ISLAMABAD: The European Union has announced renewed support for those most in need in Iran and Pakistan with 22 million euros in humanitarian aid. The package, announced from the EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday, will assist those hit by man-made crises, Covid-19 pandemic and climate-induced and other natural disasters in the region. Of the 22 million euros, 7m euros …

BEIJING: China’s military said it “drove away” a US warship that illegally entered Chinese waters near the Paracel Islands on Monday, the anniversary of an international court ruling that held Beijing had no claim over the South China Sea. The USS Benfold entered the waters without China’s approval, seriously violating its sovereignty and undermining the stability of the South China …

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa said on Monday it was deploying troops to its two most densely populated provinces after unrest sparked by the jailing of ex-president Jacob Zuma led to six deaths and widespread looting. Overwhelmed police are facing mobs who have ransacked stores, carting away anything from boxes of alcohol to beds, refrigerators and bath tubs. Six people have died, …

BANGKOK: More than 10 million people were placed under fresh Covid-19 restrictions and a curfew in the Thai capital on Monday, as the kingdom battled a surge of cases worsened by the highly infectious Alpha and Delta variants. Thailand has so far recorded more than 345,000 cases and 2,791 deaths — with the bulk of them coming in this latest …

NASIRIYAH: At least 35 people died in a fire in the Covid isolation ward of a hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on Monday. “The death toll from the fire that ripped through the Covid isolation ward in Nasiriyah stands at 35, with five wounded, including two in critical condition,” Haydar al Zamili, a spokesman for the local …

The death toll from a catastrophic blaze that erupted at a coronavirus hospital ward in southern Iraq the previous day rose to 64 on Tuesday, Iraqi medical officials said. Two health officials said more than 100 people were also injured in the fire that torched the coronavirus ward of al-Hussein Teaching Hospital in the city of Nasiriyah on Monday. Anguished relatives were …

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said on Tuesday that the government has decided to maintain the ban imposed on the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) earlier this year after the party’s workers staged three days of violent protests across the country. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said the report by the committee, constituted to review the TLP’s appeal against …

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho on Tuesday urged the public to strictly adhere to the coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs), with 35 cases of the highly contagious Delta variant confirmed in Karachi alone so far. The 35 cases of the Delta variant, first detected in India, have been confirmed in Karachi since June, the Sindh health department said in …

Heavy rains accompanied by windstorms continued for the second consecutive day in the Malakand and Hazara divisions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Tuesday, triggering flash floods and landslides, causing damage to properties and vehicles and resulting in the death of a woman, officials said. “A woman was killed and a child was injured as the roofs of two houses collapsed …

MANSEHRA: Flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains killed four people, including two minor girls, destroyed houses and blocked roads in several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday night and Monday. The wall of a house collapsed in Upper Channia area of Mansehra district leaving Mohammad Zeeshan, 25, buried under the debris. The Rescue 1122 personnel recovered the body. Mohammad …