MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin spent several days hiking and fishing in Siberia in early September, the Kremlin said on Sunday as it published pictures of the president on the holiday. A caption under one of the 20 pictures published on the Kremlin web site said the president stopped for a few days in Siberia after a working trip to …

Thousands of Indian farmers blocked traffic on major roads and railway tracks outside of the nation’s capital on Monday, marking one year of demonstrations against government-backed laws that they say will shatter their livelihoods. The farmers have renewed their protests with calls for a nationwide strike on the anniversary of the legislation’s passage. The drawn-out demonstrations have posed one of …

TAIPEI: The situation in the Taiwan Strait is “complex and grim”, Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote in a congratulatory letter on Sunday to the newly elected leader of Taiwan’s main opposition party, who has pledged to renew talks with Beijing. Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) elected as their leader on Saturday former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu, who said he would …

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Sunday said the Sharif family had purchased Avenfield flats in London after committing massive corruption in the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway project. The Sharif family was purchasing the Avenfield flats at the same time when the most expensive agreement of the region for the construction of a motorway was being signed by …

ISLAMABAD: After much deliberation in the ministries of law and interior, the traffic police have now decided to include the use of mobile phones while driving in the list of serious offences. It has proposed to fine motorcyclists Rs1,000, car drivers Rs1,500 and public transport drivers Rs2,000 for using mobile phones to text, voice calls and making videos while driving. …

LAHORE: Giving credence to reports of differences in the House of Sharif, opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz says the issue of voting for the extension in the tenure of the incumbent Chief of the Army Chief is not ambiguous as it was the decision of the leadership. “There is no ambiguity on the issue of voting in …

ISLAMABAD: The government is considering operationalising a university in the Sir Syed Memorial Building in G-5 instead of the Prime Minister’s House as a stop-gap arrangement to honour the promise made by Prime Minister Imran Khan in his inaugural speech. Sources said a few days ago officials from the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Islamabad Capital …

Oraan, a Karachi-based gender-inclusive fintech, has raised $3 million in the largest seed funding closed by a local women-led startup, according to a press statement issued by the company. The statement said the investment was co-led by Zayn Capital and Wavemaker Partners, with participation from Resolution Ventures, i2i Ventures, Hustle Fund, Haitou Global, Plug and Play, and angels like Claire …

The Counter-Terrorism Department and a federal intelligence agency carried out a joint raid at New Truck Stand on Karachi’s Mauripur Road on Monday and detained two suspected militants linked with the Islamic State (IS) group, according to CTD official Mazhar Mashwani. The official said the detained men had been identified as Naseemullah alias Naseem and Mohammed Isa alias Molvi Idris. …

PML-N leader Mohammad Zubair denounced on Monday what he termed a “new low” in politics after an alleged video of him and an unidentified women went viral on social media. The video, which seemingly emerged on Sunday night, allegedly showed Zubair getting intimate with an unidentified woman. The video was among the top trends on Twitter. In a statement issued …