COVID-19’s far reaching impact on global drug abuse

Jun 26, 2020, at 10:04 am

New York/IBNS: More than 35 million people around the world now suffer from drug addiction, according to the latest annual report on the scourge, from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released on Thursday, which also analyzes the far-reaching impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global drug markets.

DR Congo: eastern Ebola outbreak defeated, ‘mission impossible’ now a ‘sign of hope’

Jun 26, 2020, at 10:01 am

New York/IBNS: After nearly two years and 2,280 deaths, the world’s second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is finally over, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

US sanctions against international court staff a ‘direct attack’ on judicial independence

Jun 26, 2020, at 10:00 am

New York/IBNS: The decision by the United States to authorize sanctions targeting staff at the International Criminal Court (ICC) is “a direct attack to the institution’s judicial independence”, UN human rights experts said on Thursday.

Coronavirus casts ‘huge shadow’ over Afghan life as multi-dimensional crisis continues

Jun 26, 2020, at 09:59 am

New York/IBNS: The COVID-19 pandemic is not just a health emergency, but a multi-dimensional crisis for Afghanistan, dealing its people a painful blow just as Kabul and the Taliban prepare for peace talks in Qatar, the top UN official in the country says.

$1.8 billion pledged to assist Sudan’s people on the road to peace and democracy

Jun 26, 2020, at 09:55 am

New York/IBNS: A High-Level Sudan Partnership Conference took place on Thursday gathering some 50 countries and international organizations together in Berlin, generating pledges to bolster the African nation’s economic and political transformation to the tune of $1.8 billion, and discuss the challenges that lie ahead.

Yemen: millions of children facing deadly hunger, amidst aid shortages and COVID-19

Jun 26, 2020, at 09:52 am

New York/IBNS: Millions of children in the heart of the world’s worst humanitarian disaster could be pushed to the brink of starvation, due to huge shortfalls in humanitarian aid funding amid the coronavirus pandemic, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

Speak out against torture, an ‘abhorrent denial of human dignity’, urges UN chief

Jun 26, 2020, at 09:50 am

New York/IBNS: Torture is an “egregious abuse of human rights”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday, the International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture.

Pakistan PM Imran Khan faces backlash for calling Osama Bin Laden 'martyr'

Jun 26, 2020, at 09:15 am

Islamabad/IBNS: Pakistan PM Imran Khan is facing criticisms in the country after he described former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden a 'martyr'.

Alberta becomes first Canadian province to invest in serology testing of Covid-19

Jun 25, 2020, at 11:14 pm

Alberta/IBNS: Alberta has announced an investment of $10 million for targeted serology testing to help to track the spread of Covid-19 across the province, media reports said.

Hong Kong new law: Beijing targeting schools to impose its policies

Jun 25, 2020, at 10:38 pm

Beijing: It seems that China is apparently trying to target school students to silence them as the system has emerged as a battleground over Beijing's move to impose  national security legislation in the city.

Female minor student protester accuses Hong Kong Police officer of sexual assault

Jun 25, 2020, at 10:30 pm

Hong Kong: A minor girl in Hong Kong has claimed that one police officer sexually assaulted her during her arrest at a protest in the city last September, media reports said.

About 6,500 Pakistan nationals operating as terrorists in Afghanistan, claims UN report

Jun 25, 2020, at 10:15 pm

Brussels: A  UN Security Council report has claimed that about 6,500 Pakistani's are operating as terrorist ranks in Afghanistan, media reports said.

Police arrest students who protest to demand for internet to attend online classes in Balochistan

Jun 25, 2020, at 10:05 pm

Quetta: Police on Wednesday arrested  over two dozen students in Quetta as they protested from Quetta Press Club to Balochistan Assembly to demand for access to the internet to attend online classes.

Two journalists tortured for reporting on a coronavirus quarantine centre in Pakistan, probe ordered

Jun 25, 2020, at 09:53 pm

Islamabad: Authorities in Pakistan have launched an investigation into the torture of two journalists in Chaman region of the country.

Human rights experts discuss plights of minorities in Pakistan

Jun 25, 2020, at 09:44 pm

Washington: Human rights experts recently discussed the condition of minorities in Pakistan and expressed their hardships and sufferings in the south Asian nation at a time when the world is combating COVID-19.

