DUBAI: Iran’s Supreme Leader on Friday banned the government from importing Covid-19 vaccines from the United States and Britain, labelling the Western powers “untrustworthy”, as the infection spreads in the Middle East’s hardest-hit country. In a live televised speech, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei raised the prospect of the two Western countries possibly seeking to spread the infection to other countries. He …

BRUSSELS: Last year tied with 2016 as the world’s warmest on record, rounding off the hottest decade globally as the impacts of climate change intensified, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Friday. After an exceptionally warm autumn and winter in Europe, the continent experienced its hottest year on record in 2020, while the Arctic suffered extreme heat …

DUBAI: The UAE will reopen its borders to Qatar from Saturday (today), its official news agency said, making it the first of several boycotting countries to do so after a more than three-year blockade. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt in June 2017 cut air, land and sea links with Qatar over claims the gas-rich nation backed …

RAWALPINDI: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa was honoured with the Bahrain Order (first class) award by the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Prime Minister of Bahrain Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa for making significant contribution to defence cooperation betw­een Bahrain and Pakistan. The army chief visited Bahrain on an official trip from …

KARACHI: An antiterrorism court has recovered assets worth over Rs40.5 million owned by slain Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour using fake identities in Pakistan before his death in a US drone attack carried out in 2016. The recovered money has been deposited in the government treasury, the judicial sources and investigators disclosed before an antiterrorism court, which had ordered …

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday rejected a post-arrest bail application of a man charged with disseminating child pornographic content on social media. The decision was announced by Justice Tariq Mehood Jahangiri. The accused, Irfan Sarwar, had sought bail after his arrest under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca). As per the First Information Report (FIR), Irfan …

KARACHI: Sindh Assembly member Firdous Shamim Naqvi tendered his resignation as the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly on Friday. Speaking to journalists at the ‘media corner’ on the premises of the provincial assembly, he confirmed that he had dispatched his resignation to the prime minister, saying that he would no more hold the office of the Leader of …

ISLAMABAD: “Security concerns” and “ego” are said to be the main hurdles in the way of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Quetta to meet the bereaved families of 11 slain coal miners of the Hazara community. Background information obtained by from premier’s close aides and cabinet members revealed that the prime minister wanted to rush to Quetta soon after …

ISLAMABAD: All the five officials of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) involved in the killing of the 21-year-old youth on Jan 2 have been dismissed from service. Moreover, two separate requests have been sent to the Interior Ministry and the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for constitution of a judicial commission to probe the incident. The dismissal orders were issued from the office …

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has sent a reference seeking disqualification of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) lawmaker Ali Wazir to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), informed sources. A senior ECP official said the reference had been received on Thursday night. He said that after being processed by the legal branch, the file had been sent to Chief Election …