The pandemic causes a 22% decline in tourist arrivals in Q1, or $80bn loss, says UNWTO reports   Herald Report The coronavirus pandemic has caused 22% fall in international tourist arrivals in the first quarter (Q1) of the financial year 2020 and could further drop by 60-80% over the whole year, says a report. The UN tourism watchdog says 67 …

“Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky …

By S. Akbar Zaidi The trade-off being presented of saving lives through a lockdown to eliminate the coronavirus and killing the poor on account of the closure of economic activity is a false one. There is no denying the fact that the spread of the virus and the action taken to protect the lives of people have had severe economic consequences …

By Gul Hammad Farooqi CHITRAL: As the fear of the people of Chitral rises due to the spike in coronavirus cases in the Hindu Kush mountainous region, so does the anxiety of the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) staffers who have not yet been paid their salaries for the last three months. The TMA officials are performing duty in a very …

AWPGB arranged 200 PPEs through its #CoronaSolidarityCampaign for health workers serving in remote areas Bureau Report GILGIT: Awami Workers Party (AWP) is Leftwing party, is perhaps the among the few political parties in Pakistan and Gilgit-Baltistan which responded swiftly to the Coronavirus pandemic and prepared relief and economic plans. The AWP launched relief activities and provided rations to over 700 …

Pakistan’s long battle to eradicate the crippling poliovirus has been thwarted by militant attacks, radical Islamic clerics, and anti-vaccination propaganda. But the South Asian nation of 220 million people is facing a new hurdle: the coronavirus pandemic. Pakistani authorities have halted a nationwide door-to-door polio vaccination drive to stop the spread of the coronavirus — with polio workers and resources …

Universities closed. The global death toll is approaching 230,000 with more than 3.2 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions. Tajikistan on Saturday reported first two deaths from the coronavirus. The state television confirmed the deaths and reported that the number of COVID-19 cases had risen to 76 from 44. Around 2,800 people have been quarantined in hospitals, it also said. …

Greta Thunberg has donated the money she won from a Danish foundation to the UN Children’s Fund   Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has donated a $100,000 prize she won from a Danish foundation to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for use against the Covid-19 pandemic, the world body said Thursday. “Like the climate crisis, the coronavirus pandemic is …

While Covid-19 has busted the myth of success and efficiency of the market economy and governance with the failing façade of profiteering at the cost of human welfare, people need to raise voice for their basic rights and push the state to improve the education and health systems Muhammad Ali-Musofer The Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted and paralysed the social and …

Covid-19 pandemic affecting human rights, weakest segments of society invisible and unheard, notes HRCP in its flagship report High Asia Herald Report Islamabad: Pakistan’s human rights record is worrisome as curbs on dissenting views increased. The outbreak of Coronasvirus will have far-reaching effects on people’s economic and social rights fundamental rights, says a report. “Widespread social and economic marginalisation have …

Migrant workers in India, Pakistan and Nepal are crushed by poverty as earnings come to an abrupt halt in the lockdown forced by the Covid-19 pandemic, says a report compiled by Joydeep Gupta, Zofeen T Ebrahim, Ramesh Bhushal, published in thethirdpole.net online magazine. News Desk Across South Asia, the impact of the Covid-19 on livelihoods has been extreme. Despite being an outlier …

News Desk Disabled women in Afghanistan have complained of widespread discrimination they suffer in their country, which has one of the highest proportions of disabled people in the world. Their accounts come as Human Rights Watch reports that many also face sexual harassment from government officials. https://www.rferl.org/a/denied-treatment-education-and-jobs-afghanistan-s-disabled-women/30581580.html?ltflags=mailer Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Afghan women and girls with disabilities are being confronted …

“O you who believe! if a person of bad characters brings you any news, verify it, lest you should harm people in ignorance and afterwards you become regretful for what you have done” (Al-Quran). Abu Bakar Sadiq Currently, the world is confronting with the issue of COVID-19 pandemic. But another big issue, hurting people especially social media users, more than …

Pakistan prime minister’s halting approach has left a gap for the army to step in and orchestrate policy, says a report published in the British leading newspaper Financial Times.   Imran Khan has been sidelined by Pakistan’s powerful military after failing to act decisively on the coronavirus crisis or impose a lockdown in an attempt to curb the spread of …

Mental health is still considered a taboo in Pakistan   Aleena Khan & Wajid Islam All over the world, mental health is considered a serious issue but it is still a taboo in Pakistan۔ But it has emerged as one of the major issues in the wake of the outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, these are difficult times. People all …