Two prison guards at a jail in southern Russia have been freed without harm after they were taken hostage by inmates of the militant Islamic State (IS) group, with the assailants “liquidated”, the country’s prison service said on Sunday. “During a special operation… the criminals were liquidated and the employees taken hostage were freed and were not wounded,” the service …

China views the annexation and “elimination” of Taiwan as its great national cause, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Sunday, telling cadets at the military’s premier academy they must know their enemy and not give in to defeatism. Lai has faced sustained personal attacks from China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, since assuming office last month, with Beijing calling him …

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was moved by a private citizen on Saturday against the dismissal of his petition seeking ex-premier Imran Khan’s disqualification for allegedly concealing his daughter Tyrian Khan White in the nomination papers for 2018 general elections. The petitioner, Mohammad Sajid, through his counsel Saad Mumtaz Hashmi, pleaded that the full bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that dismissed his petition …

ISLAMABAD: In the absence of mitigation measures and a rise in unregulated construction projects in the federal capital, the air quality in Islamabad has continued to deteriorate mostly on the back of vehicular emissions and rapid industrialisation, significantly adding to the concentration of particulate matter in the air. Not only this, the waterways in and around the capital territory face …

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Amjad Zubair Tiwana on Saturday clarified that there had been no immediate travel restrictions on non-filers as proposed in the federal budget presented by the government for the next fiscal year on June 12, stating that a prior notice and inclusion in the Income General Tax Order would be pre-requisite for such an action. This …

ISLAMABAD: Anti-Terrorism Special Court-1 Islamabad JudgeAbdul Hasnat Mohammad Zulqarnain on Saturday rejected the police request for 10 days of physical custody of PTI’s leader and activists, arrested on Friday and sent them to jail on judicial remand. The Kohsar police produced the accused in the court of Judge Abdul Hasnat Mohammad Zulqarnain with request that they snatched anti-riot shield kit …

LAHORE: Federal Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar on Saturday said it was unbecoming of lawyers to engage in vandalism and participate in lockdowns, creating obstacles in the administration of justice. Addressing the Punjab Bar Council (PBC), the minister also condemned the killing of two senior lawyers on the premises of Attock district courts, saying the government would take it as a test …

QUETTA: Three Fron­tier Corps personnel were injured in an armed attack on their vehicle in the border town of Chaman on Saturday. According to officials, the personnel were targeted while travelling in a private vehicle from the Roghani area of Chaman to the FC headquarters. The armed men on motorcycles opened fire with automatic weapons as the vehicle carrying the …

LAHORE: The PML-N government has spoken its mind about keeping founder leader of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan in jail for its five-year term till 2029 for “economic stability.” “People come to us and tell us if Pakistan has to progress then Imran Khan will have to be kept in jail for five years,” Federal Planning and Development Minister and …

QUETTA: Balochistan Finance Mi­­nister Mir Shoaib Ahmed Nosher­wani will present over Rs800 billion budget for the next financial year 2024-25 in the provincial assembly on June 22, officials disclosed on Saturday. Officials in the finance department said Balochistan would receive Rs667.5bn as its share under the NFC Award from the federal government during the year 2024-25, while the province was …