Security law puts Hong Kong pastors at risk of being extradited to China, warns Watch Dog

Jun 25, 2020, at 09:27 pm

Beijing: China is pushing to implement the national security law on Hong Kong and in such a scenario pro-democracy activists and religious leaders face a risk of being extradited to mainland China for trial, as per a US-based Christian watchdog.

Around 40 percent pilots in Pakistan have ‘fake’ flying licences, reveals Aviation Minister

Jun 25, 2020, at 09:04 pm

Islamabad:  Pakistan's Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan has claimed that around  40 per cent of the pilots in the country have fake flying licences.

Imran Khan refers terrorist Osama bin Laden as 'martyr' in Pakistan parliament

Jun 25, 2020, at 09:03 pm

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan apparently shocked many as he referred dreaded terrorist and former Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden as a 'martyr' on Thursday. He made the comment on the floor of the country's Parliament.

Pakistan continues to serve as a safe haven for terror groups: US State Dept

Jun 25, 2020, at 12:07 pm

Washignton/IBNS: Pakistan continued to serve as a safe haven for certain regionally focused terrorist groups, observed the US State Department in its 2019 Country report on terrorism released on Wednesday.

UN chief urges Israel to abandon annexation plans

Jun 25, 2020, at 09:58 am

New York/IBNS: The UN Secretary-General has called on Israel to scrap plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, a move that could occur as early as next week.

170 signatories endorse UN ceasefire appeal during COVID crisis

Jun 25, 2020, at 09:55 am

New York/IBNS: UN Member States, Observers and others, sent a strong political message this week, with the announcement that 170 signatories have now endorsed the UN’s call to silence the guns, and stand united against the global threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With focus on safe relaunching of Phase 2, Ontario extends its Declaration of Emergency to July 15

Jun 25, 2020, at 12:14 am

Ottawa/IBNS: The Ontario government, in consultation with the Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, on Wednesday extended the provincial Declaration of Emergency to July 15 media reports said.

Pakistan plane crash was 'human error', pilots were discussing COVID-19: Initial report

Jun 24, 2020, at 09:33 pm

Islamabad/IBNS: A plane crash that killed 97 people onboard in Pakistan last month was a result of human error by the pilot and air traffic control, an initial probe report about the disaster revealed on Wednesday.

Countries should find strategy that ceases to empower China: IPAC

Jun 24, 2020, at 06:55 pm

Washington: Stating that the Galwan standoff between Chinese and Indian Army officials has shown the return of 'major power violence' in the world, a global organisation of parliamentarians from democracies has said countries should work together to find a strategy that ceases to empower President Xi Jinping’s country.

China controlling Nepali village Rui Gaun for six decades since its capture

Jun 24, 2020, at 06:46 pm

Kathmandu: Amid growing trouble with India, a media report has emerged which showed how due to gross negligence of the Nepal government, a village in Gorkha in the mid-western part of the Himalayan nation has been under Chinese control for six decades.

Minor Hindu girl abducted, converted to Islam and married off to kidnapper in Pakistan

Jun 24, 2020, at 06:37 pm

Islamabad: Torture on minorities in Pakistan continues even as the coutry is busy fighting COVID-19 infection. Yet another girl from the minority Hindu community was abducted for marriage.

Islamabad to get its first Hindu temple, foundation stone laid

Jun 24, 2020, at 05:25 pm

Dubai/IBNS: The Hindu community in Pakistan's Islamabad will worship in their temple soon as a simple ceremony was held to start construction of the first Hindu temple in the capital’s H-9 area on Tuesday.  

Six killed in light aircraft crash in Mexico

Jun 24, 2020, at 04:33 pm

Mexico City/UNI: The Prosecutor's Office of Mexico's Chihuahua State said a Cessna light aircraft had crashed killing the pilot and five passengers.

Kyrgyzstan reports 207 new COVID-19 cases

Jun 24, 2020, at 04:33 pm

Bishkek/Xinhua: Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday reported 207 new COVID-19 cases, taking the nationwide tally to 3,726.

Amid COVID-19 outbreak, China's dog meat festival begins

Jun 24, 2020, at 11:01 am

Despite the government's recent classification of the animals as pets rather than livestock, the dog meat festival has opened in China which is believed to be the country from where the deadly COVID-19 disease originated.