YANGON: Myanmar’s junta declared on Saturday night that a group of ousted lawmakers running a shadow government would now be classified as “terrorists”, as the military moves to tighten its grip over a country in turmoil. Since the military seized power in a Feb 1 coup, detaining and ousting civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a nationwide uprising has refused …

GLASGOW: Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon vowed on Saturday to press ahead with plans for a new referendum on leaving the United Kingdom after saying there was no doubt elections to the Scottish parliament would return a pro-independence majority. In a rebuke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who has said he would block a secession vote, Sturgeon said it …

The death toll from bombs planted outside a girls’ school in an area of the Afghan capital populated largely by Shia Hazaras rose to 50 on Sunday as the Taliban denied government accusations that they were behind the bloody attack. Saturday’s blasts — the deadliest in more than a year — rocked the west Kabul district of Dasht-e-Barchi, a regular target …

• Joint statement also urges Afghan parties to realise historic opportunity for political settlement • PM, Saudi crown prince back political solutions to conflicts in Libya, Syria, Yemen ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Saturday expre­ssed desire for resolution of Kas­hmir dispute through dialogue and Afghan conflict through political settlement. A joint statement, which is being considered a significant development …

Scores of people were injured on Saturday as Israeli forces targeted Palestinians outside the Old City of Jerusalem for the second night as tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers prayed at the nearby Al-Aqsa Mosque on Lailatul Qadr. Palestinian youth threw stones, lit fires and tore down police barricades in the streets leading to the walled Old City gates as …

KARACHI: The Sindh government is set to take a major leap in the ongoing nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive by opening a massive facility at the Expo Centre on Sunday (today), said to be the largest in the country, where an estimated 25,000 people could be inoculated in a day with round-the-clock service to be offered to visitors registered by the …

LAHORE: In its detailed verdict on the post-arrest bail petition of Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif in a money laundering reference, a Lahore High Court full bench has observed that the former chief minister of Punjab faces no allegation of receiving kickbacks or having ill-gotten money. “Interestingly, the NAB has categorically admitted before us that petitioner is …

LAHORE: Citing ‘procedural hiccups’, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday stopped opposition leader and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif from leaving the country for London, causing a fresh round of bickering between the PTI government and the party led by the Sharifs. The PML-N was quick to blame Prime Minister Imran Khan for ‘using FIA’ to create hurdles in the …

RAWALPINDI: As per the directives of the government to impose Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs), all shops and markets were closed for a week on Saturday. Traders in Raja Bazaar and adjoiningmarketsin the garrison city kept their shops closed. In the morning, however, shopkeepers in Bara Market tried to open their shops but they had to pull down the shutters …

ISLAMABAD: The role of sessions judges is being probed in connection with a multimillion rupees cash scam in the district courts of the federal capital, an audit report of Islamabad High Court (IHC) has revealed. The audit report on accounts of IHC and district courts from Sept 9, 2015, to Sept 9, 2020, pointed out Rs10.8 million embezzlement from case …