LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday denied airily dismissing the prospect of thousands dying from Covid-19, as a row over government “sleaze” escalated with a call for his resignation. In a front-page headline, the Daily Mail newspaper reported Johnson had said he would rather see “bodies pile high in their thousands” than impose a third coronavirus lockdown. Ultimately, Johnson did …

DUBAI: An Iranian court sentenced British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to another year in jail, just weeks after she finished a prior five-year sentence, a decision Britain called “inhumane”. When Zaghari-Ratcliffe was freed from house arrest last month at the end of a sentence for seeking to overthrow Iran’s government, her family had hoped she could go home to London. …

Much needed medical supplies poured into India on Tuesday as overrun hospitals turned away patients due to a shortage of beds and oxygen supplies and a surge of infections pushed the Covid-19 death toll towards 200,000. A shipment of medical supplies from Britain, including 100 ventilators and 95 oxygen concentrators, arrived in Delhi early on Tuesday, Reuters partner ANI reported. France is also sending …

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday warned security officials deployed outside polling stations during the upcoming by-poll in Karachi against assuming the duty of polling staff. In a code of conduct prepared for security personnel in relation to the by-election in the National Assembly constituency of NA-249, Karachi-II, slated for April 29, the ECP said that security …

MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has called upon the national political leadership of Pakistan to rise above their petty political differences and join hands for the important national cause of Kashmir. “Voices in favour of the rights of Kashmiri people are being heard in many parliaments of the world… We direly need to take advantage …

ISLAMABAD: Prisoners serving jail terms across the country are set to get a 30-day remission in sentences on Eidul Fitr. An official told that a summary to this effect had been moved by the interior ministry for the cabinet’s approval. The Constitution empowers the president to grant pardon, reprieve and respite, and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has criticised the government over the issue of electricity and gas tariff, alleging that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has directed Prime Minister Imran Khan to increase the electricity rates. “Imran Khan has run the Pakistani economy on the instructions of the IMF hence tarnishing the country’s image,” he said in a …

PESHAWAR: The administration in the coronavirus-infected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stepped up efforts to enforce precautionary measures against Covid-19 as 22 more died of the virus on Monday. A report of health department said that the provincial tally of Covid-19 patients was 114,661 of whom 98,045 recovered from the ailment. It said that 1,109 patients recovered during the last 24 …

• 12 million people fall in age bracket of 40-50 • Walk-in facility allowed for people over 50 • 70 die, 4,825 contract virus in single day • Ulema to extend assistance in SOPs’ enforcement ISLAMABAD: In a major development, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Monday decided to open registration of around 12 million people in the …

A first information report (FIR) was registered against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra and the owner and manager of a restaurant in Peshawar for violating coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs) by hosting an iftar party on Monday. Peshawar Assistant Commissioner Ehteshamul Haq told Dawn.com that the administration took timely action after pictures of the iftar were shared on social media. …