JAKARTA: An Indonesian court sentenced on Thursday hardline Muslim cleric Rizieq Shihab to eight months in prison and fined him 20 million rupiah ($1,400) for breaching coronavirus curbs after his return last year from self-imposed exile. A livestream of the court hearing showed Rizieq, the spiritual leader of an outlawed Islamist vigilante group — the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) — …

DUBAI: Israel’s top diplomat to the United Arab Emirates attended a ceremony in Dubai on the grounds of the Arabian Peninsula’s first permanent exhibition to commemorate the Holo­caust. Hours earlier, he’d attended an event establishing a joint venture betw­een an Israeli and Emirati company. The receptions on Wednesday were the clearest indication since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip came …

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday denied overseeing the needless deaths of many thousands of Covid patients, after his former chief adviser alleged the government’s pandemic response was undermined by lies and incompetence. Johnson declined to say whether Dominic Cummings was telling the truth in his incendiary claims to MPs on Wednesday, but said: “Some of the commentary …

GOMA: Tens of thousands of people fled the eastern DR Congo city of Goma on Thursday, choking highways, after the local governor warned in a dawn broadcast of a possible new eruption of the volcano Mount Nyiragongo. The volcano’s monitors also pointed to a potentially catastrophic scenario — a “limnic eruption” that could smother the area with suffocating carbon dioxide. …

An FBI review of last year’s fatal shooting of Darius Tarver by Denton police did not find any civil-rights violations by the department, police said Thursday. In a written statement, police Chief Frank Dixon thanked the FBI and the Department of Justice for their review of the case. “The decision … in no way minimizes the tragic loss of life, …

BEIJING: China hit out at the “dark history” of the US intelligence community on Thursday, after President Joe Biden ordered a probe into the Covid-19 origins which threatens to set the course for relations between world’s top economies. Washington is reviewing its diplomatic position with China on issues spanning trade, technological supremacy and rights, while it steps up efforts to …

Pakistan welcomes the adoption of an Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) led resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in response to “grave violations of international law and human rights” by Israel in Palestine, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Friday. Referring to a special UNHRC session held the previous day, the statement said the …

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi left on Friday for a three-day visit to Iraq on the invitation of his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, said a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the visit, the foreign minister will hold detailed discussions on bilateral cooperation, besides reviewing cooperation between Iraq and Pakistan in multilateral organisations, particularly the United Nations, …

KARACHI: A child and a man died while seven people were injured when the roof of the top floor of a multistorey building in Liaquatabad caved in late on Wednesday night after a “cylinder blast”, said officials. The condition of two children was stated to be serious. According to Deputy Commissioner Central Dr M.B. Raja Dharejo, the family was involved …

KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah decided on Thursday to continue the ongoing restrictions and Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) and said that the situation would be reviewed again on Monday. Presiding over a meeting of the Provincial Task Force on Coronavirus at Chief Minister House, he thanked the people of the province for their cooperation and support during …