YANGON: Myanmar authorities released more than 2,000 anti-coup protesters from prisons across the country on Wednesday, including local journalists jailed after reporting critically on the junta’s bloody crackdown. Myanmar has been rocked by massive protests and a brutal military response since the February coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi and her government. More than 880 civilians have been killed …

GENEVA: China was certified as malaria-free on Wednesday by the World Health Organisation, following a 70-year effort to eradicate the mosquito-borne disease. The country reported 30 million cases of the infectious disease annually in the 1940s but has now gone four consecutive years without an indigenous case. “We congratulate the people of China on ridding the country of malaria,” said …

ISLAMABAD: A relative of Saad Hussain Rizvi, the chief of Tehrik-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), approached the Supreme Court for his release on Wednesday. Saad Rizvi, son of the late Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, was arrested on April 12 over allegations that he had incited his followers to take law into their own hands as, according to him, the government had gone …

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has declared illegal an order of Nowshera’s district collector (deputy commissioner) to de-notify an award announced around two decades ago for acquiring 3,413 acres of land in Nowshera district for establishing an artillery range. A bench consisting of Justice Roohul Amin Khan and Justice Mohammad Nasir Mahfooz accepted five petitions filed by several Nowshera residents …

China’s President Xi Jinping on Thursday warned that foreign forces attempting to bully the nation will “get their heads bashed”, and hailed a “new world” created by its people as the ruling Communist Party marked the centenary of its founding. In an hour-long address from Tiananmen Square, Xi pledged to build up China’s military, committed to the “reunification” of Taiwan …

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday warned the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) cybercrime wing to exercise its powers judiciously or else the court would impose heavy cost on the investigation officers for misuse of authority. IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah was hearing the petitions filed against the ongoing inquiries by the FIA’s cybercrime wing against journalists Bilal Ghauri, …

RAWALPINDI: The divisional administration has claimed to have revised PC-I of the Rawalpindi Ring Road project and sent it to the Punjab government for approval. According to the PC-I, old alignment of the road from Rawat to Thalian measuring 38 kilometer has been restored. In a statement issued late on Tuesday night divisional administration spokesperson said the PC-I would likely …

ISLAMABAD: As ‘water politics’ has brought Sindh and Punjab face to face, a Senate committee has unanimously decided to take up in its next meeting the row between the two provinces. The decision was made at a meeting of the Senate Standing Commi­ttee on Inter-Provincial Coordina­tion held here on Wednesday and presided over by Senator Mian Raza Rabbani. It decided …

MUZAFFARABAD: Chief Justice of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Justice Raja Saeed Akram has deferred the yearly summer vacations in the apex court until an unspecified period, it was announced here on Wednesday. Every year, the Supreme Court goes on vacation for three months – from the first week of July to the first week of October. However, during this …

PESHAWAR: As coronavirus cases and mortalities due to the pandemic continue to decline, Khyber Teaching Hospital has started vaccination of patients’ attendants as part of the health department’s plan to boost up inoculation and ensure safety of people. The government has also extended public health emergency for three more months, according to a notification issued by health department. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, …