MOSCOW: Russian prosecutors said on Thursday they had sent the case of detained US reporter Evan Gershkovich to court after concluding he had been collecting information for the US Central Intelligence Agency about a Russian tank factory. Gershkovich, 32, was arrested on March 29, 2023, in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on charges of espionage that carry up to 20 years in prison after the FSB, the main successor agency to the KGB, said it had caught him “red-handed” trying to obtain military secrets. He denies any wrongdoing and his employer, The Wall Street Journal, said in a statement on Thursday…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
GENEVA: More than half of Gaza’s agricultural land, crucial for feeding the war-ravaged territory’s hungry population, has been degraded by conflict, satellite images analysed by the United Nations show. The data reveals a rise in the destruction of orchards, field crops and vegetables in the Palestinian enclave, where hunger is widespread after eight months of Israeli bombardment. The World Health Organisation warned on Wednesday that many people in Gaza were facing “catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions”. Using satellite imagery taken between May 2017 and 2024, United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) found that…
UNITED NATIONS: Afghans continue to make up the largest population of refugees worldwide, with the majority seeking refuge in Iran and Pakistan, maintaining a trend observed in previous years, according to a UNHCR report released on Thursday. The UN refugee agency’s 2024 Global Trends Report includes estimates of internally displaced persons, pointing out that the years 2023 and 2024 saw historically high levels of forced displacement worldwide. The report also features an assessment by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which estimates that about 75 per cent of the population in the Gaza Strip — approximately 1.7 million people — have…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has turned down Switzerland’s invitation to the Ukraine Peace Summit citing scheduling conflicts and other considerations. “Pakistan received an invitation from Switzerland for the Conference, which is being held from 15th to 16th of June. However, due to a host of factors, including scheduling challenges, Pakistan is not participating in this conference,” FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at the weekly media briefing. The two-day summit being held at the Bürgenstock resort outside the city of Lucerne in Switzerland is designed to gather international support for Ukraine’s vision of peace, detailed in Ukrainian President Zelensky’s ten-point peace formula. Despite the…
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission has challenged the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision to appoint six tribunals to settle election disputes in Punjab. In a petition moved before the Supreme Court on Thursday, the electoral watchdog also questioned whether the ECP or LHC has the final say in the appointment of tribunals. On May 29, while hearing petitions filed by PTI-backed independent candidates Advocate Salman Akram Raja and Rao Omar Hashim Khan who had lost the general election, the LHC decided that that under Article 219(c) read with Article 222(b) of the Constitution, the LHC chief justice of has pre-eminence in the appointment…
LARKANA: Thirteen members of a family, including women and children, fainted after taking morning tea, which had turned poisonous as the milk used in the tea was later found to have a house lizard in it, at their home in Garebabad locality in Naudero on Thursday. Saira Parveen, Fatima Batool, Imran, Sameer (children), Iqbal Khatoon, Shabiran, Kulsoom, Hakimzadi, Mehran Khatoon, Rasida (women), Ihsan, Saeed and Mudassir started having abdominal cramps after drinking the tea and began to fall unconscious one after the other, said relatives. They were immediately shifted to Naudero hospital where seven were provided first aid and then…
QUETTA: Security forces have foiled an attempt to establish centres of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Balochistan by arresting a most wanted commander and several other members of the outlawed outfit in different areas of the province. A spokesman for the Counter Terrorism Department said on Thursday that the CTD had received information that the commander, who is also a member of TTP Shura, and other members of the outlawed outfit were attempting to establish their centres in different areas of the province. The CTD, along with other law enforcement agencies, conducted operations and arrested several militants, including the…
RAWALPINDI: A team of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has concluded a seven-day visit during which it assessed the safety measures implemented by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA). The scheduled ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) took place from June 5 to 12, according to a PCAA statement issued on Thursday. The team conducted an extensive validation of corrective actions taken by the PCAA and visited the Pakistan International Airlines engineering and flight safety department, a senior official said. The four-member team also assessed the implementation of ICAO’s safety-related standards, airworthiness of aircraft, operations and engineering capabilities. A CAA…
ISLAMABAD: A local court in Islamabad on Thursday acquitted former prime minister Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and others in a case registered with the Industrial Area police station in connection with the ‘Azadi March’. Judicial Magistrate Malik Imran ordered their acquittal for want of evidence. The police registered the FIR against Mr Khan, Mr Qureshi, Sheikh Rashid, Sadaqat Abbasi, and Ali Nawaz Awan over violation of Section 144 and vandalism. It may be mentioned that the PTI leadership was booked in over a dozen FIRs in connection with the Azadi March on May 25, 2022, which…
CHAKWAL: The district administration of Chakwal has put three leading members of Ahmadya community under one-month detention allegedly to prevent them from offering sacrifice of animals on the occasion of upcoming Eidul Azha. Chakwal’s Deputy Commissioner Quratul Ain Malik issued three separate orders for the detention of the three men on June 10 and the police later arrested them and sent them to Jhelum prison. All three men belong to Dulmial village which witnessed a mob attack on a worship place of the same community in December 2016 resulting in the death of two persons. The worship place, a historic mosque built…
