 cases of Covid-19 and five fatalities from the disease have been reported. Speaking at the weekly FO press briefing, she said: “Voices from within India and around the world continue to condemn the inhuman …
Dr. Sania Nishtar, the head of the Ehsaas Programme, told the media that the National Identity Card numbers being sent to the government through text messages on 8171, had passed through several stages so that the government can be sure that they qualify for the program. Islamabad: The government will distribute the relief money from tomorrow among lower-income people who …
UNITED NATIONS: A spokesman of the Chinese Mission to the UN has rejected Indian media reports that China, during its presidency of the Security Council in March, had ignored Pakistan’s call for urgent consideration of the situation in Indian occupied Kashmir at the 15-member body, saying Beijing’s position on the decades-old dispute remains unchanged. “The question of Kashmir remains high on …
UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has defended the World Health Organisation (WHO), saying the UN agency had done “tremendous work” in fighting coronavirus, after US President Donald Trump accused it of being “China centric” and criticized its handling of the pandemic. “For the Secretary General, it is clear that WHO under the leadership of Dr Tedros (Adhanom Ghebreyesus) has …